How to Walk In Heels Like A Pro And Minimize The Pain (Male to Female Transgender / Crossdressing Tips)

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When Marilyn Monroe said: “Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world,” we’re fairly certain she was talking about heels. But if you can’t walk in said heels? Well, that essentially "Transgender" negates any potential conquests, whether you’re in the boardroom or the bar. Accordi

Quick snapshot & staying safe - Knoxville, TN USA - efforts to minimize the risk (COVID-19). Knoxville Recycling Notice.

Slowly dialing this bike in a year later, even thought I’ve barely ridden it in 2016.

Changes / New Components:

- First off, a new medium-sized saddlebag by Waxwing Bag Company / www.flickr.com/photos/23997564@N08/ . Stay tuned for more photos— it’s pretty great.

- Re-wired the lighting as to minimize wire-exposure and make things not such a PITA if I need to remove fenders, etc… www.flickr.com/photos/jkopera/albums/72157669638550475

- Switched the front derailleur to a Shimano Ultegra triple derailleur: it has a beefier shifting plate than the double and just does a better job with the large range between chainrings.

- Switched back to VO Zeppelin fenders. They just look right with this bike, and, out of VO’s excellent offerings, offer the most clearance for 42 mm tires.

- Compass Babyshoe Pass tires. So far, so good. I miss my Hetres, but the casing is just too fragile for my weight + gravel, which has been a complaint from a lot of other heavier riders I know.

- Replaced the bottom bracket from 118 mm spindle-length to 110 mm to improve chainline. Shifting is much crisper and there’s less grindy-grindy when I’m in the lowest or highest gear. Feel less bad about cross-chaining. BB is still VO grand-cru. Would love to get a SKF but I’ve already dumped enough money into this bike, and I’m not doing enough riding such that I’ll have to worry about the BB crapping out anytime soon like happened to www.flickr.com/photos/23997564@N08/

- Got rid of my Shimano Ultegra STI / Brifters and now have Suntour Superbe downtube shifters courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/ejasongibbs. Perhaps it was the crappy chainline with my old BB, or who knows what, but the indexing was always very finicky and shifting sloppy. Much happier with the shifting now, although it’s still a far reach to the downtube. Keeps all the mechanics of the bike simpler as well. May convert these to bar-end shifters using Rivendell’s silver bar-end pods.

- Installed Tektro TRP RRL brake levers. These things are absolutely wonderful and worth the eBay splurge direct-from-Taiwan-which-was-very-sadly-a-lot-cheaper-than-my-LBS-could-order-them-for. Don’t look too shabby either.

- Leather chainstay protector from VO. Ended up being same price as crappy silver replica plastic ones on eBay. Feels dandy-ish, but has already protected my paint.

- VO Grand-Cru rando bars. Jury is out on these— I love my Nitto Noodles but they’re very wide (48 cm) and when I’m tired that doesn’t work too well with low-trail, so I’m trying these. I would love it if Compass Cycle actually started catering to bigger / heavier riders and made their rando-bars in a 46 or 48 mm hood-to-hood width.

- Berthoud Mente Saddle. Not noticing a real difference in comfort, yet, between it and my VO #3, but also have yet to take it on a long ride. Looks damn nice on the bike, though. Two major complaints so far, though: Really short rail length… I want this a little farther back, and I have one heck of a set-back seat post. also, the angle of rails with respect to saddle means that, to have this saddle at level and/or tipped back, my seatpost is near the end of its adjustable range. The VO #3, while it has its own issues, has much more room for adjustment.

- Trying out the Newbaum’s cotton bar tape. Jury is still out.

With the new saddle / bars, though, I’m needing to adjust stem length again— pain in the butt with a quill stem, but worth it to be able to adjust stem height on the fly and not be locked into too-low steer tube height (as was the problem on my last bike).

+++ 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 Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of design, production models were flying, and two pre-production models did see very limited service in Italy just before the end of World War II. The XP-80 had a conventional all-metal airframe, with a slim low wing and tricycle landing gear. Like most early jets designed during World War II—and before the Allies captured German research data that confirmed the speed advantages of swept-wings—the XP-80 had straight wings similar to previous propeller-driven fighters, but they were relatively thin to minimize drag at high speed.

For the Luftwaffe the F-80E had become obsolete, and to reduce the number of operational aircraft types, the remaining German aircraft, a total of 34, were in 1965 passed through to the Türk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish air force) as part of international NATO military support, where they remained in service until 1974 and were replaced by third generation F-4E Phantom II fighter jets.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 36 ft 9 1/2 in (11.23 m)

Wingspan: 37 ft 6 in (11.44 m) over tip tanks

Height: 13 ft 5 1/4 in (4.10 m)

Wing area: 241.3 sq ft (22,52 m²)

Empty weight: 10,681 lb (4.845 kg)

Max. takeoff weight: 18,464 lb (8.375 kg)

Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.0134

Frontal area: 32 sq ft (3.0 m²)

Powerplant:

1× Allison J33-A-39 centrifugal compressor turbojet with 4,600 lbf (20 kN) dry thrust

and 27.0 kN (6,070 lbf) thrust with afterburning

Performance:

Maximum speed: 1,060 km/h (660 mph, 570 kn)

Cruise speed: 439 mph (707 km/h, 381 kn)

Range: 825 mi (1,328 km, 717 nmi)

Ferry range: 1,380 mi (2,220 km, 1,200 nmi)

Service ceiling: 50,900 ft (15,500 m)

Rate of climb: 7,980 ft/min (40.5 m/s)

Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,100 m) in 4 minutes 50 seconds

Lift-to-drag: 17.7

Wing loading: 51.3 lb/sq ft (250 kg/m²)

Thrust/weight: 0.249 dry

0.328 with afterburner

Armament:

4× 0.79 in (20 mm) M24 cannon (190 rpg)

2x wing tip auxiliary tanks with 225 US gal (187 imp gal; 850 l) each

Underwing hardpoints for a total ordnance load of 4,800 lb (2.200 kg), including

2× 1,000 lb (454 kg) bombs, up to 4× pods with nineteen unguided Mighty Mouse FFARs each,

and/or up to 8× 5” (127 mm) HVAR unguided air-to-ground rockets

The kit and its assembly:

The idea of a swept-wing F-80 had been lingering on my idea list for a while, and I actually tried this stunt before in the form of a heavily modified F-94. The recent “Fifties” group build at whatifmodellers.com and a similar build by fellow forum member mat revived the interest in this topic – and inspired by mat’s creation, based on a T-33 fuselage, I decided to use the opportunity and add my personal interpretation of the idea.

Having suitable donor parts at hand was another decisive factor to start this build: I had a Heller T-33 in store, which had already been (ab)used as a donor bank for other projects, and which could now find a good use. I also had an F-80 canopy left over (from an Airfix kit), and my plan was to use Saab J29 wings (from a Matchbox kit) because of their limited sweep angle that would match the post-WWII era well.

Work started with the fuselage; it required a completely new cockpit interior because these parts had already gone elsewhere. I found a cockpit tub with its dashboard from an Italeri F4U, and with some trimming it could be mounted into the reduced cockpit opening, above the OOB front landing gear well. The T-33’s rear seat was faired of with styrene sheet and later PSRed away. The standard nose cone from the Heller T-33 was used, but I added gun ports for the new/different cannon armament.

For a different look with an afterburner engine I modified the tail section under the stabilizers, which was retained because of its characteristic shape. A generous section from the tail was cut away and replaced with the leftover jet pipe from an Italeri (R)F-84F, slightly longer and wider and decorated with innards from a Matchbox Mystère IV. This change is rather subtle but changes the F-80 profile and appears like a compromise between the F-80 and F-94 arrangements.

The T-33 wings were clipped down to the connection lower fuselage part. This ventral plate with integral main landing gear wells was mounted onto the T-33 hull and then the Saab 29 wings were dry-fitted to check their position along the fuselage and to define the main landing gear wells, which had to be cut into them to match their counterparts from the aircraft’s belly.

Their exact position was eventually fixed when the new swept stabilizers, taken from a Hobby Boss F-86, were mounted to the tail. They match well with the swept wings, and for an odd look I kept their dihedral.

The fin was eventually replaced, too – mat’s build retained the original F-80 fin, but with all other surfaces swept I found that the fin had to reflect this, too. So, I implanted a shortened Italeri (R)F-84F fin onto the original base, blended with some PSR into the rest of the tail.

With all aerodynamic surfaces in place it was time for fine-tuning, and to give the aircraft a simpler look I removed the dog teeth from the late Tunnan's outer wings, even though I retained the small LERXs. The wing tips were cut down a little and tip tanks (probably drop tanks from a Hobby Boss F-5E) added – without them the aircraft looked like a juvenile Saab 32!

The landing gear was mostly taken over from the Heller T-33, I just added small consoles for the main landing gear struts to ensure a proper stance, because the new wings and the respective attachment points were deeper. I also had to scratch some landing gear covers because the T-33 donor kit was missing them. The canopy was PSRed over the new opening and a new ejection seat tailored to fit into the F4U cockpit.

A final addition was a pair of pods with unguided FFARs. AFAIK the Luftwaffe did not use such weapons, but they’d make thematically sense on a Fifties anti-bomber interceptor - and I had a suitable pair left over from a Matchbox Mystère IV kit, complete with small pylons.

Painting and markings:

Since the time frame was defined by the Fifties, early Luftwaffe fighters had to carry a bare metal finish, with relatively few decorations. For the F-80E I gave the model an overall base coat with White Aluminum from a Dupli Color rattle can, a very nice and bright silver tone that comes IMHO close to NMF. Panels were post-shaded with Revell 99 (Aluminum) and 91 (Iron Metallic). An anti-glare panel in front of the windscreen was painted in the Luftwaffe tone RAL 6014, Gelboliv (Revell 42).

For some color highlights I gave the tip tanks bright red (Feuerrot, RAL 3000; Revell 330) outer halves, while the inner halves were painted black to avoid reflections that could distract the pilot (seen on a real Luftwaffe T-33 from the late Fifties). For an even more individual touch I added light blue (Tamiya X-14, Sky Blue) highlights on the nose and the fin, reflecting the squadron’s color code which is also carried within the unit emblem – the Tamiya paint came closest to the respective decal (see below).

The cockpit interior was painted with zinc chromate green primer (I used Humbrol 80, which is brighter than the tone should be, but it adds contrast to the black dials on the dashboard), the landing gear wells were painted with a mix of Humbrol 80 and 81, for a more yellowish hue. The landing gear struts became grey, dry-brushed with silver, while the inside of the ventral air brakes were painted in Feuerrot, too.

Then the model received an overall washing with black ink to emphasize the recessed panel lines, plus additional panel shading with Matt Aluminum Metallizer (Humbrol 27001), plus a light rubbing treatment with grinded graphite that emphasized the (few leftover) raised panel lines and also added a dark metallic shine to the silver base. Some of the lost panel lines were simulated with simple pencil strokes, too.

The decals/markings primarily came from an AirDoc aftermarket sheet for late Fifties Luftwaffe F-84Fs. The tactical code (“BB-xxx” was then assigned to the WaSLw 10 as unit code, but this soon changed to a similar but different format that told about the unit’s task as well as the specific unit and squadron within it; this was replaced once more by a simple xx+yy code that was only connected to a specific aircraft with no unit reference anymore, and this format is still in use today) was puzzled together from single letters/digits from the same decal set. Some additional markings like the red band on the fuselage had to be scratched, but most stencils came from an all-bare-metal Luftwaffe F-84F.

After some more detail painting the model was sealed with semi-gloss acrylic paint, just the anti-glare panel and the di-electric fairings on the nose and the fin tip became matt.

A thorough kitbashing build, but the result looks quite plausible, if not elegant? The slightly swept wings suit the F-80 with its organic fuselage shape well, even though they reveal the designs rather baroque shape. There’s a sense of obsolescence about the F-80E, despite its modern features? The Luftwaffe markings work well on the aircraft, too, and with the red and blue highlights the machine looks more attractive despite its simple NMF livery than expected.

This former stable was built sometime in the mid-19th century. (The AIA Guide to New York City estimates 1840, while the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission says the late 1850s.) Here's how the place was described in an 1882 auction listing: "Two story and basement Philadelphia brick stable, 25x85; lot 100 feet deep; 12 stalls in basement, 6 stalls on first floor and large room for carriages, large harness closet; second story large loft and flat for coachman's family; water, gas and carriage wash".

In 1895, the building was remodeled and became Station No. 1 of the Fire Insurance Salvage Corps of Brooklyn. (Here's what the place looked like in those days.) The salvage corps was funded by local insurance companies, and its purpose was to minimize the property damage caused by fires in the area, hence reducing the amount the insurance companies would have to pay out in claims. The corps was sometimes able to extinguish small fires by itself, but its primary task was "to cover the goods in the burning building to protect them from injury by water, which generally causes more damage than the fire itself."

The men of Station No. 1 moved into a new home at 12 Dean Street in 1909. After coming under the control of the New York Fire Patrol in 1910, the company remained in its station on Dean Street until 2006, when the NYFP, the last surviving salvage corps in the nation, was finally disbanded. (The former station is now part of the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School, as we've previously learned.)

The building here on Pacific Street became an auto garage following the departure of the salvage corps in 1909. In 1910, ironically, the garage caught fire. By the time the blaze was put out, "eight expensive automobiles had been destroyed and the entire building gutted."

These days, 172 Pacific Street is a pretty snazzy abode (photos). It was featured in the movie Eat Pray Love, and is the kind of "rare and mythical" dwelling that "real estate dreams are made of", according to a broker who listed the place for $8 million in 2014. (It was eventually sold for $6.25 million, reportedly to Norah Jones.)

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

Now let's rewind to 1889, when the building was still being used for its original purpose: stabling horses. The coachman living here at the time was a middle-aged fellow named William Strong, and in April 1889 he was sentenced to a year in prison for harassing a young woman named Lizzie Jane Wood. To understand the scope of his harassment, we need to go back a few more years to when the two of them met.

(The following account is drawn from five different articles in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. I'll link to them at the end.)

It was sometime in 1885 when Miss Wood, "a pretty, dark complexioned Irish girl, with bright eyes and rosy cheeks, plump and well dressed," was introduced to Mr. Strong, a red-faced man with a "bristling mustache" and "unevenly colored reddish hair stand[ing] straight out from his head," who "dresses plainly and roughly and seems to be a trifle out of joint, mentally."

Strong "began to be very attentive to Miss Wood, and at first she did not object to his suit", despite the fact that he was "not a man to attract a woman's fancy in appearance."

"She soon discovered, however, that he was of a very jealous disposition, and [would] become very angry and abusive if she displayed a preference for any other company. Finally she told him that he must not come to the house [where she lived and worked as a domestic] any more. He persisted, however, and followed her about wherever she went and circulated, she says, false stories concerning her."

Fed up with his abuse, she had him hauled into court in July 1886. "He apologized and was placed under bonds, which it was expected would have a tendency to make him conduct himself with more propriety."

Not a well-founded expectation, it turned out. He was "seen every night in the neighborhood watching the house where she lived. When she came out he would follow her. Miss Wood is a member of the choir of the Gospel Pavilion tent on Flatbush avenue. On one occasion Strong crowded in under the canvas near the choir platform and in a loud voice he denounced Miss Wood. . . . Several gentlemen who knew the circumstances promised to protect her whenever she went out at night. Strong began to annoy these gentlemen with stories about her and became so troublesome that the young lady again went before Justice Walsh and asked if something could not be done to keep him away from her friends. The Justice gave her little encouragement."

So she decided to take matters into her own hands. She procured a rawhide whip and waited for her tormentor to appear again. After he passed by her house one September evening in 1886, she chased after him with the whip. He "tried to defend himself but he was no match for the girl, and blow after blow in rapid succession fell upon his head and body. The street began to fill with boys, who enjoyed the fun immensely and kept crying out 'Lay it on him.' Miss Wood needed no advice. She did 'lay on' with a vengeance. The man saw that it would be useless to resist as all the crowd's sympathies were against him. He attempted to beat a retreat in the direction of Flatbush avenue but was hotly pursued by the girl who lashed him at every step. Blood ran from his face and his neck was badly cut. He ran into a cigar store at the corner of Flatbush and Carlton avenues for protection. She followed him and in a few moments he ran out and turned down Carlton avenue with the girl and an excited crowd at his heels. The whip continued to crack until he reached St. Mark's avenue, where he ran into Dr. Bunker's house, saying to the housemaid who opened the door, 'For God's sake let me in. She will kill me.' He piteously beseeched the girl to stop. With almost every word he received a blow for a reply, and with every blow the crowd cheered."

Speaking later to a reporter, Miss Wood said "I am satisfied with what I did and don't think he will trouble me any more. I wouldn't hurt a fly, but I am sorry my whip broke and my arm gave out, else I should have followed him still further. He got just what he deserved. My right arm is so lame to-day that I can hardly use it."

This corporal punishment may have been temporarily successful in chastening old William. As far as I can tell, his behavior toward Miss Wood was not deemed newsworthy again for a couple of years. In the meantime, two other unusual stories involving a William Strong appeared in the Daily Eagle. I can't be sure it was the same guy, but I'm betting it was.

Here's the first story, from November 1886: "Late last night William Strong cavorted around the Sands street entrance of the [Brooklyn] bridge declaring that he was pursued by a band of dynamiters who took him for an English spy. Ambulence Surgeon Cooke called it a case of delirium tremens and took the sufferer to the Cumberland street Hospital."

The second story, from December 1887, involves "a runaway horse attached to a coupe and driven by William Strong dash[ing] madly along the south roadway of the [Brooklyn] bridge". The horse, coupe, and driver "miraculously" exited the bridge without getting into an accident, but then "a collision of the coupe with the wheels of a coach, driven by William Dougherty, simultaneously tore a wheel from each of the vehicles, hurled the driver of the runaway team to the ground and freed his horse just in time to prevent a fatal accident, as Strong's legs had both become entangled in the spokes of the coupe wheel. The horse disappeared at full gallop up Sands street, and was followed shortly afterward by his driver, who quickly recovered from his fall. At last account he was being anxiously sought by Dougherty, who says his coach has been seriously damaged."

In February 1889, Strong was back in the news, and back in court, for harassing Miss Wood. During an encounter on the street a month earlier, he had "spat on her and hooted at her and followed her for two or three blocks. He had frequently stood opposite her house for hours, waiting for her to appear. Often he had scaled the fence and pulled open the basement shutters and gazed within until driven away. He had stopped her on the street and asked her to marry him and she had refused." The judge gave him the option of paying a $20 fine or serving 20 days in jail. He chose to do the time.

After his release, he got right back to business. He was arrested again in March after following Miss Wood and drunkenly "shouting abusive language after her." At the time, she was with a young man named Lewis Lewis (not a typo — at least not on my part). "A crowd had gathered when young Lewis turned and knocked Strong into the street with a blow from his fist. Strong then drew a knife but was arrested . . . before he had made any use of it."

Strong attempted to represent himself in court this time. He acted as though Miss Wood and Lewis were the ones on trial: "Your honor . . . I wish to make a brief statement regarding the arrest of these two persons for their unprovoked assault upon me in the public highway."

It didn't go well for him. "As soon as Strong left the stand the Court disposed of the case in an instant by imposing a sentence of one year in the Penitentiary, at which Strong surveyed the court room through his undamaged eye with aggrieved astonishment, and Miss Wood passed out into the street with her face wreathed in smiles."

(Here are links to the five Daily Eagle articles about the Strong-Wood affair: July 8, 1886; Sept. 11, 1886; Feb. 2, 1889; Mar. 25, 1889; Apr. 4, 1889.)

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

I searched the papers for subsequent articles about Mr. Strong, but couldn't find any. I did, however, discover this ridiculous item about a police officer of the same name in an 1891 Daily Eagle column entitled "Points About Policemen — What is Going On Among the Guardians of the Peace":

Detective Sergeant William Strong of the central office by taking off his beard has insulted himself most grievously. He owes an apology to his own personality, and if there is a spark of honor anywhere about him he will cast his razors, brush and cup into the deep sea and give his County Antrims and goatee another start in life. As now exhibited, he looks like a boy whose growth ought to be stopped by a special act, and no one would imagine that the fair fresh young face with the exterior of a cling stone peach was but a few short weeks ago thatched like the jowls of the ravenous pard. If he applied the scythe with the idea of effecting a disguise, he has succeeded most effectually, for a good deal of his time recently has been taken up in introducing himself to his most intimate friends, one of whom refused to pay him $1 he had borrowed two months before, until he produced his baptismal certificate.

Some background:

The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (Hornet) is a heavy fighter and Schnellbomber ("Fast Bomber" in English) designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It was flown by the Luftwaffe during the latter half of the Second World War.

The Me 410’s origins are closely associated with the preceding Me 210. Development of this aircraft had been projected back in 1937 as a multi-purpose successor to the Bf 110, which had some identified shortcomings even prior to seeing combat service. Early on, confidence in the Me 210 had been high, to the extent that 1,000 aircraft were ordered off the drawing board; however, it would be a troubled program. Flight testing revealed poor longitudinal stability and despite modifications was considered unsatisfactory. While quantity production of the type proceeded, the Me 210 had a relatively high rate of accidents. This heavily contributed to production being halted on 14 April 1942; officials were keen to remedy the Me 210's problems and return it to production to minimize the economic loss incurred.

Various modifications to the design were explored, including the Me 310, a radical high-altitude derivative that incorporated a pressurized cockpit and more powerful engines.[9] This option was not favored by many officials, who sought a less ambitious remediation of the Me 210. It was this preference that led to the Me 410’s emergence, which was visually almost identical to the Me 210. The principal difference was the adoption of the larger (at 44.5 liters, 2,720 cu in displacement) and more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 603A engines. These engines each provided 1,750 metric horsepower (1,730 hp; 1,290 kW) compared to the 1,475 metric horsepower (1,455 hp; 1,085 kW) of the DB 605s used on the Me 210C. The extra power increased the Me 410's maximum speed to 625 kilometers per hour (388 mph), greatly improved rate of climb, service ceiling, and the cruising speed, the latter being raised to 579 km/h (360 mph).

The more powerful engines also improved payload capability to the point where the aircraft could lift a war-load greater than could fit into the bomb bay under the nose. Consequently, shackles were added under the wings for four 50-kilogram (110 lb) bombs. The changes added an extra 680 kg (1,500 lb) to the Me 210 design, but the extra engine power more than made up for the difference. As with the Me 210, the Me 410's rear gunner used the same pair of Ferngerichtete Drehringseitenlafette FDSL 131/1B turrets mounted on each side of the aircraft, each still armed with a 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun, retaining the same pivoting handgun-style grip, trigger and gunsight to aim and fire the ordnance as the Me 210 did.

General characteristics:

Crew: two

Length: 12.75 m (41 ft 9 in)

Wingspan: 16.3513 m (53 ft 7.75 in)

Height: 4.280 m (14 ft 0.5 in)

Wing area: 36.2031 m2 (389.687 sq ft)

Airfoil: root: NACA 23018-636.5; tip: NACA 23010-636.5

Empty weight: 7,518 kg (16,574 lb)

Gross weight: 9,651 kg (21,276 lb)

Fuel capacity: 550 imp gal (660 US gal; 2,500 L) in four wing tanks

Powerplant:

2× Daimler-Benz DB 603A-1l/r V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engines, each providing:

- 1,290 kW (1,750 hp) for take-off

- 1,360 kW (1,850 PS) at 2,100 m (6,890 ft)

- 1,195 kW (1,625 PS) at 5,700 m (18,700 ft)

Driving handed 4-bladed VDM constant-speed propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 507 km/h (315 mph, 274 kn) at sea level,

624 km/h (388 mph; 337 kn) at 6,700 m (21,980 ft)

Cruise speed: 587 km/h (365 mph, 317 kn)

Range: 1,200 km (750 mi, 650 nmi) at maximum continuous cruise speed,

1,690 km (1,050 mi) at economical cruise speed

Ferry range: 2,300 km (1,400 mi, 1,200 nmi)

Service ceiling: 10,000 m (33,000 ft)

Time to altitude: 6,000 m (20,000 ft) in ten minutes and 42 seconds

Armament:

4× 20 mm (0.79 in) MG 151/20 cannon with 300 rpg in the lower fuselage, firing forward

2× 30 mm (0.79 in) MK 108 cannon with 100 rpg behind the cockpit (“Schräge Musik”),

oriented 65° above horizontal

Up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of disposable external stores, including:

- 2x 300l + 1x 500l drop tanks

- 2x 250 kg or 4x 100kg or 4x 50 kg bombs

- 4× 21 cm (8.3 in) Werfer-Granate 21 rockets

The kit and its assembly:

Well, my Me 410 night fighter is certainly not the first one of its kind, but a personal interpretation of the subject with as much late-WWII hardware on board as possible, for a purposeful look and feel.

The basis of this build became the Italeri Me 410, mostly because it comes with “plugs” for the fuselage flanks where the original Me 410 carried its defensive gun barbettes – IMHO useless on a night fighter. The plugs are, however, quite useless, because they still have to be PSRed into the flanks so that they could be easily omitted anyway...

Another typical ingredient was a Quickboost FuG 240 thimble radome for the system's static dish antenna, originally intended for a Ju 88 G-6 night fighter but in this case mounted to the aircraft’s nose and PSRed into shape, too. The radome’s “flat” underside was also a plausible detail for an open field of fire for ventral guns in the former bomb bay – a conversion that had been done to many Me 410 heavy fighters with field modifications and cannon Rüstsätze.

The cockpit was insofar modified that the former gunner on the back seat now faced forward, and the workstation received some scratched devices like a radar screen and a tilted gun sight. The pilot received an IR sight, mounted through a hole that was drilled into the windscreen, and a separate bulletproof glass panel behind the windscreen. Since I did not want to open the already complex/fiddly three-part canopy I added two crew members.

The former machine gun barbettes were faired over, and instead two hollow steel needles were mounted behind the cockpit on sockets/bulges, plus a clear “sensor some” (all made from sprue material). Hollow steel needles were also used to simulate protruding gun barrels in the ventral cannon compartment and on the back. Under the wings a pair of OOB 300l drop tanks were added, a plausible payload, and to beef up the armament I scratched a Magirus-Bombe gun pod and mounted it on a central hardpoint from a Fw 190.

As an individual detail I lowered the aircraft's flaps, which was quite easy to do. The wing segments were simply cut out and semi-circular styrene profile used to create the hinges.

To make the Me 410 night fighter look a bit more purposeful I furthermore used flame dampers on the exhaust stubs; these were taken from an Italeri Me 110 night fighter, and this worked better then expected. I just had to modify one of the exhaust pipes due to the different position of the carburettor intakes on the Me 410. Furthermore I replaced the original three blade props with four blade alternatives (which had been tested on Me 410 V15 IIRC, but had not been adopted) from a FROG D.H. Hornet. Not a perfect match, because the spinners were slightly too big in diameter (could be trimmed down, though) and the props are handed, but that's only obvious at second glance.

Painting and markings:

I kept the livery conservative, and wanted to keep the aircraft relatively light overall, like a typical German late war night fighter. Therefore, the machine initially received an overall coat with RLM 76 (Humbrol 247), only with a few blurry fields and speckles with RLM 75 (Humbrol 246) on the wings’ upper surfaces and on the spine. Additionally, some mottling with mixed shades of RLM 76 and 75 were added, primarily to the fuselage, engine and fin flanks.

I initially considered additional mottles with lighter RLM 77 (RAL 7035, almost white) on the flanks and the upper surfaces, but when the two basic tones were applied I thought that this was already enough, so I kept the livery rather simple.

An unusual detail is a single black wing underside, though. This is/was not a camouflage measure, rather an identification marking for anti-aircraft artillery on the ground to avoid friendly fire. This was, just as in real life, done with water-soluble paint (acrylic tar black, Revell 06), so that the original light blue-grey paint would shine through here and there and the black paint would easily wear or flake off.

To achieve this effects and to blur the mottling the whole model received, after it had been painted, an overall treatment with fine wet sand paper. A similar method was used to simulate flaked paint on the wooden radome. After a light black ink washing some post-panel-shading was done, too.

The cockpit interior became very dark grey (RAL 7021, I used Revell 09 Anthracite) while the landing gear and its respective wells were painted in RLM 02 (Tamiya XF-22).

The decals were puzzled together from various sources. The code G9+F(red)N is plausible for an aircraft of the Nachtjagdgeschwader 1's 5th squadron. The unit emblem is fictional, though, the gauntlet motif came from an RAF Tornado. The black iron crosses were reduced to a minimum - except for the underwing markings, which were kept more complex even during the final war stages, and in the case of the black wing these markings also offer more contrast for a secure identification from below.

After some soot stains done with graphite around the exhausts and the gun muzzles the model was finally sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the wire antenna made from heated black sprue material was added.

Birds' legs have an adaptation called "rete mirabile" that minimizes heat loss. The arteries that transport warm blood into the legs lie in contact with the veins that return colder blood to the bird's heart. The arteries warm the veins. By standing on one leg, a bird reduces by half the amount of heat lost through unfeathered limbs. This common sandpiper shows how it happens

Auriculotherapy (also called Auricular Therapy) is a proven, efficient device to quit smoking and chewing by minimizing desires and calming the nervous system.Step two Write down smoking triggers Write down your smoking causes. When you drink? After dinner? With caffeine? Knowing what asks you

www.ourhealthblog.com/smoking-skin-effects/

Rose Hip / Rosehip

A Rose hip is the fruit of a rose. Also known as rose haw or rose hep. The wild dog rose is the type of rose most often cultivated for their hips. This plant grows up to ten feet tall and bears a white, very fragrant flower. Once the flower has bloomed, and all the petals have fallen off, the hip is picked and used in a wide variety of preparations. Rose hips are the best source of vitamin C; they contain 50% more vitamin C than oranges. A single tablespoon of the pulp gives an adult more than the recommended daily allowance of 60 mg. They can be eaten raw, after being put through a blender, or soaked in water overnight and then cooked in the water for about half an hour. Because of the high vitamin C content they are an excellent immune system booster, and are often used as a supplement to prevent or treat a cold. The pulp from rose hips may be used in sauces or made into jelly. [...].

The astringent qualities of rose hip oil [...] helps to regenerate skin cells, healing wounds and scars. It also helps to keep the skin elastic and nourished. This will not only prevent wrinkles, but can actually help to minimize any that have already appeared.

The vitamin A is also beneficial to the immune system. It can help to prevent infections from both bacteria and viruses. It helps the immune system to fight off any infections that do occur too.

Many complementary medicine physicians use rose hips to treat wounds and inflammations. Research in Denmark and Germany used a rose hip remedy. The results showed that the remedy was actually very beneficial in treating rheumatoid arthritis. The group taking the remedy had an improvement in their mobility by 20 to 25%. They experienced less pain and a general overall improvement in mood and the way they felt. The studies showed significant improvement in individuals suffering from osteoarthritis as well, proving the anti-inflammatory properties.

Because they contain a variety of antioxidants; carotenoids, flavonoids, polyphenols, leucoanthocyanins and catechins, rose hips are considered to be a good cancer preventative. These same antioxidants are also used to prevent against cardiovascular disease. [...].

Rose hips have been used since the Stone Age. [...].

Herbwisdom

with the Takumar 300mm @ F/4 (18 blade version) and a hollowed out TC to minimize its MFD. slight crop

Photo Garth Crump

Chasing net-zero Part 1: Net-zero 101

www.greenenergyfutures.ca/episode/78-chasing-net-zero-net...

Watch This Video On YouTube Here: youtu.be/3ItkAYcRfEo

How To Get An Erection - Can't Maintain An Erection - How To Get Your Erections Back

Get Your Free Copy of The 3 Deadliest Myths About Erectile Dysfunction Here: bit.ly/Impotence-3DeadlyMythsOfErectileDysfunctionEbook It's hardly a news flash that exercise is important for your current health, but what you may not have known is that getting enough exercise is also an important step toward minimizing your ED symptoms. Of course, don't expect to hear such things from the folks who are selling you ED pills on a monthly basis. They'd just as soon see you not do anything to reduce your symptoms so you'll keep buying from them on a monthly basis, but it's true. By itself, exercise is nearly certain not to be sufficient to totally eliminate ED, but it can help minimize your symptoms absolutely. Why Exercise Improves Your ED? At the core, erectile dysfunction is a circulatory condition. It's all about blood flow. Consider it: The facts that causes your penis to become erect? Blood flowing to it. The better your circulation and a lot more blood that flows into the erectile tissue, the firmer and better your erections shall be. This explains why some exercises are better than others at reducing ED symptoms. Specifically, what you would like are cardio exercises. Yes, you want to build up a sweat, but more than that, you want to do an exercise that gets your heart pumping really. People will tell you that the best way to get started on is to get started on modestly. To commit to, say, 15 minutes of exercise, three to five times weekly when you're first starting out. Then, as time passes, slowly increase your duration, and the number of days weekly you're exercising. That's generally pretty good advice, but we want to add an additional wrinkle to that. For starters, KEEP your exercise to three days a week, but yes, build up the amount of time you spend exercising gradually. Moreover though, find a sport you enjoy. It could be anything. Kayaking, soccer, fencing, hiking...just make sure it's something you enjoy, then one you're interested in. If you like to do it, and are passionate about it, you'll naturally be inclined to do more of it. This is why you don't need to boost your exercise to more than 3 x per week. You'll be supplementing that with your new sports activity. Consider this to be your "sweat equity." This is actually the equity you put into living a longer, healthier life. In trade to the sweat equity, you'll receive a wholesome heart and lungs, better circulation, more energy, more stamina, of course, if you have ED, you'll notice a marked decrease in your symptoms. If you don't have ED, a good workout program won't guarantee that you'll never experience difficulties, but if and when you do, they will be much milder than they otherwise would have been. You will find relatively few people outside of "gym rats" who wish to exercise, so consider it as an investment. That's why we used the term "sweat equity." We want you to think about it in exactly the same conditions as financial investments you make in your future. When you can put yourself for the reason that mindset, if you supplement your regular exercise with a sport you like, you'll be much more likely to stay with it, and consistency is key. Exercise, and its own overall effectiveness is only as good as your commitment to it. The only real kind of exercise that comes with a caveat is bicycling. There's no doubt that it is a great way to get (and stay) in form, but it has one small drawback. Studies show that spending lots of time cycling can result in an increased probability of problems with your prostate gland. It can also, in at least some full cases, cause numbness in and around the penis, which while not quite exactly like ED, can definitely decrease the quality of your erections. In addition to cardio-based exercises and a regular fitness regimen, don't overlook the importance of stretching. You can do something similar to Tai Chi or Yoga, for example. Both of these are excellent ways to stretch and tone parts of your muscles, and make a fantastic addition to your overall fitness routine. The great thing about Yoga is that it's an excellent, meditative technique, not only is it a great way to stretch. Start and modestly simply, and work your way into more complex postures slowly. The end result is simple: Exercise is not just good for your current health, it is also good for your sexual health. If you are genuinely enthusiastic about maintaining an active sex life well past your forties, when men typically get started experiencing sexual difficulties, then you are going to want to make regular physical exercise an important part of your day to day routine. Again, the most crucial thing here is to make sure you select a sport that you're genuinely passionate about, because that means it is easy to stay with it. Subscribe to my channel here: youtube.com/c/BretmcopelandBlogspot

via Men's Health Channel

Trinidad Motmot, (Momotus momota bahamensis)

Tobago, WI.

Heavily cropped to minimize my ugly bird feeder. The 6D does very well at ISO 4000. No noise reduction applied.

© All rights reserved

Planning to hike or run R2R (rim-to-rim) during October? You’re not alone. Thousands of people each weekend are on the corridor trails in Grand Canyon. Here are some tips to make it an awesome experience for you and your fellow trail users and to minimize the impact to the park's natural resources:

· Empower yourself with knowledge! Research your plan and carry a map on the trail. Then you’ll never have to guess how far to the next toilet, water source, or emergency phone! > www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/upload/intro-bc-hike.pdf

· Carry a trowel, plastic bags for toilet paper, or a wag bag if you think you might not be able to make it to a toilet in time while in the canyon. It is a biohazard for other hikers and employees to encounter feces or used toilet paper left on the trail.

Read about Leave No Trace principle #3 if you’re not sure of how to handle #2 in the backcountry. Principle 3: Dispose of Waste Properly - Leave No Trace Center (lnt.org) >

lnt.org/why/7-principles/dispose-of-waste-properly/

· Pack wisely and pack out what you pack in. If you get hot or no longer want to carry an item of clothing, leaving it on the trail is not an option. Employees collect and carry these out themselves when you leave. It’s heavy!

· When using the composting toilets, only deposit biodegradable and composting items into the toilets. Members of the compost crew hike R2R2R weekly to clean and maintain the toilets, and must pick plastic bags, wrappers, diapers, and non-biodegradable items out of the compost toilet. This makes their job more dangerous.

· Search and Rescue teams are very busy! Take care of yourself and your teammates. Eat plenty, stay cool, and never leave your friends alone on the trail.

- A little Trail Courtesy goes a long way > go.nps.gov/courtesy (376)

NPS photo/N. Mann

Alt-txt: Several dozen hikers are seen next to a stone building (Phantom Ranch Lodge) at the bottom of Grand Canyon. Some are standing and wearing day packs. Some are sitting at picnic tables under cottonwood trees and taking a rest during an endurance hike.

#GrandCanyon #Arizona #Hiking #GrandCanyonNationalPark #R2R #October #Marathon #PhantomRanch #BrightAngelTrail #KaibabTrail #Running

THE SPECTRE | gouache painting by Bill Mayer

I minimized the glass reflections as much as possible.

At FFD, Peter shared one of those small details with me that make his bikes elegant and special. Rather than drill a larger vent hole, drill almost through, then use a poker to pierce the bottom. Tiny hole, easily filled with a bit of brass or silver, and won't blow out when you seal it. This rack is getting chromed, platers would prefer no vent holes.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Su-18 was the final evolutionary step in the long journey of the Su-7 fighter bomber. Seeking to improve low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the Su-7B fighter-bomber, in 1963 the Sukhoi OKB with input from TsAGI created a variable-sweep wing technology demonstrator. The Su-7IG (internal designation S-22I, NATO designation "Fitter-B"), converted from a production Su-7BM, had fixed inner portions of the wing with movable outer segments which could be swept to 28°, 45°, or 62°.

Only about 120 Su-18s were produced until 1990, and in a move to eliminate single engine strike aircraft from its inventory the Russian Air Force already retired its last Su-17M4 along with its fleet of MiG-23/27s in 1998, while the Su-18 in Naval Aviation service soldiered on until 2000. Some countries like Peru and Indonesia showed interest in these aircraft, but all were destroyed in the course of the bilateral START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 19.02 m (62 ft 5 in)

Wingspan:

Spread: 13.68 m (44 ft 11 in)

Swept: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 38.5 m² (415 ft²) spread, 34.5 m² (370 ft²) swept

Empty weight: 12,160 kg(12.2t) (26,810 lb)

Loaded weight: 16,400 kg(16.5t) (36,155 lb)

Fuel capacity: 3,770 kg (8,310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Soyuz R-79F-100 turbofan, rated at 99 kN (22.275 lbf) dry thrust and 130 kN (29.250 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed:

1.400 km/h (755 knots, 870 mph) at sea level, 1,860 km/h (1,005 knots, 1,156 mph, Mach 1.7) at altitude

Range:

1,150 km (620 nmi, 715 mi) combat range in hi-lo-hi attack with 2.000 kg (4.409 lb) warload; ferry range: 2.300 km (1.240 nmi, 1.430 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,200 m (46,590 ft)

Rate of climb: 230 m/s (45,275 ft/min)

Wing loading: 443 kg/m² (90.77 lb/ft²

Thrust/weight: 0.68

G-force limit: 7

Airframe lifespan: 2,000 flying hours, 20 years

Armament:

2 × 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannons, 150 RPG in the lower forward fuselage

Up to 4000 kg (8,820 lb) on ten hardpoints (three under the fixed portion of each wing, four on the fuselage sides), including Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry'), Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen'), Kh-29 (AS-14 'Kedge'), Kh-31A & P (AS-17 ‘Krypton) anti-shipping/anti-radiation missiles and Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter') guided missiles, as well as electro-optical and laser-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rocket pods, cluster bombs, SPPU-22-01 cannon pods with traversable barrels, ECM pods, napalm tanks, and nuclear weapons.

The kit and its assembly:

This whif creation was triggered by a discussion at whatifmodelers.com, circling around an updated/improved Su-17/22. I remembered a photoshop creation of a Su-17 with side air intakes (from an A-4) and a nose radome (probably from an F-14) in USAF-markings – a potential way to go, even though the graphic design had some flaws like the subsonic air intake design or the guns’ position right in front of the intakes. Well, “Let’s tackle that, and do it better”, and the Su-18 is my interpretation of that idea.

The kit the Su-17M4 from Smer, a kit that has nice proportions and good detail, but nothing really fits together – expect lots of putty work! From that basis only few things were actually changed or added:

• Nose intake replaced by a F-15 radome

• Side air intakes with splitter plates come from a PM Model Su-15

• The following ducts are a halved part from an Art Model Bv 155 underwing radiator

• A new seat had to be used in the cockpit

• Main wheels from a Me 262 replace the OOB parts

• New twin front wheel which retracts backwards now

• For the anti-shipping role, a pair of Kh-31 missiles and the launch rails from an ICM weapon set

My biggest concern were the air intakes and the wide ducts, since these had to be blended into the round Su-17 fuselage. For the intakes, the wing roots were cut open and the Su-15 parts inserted. The Bv 155 parts were a lucky find, as they matched perfectly in size and shape – otherwise I had had to sculpt the ducts from 2c Putty. The arrangement still looks a little brutal, but the side intakes look plausible.

The nose radome posed little problems, even though I worried for a long time that the nose section could look too bulbous for the rest of the aircraft. But finally, when the stabilizers were in place, everything looked more balanced than expected.

Changing the front wheel from the original, forward-retracting single-wheel arrangement to a rearward-retracting twin wheel creation also helped selling the new proportions.

Painting and markings:

Very early I had the idea to keep the Su-18 in Soviet/Russian service, but it should feature an unusual, yet plausible paint scheme. The Soviet/Russian Navy actually used the Su-17, but only in tactical camouflage, with green and brown upper surfaces and light blue undersides. While browsing for alternatives I came across the Su-24 (also flown by the Navy regiments), and their typical light grey/white livery was what perfectly fit my story for the aircraft.

Said and done, the model was painted in Humbrol 167 (RAF Barley Grey) from above and painted with the rattle can in a vintage VW car tone called “Grauweiß”, a very dull white. Later, panels were emphasized through dry-brushing (Humbrol 127 and 130), plus a light black ink wash and more overall dry-brushing with light grey tones. Also, some panels were painted all over the fuselage, as well as an overpainted Red Star on the fin which was replaced by a Russian Flag decal – a common experimental practice in the early 90ies, but the idea did not catch on.

Speaking of decals, these mostly come from the very complete Smer decal sheet. Personal additions are only the flags on the fin and the Russian Navy emblem on the nose.

The cockpit was painted in typical psychedelic cockpit interior turquoise, while the landing gear and the wells were painted in blue-grey (Humbrol 87); the wheel discs were kept in bright green (Humbrol 2) – a nice contrast to the rest.

The drop tanks were painted in Aluminum, for some overall contrast, and the Kh-31 missiles according to real-life pics; the launch rails were painted in Russian Underside Blue, again for variety and contrast.

While the finish of the model is far from perfect, I am satisfied with the convincing result. You could certainly place this aircraft in line with other, typical Suchoj types like the Su-7, -15, -17 and -24, and it would not look out of place! A highly effective whif, IMHO. ^^

color minimized

On 2/23/16 in the 16000 block of San Fernando Mission Bl, a row of palm trees and vegetation fire exposing approximately 5 homes. LAFD firefighters handled the fire in 50 mins, minimizing damage and preventing injury.

© Photo by Mike Meadows

LAFD Incident # 021416-0886

Connect with us: LAFD.ORG | News | Facebook | Instagram | Reddit | Twitter: @LAFD @LAFDtalk

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Su-18 was the final evolutionary step in the long journey of the Su-7 fighter bomber. Seeking to improve low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the Su-7B fighter-bomber, in 1963 the Sukhoi OKB with input from TsAGI created a variable-sweep wing technology demonstrator. The Su-7IG (internal designation S-22I, NATO designation "Fitter-B"), converted from a production Su-7BM, had fixed inner portions of the wing with movable outer segments which could be swept to 28°, 45°, or 62°.

Only about 120 Su-18s were produced until 1990, and in a move to eliminate single engine strike aircraft from its inventory the Russian Air Force already retired its last Su-17M4 along with its fleet of MiG-23/27s in 1998, while the Su-18 in Naval Aviation service soldiered on until 2000. Some countries like Peru and Indonesia showed interest in these aircraft, but all were destroyed in the course of the bilateral START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 19.02 m (62 ft 5 in)

Wingspan:

Spread: 13.68 m (44 ft 11 in)

Swept: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 38.5 m² (415 ft²) spread, 34.5 m² (370 ft²) swept

Empty weight: 12,160 kg(12.2t) (26,810 lb)

Loaded weight: 16,400 kg(16.5t) (36,155 lb)

Fuel capacity: 3,770 kg (8,310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Soyuz R-79F-100 turbofan, rated at 99 kN (22.275 lbf) dry thrust and 130 kN (29.250 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed:

1.400 km/h (755 knots, 870 mph) at sea level, 1,860 km/h (1,005 knots, 1,156 mph, Mach 1.7) at altitude

Range:

1,150 km (620 nmi, 715 mi) combat range in hi-lo-hi attack with 2.000 kg (4.409 lb) warload; ferry range: 2.300 km (1.240 nmi, 1.430 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,200 m (46,590 ft)

Rate of climb: 230 m/s (45,275 ft/min)

Wing loading: 443 kg/m² (90.77 lb/ft²

Thrust/weight: 0.68

G-force limit: 7

Airframe lifespan: 2,000 flying hours, 20 years

Armament:

2 × 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannons, 150 RPG in the lower forward fuselage

Up to 4000 kg (8,820 lb) on ten hardpoints (three under the fixed portion of each wing, four on the fuselage sides), including Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry'), Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen'), Kh-29 (AS-14 'Kedge'), Kh-31A & P (AS-17 ‘Krypton) anti-shipping/anti-radiation missiles and Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter') guided missiles, as well as electro-optical and laser-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rocket pods, cluster bombs, SPPU-22-01 cannon pods with traversable barrels, ECM pods, napalm tanks, and nuclear weapons.

The kit and its assembly:

This whif creation was triggered by a discussion at whatifmodelers.com, circling around an updated/improved Su-17/22. I remembered a photoshop creation of a Su-17 with side air intakes (from an A-4) and a nose radome (probably from an F-14) in USAF-markings – a potential way to go, even though the graphic design had some flaws like the subsonic air intake design or the guns’ position right in front of the intakes. Well, “Let’s tackle that, and do it better”, and the Su-18 is my interpretation of that idea.

The kit the Su-17M4 from Smer, a kit that has nice proportions and good detail, but nothing really fits together – expect lots of putty work! From that basis only few things were actually changed or added:

• Nose intake replaced by a F-15 radome

• Side air intakes with splitter plates come from a PM Model Su-15

• The following ducts are a halved part from an Art Model Bv 155 underwing radiator

• A new seat had to be used in the cockpit

• Main wheels from a Me 262 replace the OOB parts

• New twin front wheel which retracts backwards now

• For the anti-shipping role, a pair of Kh-31 missiles and the launch rails from an ICM weapon set

My biggest concern were the air intakes and the wide ducts, since these had to be blended into the round Su-17 fuselage. For the intakes, the wing roots were cut open and the Su-15 parts inserted. The Bv 155 parts were a lucky find, as they matched perfectly in size and shape – otherwise I had had to sculpt the ducts from 2c Putty. The arrangement still looks a little brutal, but the side intakes look plausible.

The nose radome posed little problems, even though I worried for a long time that the nose section could look too bulbous for the rest of the aircraft. But finally, when the stabilizers were in place, everything looked more balanced than expected.

Changing the front wheel from the original, forward-retracting single-wheel arrangement to a rearward-retracting twin wheel creation also helped selling the new proportions.

Painting and markings:

Very early I had the idea to keep the Su-18 in Soviet/Russian service, but it should feature an unusual, yet plausible paint scheme. The Soviet/Russian Navy actually used the Su-17, but only in tactical camouflage, with green and brown upper surfaces and light blue undersides. While browsing for alternatives I came across the Su-24 (also flown by the Navy regiments), and their typical light grey/white livery was what perfectly fit my story for the aircraft.

Said and done, the model was painted in Humbrol 167 (RAF Barley Grey) from above and painted with the rattle can in a vintage VW car tone called “Grauweiß”, a very dull white. Later, panels were emphasized through dry-brushing (Humbrol 127 and 130), plus a light black ink wash and more overall dry-brushing with light grey tones. Also, some panels were painted all over the fuselage, as well as an overpainted Red Star on the fin which was replaced by a Russian Flag decal – a common experimental practice in the early 90ies, but the idea did not catch on.

Speaking of decals, these mostly come from the very complete Smer decal sheet. Personal additions are only the flags on the fin and the Russian Navy emblem on the nose.

The cockpit was painted in typical psychedelic cockpit interior turquoise, while the landing gear and the wells were painted in blue-grey (Humbrol 87); the wheel discs were kept in bright green (Humbrol 2) – a nice contrast to the rest.

The drop tanks were painted in Aluminum, for some overall contrast, and the Kh-31 missiles according to real-life pics; the launch rails were painted in Russian Underside Blue, again for variety and contrast.

While the finish of the model is far from perfect, I am satisfied with the convincing result. You could certainly place this aircraft in line with other, typical Suchoj types like the Su-7, -15, -17 and -24, and it would not look out of place! A highly effective whif, IMHO. ^^

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Su-18 was the final evolutionary step in the long journey of the Su-7 fighter bomber. Seeking to improve low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the Su-7B fighter-bomber, in 1963 the Sukhoi OKB with input from TsAGI created a variable-sweep wing technology demonstrator. The Su-7IG (internal designation S-22I, NATO designation "Fitter-B"), converted from a production Su-7BM, had fixed inner portions of the wing with movable outer segments which could be swept to 28°, 45°, or 62°.

Only about 120 Su-18s were produced until 1990, and in a move to eliminate single engine strike aircraft from its inventory the Russian Air Force already retired its last Su-17M4 along with its fleet of MiG-23/27s in 1998, while the Su-18 in Naval Aviation service soldiered on until 2000. Some countries like Peru and Indonesia showed interest in these aircraft, but all were destroyed in the course of the bilateral START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 19.02 m (62 ft 5 in)

Wingspan:

Spread: 13.68 m (44 ft 11 in)

Swept: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 38.5 m² (415 ft²) spread, 34.5 m² (370 ft²) swept

Empty weight: 12,160 kg(12.2t) (26,810 lb)

Loaded weight: 16,400 kg(16.5t) (36,155 lb)

Fuel capacity: 3,770 kg (8,310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Soyuz R-79F-100 turbofan, rated at 99 kN (22.275 lbf) dry thrust and 130 kN (29.250 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed:

1.400 km/h (755 knots, 870 mph) at sea level, 1,860 km/h (1,005 knots, 1,156 mph, Mach 1.7) at altitude

Range:

1,150 km (620 nmi, 715 mi) combat range in hi-lo-hi attack with 2.000 kg (4.409 lb) warload; ferry range: 2.300 km (1.240 nmi, 1.430 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,200 m (46,590 ft)

Rate of climb: 230 m/s (45,275 ft/min)

Wing loading: 443 kg/m² (90.77 lb/ft²

Thrust/weight: 0.68

G-force limit: 7

Airframe lifespan: 2,000 flying hours, 20 years

Armament:

2 × 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannons, 150 RPG in the lower forward fuselage

Up to 4000 kg (8,820 lb) on ten hardpoints (three under the fixed portion of each wing, four on the fuselage sides), including Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry'), Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen'), Kh-29 (AS-14 'Kedge'), Kh-31A & P (AS-17 ‘Krypton) anti-shipping/anti-radiation missiles and Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter') guided missiles, as well as electro-optical and laser-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rocket pods, cluster bombs, SPPU-22-01 cannon pods with traversable barrels, ECM pods, napalm tanks, and nuclear weapons.

The kit and its assembly:

This whif creation was triggered by a discussion at whatifmodelers.com, circling around an updated/improved Su-17/22. I remembered a photoshop creation of a Su-17 with side air intakes (from an A-4) and a nose radome (probably from an F-14) in USAF-markings – a potential way to go, even though the graphic design had some flaws like the subsonic air intake design or the guns’ position right in front of the intakes. Well, “Let’s tackle that, and do it better”, and the Su-18 is my interpretation of that idea.

The kit the Su-17M4 from Smer, a kit that has nice proportions and good detail, but nothing really fits together – expect lots of putty work! From that basis only few things were actually changed or added:

• Nose intake replaced by a F-15 radome

• Side air intakes with splitter plates come from a PM Model Su-15

• The following ducts are a halved part from an Art Model Bv 155 underwing radiator

• A new seat had to be used in the cockpit

• Main wheels from a Me 262 replace the OOB parts

• New twin front wheel which retracts backwards now

• For the anti-shipping role, a pair of Kh-31 missiles and the launch rails from an ICM weapon set

My biggest concern were the air intakes and the wide ducts, since these had to be blended into the round Su-17 fuselage. For the intakes, the wing roots were cut open and the Su-15 parts inserted. The Bv 155 parts were a lucky find, as they matched perfectly in size and shape – otherwise I had had to sculpt the ducts from 2c Putty. The arrangement still looks a little brutal, but the side intakes look plausible.

The nose radome posed little problems, even though I worried for a long time that the nose section could look too bulbous for the rest of the aircraft. But finally, when the stabilizers were in place, everything looked more balanced than expected.

Changing the front wheel from the original, forward-retracting single-wheel arrangement to a rearward-retracting twin wheel creation also helped selling the new proportions.

Painting and markings:

Very early I had the idea to keep the Su-18 in Soviet/Russian service, but it should feature an unusual, yet plausible paint scheme. The Soviet/Russian Navy actually used the Su-17, but only in tactical camouflage, with green and brown upper surfaces and light blue undersides. While browsing for alternatives I came across the Su-24 (also flown by the Navy regiments), and their typical light grey/white livery was what perfectly fit my story for the aircraft.

Said and done, the model was painted in Humbrol 167 (RAF Barley Grey) from above and painted with the rattle can in a vintage VW car tone called “Grauweiß”, a very dull white. Later, panels were emphasized through dry-brushing (Humbrol 127 and 130), plus a light black ink wash and more overall dry-brushing with light grey tones. Also, some panels were painted all over the fuselage, as well as an overpainted Red Star on the fin which was replaced by a Russian Flag decal – a common experimental practice in the early 90ies, but the idea did not catch on.

Speaking of decals, these mostly come from the very complete Smer decal sheet. Personal additions are only the flags on the fin and the Russian Navy emblem on the nose.

The cockpit was painted in typical psychedelic cockpit interior turquoise, while the landing gear and the wells were painted in blue-grey (Humbrol 87); the wheel discs were kept in bright green (Humbrol 2) – a nice contrast to the rest.

The drop tanks were painted in Aluminum, for some overall contrast, and the Kh-31 missiles according to real-life pics; the launch rails were painted in Russian Underside Blue, again for variety and contrast.

While the finish of the model is far from perfect, I am satisfied with the convincing result. You could certainly place this aircraft in line with other, typical Suchoj types like the Su-7, -15, -17 and -24, and it would not look out of place! A highly effective whif, IMHO. ^^

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Su-18 was the final evolutionary step in the long journey of the Su-7 fighter bomber. Seeking to improve low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the Su-7B fighter-bomber, in 1963 the Sukhoi OKB with input from TsAGI created a variable-sweep wing technology demonstrator. The Su-7IG (internal designation S-22I, NATO designation "Fitter-B"), converted from a production Su-7BM, had fixed inner portions of the wing with movable outer segments which could be swept to 28°, 45°, or 62°.

Only about 120 Su-18s were produced until 1990, and in a move to eliminate single engine strike aircraft from its inventory the Russian Air Force already retired its last Su-17M4 along with its fleet of MiG-23/27s in 1998, while the Su-18 in Naval Aviation service soldiered on until 2000. Some countries like Peru and Indonesia showed interest in these aircraft, but all were destroyed in the course of the bilateral START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 19.02 m (62 ft 5 in)

Wingspan:

Spread: 13.68 m (44 ft 11 in)

Swept: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 38.5 m² (415 ft²) spread, 34.5 m² (370 ft²) swept

Empty weight: 12,160 kg(12.2t) (26,810 lb)

Loaded weight: 16,400 kg(16.5t) (36,155 lb)

Fuel capacity: 3,770 kg (8,310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Soyuz R-79F-100 turbofan, rated at 99 kN (22.275 lbf) dry thrust and 130 kN (29.250 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed:

1.400 km/h (755 knots, 870 mph) at sea level, 1,860 km/h (1,005 knots, 1,156 mph, Mach 1.7) at altitude

Range:

1,150 km (620 nmi, 715 mi) combat range in hi-lo-hi attack with 2.000 kg (4.409 lb) warload; ferry range: 2.300 km (1.240 nmi, 1.430 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,200 m (46,590 ft)

Rate of climb: 230 m/s (45,275 ft/min)

Wing loading: 443 kg/m² (90.77 lb/ft²

Thrust/weight: 0.68

G-force limit: 7

Airframe lifespan: 2,000 flying hours, 20 years

Armament:

2 × 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannons, 150 RPG in the lower forward fuselage

Up to 4000 kg (8,820 lb) on ten hardpoints (three under the fixed portion of each wing, four on the fuselage sides), including Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry'), Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen'), Kh-29 (AS-14 'Kedge'), Kh-31A & P (AS-17 ‘Krypton) anti-shipping/anti-radiation missiles and Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter') guided missiles, as well as electro-optical and laser-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rocket pods, cluster bombs, SPPU-22-01 cannon pods with traversable barrels, ECM pods, napalm tanks, and nuclear weapons.

The kit and its assembly:

This whif creation was triggered by a discussion at whatifmodelers.com, circling around an updated/improved Su-17/22. I remembered a photoshop creation of a Su-17 with side air intakes (from an A-4) and a nose radome (probably from an F-14) in USAF-markings – a potential way to go, even though the graphic design had some flaws like the subsonic air intake design or the guns’ position right in front of the intakes. Well, “Let’s tackle that, and do it better”, and the Su-18 is my interpretation of that idea.

The kit the Su-17M4 from Smer, a kit that has nice proportions and good detail, but nothing really fits together – expect lots of putty work! From that basis only few things were actually changed or added:

• Nose intake replaced by a F-15 radome

• Side air intakes with splitter plates come from a PM Model Su-15

• The following ducts are a halved part from an Art Model Bv 155 underwing radiator

• A new seat had to be used in the cockpit

• Main wheels from a Me 262 replace the OOB parts

• New twin front wheel which retracts backwards now

• For the anti-shipping role, a pair of Kh-31 missiles and the launch rails from an ICM weapon set

My biggest concern were the air intakes and the wide ducts, since these had to be blended into the round Su-17 fuselage. For the intakes, the wing roots were cut open and the Su-15 parts inserted. The Bv 155 parts were a lucky find, as they matched perfectly in size and shape – otherwise I had had to sculpt the ducts from 2c Putty. The arrangement still looks a little brutal, but the side intakes look plausible.

The nose radome posed little problems, even though I worried for a long time that the nose section could look too bulbous for the rest of the aircraft. But finally, when the stabilizers were in place, everything looked more balanced than expected.

Changing the front wheel from the original, forward-retracting single-wheel arrangement to a rearward-retracting twin wheel creation also helped selling the new proportions.

Painting and markings:

Very early I had the idea to keep the Su-18 in Soviet/Russian service, but it should feature an unusual, yet plausible paint scheme. The Soviet/Russian Navy actually used the Su-17, but only in tactical camouflage, with green and brown upper surfaces and light blue undersides. While browsing for alternatives I came across the Su-24 (also flown by the Navy regiments), and their typical light grey/white livery was what perfectly fit my story for the aircraft.

Said and done, the model was painted in Humbrol 167 (RAF Barley Grey) from above and painted with the rattle can in a vintage VW car tone called “Grauweiß”, a very dull white. Later, panels were emphasized through dry-brushing (Humbrol 127 and 130), plus a light black ink wash and more overall dry-brushing with light grey tones. Also, some panels were painted all over the fuselage, as well as an overpainted Red Star on the fin which was replaced by a Russian Flag decal – a common experimental practice in the early 90ies, but the idea did not catch on.

Speaking of decals, these mostly come from the very complete Smer decal sheet. Personal additions are only the flags on the fin and the Russian Navy emblem on the nose.

The cockpit was painted in typical psychedelic cockpit interior turquoise, while the landing gear and the wells were painted in blue-grey (Humbrol 87); the wheel discs were kept in bright green (Humbrol 2) – a nice contrast to the rest.

The drop tanks were painted in Aluminum, for some overall contrast, and the Kh-31 missiles according to real-life pics; the launch rails were painted in Russian Underside Blue, again for variety and contrast.

While the finish of the model is far from perfect, I am satisfied with the convincing result. You could certainly place this aircraft in line with other, typical Suchoj types like the Su-7, -15, -17 and -24, and it would not look out of place! A highly effective whif, IMHO. ^^

Image Description: a woman wearing a white and red headband, is using a small propane campstove that is placed on a large slab of rock. In the background, tree branches, and a canyon wall.

Before hiking in the canyon, all backpackers should be aware

Campfires are not allowed in the backcountry, no how nowhere

Campers instead should bring a stove with some fuel

Self-contained stoves for cooking is the rule

Make sure your flame never gets out of control

A wayward spark can turn the canyon to nothing but charcoal

Fire spreads quickly in this desert place

Jeopardizing plants, animals and everything else in this space

Cacti and trees can take decades or more

To grow back to their splendor, the condition we adore

Fire scars are ugly, black and full of ashes

They spread through campsites and with your gear clashes

Besides, fires block the magnificent night sky

They drown out the stars which otherwise seem close by

So be sure not to light a fire on your backcountry trek

Grand Canyon thanks you for treating this rule with respect

- Andrea Tavegia, Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry Information Center

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Su-18 was the final evolutionary step in the long journey of the Su-7 fighter bomber. Seeking to improve low-speed and take-off/landing performance of the Su-7B fighter-bomber, in 1963 the Sukhoi OKB with input from TsAGI created a variable-sweep wing technology demonstrator. The Su-7IG (internal designation S-22I, NATO designation "Fitter-B"), converted from a production Su-7BM, had fixed inner portions of the wing with movable outer segments which could be swept to 28°, 45°, or 62°.

Only about 120 Su-18s were produced until 1990, and in a move to eliminate single engine strike aircraft from its inventory the Russian Air Force already retired its last Su-17M4 along with its fleet of MiG-23/27s in 1998, while the Su-18 in Naval Aviation service soldiered on until 2000. Some countries like Peru and Indonesia showed interest in these aircraft, but all were destroyed in the course of the bilateral START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 19.02 m (62 ft 5 in)

Wingspan:

Spread: 13.68 m (44 ft 11 in)

Swept: 10.02 m (32 ft 10 in)

Height: 5.12 m (16 ft 10 in)

Wing area: 38.5 m² (415 ft²) spread, 34.5 m² (370 ft²) swept

Empty weight: 12,160 kg(12.2t) (26,810 lb)

Loaded weight: 16,400 kg(16.5t) (36,155 lb)

Fuel capacity: 3,770 kg (8,310 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Soyuz R-79F-100 turbofan, rated at 99 kN (22.275 lbf) dry thrust and 130 kN (29.250 lbf) with afterburner

Performance:

Maximum speed:

1.400 km/h (755 knots, 870 mph) at sea level, 1,860 km/h (1,005 knots, 1,156 mph, Mach 1.7) at altitude

Range:

1,150 km (620 nmi, 715 mi) combat range in hi-lo-hi attack with 2.000 kg (4.409 lb) warload; ferry range: 2.300 km (1.240 nmi, 1.430 mi)

Service ceiling: 14,200 m (46,590 ft)

Rate of climb: 230 m/s (45,275 ft/min)

Wing loading: 443 kg/m² (90.77 lb/ft²

Thrust/weight: 0.68

G-force limit: 7

Airframe lifespan: 2,000 flying hours, 20 years

Armament:

2 × 30 mm GSh-30-1 cannons, 150 RPG in the lower forward fuselage

Up to 4000 kg (8,820 lb) on ten hardpoints (three under the fixed portion of each wing, four on the fuselage sides), including Kh-23 (AS-7 'Kerry'), Kh-25 (AS-10 'Karen'), Kh-29 (AS-14 'Kedge'), Kh-31A & P (AS-17 ‘Krypton) anti-shipping/anti-radiation missiles and Kh-58 (AS-11 'Kilter') guided missiles, as well as electro-optical and laser-guided bombs, free-fall bombs, rocket pods, cluster bombs, SPPU-22-01 cannon pods with traversable barrels, ECM pods, napalm tanks, and nuclear weapons.

The kit and its assembly:

This whif creation was triggered by a discussion at whatifmodelers.com, circling around an updated/improved Su-17/22. I remembered a photoshop creation of a Su-17 with side air intakes (from an A-4) and a nose radome (probably from an F-14) in USAF-markings – a potential way to go, even though the graphic design had some flaws like the subsonic air intake design or the guns’ position right in front of the intakes. Well, “Let’s tackle that, and do it better”, and the Su-18 is my interpretation of that idea.

The kit the Su-17M4 from Smer, a kit that has nice proportions and good detail, but nothing really fits together – expect lots of putty work! From that basis only few things were actually changed or added:

• Nose intake replaced by a F-15 radome

• Side air intakes with splitter plates come from a PM Model Su-15

• The following ducts are a halved part from an Art Model Bv 155 underwing radiator

• A new seat had to be used in the cockpit

• Main wheels from a Me 262 replace the OOB parts

• New twin front wheel which retracts backwards now

• For the anti-shipping role, a pair of Kh-31 missiles and the launch rails from an ICM weapon set

My biggest concern were the air intakes and the wide ducts, since these had to be blended into the round Su-17 fuselage. For the intakes, the wing roots were cut open and the Su-15 parts inserted. The Bv 155 parts were a lucky find, as they matched perfectly in size and shape – otherwise I had had to sculpt the ducts from 2c Putty. The arrangement still looks a little brutal, but the side intakes look plausible.

The nose radome posed little problems, even though I worried for a long time that the nose section could look too bulbous for the rest of the aircraft. But finally, when the stabilizers were in place, everything looked more balanced than expected.

Changing the front wheel from the original, forward-retracting single-wheel arrangement to a rearward-retracting twin wheel creation also helped selling the new proportions.

Painting and markings:

Very early I had the idea to keep the Su-18 in Soviet/Russian service, but it should feature an unusual, yet plausible paint scheme. The Soviet/Russian Navy actually used the Su-17, but only in tactical camouflage, with green and brown upper surfaces and light blue undersides. While browsing for alternatives I came across the Su-24 (also flown by the Navy regiments), and their typical light grey/white livery was what perfectly fit my story for the aircraft.

Said and done, the model was painted in Humbrol 167 (RAF Barley Grey) from above and painted with the rattle can in a vintage VW car tone called “Grauweiß”, a very dull white. Later, panels were emphasized through dry-brushing (Humbrol 127 and 130), plus a light black ink wash and more overall dry-brushing with light grey tones. Also, some panels were painted all over the fuselage, as well as an overpainted Red Star on the fin which was replaced by a Russian Flag decal – a common experimental practice in the early 90ies, but the idea did not catch on.

Speaking of decals, these mostly come from the very complete Smer decal sheet. Personal additions are only the flags on the fin and the Russian Navy emblem on the nose.

The cockpit was painted in typical psychedelic cockpit interior turquoise, while the landing gear and the wells were painted in blue-grey (Humbrol 87); the wheel discs were kept in bright green (Humbrol 2) – a nice contrast to the rest.

The drop tanks were painted in Aluminum, for some overall contrast, and the Kh-31 missiles according to real-life pics; the launch rails were painted in Russian Underside Blue, again for variety and contrast.

While the finish of the model is far from perfect, I am satisfied with the convincing result. You could certainly place this aircraft in line with other, typical Suchoj types like the Su-7, -15, -17 and -24, and it would not look out of place! A highly effective whif, IMHO. ^^

The client originally wanted a Superion, and somehow we shifted towards a Cybertronian style/theme set of Aerialbots. I wanted to minimize extra parts, however - I prefer great proportions and size over a few less pieces. Superion is fully transformable. He stands approximately 15 inches tall. He is fully articulated as well : waist, hips, thighs, double knee joints, ball jointed ankles, ratcheting shoulders, upper arms, head, and fingers. He contains 2 bright 3mm yellow LED bulbs in his visor. I took some creative artistic freedom in changing some of the aspects of Superion, such as his face now has a battle mask. I wanted the entire team, as well as Superion to look as though they are a set; sticking to a limited color pallette including : black, white, silver, red and light blue. Other colors were used only to accent the character(s) He also has a large rifle/gun (as if he'd really need it)

Here are links to the individual Aerialbot Galleries :

Fireflight >> www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157649052066427/

Slingshot >> www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157650009516775/

Silverbolt >> www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157649146588777/

Skydive >> www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157649334894122/

Air Raid >> www.flickr.com/photos/accardi1/sets/72157637604620533/

Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, 70 mi north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet. Architect Paolo Soleri, using a concept he calls arcology, started the town to demonstrate how urban conditions could be improved while minimizing the destructive impact on the earth. The goal of Arcosanti is to explore the concept of arcology, which combines architecture and ecology. The town aims to combine the social interaction and accessibility of an urban environment with sound environmental principles such as minimal resource use and access to the natural environment. To accomplish this, the project is building an experimental town on 25 acres of a 4,060 acre land preserve. Construction broke ground at the site in 1970, and continues at a varying pace through the present. The most recently completed building was finished in 1989. The population varies between 50 and 150 people, based on the number of students and volunteers on the site. Ultimately the town is intended to hold 5,000 people. Currently there are 13 major structures on the site, of at most several stories in height. The latest master plan, designed in 2001, envisions a massive complex, called Arcosanti 5000, that would dwarf the current buildings.

Two things struck my wife and me when we visited. The first was how much it reminded us of Pueblo Indians of the southwest (e.g., Hopi and the tribes in new Mexico). The concept here had a similar feel, though the architecture is completely different. The other thing that struck us was the irony of the whole project. The project and Paolo Soleri's concept is integuing and really very good; however, I found this project somewhat contradictory (just personal opinion). Soleri's concepts for urban design are to reduce urban sprawl and have people less dependent upon the automobile. Communities would be highly, if not completely self sufficent. People would work and live in the same area. The irony is that this community is 70 miles from Phoenix and probably 30 miles from Prescott. Most of their provisions need to be brought in. So they are almost more dependent upon cars than I might be.

Soleri was born in Turin, Italy. He was awarded a PhD in architecture from the Politecnico di Torino in 1946. He visited the United States in 1946 and spent a year and a half in fellowship with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West in Arizona, and at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. During this time, he gained international recognition for a bridge design displayed at the Museum of Modern Art. Soleri returned to Italy in 1950 where he was commissioned to build a large ceramics factory, "Ceramica Artistica Solimene" in Vietri on the Amalfi coast. The ceramics industry processes he became familiar with during its construction led to his award-winning designs and production of ceramic and bronze windbells and siltcast architectural structures. For over 40 years, proceeds from sales of the windbells have provided funds for construction to test his theoretical work. Ceramic and bronze bells are still produced and sold at Arcosanti and Cosanti in Arizona. In 1956 he settled in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his late wife, Colly, and their two daughters. Soleri made a lifelong commitment to research and experimentation in urban planning, establishing the Cosanti Foundation, a non-profit educational foundation.

From: boundless.uoregon.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/arch...(visual%20works)%22

"Portland's Municipal A Self- Guided Tour

The Portland Water Bureau strives to deliver the highest quality drinking water and service to the Portland community while also being conscientious stewards of the city's natural, fiscal and structural resources. For more information about the Portland Water Bureau, visit: www. portlandonline. com/ water • 503- 823- 7770 For information about Portland's public art, please contact the Regional Arts & Culture Council: www. racc. org • 503- 823- 5111 For more information on Portland's municipal fountains, visit: www. portlandonline. com/ water/ fountains Efficiency Most of Portland's decorative fountains recirculate water to minimize water use and run- off. The bureau has installed meters to gauge water use and electrical consumption. Health and Safety The health and safety of Portland's fountains, especially its interactive fountains, is a top priority for the Portland Water Bureau. The bureau cleans fountains regularly, monitors operations and chlorinates the interactive fountains to the level of a swimming pool.

P o r t l and' s M u n i c i pa l F o u n ta i n s

The Portland Water Bureau has proudly maintained Portland's municipal decorative fountains since 1988. The Water Bureau maintains beautiful fountains throughout the Portland area and the largest concentration of them lies within the downtown area. Take this opportunity to discover and explore downtown Portland and her treasure chest of unique artwork — Portland's fountains. Unlock their secrets and ponder their history as you wind your way through this bustling area of the city on a 2.6- mile, self- guided tour. Maintenance Maintaining these fountains is no small feat.

The Portland Water Bureau employs one full- time "Fountain Man" who spends his days ensuring that Portland's fountains are in working order, safe for public enjoyment and running efficiently. The bureau turns the fountains off for the cold weather months to prevent water from blowing or freezing on surfaces. This "down time" also provides an opportunity for maintenance and repair projects.

Portland's Interactive Fountains:

• Salmon Street Springs Fountain

Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park

• McCoy Fountain

N. Trenton Street & Newman Avenue

• Holladay Park Fountain

NE 11th Avenue & Multnomah Street

• Jamison Square Fountain

810 NW 11th Avenue

Fountain enthusiasts should be aware that the water in these fountains is not suitable for drinking. Also, please use caution when walking near pools of water or on slippery surfaces. Aesthetics The Portland Water Bureau works with the Regional Arts & Culture Council to maintain aesthetics at each fountain. Sculptures undergo restoration when needed, in order to present the art as originally intended. For more information on Portland's municipal fountains visit www. portlandonline. com/ water/ fountains

Other fountains maintained by the Portland Water Bureau:

• A Fountain for a Rose (O' Bryant Square Fountain) SW Park Avenue & Washington Street

• Holladay Park Fountain NE 11th Avenue & Multnomah Street

• The Rose Petal SE 106th Avenue & Stark Street

• McCoy Fountain N. Trenton Street & Newman Avenue

The City of Portland will make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities. Please notify us no less than five ( 5) business days prior to the event by phone at 503- 823- 7404, by the city's TTY at 503- 823- 6868, or by the Oregon Relay Service at 1- 800- 735- 2900. Printed on recycled paper 03/ 2009 Portland Water Bureau 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Room 600 Portland, OR 97204- 1926 Phone: 503- 823- 7404 Customer Service: 503- 823- 7770 Web site: portlandonline. com/ water Randy Leonard, Commissioner David G. Shaff, Administrator Fountains Ira Keller Forecourt Fountain Dreamer Fountain Salmon Street Springs Fountain Shemanski Fountain or " Rebecca at the Well" Lovejoy Fountain Animals in Pools Fountains Jamison Square Fountain The Jamison Square Fountain is the centerpiece of Northwest Portland's Jamison Square. Named in honor of William Jamison, an early advocate and catalyst for the development of the Pearl District, the fountain's wading pool offers cooling relief on hot summer days. Water cascades from stone joints into shallow pools where it ebbs and flows like the tide. Washington Stark Oak Pine Alder Morrison Yamhill Taylor Salmon Main Madison Jefferson Columbia Mill Harrison College Hall 9th Park Broadway 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st SW Naito Parkway Ash Clay 10th 11th Montgomery Market Jackson Ankeny Lincoln 12th Burnside Walk up the stairs to reach Burnside Burnside Bridge Morrison Bridge Hawthorne Bridge Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park Willamette River 8 7 6 5 4 Streetcar or MAX stop Walking Tour Streetcar or MAX Line 12 10 1 2 2 3 11 9 LOOK BUT DON'T DRINK The water in the decorative fountains is not for drinking. Please use designated crosswalks when possible. Total Tour Length: 2.6 miles Total Tour Time: 2 hours Por t l and Fou n ta i n s Wa l k i n g To u r 1. Pioneer Courthouse Square Fountain SW Broadway Avenue & Yamhill Street 1983 • Will Martin In 1849, Elijah Hill bought this block of downtown Portland for $ 24 and a pair of boots. The site of Portland's first schoolhouse, Pioneer Courthouse Square is now the most visited attraction in Portland. The fountain, which features imported tile, is a major part of Portland's " living room." Look for designer Will Martin's bronze hat at the top of the fountain. 2. Animals in Pools Fountains SW Yamhill & Morrison streets between 5th & 6th avenues 1986 • Georgia Gerber • bronze, concrete Eleven " pools" feature sculptures of animals native to Oregon. Sea lions, beavers, bears, river otters, ducks and deer line Morrison and Yamhill streets. Sculptor Georgia Gerber wanted to offer " a sense of the wild in the midst of a busy city." In 1991, one of the beloved bear cubs was stolen, but public outcry led to an anonymous tip that the cub was hiding in the bushes in neighboring Washington County. 3. Shemanski Fountain ( Rebecca at the Well) Park Blocks between SW Salmon & Main streets 1926 • Oliver Barrett ( stone) and Carl Linde ( bronze) Joseph Shemanski, the fountain's namesake, was a Polish immigrant who began his career selling clocks on an installment plan; he eventually owned 34 Pacific Coast stores of the Eastern Outfitting Company. Shemanski commissioned this fountain as a gesture of appreciation for the people of Portland who had so warmly welcomed him. His compassion for animals inspired the three pet- level drinking fountains. There are also three human- level fountains. Two years after the initial fountain was erected, Shemanski commissioned the sculpture of Rebecca at the Well, which reflects the biblical tale of Abraham's discovery of a bride for Isaac when he saw Rebecca drawing water for camels. Abraham chose Rebecca for Issac because of her kindness and service. 4. Chimney Fountain North of SW Lincoln Street between 3rd & 4th avenues 1968 • brick The southernmost of downtown fountains, this small structure was erected as part of the South Auditorium Project, the Portland Development Commission's first urban renewal project. The Chimney Fountain gives the illusion that water is flowing between the bricks, as smoke might seep through a chimney. 5. Lovejoy Fountain SW 3rd Avenue, between Lincoln & Harrison streets 1968 • Lawrence Halprin • concrete, brick In an 1843 contest with Francis Pettygrove, Asa Lovejoy, this fountain's namesake, lost two out of three coin tosses and thus the right to name our city after his hometown of Boston. Lovejoy and Pettygrove flipped the coin a second time to determine which of two neighboring parks would be named Lovejoy and which would be named Pettygrove. This beautiful fountain was built in Lovejoy's park and took on his name. With conservation in mind, the Portland Water Bureau fitted the Lovejoy Fountain with a more efficient water pump in 2008. Before installation of the new pump, the fountain took 12 hours to fill. 6. Dreamer Fountain SW 3rd Avenue between Market & Harrison streets 1979 Manuel Izquierdo • Muntz bronze Located in Pettygrove Park, Manuel Izquierdo's design of a reclining woman is made from surplus navy bronze that he bought and cleaned. Izquierdo said, " The Dreamer speaks of hope, of beauty and serenity, of love, and for a better life in our midst." Izquierdo filled the sculpture with foam so that falling rain would make a gentle sound like a kettledrum instead of ringing hollow. Izquierdo is professor emeritus at the Pacific Northwest College of Art. 7. Ira Keller Forecourt Fountain SW 3rd & 4th avenues between Market & Clay streets 1971 • Angela Danadjieva Designed to mimic the majestic waterfalls of Oregon's Cascade Mountains, the Ira Keller Fountain is truly one of Portland's best known landmarks. Formerly named, simply, Forecourt Fountain, it was renamed in 1978 in honor of the first chairman of the Portland Development Commission, Ira Keller, who had a major influence on the rehabilitation of the area. Residents and visitors alike flock to this series of waterfalls and pools which occupy nearly a full acre in downtown Portland's busiest business district. New York Times critic Ada Louise Huxtable declared this " one of the most important urban spaces since the Renaissance." 8. Elk Fountain SW Main between 3rd & 4th avenues 1900 • Roland Perry ( bronze) and H. G. Wright ( stone) Inspired by the Skidmore Fountain, former mayor David Thompson, president of the Oregon Humane Society, donated the money for this fountain as a trough for horses and dogs, and as a reminder of the elk that once lived in the West Hills and used the neighborhood as a feeding ground. Shortly after the statue was erected, a local artist offered to wire the antlers with electric light bulbs for $ 30. The offer was declined. 9. Salmon Street Springs Fountain SW Salmon Street at Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park 1978 • Robert Perron • concrete The Salmon Street Springs Fountain is one of Portland's most iconic fountains, majestically spouting water in an array of designs and speeds. A computer changes the pattern of the water display every 20 minutes. At full capacity the fountain recycles 4,924 gallons of water per minute through as many as 137 jets at one time. Taking its name from the winner of a city- wide naming contest, the fountain has become one of Portland's most popular summer hangouts. A large gathering at this fountain's 20- Year Anniversary Celebration in spring 2008, proved that Salmon Street Springs is more popular than ever. Citizens turned out en masse to celebrate its presence, despite rainy conditions and cool temperatures. 10. Skidmore Fountain SW 1st Avenue between W. Burnside & Ankeny streets 1888 • Olin Warner • bronze, granite This fountain, Portland's oldest commissioned public art, stands at what was once the city center. Druggist Stephen Skidmore left $ 5,000 in his will so that " horses, men, and dogs" could have a cold drink. The fountain was sculpted by Olin Warner who modeled the face of his wife on one of the two caryatids. New York critics lamented that the sculpture was in Portland and that it looked down " upon buggies and buck- boards, and shirt- sleeves and slouch hats in Oregon instead of decorating the Central Park." Skidmore Fountain is inscribed with the quote, " Good citizens are the riches of a city" a line from the dedicatory speech by C. E. S. Wood, an attorney and member of the Fountain Committee. For the dedication, brewer Henry Weinhard offered to pipe beer through the fountain, but the chairman of the Fountain Committee declined. For nearly two decades, people drank water from tin cups that hung from the lion's heads on the fountain. 12. Lee Kelly's Fountain SW 6th Avenue & Pine Street 1977 • Lee Kelly • stainless steel Oregon artist Lee Kelly won an international competition to design this sculpture. Kelly has designed several other sculptures in Portland and throughout the Pacific Northwest. In this work, water flows over several 20- foot- tall steel structures. In conjunction with the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Water Bureau helped to restore Kelly's fountain in 2004. The fountain had become run- down over the years. Opt i o n a l Tour E x t e n s i o n : 13. Jamison Square Fountain 810 NW 11th Avenue ( Jamison Square) • 2002 If you're feeling extra energetic, head over to Jamison Square Fountain. Just across West Burnside and into the Pearl District, Jamison has quickly become one of the city's most popular hot- weather hot spots. Poised as the centerpiece of Jamison Square, the fountain's wading pool offers cool relief to kids, dogs and adults all summer long. It was named in honor of William Jamison, an early advocate of Pearl District development. Somewhat like Oregon's coast, water cascades into shallow pools where it ebbs and flows like the tide. 11. Car Wash Fountain SW 5th Avenue & Ankeny Street 1977 • Carter, Hull, Nishita, McCulley & Baxter • steel This uniquely shaped fountain never washed cars, but the name seems appropriate given its similarity to a car wash. As a precaution for passing pedestrians, a wind gauge shuts off the pumps if the wind speed exceeds 2 miles per hour. For more information on Portland's municipal fountains visit: www. portlandonline. com/ water/ fountains"

Thorens TD124II/SME3012/Denon DL103> RCA step up>JE Labs preamp > Radiotron SE2A3 > Altec 755Es in 2cf cabs + Altec 32B/Renkus-Heinz 1800

I stopped in front of a nondescript booth, my attention drawn by an old clarinet resting in its frayed case. A long-put-aside memory from grade school flickered bravely in my head. "Do you play?" I turned toward a grey-haired woman with a pleasant smile, aging but (as I remind myself often these days) probably no older than I. "No, not really. Just in the 4th grade". We traded grade school clarinet memories, hers much better-formed than mine. Feeling comfortable now, I asked her what I'd been wanting to ask vendors all day - why was she here? She said that she was downsizing and keen on simplifying her life, and that she needed to get rid of things she had accumulated over the years.

Oh, the irony. Here was a flea market extravaganza, with over 800 vendors displaying wares for thousands of shoppers over three days, all there to buy this same “stuff” and take it home, adding it to their lives - bottles and buckets, knick-knacks, yard art, old croquet sets and family photos of someone else's family. Acres and acres of stuff. I watched a woman buy a 60's-vintage plastic alarm clock, saying to her husband, "My mom and dad had this exact alarm clock next to their bed!" What was she going to do with that clock?

Of course, I'm supposed to be culling this year. After 6 hours shopping and observing, I bought nothing except for lunch. All I brought home were photos. Like a moth drawn to a flame, though, I'm sure I'll return next year.

Storm Clouds over Mono Lake. This pano tends to minimize the size of these huge thunderheads. They were really spectacular

when i minimize the window size the only words that shown up on the left-side only the “me'

Dark-eyed junco, Junco hyemalis, South Llano River State Park, Texas. Vignetting is to minimize background clutter.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.

However, the fast technical development in the late Forties and the advent of the jet age rendered the SAS’ He 70 floatplane fleet quickly obsolete and they were retired in 1953.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/radio operator) plus up to 6 passengers

Length: 11.70 m (38 ft 4⅔ in)

Wingspan: 14.80 m (48 ft 6⅔.75 in)

Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 36.50 m² (392.9 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,386 kg (7,450 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1× SNECMA 14R supercharged 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,190 kW (1,590 hp) for take-off

Performance:

Maximum speed: 320 km/h (177 knots, 200 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 260 km/h (144 knots, 162 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,135 nmi, 1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 3 min

Climb to 4,000 m (13,125 ft): 18 min

The kit and its assembly:

A straightforward idea for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017. This civilian transport aircraft originally started as a military aircraft (even though this one might materialize later, too). The decision to change the topic fell when I came across a Ju 52/3m sheet (Italeri) in my decal box which features an SAS machine. After some legwork I found that these machines were still in use in the Fifties, and so, why not add a smaller aircraft on floats to the post-WWII SAS fleet for remote regions, e. g. for postal service? The He 70 appeared like a plausible candidate, and from this concept the model evolved.

Kit basis is the Matchbox He 70, and the floats come from the KP Letov S.328, a popular donor source since you find this kit quite often and with a small price tag. The floats are still a little ‘petites’ for the He 70, and their "track" is rather narrow. But the combo works, since the He 70 is a very sleek aircraft.

The floats’ assembly needed some serious PSR, though, and mounting them to the wobbly struts was challenging in itself. They were outfitted with mooring anchors, new rudders (one OOB piece got lost, they are very fragile and wobbly) and walking planks.

The aircraft model is a Revell re-boxing of the Matchbox He 70, and the kit is a PITA. Gone are the days when I thought that a Matchbox kit was simple, but would go together well. Here, nothing really fits, PSR everywhere, this thing SUCKS. Be warned!

Since the small windows do not allow much view inside, the interior was kept at a minimum detail level. The original IP side windows were omitted, because they are thick and blurry, and they were later replaced/filled with ClearFix. The cockpit canopy is OOB, but it is so small (and thick, too) that only the pilot's head can be seen – or better: guessed. Since there’s surprisingly little space under the canopy, I could not mount an 1:72 figure and rather used a generic 1:87 (H0 scale) sitting figure.

The machine was built with the radial engine option (IMHO a plausible option for the original military operator and also more suitable for operations in the Far North), but the primitive OOB "engine plate" was replaced by a deeper and much better detailed resin piece found in the scrap box (IIRC, left over from a converted ArtModel Polikarpov I-185). It fits snuggly into the OOB front end, even though the ring cover needed some tuning. The propeller is new, too (from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A/F, IIRC), mated with a new axis.

In order to adapt the He 70 to the new floats the original landing gear openings were closed (thankfully, the kit comes with dedicated covers) and blended into the lower wing surface with putty. In order to give the floats a good hold to the fuselage, small round adapters (actually rings cut from a 3mm styrene tube) were glued to the lower hull. Not the most elegant solution, but a pragmatic way to bridge some gaps and lay a good foundation.

In order to add stability to the aircraft with the additional draggy floats, I mounted a ventral fin under the rear fuselage, under the fin.

Another detail: due to the floats, the crew and potential passengers would need boarding ladders, and I used the He 115 as a benchmark. I knew that I have some PE ladders somewhere, but could not find them... So I had to improvise and converted IP window frames from a H0 scale American industrial building into boarding aids. Looks better than most OOB solutions!

Towards the finish line, a HO scale pilot figure added to the cockpit (it's tight and the canopy so thick that I could not fit an 1:72 pilot inside!) and the canopy stuck into place with white glue.

Painting and markings:

I kept this aspect very simple, and used the livery of a post-WW2 Ju 52/3m as benchmark: uniform silver, but apparently not in NMF – but this could also be corroded aluminum. Or is it a silver paint coat against corrosion? The only contrast were black engine covers, and the airline markings.

In order to achieve the silver paint look I tried an experiment: a basic overall coat with acrylic paint from a rattle can, a Duplicolor tone called "Weissaluminium" - which, on the reference sample, rather looks like a greyish paint than a true NMF; at first I was skeptical about the mica particles' size when the paint was still fresh, but once dry the coat looked very good and even, and more like a bare NMF than expected. On top of that, some panel shading with Polished Aluminum Metallizer was added, but only lightly.

In order to add some more "color" I decided to paint the underwater parts of the floats in black. Not a good idea – at least with the Tamiya tape I used for a clean demarcation line... Painting went fine, but when I removed the tape wide sections of the alu paint came off with them. Hmpf.

Anyway, I will try to use the damage creatively and not sand it off or overpaint the damage with silver - I'll rather use a grey primer, as if some real world damage would have been repaired. After all, it's a kind of bush aircraft.

Then the black cowling was added, and I started with the decals, which had to be improvised. For the civil registration code on the wings I used large USAF 45° characters (from a Colorado Decals sheet) – chosing those letters which do not show the typical font, rather simple forms.

For the fuselage markings I used leftover material from an 1:144 SAS Caravelle from Mistercraft. These are a little modern for the aircraft’s intended timeframe, but the characteristic blue cheatline with the dragon boat head at the nose was already present on early post-war SAS aircraft, so this detail is more or less O.K., and with the trim in place the aircraft looks very elegant. The “Scandinavian” line also comes from the Caravelle – it should be complemented by “Airlines System” in smaller front, but this was not available, and the line alone was already so big and long that it covers literally the whole cabin.

However, the problem with these decals was that the cheatlines featured the triangular Caravelle windows, so that I had to paint them over manually (with Humbrol 104, which is a good match, though). Some more decals, like the country emblems on the fuselage, come from an Italeri SAS Ju 52/3m, or the OOB sheet. The cabin doors were simulated with single 0.5mm decal strips in black.

Finally the kit was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), the windows were created with Humbrol ClearFix (instead of the OOB styrene pieces) and almost no other weathering was done. In a final step, the floats were mounted under the fuselage and a wire antenna added.

Not a spectacular whif, but an elegant one, despite (or thanks to?) the relatively simple civil scheme. The Letov S.328 floats are IMHO a good match in size and volume, but somehow I think the floats’ track with is a little too narrow? Anyway, I stuck with it, and the resulting He 70 floatplane does not look bad at all.

ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA e RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA. Opinion - How Italy Coped, and Will Keep Coping. THE NEW YORK TIMES (04/05/2020).

ITALY - How Italy Coped, and Will Keep Coping. As Italians move toward a less stringent regimen to minimize their exposure to the coronavirus, they can take pride in an unusual collective effort.

___

"Il grazie di tutti gli italiani a medici, infermieri, oss, farmacisti e a tutti coloro che direttamente e indirettamente stanno mettendo tutte le proprie energie per proteggere la nostra vita e quella dei nostri cari. Siete più che eroi".

Sig. Savethewall (nome d'arte di Pierpaolo Perretta), in: La Pietà di Michelangelo racconta l'emergenza coronavirus. La Repubblica / Milano (24/03/2020).

----

CREMA, Italy — The first country outside Asia to experience the coronavirus pandemic on a large scale was Italy. It was the first to go into lockdown and impose a national quarantine, on March 9. And it is the part of Europe that suffered most. As of May 3, 29,000 people were known to have lost their lives because of Covid-19. The actual figures are likely to be higher, as they will be everywhere else. My northern region — Lombardy, Italy’s economic powerhouse — has registered half of the country’s deaths. Army truck convoys carried coffins to crematories around the country from Bergamo — where the death rate in March and April rose to more than four times what it was last year. Brescia, Lodi, Cremona and Crema — where I live — were also deeply affected. My hometown has been a ghost town for two months. People moaned but stayed at home.

On Monday, Italy started reopening, but cautiously. Limited outdoor activity will be allowed, and visits to relatives, partners and lovers (“affetti stabili,” the government called them, opening a national debate about what makes your affections stable). Factories and construction companies are allowed to go back to work. On May 18, it will be the turn of shops. On June 1, if the contagion rate stays down, bars and restaurants will reopen. Schools, stadiums, theaters and churches will remain closed. Face masks will be compulsory on public transportation and in confined public spaces. More coronavirus tests are available, and a contact-tracing app, based on Bluetooth technology, should be near distribution.

The path that Italy strode before getting to this point has repeated itself in every coronavira-stricken country. First, the underestimation; then the disbelief, the shock, the lockdown. Next, jokes shared on smartphones, mood swings, the reassurance of the national anthem. At that point, after two weeks of lockdown, reality kicked in. We realized that the challenge was a long-distance run, and we started running.

Here in Crema the hospital was being overwhelmed by patients, many needing intensive care; the Italian Army built a field hospital in a week, and a Cuban medical brigade, composed of 52 doctors and nurses, arrived on March 26. For the next three weeks — until after Easter — ambulance sirens filled the air under blue skies, blooming trees and the loveliest spring for years.

Now that we are beginning to relax the lockdown — cautiously, anxiously — perhaps we can say it: Italy coped. The national health system sustained the impact, although 153 doctors and over 50 nurses lost their lives, and thousands were infected. Sixty million people stayed at home and, by and large, followed the rules. That was a surprise, given our reputation for being undisciplined.

But is it surprising?

In Italy rules are not obeyed — or disobeyed — as they are elsewhere. We think it’s an insult to our intelligence to comply with a regulation without questioning it first. We want to decide whether a particular rule or regulation applies to our specific case. Once we’ve established that it does, we’ll respect it. With Covid-19, we decided the lockdown made sense — so there was no need to enforce it.

We coped because we found other resources that were always there: realism, inventiveness, extended families, solidarity, memories. The architect Carlo Ratti, director of the M.I.T. SENSEable City Lab, who’s from Turin, puts it this way: “For centuries, invaders — the Spanish, the French, the Austrians, the Germans — held authority over we Italians. Now we are the authority; the invader is a nasty virus. Bonding was the obvious thing to do.”

We are a social bunch, and the web just provided us with extra tools. Family and personal relationships — whose importance in Italian life cannot be underestimated — helped a lot in this crisis. Men cooked for their families with the help of their children, while mothers became part-time teachers. Friends sought out friends; if they were unwell, even more so. Aperitivo on the balcony — toasting with your neighbors — was no one-off Instagram occasion; for many, especially people living alone, it became a regular, soothing way to end a nerve-racking day.

Italy has the largest share of people older than 80 among all European Union member nations. Half the deaths happened in nursing homes, as in other countries. But many grandparents live at home, often near their grown-up children; they spend time with their grandchildren and often replace babysitters. This time they had to stay away, of course, for fear of contagion. But they learned quickly how to help by supporting their children’s families financially from their own safe homes and tried to cheer them up. Most learned new tricks — Zoom and FaceTime have no secrets for Italian grandparents.

A pandemic, like any major crisis, is revealing. It’s a lie detector for individuals and for nations. People can bluff for a day, a week, maybe a month, but not throughout a time like this.

American culture has a libertarian streak and there it was last week, from Michigan to Pennsylvania, asking for “reopening,” encouraged by the president who had ordered the restrictions. The French have always shown a flair for protest and unrest, and they duly arrived, in their suburbs, following lockdown restrictions. Swedes believe in an open society, and they were the last to close, reluctantly. Quite a few Britons, lately, have come to believe in conspiracy theories. The burning down of phone towers there, in the grotesque fear that 5G cellular networks helped to spread the virus, proves the point.

Fonte / source:

--- THE NEW YORK TIMES (04/05/2020).

www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/opinion/italy-coronavirus.html

--- THE NEW YORK TIMES (23/02/2020).

www.nytimes.com/2020/02/23/world/europe/italy-coronavirus...

Foto / fonte / sources:

--- La Pietà di Michelangelo racconta l'emergenza coronavirus. La Repubblica / Milano (24/03/2020).

milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2020/03/24/foto/coronavirus_...

______________________

1). ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA E RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA. ROME – THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES (2010-2020).

rometheimperialfora19952010.wordpress.com/

Questa è la nuova seconda parte del blog:

This is the New Second Part of the Blog:

2). ROMA ARCHEOLOGIA E RESTAURO ARCHITETTURA 2020.

ROME – THE IMPERIAL FORA: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH & RELATED STUDIES.

romaarcheologiaerestauroarchitettura.wordpress.com/

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.

However, the fast technical development in the late Forties and the advent of the jet age rendered the SAS’ He 70 floatplane fleet quickly obsolete and they were retired in 1953.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/radio operator) plus up to 6 passengers

Length: 11.70 m (38 ft 4⅔ in)

Wingspan: 14.80 m (48 ft 6⅔.75 in)

Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 36.50 m² (392.9 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,386 kg (7,450 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1× SNECMA 14R supercharged 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,190 kW (1,590 hp) for take-off

Performance:

Maximum speed: 320 km/h (177 knots, 200 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 260 km/h (144 knots, 162 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,135 nmi, 1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 3 min

Climb to 4,000 m (13,125 ft): 18 min

The kit and its assembly:

A straightforward idea for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017. This civilian transport aircraft originally started as a military aircraft (even though this one might materialize later, too). The decision to change the topic fell when I came across a Ju 52/3m sheet (Italeri) in my decal box which features an SAS machine. After some legwork I found that these machines were still in use in the Fifties, and so, why not add a smaller aircraft on floats to the post-WWII SAS fleet for remote regions, e. g. for postal service? The He 70 appeared like a plausible candidate, and from this concept the model evolved.

Kit basis is the Matchbox He 70, and the floats come from the KP Letov S.328, a popular donor source since you find this kit quite often and with a small price tag. The floats are still a little ‘petites’ for the He 70, and their "track" is rather narrow. But the combo works, since the He 70 is a very sleek aircraft.

The floats’ assembly needed some serious PSR, though, and mounting them to the wobbly struts was challenging in itself. They were outfitted with mooring anchors, new rudders (one OOB piece got lost, they are very fragile and wobbly) and walking planks.

The aircraft model is a Revell re-boxing of the Matchbox He 70, and the kit is a PITA. Gone are the days when I thought that a Matchbox kit was simple, but would go together well. Here, nothing really fits, PSR everywhere, this thing SUCKS. Be warned!

Since the small windows do not allow much view inside, the interior was kept at a minimum detail level. The original IP side windows were omitted, because they are thick and blurry, and they were later replaced/filled with ClearFix. The cockpit canopy is OOB, but it is so small (and thick, too) that only the pilot's head can be seen – or better: guessed. Since there’s surprisingly little space under the canopy, I could not mount an 1:72 figure and rather used a generic 1:87 (H0 scale) sitting figure.

The machine was built with the radial engine option (IMHO a plausible option for the original military operator and also more suitable for operations in the Far North), but the primitive OOB "engine plate" was replaced by a deeper and much better detailed resin piece found in the scrap box (IIRC, left over from a converted ArtModel Polikarpov I-185). It fits snuggly into the OOB front end, even though the ring cover needed some tuning. The propeller is new, too (from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A/F, IIRC), mated with a new axis.

In order to adapt the He 70 to the new floats the original landing gear openings were closed (thankfully, the kit comes with dedicated covers) and blended into the lower wing surface with putty. In order to give the floats a good hold to the fuselage, small round adapters (actually rings cut from a 3mm styrene tube) were glued to the lower hull. Not the most elegant solution, but a pragmatic way to bridge some gaps and lay a good foundation.

In order to add stability to the aircraft with the additional draggy floats, I mounted a ventral fin under the rear fuselage, under the fin.

Another detail: due to the floats, the crew and potential passengers would need boarding ladders, and I used the He 115 as a benchmark. I knew that I have some PE ladders somewhere, but could not find them... So I had to improvise and converted IP window frames from a H0 scale American industrial building into boarding aids. Looks better than most OOB solutions!

Towards the finish line, a HO scale pilot figure added to the cockpit (it's tight and the canopy so thick that I could not fit an 1:72 pilot inside!) and the canopy stuck into place with white glue.

Painting and markings:

I kept this aspect very simple, and used the livery of a post-WW2 Ju 52/3m as benchmark: uniform silver, but apparently not in NMF – but this could also be corroded aluminum. Or is it a silver paint coat against corrosion? The only contrast were black engine covers, and the airline markings.

In order to achieve the silver paint look I tried an experiment: a basic overall coat with acrylic paint from a rattle can, a Duplicolor tone called "Weissaluminium" - which, on the reference sample, rather looks like a greyish paint than a true NMF; at first I was skeptical about the mica particles' size when the paint was still fresh, but once dry the coat looked very good and even, and more like a bare NMF than expected. On top of that, some panel shading with Polished Aluminum Metallizer was added, but only lightly.

In order to add some more "color" I decided to paint the underwater parts of the floats in black. Not a good idea – at least with the Tamiya tape I used for a clean demarcation line... Painting went fine, but when I removed the tape wide sections of the alu paint came off with them. Hmpf.

Anyway, I will try to use the damage creatively and not sand it off or overpaint the damage with silver - I'll rather use a grey primer, as if some real world damage would have been repaired. After all, it's a kind of bush aircraft.

Then the black cowling was added, and I started with the decals, which had to be improvised. For the civil registration code on the wings I used large USAF 45° characters (from a Colorado Decals sheet) – chosing those letters which do not show the typical font, rather simple forms.

For the fuselage markings I used leftover material from an 1:144 SAS Caravelle from Mistercraft. These are a little modern for the aircraft’s intended timeframe, but the characteristic blue cheatline with the dragon boat head at the nose was already present on early post-war SAS aircraft, so this detail is more or less O.K., and with the trim in place the aircraft looks very elegant. The “Scandinavian” line also comes from the Caravelle – it should be complemented by “Airlines System” in smaller front, but this was not available, and the line alone was already so big and long that it covers literally the whole cabin.

However, the problem with these decals was that the cheatlines featured the triangular Caravelle windows, so that I had to paint them over manually (with Humbrol 104, which is a good match, though). Some more decals, like the country emblems on the fuselage, come from an Italeri SAS Ju 52/3m, or the OOB sheet. The cabin doors were simulated with single 0.5mm decal strips in black.

Finally the kit was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), the windows were created with Humbrol ClearFix (instead of the OOB styrene pieces) and almost no other weathering was done. In a final step, the floats were mounted under the fuselage and a wire antenna added.

Not a spectacular whif, but an elegant one, despite (or thanks to?) the relatively simple civil scheme. The Letov S.328 floats are IMHO a good match in size and volume, but somehow I think the floats’ track with is a little too narrow? Anyway, I stuck with it, and the resulting He 70 floatplane does not look bad at all.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.

However, the fast technical development in the late Forties and the advent of the jet age rendered the SAS’ He 70 floatplane fleet quickly obsolete and they were retired in 1953.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/radio operator) plus up to 6 passengers

Length: 11.70 m (38 ft 4⅔ in)

Wingspan: 14.80 m (48 ft 6⅔.75 in)

Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 36.50 m² (392.9 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,386 kg (7,450 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1× SNECMA 14R supercharged 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,190 kW (1,590 hp) for take-off

Performance:

Maximum speed: 320 km/h (177 knots, 200 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 260 km/h (144 knots, 162 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,135 nmi, 1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 3 min

Climb to 4,000 m (13,125 ft): 18 min

The kit and its assembly:

A straightforward idea for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017. This civilian transport aircraft originally started as a military aircraft (even though this one might materialize later, too). The decision to change the topic fell when I came across a Ju 52/3m sheet (Italeri) in my decal box which features an SAS machine. After some legwork I found that these machines were still in use in the Fifties, and so, why not add a smaller aircraft on floats to the post-WWII SAS fleet for remote regions, e. g. for postal service? The He 70 appeared like a plausible candidate, and from this concept the model evolved.

Kit basis is the Matchbox He 70, and the floats come from the KP Letov S.328, a popular donor source since you find this kit quite often and with a small price tag. The floats are still a little ‘petites’ for the He 70, and their "track" is rather narrow. But the combo works, since the He 70 is a very sleek aircraft.

The floats’ assembly needed some serious PSR, though, and mounting them to the wobbly struts was challenging in itself. They were outfitted with mooring anchors, new rudders (one OOB piece got lost, they are very fragile and wobbly) and walking planks.

The aircraft model is a Revell re-boxing of the Matchbox He 70, and the kit is a PITA. Gone are the days when I thought that a Matchbox kit was simple, but would go together well. Here, nothing really fits, PSR everywhere, this thing SUCKS. Be warned!

Since the small windows do not allow much view inside, the interior was kept at a minimum detail level. The original IP side windows were omitted, because they are thick and blurry, and they were later replaced/filled with ClearFix. The cockpit canopy is OOB, but it is so small (and thick, too) that only the pilot's head can be seen – or better: guessed. Since there’s surprisingly little space under the canopy, I could not mount an 1:72 figure and rather used a generic 1:87 (H0 scale) sitting figure.

The machine was built with the radial engine option (IMHO a plausible option for the original military operator and also more suitable for operations in the Far North), but the primitive OOB "engine plate" was replaced by a deeper and much better detailed resin piece found in the scrap box (IIRC, left over from a converted ArtModel Polikarpov I-185). It fits snuggly into the OOB front end, even though the ring cover needed some tuning. The propeller is new, too (from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A/F, IIRC), mated with a new axis.

In order to adapt the He 70 to the new floats the original landing gear openings were closed (thankfully, the kit comes with dedicated covers) and blended into the lower wing surface with putty. In order to give the floats a good hold to the fuselage, small round adapters (actually rings cut from a 3mm styrene tube) were glued to the lower hull. Not the most elegant solution, but a pragmatic way to bridge some gaps and lay a good foundation.

In order to add stability to the aircraft with the additional draggy floats, I mounted a ventral fin under the rear fuselage, under the fin.

Another detail: due to the floats, the crew and potential passengers would need boarding ladders, and I used the He 115 as a benchmark. I knew that I have some PE ladders somewhere, but could not find them... So I had to improvise and converted IP window frames from a H0 scale American industrial building into boarding aids. Looks better than most OOB solutions!

Towards the finish line, a HO scale pilot figure added to the cockpit (it's tight and the canopy so thick that I could not fit an 1:72 pilot inside!) and the canopy stuck into place with white glue.

Painting and markings:

I kept this aspect very simple, and used the livery of a post-WW2 Ju 52/3m as benchmark: uniform silver, but apparently not in NMF – but this could also be corroded aluminum. Or is it a silver paint coat against corrosion? The only contrast were black engine covers, and the airline markings.

In order to achieve the silver paint look I tried an experiment: a basic overall coat with acrylic paint from a rattle can, a Duplicolor tone called "Weissaluminium" - which, on the reference sample, rather looks like a greyish paint than a true NMF; at first I was skeptical about the mica particles' size when the paint was still fresh, but once dry the coat looked very good and even, and more like a bare NMF than expected. On top of that, some panel shading with Polished Aluminum Metallizer was added, but only lightly.

In order to add some more "color" I decided to paint the underwater parts of the floats in black. Not a good idea – at least with the Tamiya tape I used for a clean demarcation line... Painting went fine, but when I removed the tape wide sections of the alu paint came off with them. Hmpf.

Anyway, I will try to use the damage creatively and not sand it off or overpaint the damage with silver - I'll rather use a grey primer, as if some real world damage would have been repaired. After all, it's a kind of bush aircraft.

Then the black cowling was added, and I started with the decals, which had to be improvised. For the civil registration code on the wings I used large USAF 45° characters (from a Colorado Decals sheet) – chosing those letters which do not show the typical font, rather simple forms.

For the fuselage markings I used leftover material from an 1:144 SAS Caravelle from Mistercraft. These are a little modern for the aircraft’s intended timeframe, but the characteristic blue cheatline with the dragon boat head at the nose was already present on early post-war SAS aircraft, so this detail is more or less O.K., and with the trim in place the aircraft looks very elegant. The “Scandinavian” line also comes from the Caravelle – it should be complemented by “Airlines System” in smaller front, but this was not available, and the line alone was already so big and long that it covers literally the whole cabin.

However, the problem with these decals was that the cheatlines featured the triangular Caravelle windows, so that I had to paint them over manually (with Humbrol 104, which is a good match, though). Some more decals, like the country emblems on the fuselage, come from an Italeri SAS Ju 52/3m, or the OOB sheet. The cabin doors were simulated with single 0.5mm decal strips in black.

Finally the kit was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), the windows were created with Humbrol ClearFix (instead of the OOB styrene pieces) and almost no other weathering was done. In a final step, the floats were mounted under the fuselage and a wire antenna added.

Not a spectacular whif, but an elegant one, despite (or thanks to?) the relatively simple civil scheme. The Letov S.328 floats are IMHO a good match in size and volume, but somehow I think the floats’ track with is a little too narrow? Anyway, I stuck with it, and the resulting He 70 floatplane does not look bad at all.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.

However, the fast technical development in the late Forties and the advent of the jet age rendered the SAS’ He 70 floatplane fleet quickly obsolete and they were retired in 1953.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/radio operator) plus up to 6 passengers

Length: 11.70 m (38 ft 4⅔ in)

Wingspan: 14.80 m (48 ft 6⅔.75 in)

Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 36.50 m² (392.9 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,386 kg (7,450 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1× SNECMA 14R supercharged 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,190 kW (1,590 hp) for take-off

Performance:

Maximum speed: 320 km/h (177 knots, 200 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 260 km/h (144 knots, 162 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,135 nmi, 1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 3 min

Climb to 4,000 m (13,125 ft): 18 min

The kit and its assembly:

A straightforward idea for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017. This civilian transport aircraft originally started as a military aircraft (even though this one might materialize later, too). The decision to change the topic fell when I came across a Ju 52/3m sheet (Italeri) in my decal box which features an SAS machine. After some legwork I found that these machines were still in use in the Fifties, and so, why not add a smaller aircraft on floats to the post-WWII SAS fleet for remote regions, e. g. for postal service? The He 70 appeared like a plausible candidate, and from this concept the model evolved.

Kit basis is the Matchbox He 70, and the floats come from the KP Letov S.328, a popular donor source since you find this kit quite often and with a small price tag. The floats are still a little ‘petites’ for the He 70, and their "track" is rather narrow. But the combo works, since the He 70 is a very sleek aircraft.

The floats’ assembly needed some serious PSR, though, and mounting them to the wobbly struts was challenging in itself. They were outfitted with mooring anchors, new rudders (one OOB piece got lost, they are very fragile and wobbly) and walking planks.

The aircraft model is a Revell re-boxing of the Matchbox He 70, and the kit is a PITA. Gone are the days when I thought that a Matchbox kit was simple, but would go together well. Here, nothing really fits, PSR everywhere, this thing SUCKS. Be warned!

Since the small windows do not allow much view inside, the interior was kept at a minimum detail level. The original IP side windows were omitted, because they are thick and blurry, and they were later replaced/filled with ClearFix. The cockpit canopy is OOB, but it is so small (and thick, too) that only the pilot's head can be seen – or better: guessed. Since there’s surprisingly little space under the canopy, I could not mount an 1:72 figure and rather used a generic 1:87 (H0 scale) sitting figure.

The machine was built with the radial engine option (IMHO a plausible option for the original military operator and also more suitable for operations in the Far North), but the primitive OOB "engine plate" was replaced by a deeper and much better detailed resin piece found in the scrap box (IIRC, left over from a converted ArtModel Polikarpov I-185). It fits snuggly into the OOB front end, even though the ring cover needed some tuning. The propeller is new, too (from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A/F, IIRC), mated with a new axis.

In order to adapt the He 70 to the new floats the original landing gear openings were closed (thankfully, the kit comes with dedicated covers) and blended into the lower wing surface with putty. In order to give the floats a good hold to the fuselage, small round adapters (actually rings cut from a 3mm styrene tube) were glued to the lower hull. Not the most elegant solution, but a pragmatic way to bridge some gaps and lay a good foundation.

In order to add stability to the aircraft with the additional draggy floats, I mounted a ventral fin under the rear fuselage, under the fin.

Another detail: due to the floats, the crew and potential passengers would need boarding ladders, and I used the He 115 as a benchmark. I knew that I have some PE ladders somewhere, but could not find them... So I had to improvise and converted IP window frames from a H0 scale American industrial building into boarding aids. Looks better than most OOB solutions!

Towards the finish line, a HO scale pilot figure added to the cockpit (it's tight and the canopy so thick that I could not fit an 1:72 pilot inside!) and the canopy stuck into place with white glue.

Painting and markings:

I kept this aspect very simple, and used the livery of a post-WW2 Ju 52/3m as benchmark: uniform silver, but apparently not in NMF – but this could also be corroded aluminum. Or is it a silver paint coat against corrosion? The only contrast were black engine covers, and the airline markings.

In order to achieve the silver paint look I tried an experiment: a basic overall coat with acrylic paint from a rattle can, a Duplicolor tone called "Weissaluminium" - which, on the reference sample, rather looks like a greyish paint than a true NMF; at first I was skeptical about the mica particles' size when the paint was still fresh, but once dry the coat looked very good and even, and more like a bare NMF than expected. On top of that, some panel shading with Polished Aluminum Metallizer was added, but only lightly.

In order to add some more "color" I decided to paint the underwater parts of the floats in black. Not a good idea – at least with the Tamiya tape I used for a clean demarcation line... Painting went fine, but when I removed the tape wide sections of the alu paint came off with them. Hmpf.

Anyway, I will try to use the damage creatively and not sand it off or overpaint the damage with silver - I'll rather use a grey primer, as if some real world damage would have been repaired. After all, it's a kind of bush aircraft.

Then the black cowling was added, and I started with the decals, which had to be improvised. For the civil registration code on the wings I used large USAF 45° characters (from a Colorado Decals sheet) – chosing those letters which do not show the typical font, rather simple forms.

For the fuselage markings I used leftover material from an 1:144 SAS Caravelle from Mistercraft. These are a little modern for the aircraft’s intended timeframe, but the characteristic blue cheatline with the dragon boat head at the nose was already present on early post-war SAS aircraft, so this detail is more or less O.K., and with the trim in place the aircraft looks very elegant. The “Scandinavian” line also comes from the Caravelle – it should be complemented by “Airlines System” in smaller front, but this was not available, and the line alone was already so big and long that it covers literally the whole cabin.

However, the problem with these decals was that the cheatlines featured the triangular Caravelle windows, so that I had to paint them over manually (with Humbrol 104, which is a good match, though). Some more decals, like the country emblems on the fuselage, come from an Italeri SAS Ju 52/3m, or the OOB sheet. The cabin doors were simulated with single 0.5mm decal strips in black.

Finally the kit was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), the windows were created with Humbrol ClearFix (instead of the OOB styrene pieces) and almost no other weathering was done. In a final step, the floats were mounted under the fuselage and a wire antenna added.

Not a spectacular whif, but an elegant one, despite (or thanks to?) the relatively simple civil scheme. The Letov S.328 floats are IMHO a good match in size and volume, but somehow I think the floats’ track with is a little too narrow? Anyway, I stuck with it, and the resulting He 70 floatplane does not look bad at all.

lens on the black velvet to minimize reflection, sb 600 on the 3 o'clork to the camera, shooting through softbox, triggered by SU-800. Foam board on the other side of the lens and high above it to shine some light on the "Nikon" & "55".

Even before the Korean War broke out in 1950, the US Air Force had been planning for a jet-powered replacement of the B-26 Marauder and A-26 Invader. Korea only exacerbated the need for a new aircraft, and the USAF issued a requirement for a new tactical bomber in late 1950, with the stipulation that it had to be based on an existing design to minimize production delays. Three American designs were considered—the North American AJ-1 Savage and B-45 Tornado, and the completely new Martin XB-51. So pressing was the need that the USAF included, in a rare move, foreign aircraft as well—a modified Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck, and the English Electric Canberra B.2. The Canberra, to the surprise of everyone involved, won the competition easily. The USAF did have misgivings about the design, especially the fact that the bombardier sat behind the cockpit, completely enclosed in the fuselage, but its performance was what won the competition: the Canberra had been designed to replace the deHavilland Mosquito and had the speed and maneuverability to match.

The problem was, English Electric was a small startup company and could barely supply the British Royal Air Force with its Canberras, let alone the much larger USAF. To solve the problem, Martin Aircraft was awarded a contract to build the Canberra as the B-57.

Though the initial batch of B-57As were basically identical to the Canberra B.2, aside from upgraded engines and the deletion of the navigator station, the B-57B was to be fundamentally different and more in line of what the USAF intended. The B-57B had a completely redesigned forward fuselage, eliminating the clear navigator nose and wide side-by-side seating of the Canberra B.2, and replacing it with tandem seating, with the now-combined bombardier/navigator sitting behind the pilot. The Canberra B.2 had been unarmed, but the B-57B could either carry eight machine guns or four 20mm cannon in an underfuselage tray. The internal bomb bay of the Canberra was replaced with a rotary-type developed for the XB-51, which would rotate to expose the bomb load on the target run, enhancing the aerodynamics of the aircraft. USAF B-57Bs entered service in June 1954, replacing the A-26 in the night attack role.

Soon after it entered service, however, the USAF began to question its new bomber’s capabilities. The Canberra had been fast enough when it was designed in the late 1940s, but technology had moved so quickly that it was now vulnerable to surface-to-air missiles. With this in mind, the USAF resolved to replace the B-57 in tactical bomber units with F-100 Super Sabres and delete the entire night interdiction role.

Vietnam was to give the Canberra a temporary stay in retirement. Though it could be a tough aircraft to fly, it was a stable platform, and in the comparatively low threat skies of South Vietnam, its slow speed was more of a help than a detriment. It could carry a heavy bombload, and it was accurate; B-57s were especially deadly over the Ho Chi Minh Trail against enemy trucks. This accuracy made it a welcome sight to troops in contact, but as Viet Cong and North Vietnamese troops increased their antiaircraft capabilities, B-57s began to take heavier losses. Over half the Canberras sent to Vietnam would be shot down. A number were developed into special operations aircraft, such as the RB-57E Patricia Lynn and B-57G Tropic Moon III. The Royal Australian Air Force also flew their own British-version Canberras over Vietnam.

Vietnam would be the B-57's swan song. The survivors were converted to electronic warfare training EB-57s, and these lasted in service until 1983. A few massively modified WB-57Fs atmospheric research aircraft remain in service with NASA.

A somewhat rare B-57 variant, 53-3851 was built as a B-57C trainer in 1954, joining the USAF's 38th Tactical Bomber Group at Laon, France. It would then spend some time as a conversion trainer for both RB-57 and U-2 crews, namely with the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Phalsbourg, France and the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Laughlin AFB, Texas. In 1962, it was converted to a WB-57C trainer for the WB-57Fs of the 9th Weather Reconnaissance Wing at McClellan AFB, California, was retired in 1972, and scrapped in 1979.

Given the weather conditions and the presence of so many other 9th WRW aircraft in this batch of slides, this picture was likely taken at McClellan, sometime in the late 1960s.

(Disclaimer: I found this picture among other photos in my dad’s slides. I’m not sure who took them; some of them may be his. If any of these pictures are yours or you know who took them, let me know and I will remove them from Flickr, unless I have permission to let them remain. These photos are historical artifacts, in many cases of aircraft long since gone to the scrapyard, so I feel they deserve to be shared to the public at large—to honor the men and women who flew and maintained them.)

In 1939, 18.7 million Germans lived in the expulsion territories in 1944, 1945, 1946 and later they were expelled, abducted, murdered or have been lost. 12 million reached the rest of the closed German people's land. They came from these their home countries and territories:

1939 lebten 18,7 Millionen Deutsche in den Vertreibungsgebieten 1944, 1945, 1946 und später wurden sie vertrieben, verschleppt, ermordet oder sind verschollen. 12 Millionen erreichten den Rest des geschlossenen deutschen Volksbodens. Sie kamen aus diesen ihren Heimatländern und -landschaften:

Terms and numbers as keys to understanding

Refugees, displaced persons, expellees, new citizens: these were frequently used as synonyms after the Second World War. When it comes to escape and expulsion, words sometimes convey a reduction or suggest harmlessness. Who spoke of "East refugees", often wanted to minimize the affected, degrading. So-called "wild expulsions" took place in the months of May, June and July 1945, in the formerly German territories in the newly formed as a national territory Poland - or in Bohemia and Moravia, the Sudeten German areas of today's Czech Republic. No one had a choice.

The compulsory resettlement - it is quite possible to speak of deportation in many cases - was carried out by state-organized transports. Only later did common names prevail over the displaced, or expellees. After the expulsion measures, migratory movements after 1950 are generally referred to as "resettlement". Since the 1980s, with the relocation of remaining Germans from Poland, Bulgaria or Romania they spoke of "late repatriates".

The term "refugees" was ex officio transferred to the political refugees from the former Soviet occupation zone (the later GDR), who had to leave their residence deliberately or had to leave to go to the West (today this is used synonymously for "civil-war refugees") "or asylum-seeking" refugees"). Where political reasons did not exist, they spoke after the Second World War of immigrants or resettlers. The word expulsion was eradicated very quickly in the 1949 GDR from the public language use. The displaced people living there - after all, some 4 million people came to the former Soviet occupation zone between 1945 and 1949 - were called, for purely political reasons, "resettlers": which in the end was to suggest "the harmlessness" of losing their home, identity and possessions (Helmut Rössler 2002, 7).

A special feature are the so-called "displaced persons" (DP), of which the Allies spoke after the war in 1945. These are the abducted foreign workers and forced laborers from the formerly occupied states, many of whom have remained in Germany for many months, estimated at up to 5.7 million people (Mathias Beer 2011, 10). Responsible for the DPs were the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, and later the International Refugee Organization.

However, the words "flight and expulsion" have developed over the years in the German language into a standing phrase. This does not immediately reveal the breadth and complexity of the complex theme. According to Mathias Beer, "flight and expulsion" is the epitome of the numerically largest part of European "forced migration" at the end of the Second World War; The words are a major factor in the fact that the twentieth century was given the stamp of a "century of refugees" (Mathias Beer 2011, 13). The words stand for the "displacement" of more than 12 million German Reich citizens and members of German minorities from East Central and Southeastern Europe at the end of the Second World War and the first years following the end of the war accompanied by a high degree of violence, arbitrariness and coercion. Due to violence, poor provision, exhaustion, the exposed to the weather and the generally confused war and post-war conditions were estimated to several hundred thousand people already on the escape route killed.

It is important for the classification, first and foremost also to be clear with terms about what had happened in those years. The "forced migration" caused many dislocations. The Federal Expellee Law passed in 1952 and in subsequent years and the Equalisation of Burdens Act in West Germany were based on firm definitions of terms.

The "naked" figures also impressively confirm what had happened in the post-war years: as mentioned elsewhere, more than 12 million people from the former German eastern territories and the southeast European settlement areas lost their homeland between 1944 and 1951 through flight, expulsion and deportation, of these, around 8 million people came to the American and English occupation zones, and later to the southern French-occupied areas. About 4 million people came to the Soviet-occupied zone, from which the GDR emerged in 1949.

(Graphic!)

www.landeskunde-baden-wuerttemberg.de/fileadmin/_processe...

Begriffe und Zahlen als Schlüssel zum Verständnis

Flüchtlinge, Vertriebene, Heimatvertriebene, Neubürger: das waren nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg häufig als Synonym verwendete Begriffe. Beim Thema Flucht und Vertreibung vermitteln Worte mitunter Herabsetzung oder suggerieren Harmlosigkeit. Wer von „Ostflüchtlingen“ redete, wollte oftmals die Betroffenen herabsetzen, herabwürdigen. So genannte „Wilde Vertreibungen“ fanden in den Monaten Mai, Juni und Juli 1945 statt, in den ehemals deutschen Gebieten im neu als Staatsgebiet gefassten Polen – oder in Böhmen und Mähren, den Sudetendeutschen Gebieten der heutigen Tschechei. Eine Wahl hatte keiner der Betroffenen.

Die zwangsweise erfolgte Aussiedlung – man kann durchaus auch in vielen Fällen von Deportation sprechen –, erfolgte durch staatlich organisierte Transporte. Erst später setzten sich gängige Bezeichnungen von den Vertriebenen, oder Heimatvertriebenen, durch. Nach den Vertreibungsmaßnahmen werden im Allgemeinen die nach 1950 erfolgten Migrationsbewegungen als „Aussiedlung“ bezeichnet. Seit den 1980-er Jahren, mit der Übersiedlung von verbliebenen Deutschen aus Polen, Bulgarien oder Rumänien sprach man von „Spätaussiedlern“.

Der Begriff „Flüchtlinge“ wurde von Amts wegen auf die politischen Flüchtlinge aus der einstigen sowjetischen Besatzungszone (der späteren DDR) übertragen, die ihren Wohnsitz bewusst verließen oder verlassen mussten, um in den Westen zu gehen (heute wird das synonym verwendet für „Bürgerkriegs-Flüchtlinge“, oder asylsuchende „Flüchtlinge“). Wo politische Gründe nicht vorlagen, sprach man nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg von Zuwanderern oder Übersiedlern. Das Wort Vertreibung wurde in der 1949 gegründeten DDR sehr schnell aus dem öffentlichen Sprachgebrauch getilgt. Die dort lebenden Vertriebenen – immerhin rund 4 Millionen Menschen kam zwischen 1945 und 1949 in die ehemalige sowjetische Besatzungszone – wurden, aus rein politischen Gründen, „Umsiedler“ genannt: was im Endeffekt „die Harmlosigkeit“ des Verlusts von Heimat, Identität und Besitz suggerieren sollte (Helmut Rössler 2002, 7).

Eine Besonderheit sind die so genannten „Displaced persons“ (DP), von denen die Alliierten nach Kriegsende 1945 sprachen. Das sind die, oft noch über viele Monate hinweg in Deutschland verbliebenen, verschleppten ausländischen Arbeitskräfte und Zwangsarbeiter aus den einst besetzten Staaten: geschätzt bis zu 5,7 Millionen Menschen (Mathias Beer 2011, 10). Zuständig für die DPs waren die „United Nations Relief und Rehabilitation Administration“, und später die „International Refugee Organisation“.

Die Worte „Flucht und Vertreibung“ haben sich jedoch im Verlauf der Jahre in der deutschen Sprache zu einer stehenden Wendung entwickelt. Das lässt nicht auf Anhieb die Breite und die Vielschichtigkeit des komplexen Themas erkennen. Laut Mathias Beer gilt „Flucht und Vertreibung“ als der Inbegriff des zahlenmäßig größten Teils der europäischen „Zwangsmigration“ am Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs; die Worte haben wesentlich Anteil daran, dass das 20.Jahrhundert den Stempel eines „Jahrhunderts der Flüchtlinge“ aufgedrückt bekam (Mathias Beer 2011, 13). Die Worte stehen für die von einem hohen Maß an Gewalt, Willkür und Zwang begleitete „Verschiebung“ von mehr als 12 Millionen deutschen Reichsbürgern und Angehörigen deutscher Minderheiten aus Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa am Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs und den ersten Folgejahren nach Kriegsende. Aufgrund von Gewalt, schlechter Versorgung, Entkräftung, dem ausgesetzt sein der Witterung und der allgemein wirren Kriegs- und Nachkriegsverhältnisse kamen dabei nach Schätzungen mehrere Hunderttausend Menschen bereits auf dem Fluchtweg ums Leben.

Es ist wichtig für die Einordnung, sich zuallererst auch mit Begriffen darüber klar zu werden, was in diesen Jahren geschehen war. Die „Zwangswanderung“ zog viele Verwerfungen nach sich. Auch das 1952 und in Folgejahren erlassene Bundesvertriebenengesetz und das Lastenausgleichsgesetz in Westdeutschland ging von festen Begriffsdefinitionen aus.

Eindrucksvoll bestätigen auch die „nackten“ Zahlen, was in den Nachkriegsjahren geschehen war: wie an anderer Stelle schon erwähnt, verloren zwischen 1944 und 1951 durch Flucht, Vertreibung und Verschleppung mehr als 12 Millionen Menschen aus den ehemaligen deutschen Ostgebieten und den südosteuropäischen Siedlungsgebieten ihre Heimat. Davon kamen rund 8 Millionen Menschen in die amerikanische und die englische Besatzungszone, erst später auch in die südlich gelegenen französisch besetzten Bereiche. Etwa 4 Millionen Menschen kamen in die sowjetisch besetzte Zone, aus der 1949 die DDR entstand.

www.landeskunde-baden-wuerttemberg.de/fluechtlinge_vertri...

Ejection seat from the supersonic SR-71. The seat is of the variant designated C-2, which was used in the very early A-12 and SR-71 Blackbirds and is the only SR-71 ejection seat in private hands worldwide. First, a bit of history about this fantastic aircraft. The SR-71 is part of the family of aircraft known as the “Blackbirds,” which are stealth aircraft that were designed and produced by Lockheed’s Skunk Works and include the A-12 used by the CIA (13 made), the YF-12 interceptor used by the USAF (3 made), the M-21 used to launch a reconnaissance drone (2 made) and the SR-71, the USAF long range reconnaissance aircraft (32 made). In the late 1950s, the Soviet Union had protested overflights by subsonic American U-2 spy planes. In response, Lockheed's Skunk Works had developed the A-12 spy plane for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency; and in 1960 was awarded a contract to build 12 of these aircraft. The single seat A-12 featured a stealth design to minimize its radar cross-section, and was supersonic to overcome the weakness of the U-2’s vulnerability to surface to air missile attack. At the same time that Skunk Works was developing the A-12, the USAF was seeking a replacement for the F-106 Delta Dart. Skunk Works' Kelly Johnson proposed to the USAF a version of the A-12 called the AF-12. The USAF ordered three AF-12s in mid-1960 and these aircraft were the seventh through ninth A-12’s made. The Air Force version was longer and heavier than the CIA version of the A-12. Its fuselage was lengthened for additional fuel capacity to increase range and the cockpit was modified to add a second crew member to operate the fire control radar. The aircraft's nose was modified to accommodate the Hughes AN/ASG-18 fire-control radar originally developed for the XF-108; this modification changed the aircraft's aerodynamics enough to require ventral fins to be mounted under the fuselage and engine nacelles to maintain stability. Finally, four bays previously used to house the A-12's reconnaissance equipment were converted to carry Hughes AIM-47 Falcon (GAR-9) missiles and one bay was used for fire control equipment. The new USAF A-12 was designated the YF-12A interceptor, the first of which flew on August 7, 1963. After testing the three AF-12’s and realizing the potential of the A-12 design, in December 1962 the Air Force ordered a long-range strategic reconnaissance version of the A-12, which was designated the R-12 by Lockheed. Capable of flying at speeds over Mach 3.2 with a ceiling at 85,000 feet (and it still holds the record since 1976 as the fastest airplane ever built), it could evade missile attack by simply accelerating. Like the YF-12, the R-12’s fuselage was lengthened beyond the original A-12 configuration for additional fuel capacity to increase range, its cockpit included a second seat and the chines were reshaped. The aircraft’s reconnaissance equipment included signals intelligence sensors, a side-looking radar and a photo camera. Facing political pressure and claims that the U.S. was falling behind the Soviet Union in the research and development of new weapons systems, then-president Lyndon Johnson decided to publicly announce the YF-12A (which had served as cover for the still-secret A-12) and the Air Force reconnaissance model R-12. Air Force Chief of Staff General Curtis LeMay preferred the designation “SR (Strategic Reconnaissance”) for the new USAF aircraft and wanted the R-12 to be named SR-71. He lobbied to modify Johnson's speech to change the aircraft’s name to SR-71 and he was successful. This public announcement of the formerly secret program and the change to the aircraft’s designation came as a shock to Skunk Works and to Air Force personnel involved in the program. But the change to the aircraft’s designation was perceived as an order from the Commander-in-Chief; and accordingly, Skunk Works began reprinting over 29,000 blueprints for aircraft, retitled as "SR-71". Costing $33 million each, the first SR-71 entered service in 1966. Made primarily from titanium acquired from the USSR (Lockheed used subterfuge to prevent the Soviet government from knowing what the titanium was to be used for), the aircraft were painted a dark blue (almost black) to increase the transference of heat from the interior of the aircraft (the plane’s fuel was a heat sink for avionics cooling) and as camouflage against the night sky. The SR-71 was unofficially named the Blackbird, after BLACK SHIELD, the name for the A-12 missions in Vietnam and Southeast Asia based out of Okinawa Japan; and was also called the Habu by its crews, referring to an Okinawan species of pit viper. In 1968 the Blackbird program was cancelled and on February 5, 1968 Lockheed was ordered to destroy all the tooling for the A-12, YF-12, and SR-71 aircraft. But the SR-71 continued in service until 1990, by which time the Blackbird family of aircraft had completed 17,300 total sorties flown, 53,490 total flight hours and 11,675 hours of flight time at Mach 3. The SR-71 flew for 17 straight years (1972-1989) without a loss of plane or crew. Twelve of the 32 aircraft that were built were destroyed in accidents, though none were lost to enemy action. The aircraft was officially retired in 1990, but the lack of other resources to accomplish the reconnaissance needed by the US military prompted the Congress in 1994 to approve funds to bring three of these aircraft back out of retirement. They served the USAF until 1999 when the aircraft was finally retired for the last time. Although an aircraft manufacturer is responsible for ejection seat development as part of designing and building aircraft under government contracts, it is often sub-contracted to other companies that were more experienced in the industry. In the case of the SR-71, Lockheed turned to Stanley Aviation Corp. for the development of the ejection seat. Stanley had previously developed the B seat for the F 104 and the C-1 seat. Visually, the C-2 was very similar to the C-1, with a few notable differences. The foot rests were changed to remove the sides, and hinged to the bottom front edge of the seat bucket. Another quickly identifiable visual difference is the shape of the ejection pull handle, which was triangular on the C-1 where the C-2 used a 'D' shape (flat side down). This was done to give better grip from the pilot's hands and it would reduce the tendency to pull to one side if only one hand was used to initiate ejection. The automatic lap belt was also changed to a newer model. The parachute (BA-18 and -22) system of the C-2 included a lanyard activated timer mechanism to give some time for the seat to be clear prior to parachute deployment. The headrest was beefed up a little and a canopy breaker was attached to it. These features allowed for the foot retracts to work more reliably, the handle to be grabbed easier, and if the canopy failed to jettison, to eject through the glass. The other major change was of course to the XM10 rocket catapult for upward ejection. The C-2 style seat was ultimately replaced in 1967 / 1968 with the later SR-1 variant, which was designated the “RQ201”. Some of the noticeable differences between the SR-1 and the C-2 variants include the omission of the leg guards and arm restraint nets on the SR-1 which were used on the C-2, the secondary ejection handle has been relocated to the left side for the SR-1, the double-d ring is replaced with a single loop d-ring on the SR-1 and the seat bucket and headrest are shaped differently.

Methodical examination of part numbers on this seat by the consignor of this item, coupled with his extensive research and communication with experts and pilots of the SR-71, have identified this seat as belonging to an SR-71. This identification is supported by part numbers on various components beginning with A prefix (parts used on all variants of the Blackbird family except D-21) and 4A (denotes parts used on SR-71A and SR-71B) and Q (denotes parts used in the cockpit and life support systems for the aircraft). . In addition, some of the parts bear the unique aircraft inspection stamp used by Lockheed ADP and some are dated 1965 / 1966. Examples of the part numbers found on this seat can be seen in photos accompanying this lot, as follows: Photo 175-7: Part number 4AQ345 RING MOUNT INSTALLATION - MANUAL CUTTER plate found behind Manual Spur release handle on right side of head rest Photo175_8: Part numbers AQ149-11B Support, Headrest, Ejection Seat with Lockheed ADP Inspection Stamp, AQ338 EXTENSION TUBE, "D" RING, EJECTOR SEAT, AQ301-3 A "D" Ring Bracket Cover Assembly Serial Number and AQ149-8 Support, Headrest, Ejection Seat with Lockheed ADP Inspection Stamp Photo 175_9: parts stamped with Lockheed Skunkworks inspection stamps denoting “Functional Test” and dated 1965 and 1966 respectively. This seat is in overall very good condition and does not bear evidence of having been ejected. This is an incredibly rare aviation artifact in museum quality condition.

Škoda was able to make some very well done engines, the 781 series is typical - the coherent construction minimizes defects, and the engine normally survives the death of the car, easily running over a million kilometers.

The art of war or the tools of Collateral Damage

Any weapon that has triggers, buttons, LCD screens, joysticks, levers, switches, pedals or any other form of ‘human delegates to machine to kill human’ mode of operation is a weapon to be used mostly against civilians.

For the 1000 comments I received that rime with ‘terrorists hiding between civilians’, and regardless of the interpretation of the intentions of the people pulling the triggers, all modern weaponry are fundamentally designed to kill civilians, not soldiers! It’s with much hypocrisy that countries, defense contractors and armies say that they are out there to minimize civilian casualty, for they have never been able to! Battles are never confined to a field in the desert, they are always fought over and/or to control civilian areas!

With the smallest automatic weapon, one man can shoot 40 bullets in few minutes, 40 bullets can potentially kill 40 men. If each solider can potentially kill 40 men, then an army equipped with the smallest weapons can potentially kill 40 times its size! Those weapons have an ‘intrinsic’ potential allowing them to always extend their reach beyond the opponents ‘protected’ army and to extort a much higher cost from the more ‘vulnerable’ civilians!

The Math of modern warfare and weapons is freaky, and regardless of the declared intentions, these little geeky marvels with fancy names (and smart adjectives), auto-manage, every time, to claim back their role as mass civilian exterminators! And this always happens despite the sour, the sorry and the apologetic... All of them!

At the end, Soldiers are the only collateral damage in wars! The rest is the real intended damage…

Dissuasive arms and preemptive wars

The race for those increasingly more lethal weapons is always made while convincing the masses with the hypocritical alibi of strategic balance, dissuasion and strategic peace! In reality it is only a mater of postponing a conflict until you get a much bigger stick!

From the womb of dissuasion, mad-strategists (scarier than mad-scientists) who think straight out of their butts have been preaching the ‘benefits’ and ‘moral correctness’ of preemptive strikes. BS on the side, this is only fostered by their arrogant belief that having a much, much, much longer stick (that happens to work by pushing buttons nowadays) can neutralize a potentially, potential, potentialicious threat. As for verifying whether the potential for the threat would concretize! Why bother?! ‘If you have the strategic dissuasive advantage, don’t sleep on it! Use it!’, it’s cheaper than verifying anything… and it’s boring to wait anyway! Not to forget that, at some point, they also need a ‘when and where’ to test the XXX Billion dollars in offense (defense for them) technology invested every year and to generate new demand! (…And what country boasts about its huge defense industry despite its little size?)

One of the dimensions of the latest war over Lebanon was, also, a pre-emptive strike to neutralize the elusive potential of Iran waging war against Israel and using the ridiculously long stick of the Israeli air force against Hizbollah bases. Needless to say, that once again, the collateral damage on the armed Hizbollah soldiers was low, while the real and painful damage was only imposed on civilians and their infrastructure.

My ‘last war related post’ wish list

When I wrote my first anti-war posting, I didn’t suspect the aggression would last that long nor I thought that I would transform my photo stream into an open anti-war blog.

As the circle of violence expanded, my anger and my pessimism grew with it. The latest events since the 2nd Intifada and the Iraq invasion were not good indicators that such adventures in our region and especially under the current worldwide power imbalance could be mastered at all.

Having the Neo-Cons in charge in the US, a mayor in charge in Tel-Aviv, another mayor in Tehran, weak and visibly resigned (to an un-dead peace) Arab governments and a weak “false” majority in charge in Lebanon were not at all reassuring factors.

I was fearing for the worst, I’m still somehow holding my breath and hoping that things would fall into place until all Israeli soldiers are out of Lebanon and the Lebanese army (and UN forces) take control of the south... But before I can breath a sigh of relief, I will also be crossing my fingers all the long it takes to:

- Israel stopping its regular aggressions into Lebanese territorial airspace and waters

- Lebanese prisoners in Israel (and newly abducted) being swapped against the abducted Israeli soldiers

- Israel refraining from any new -rash- actions such as the ones preached in the last defeat speech of its mayor, for under these conditions Hizbollah will not disarm!

- Lebanese democracy growing stronger as the dynamic forces of the country claim again the power from the current corrupted corruptors and their associates the lords of darkness and civil war

- Hizbollah and Palestinian camps disarm peacefully and a Lebanese national defense force is allowed to rise to the height of the threats and to constitute a stabilizing factor

And my extended wish list

But things being connected the way they are in our regional village, I figured, I will need to keep crossing my fingers even longer! For, as dreamy as the previous wishes are, their concretization will not -unfortunately- be enough to end our plight! We also would need in a not so distant future for:

- Zionism discovering that it made a historical mistake in assessment for the past 100 years and apologizing to its Arab and Jewish victims alike (could be a silent apology even, a thought would suffice maybe!)

- Zionism and Israel denouncing territorial expansion and accepting Israel into the pre-1967 borders (while curbing their drive for negotiatory acrobatics as it has been the case since Madrid accords)

- A Palestinian state under equitable terms is hatched (illegal settlements unsettled etc.)

- A just solution is offered for the Palestinian refugees, duly compensating them for their 60 years predicament and allowing them to -at least- optionally exercise the right of return to their motherland

- The US pulls out gracefully from a ‘civil-war free’ Iraq

- The Middle-East becomes WMD free (…and maybe the rest of the world could follow the next day)

- The clash of civilizations is remembered as a reference to a ‘McDonalds shops fight Falafel joints over market share’ type of situation or to the Olympic Games.

And other wishes too… such as the NeoCons in Washington renouncing to their pipe dreams and scheming and starting to comprehend that the real world is more intricate than what their ‘war games’ and ‘probabilities’ can show them. And while those games can be, nevertheless, a good form of entertainment to the expensive ‘Think tanks’ and ‘strategic consultants’, those people shouldn’t be encouraged to Think anymore that they can apply them to the rest of us each now and then.

I guess whoever is still reading up to here gets the point of why I’m pessimistic, for maybe the 1st bunch of wishes are realizable with lots of good luck but the 2nd are only wishful wishes in the current state of affairs… And meanwhile, the strategic luminaries are still thinking ‘Maybe the stick needs to grow longer’ before the next strike!

Yet there is stuff to feel good about

Flickr has given me the opportunity to meet lots of nice talented photographers, but this time and with this latest wave of war blogging, it gave me the opportunity to dramatically widen my circle. It was heart warming to read all the people from around the world that supported and defended Lebanon (and Palestine) and understood to a great degree the essence of the conflict. I am particularly thankful to the Israelis that did it (and all Israelis who left comments).

Maybe awareness and rising public opinion to the real issues are the magic cure! Maybe this last unique worldwide phenomenon in the history of Arab-Israeli conflict was what contributed into accelerating this happy ending (regardless of its fragility). Despite the sad and hefty toll, seeing the displaced go back to their villages so fast was in itself the most comforting scene!

The more the world public opinion gains insight into the roots and realities of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the more power is taken away from the scheming schemers and given to the real courageous peace builders on both sides of the divide... And that is not a wish this time but the duty for all!

----

This anti-war poem was sent to me by a good friend. The text, written by an Israeli poet (Chanoch Levin), is very beautiful and eloquent. I already posted one of his poems earlier. Using his strong words again, was the best way for me to end this series.

Chess Game

Where is my child, my child where has he gone?

A black pawn is striking a white pawn.

Will not return my dad, my dad will not come home.

A white pawn is striking a black pawn.

Mourning in the rooms, and the garden is serene,

The king is playing with his queen.

My child will never wake, he shall sleep forevermore.

A black pawn is striking a white pawn.

My dad is in the dark, and will never see the sun.

A white pawn is striking a black pawn.

Mourning in the rooms, and the garden is serene,

The king is playing with his queen.

My child who's in my lap, now he's in a cloud.

A black pawn is striking a white pawn.

My dad's warm heart, now his heart is cold.

A white pawn is striking a black pawn.

Mourning in the rooms, and the garden is serene,

The king is playing with his queen.

Where is my child, my child where has he gone?

Fell down both black and white pawns.

Will not return my dad, my dad will not come home.

And there are no white or black pawns.

Mourning in the rooms, and the garden is serene;

On empty board remain just king and queen.

Chanoch Levin, 1968

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.

However, the fast technical development in the late Forties and the advent of the jet age rendered the SAS’ He 70 floatplane fleet quickly obsolete and they were retired in 1953.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/radio operator) plus up to 6 passengers

Length: 11.70 m (38 ft 4⅔ in)

Wingspan: 14.80 m (48 ft 6⅔.75 in)

Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 36.50 m² (392.9 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,386 kg (7,450 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1× SNECMA 14R supercharged 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,190 kW (1,590 hp) for take-off

Performance:

Maximum speed: 320 km/h (177 knots, 200 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 260 km/h (144 knots, 162 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,135 nmi, 1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 3 min

Climb to 4,000 m (13,125 ft): 18 min

The kit and its assembly:

A straightforward idea for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017. This civilian transport aircraft originally started as a military aircraft (even though this one might materialize later, too). The decision to change the topic fell when I came across a Ju 52/3m sheet (Italeri) in my decal box which features an SAS machine. After some legwork I found that these machines were still in use in the Fifties, and so, why not add a smaller aircraft on floats to the post-WWII SAS fleet for remote regions, e. g. for postal service? The He 70 appeared like a plausible candidate, and from this concept the model evolved.

Kit basis is the Matchbox He 70, and the floats come from the KP Letov S.328, a popular donor source since you find this kit quite often and with a small price tag. The floats are still a little ‘petites’ for the He 70, and their "track" is rather narrow. But the combo works, since the He 70 is a very sleek aircraft.

The floats’ assembly needed some serious PSR, though, and mounting them to the wobbly struts was challenging in itself. They were outfitted with mooring anchors, new rudders (one OOB piece got lost, they are very fragile and wobbly) and walking planks.

The aircraft model is a Revell re-boxing of the Matchbox He 70, and the kit is a PITA. Gone are the days when I thought that a Matchbox kit was simple, but would go together well. Here, nothing really fits, PSR everywhere, this thing SUCKS. Be warned!

Since the small windows do not allow much view inside, the interior was kept at a minimum detail level. The original IP side windows were omitted, because they are thick and blurry, and they were later replaced/filled with ClearFix. The cockpit canopy is OOB, but it is so small (and thick, too) that only the pilot's head can be seen – or better: guessed. Since there’s surprisingly little space under the canopy, I could not mount an 1:72 figure and rather used a generic 1:87 (H0 scale) sitting figure.

The machine was built with the radial engine option (IMHO a plausible option for the original military operator and also more suitable for operations in the Far North), but the primitive OOB "engine plate" was replaced by a deeper and much better detailed resin piece found in the scrap box (IIRC, left over from a converted ArtModel Polikarpov I-185). It fits snuggly into the OOB front end, even though the ring cover needed some tuning. The propeller is new, too (from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A/F, IIRC), mated with a new axis.

In order to adapt the He 70 to the new floats the original landing gear openings were closed (thankfully, the kit comes with dedicated covers) and blended into the lower wing surface with putty. In order to give the floats a good hold to the fuselage, small round adapters (actually rings cut from a 3mm styrene tube) were glued to the lower hull. Not the most elegant solution, but a pragmatic way to bridge some gaps and lay a good foundation.

In order to add stability to the aircraft with the additional draggy floats, I mounted a ventral fin under the rear fuselage, under the fin.

Another detail: due to the floats, the crew and potential passengers would need boarding ladders, and I used the He 115 as a benchmark. I knew that I have some PE ladders somewhere, but could not find them... So I had to improvise and converted IP window frames from a H0 scale American industrial building into boarding aids. Looks better than most OOB solutions!

Towards the finish line, a HO scale pilot figure added to the cockpit (it's tight and the canopy so thick that I could not fit an 1:72 pilot inside!) and the canopy stuck into place with white glue.

Painting and markings:

I kept this aspect very simple, and used the livery of a post-WW2 Ju 52/3m as benchmark: uniform silver, but apparently not in NMF – but this could also be corroded aluminum. Or is it a silver paint coat against corrosion? The only contrast were black engine covers, and the airline markings.

In order to achieve the silver paint look I tried an experiment: a basic overall coat with acrylic paint from a rattle can, a Duplicolor tone called "Weissaluminium" - which, on the reference sample, rather looks like a greyish paint than a true NMF; at first I was skeptical about the mica particles' size when the paint was still fresh, but once dry the coat looked very good and even, and more like a bare NMF than expected. On top of that, some panel shading with Polished Aluminum Metallizer was added, but only lightly.

In order to add some more "color" I decided to paint the underwater parts of the floats in black. Not a good idea – at least with the Tamiya tape I used for a clean demarcation line... Painting went fine, but when I removed the tape wide sections of the alu paint came off with them. Hmpf.

Anyway, I will try to use the damage creatively and not sand it off or overpaint the damage with silver - I'll rather use a grey primer, as if some real world damage would have been repaired. After all, it's a kind of bush aircraft.

Then the black cowling was added, and I started with the decals, which had to be improvised. For the civil registration code on the wings I used large USAF 45° characters (from a Colorado Decals sheet) – chosing those letters which do not show the typical font, rather simple forms.

For the fuselage markings I used leftover material from an 1:144 SAS Caravelle from Mistercraft. These are a little modern for the aircraft’s intended timeframe, but the characteristic blue cheatline with the dragon boat head at the nose was already present on early post-war SAS aircraft, so this detail is more or less O.K., and with the trim in place the aircraft looks very elegant. The “Scandinavian” line also comes from the Caravelle – it should be complemented by “Airlines System” in smaller front, but this was not available, and the line alone was already so big and long that it covers literally the whole cabin.

However, the problem with these decals was that the cheatlines featured the triangular Caravelle windows, so that I had to paint them over manually (with Humbrol 104, which is a good match, though). Some more decals, like the country emblems on the fuselage, come from an Italeri SAS Ju 52/3m, or the OOB sheet. The cabin doors were simulated with single 0.5mm decal strips in black.

Finally the kit was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), the windows were created with Humbrol ClearFix (instead of the OOB styrene pieces) and almost no other weathering was done. In a final step, the floats were mounted under the fuselage and a wire antenna added.

Not a spectacular whif, but an elegant one, despite (or thanks to?) the relatively simple civil scheme. The Letov S.328 floats are IMHO a good match in size and volume, but somehow I think the floats’ track with is a little too narrow? Anyway, I stuck with it, and the resulting He 70 floatplane does not look bad at all.

My Portfolio and Photography Services

(Click the photo to see it large, you know you want to :)

The plan was to visit Carrizo Plain on April 2-3 for some wildflower shooting. But it wasn't clear how good the bloom was, and I was feeling broke, and a number of other lame things, so I ended up not going. Then Jeff Sullivan started posting up some killer shots from Carrizo that same weekend and I was really really kicking myself for not making the trip.

So this past weekend, flush with a little extra cash from teaching a seascape photography workshop, I decided nothing was going to stop me from getting down there. And boy was that the right decision. I arrived in Carrizo Saturday afternoon under a sky full of gorgeous cumulous clouds, and though I had heard the flowers were nothing special this year, the vast carpets of tidy tips still blew me away.

I spent the next 20 hours chasing the flowers, getting chased by rain, getting stuck on muddy backroads, and generally having an awesome time.

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

Tech Notes on this Photo

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

Nikon D300s

Tokina 12-24 f/4 at 12mm on a crop sensor

ISO320 - to help speed up my shutter (didn't want to go much higher than this in order to prevent noise from entering the photo)

f/16 - I needed some extreme DOF here, as my camera was probably only 10 inches out of the flowers. This is a single shot; no focus-blending here. Gotta love UWA lenses for their amazing DOF!

1/25 sec - a relatively quick shutter (compared to shooting seascapes that is) in order to freeze the flowers in place. This photo was taken during a brief period of extreme calm when the flowers were barely moving.

Lee 2-stop soft GND filter

Post-Processing

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

In Raw Converter (Nikon Capture NX2)

- Processed single raw file twice: once for majority of image, and once at +0.3ev to brighten flowers in the mid-ground which had been overly-darkened by my GND filter

- Global contrast for added pop

- Local brightness and contrast adjustments in the clouds to make them pop a bit

In Photoshop:

- Noise reduction via Neat Image

- Selective sharpening of flowers only

- Hand blend of two tifs to brighten mid-ground

- Minor curves adjustment to further brighten midground

Thanks for your visits!

~Josh

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Heinkel He 70 Blitz (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for Deutsche Luft Hansa in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Vega and Orion (as used by Swissair) for use on short routes.

However, the fast technical development in the late Forties and the advent of the jet age rendered the SAS’ He 70 floatplane fleet quickly obsolete and they were retired in 1953.

General characteristics:

Crew: 2 (pilot, navigator/radio operator) plus up to 6 passengers

Length: 11.70 m (38 ft 4⅔ in)

Wingspan: 14.80 m (48 ft 6⅔.75 in)

Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)

Wing area: 36.50 m² (392.9 sq ft)

Empty weight: 2,360 kg (5,203 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,386 kg (7,450 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 3,500 kg (7,700 lb)

Powerplant:

1× SNECMA 14R supercharged 14 cylinder radial engine with 1,190 kW (1,590 hp) for take-off

Performance:

Maximum speed: 320 km/h (177 knots, 200 mph) at sea level

Cruise speed: 260 km/h (144 knots, 162 mph)

Range: 2,100 km (1,135 nmi, 1,305 mi)

Service ceiling: 5,300 m (17,390 ft)

Climb to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) 3 min

Climb to 4,000 m (13,125 ft): 18 min

The kit and its assembly:

A straightforward idea for the “Flying Boat, Seaplane and Amphibian” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com in late 2017. This civilian transport aircraft originally started as a military aircraft (even though this one might materialize later, too). The decision to change the topic fell when I came across a Ju 52/3m sheet (Italeri) in my decal box which features an SAS machine. After some legwork I found that these machines were still in use in the Fifties, and so, why not add a smaller aircraft on floats to the post-WWII SAS fleet for remote regions, e. g. for postal service? The He 70 appeared like a plausible candidate, and from this concept the model evolved.

Kit basis is the Matchbox He 70, and the floats come from the KP Letov S.328, a popular donor source since you find this kit quite often and with a small price tag. The floats are still a little ‘petites’ for the He 70, and their "track" is rather narrow. But the combo works, since the He 70 is a very sleek aircraft.

The floats’ assembly needed some serious PSR, though, and mounting them to the wobbly struts was challenging in itself. They were outfitted with mooring anchors, new rudders (one OOB piece got lost, they are very fragile and wobbly) and walking planks.

The aircraft model is a Revell re-boxing of the Matchbox He 70, and the kit is a PITA. Gone are the days when I thought that a Matchbox kit was simple, but would go together well. Here, nothing really fits, PSR everywhere, this thing SUCKS. Be warned!

Since the small windows do not allow much view inside, the interior was kept at a minimum detail level. The original IP side windows were omitted, because they are thick and blurry, and they were later replaced/filled with ClearFix. The cockpit canopy is OOB, but it is so small (and thick, too) that only the pilot's head can be seen – or better: guessed. Since there’s surprisingly little space under the canopy, I could not mount an 1:72 figure and rather used a generic 1:87 (H0 scale) sitting figure.

The machine was built with the radial engine option (IMHO a plausible option for the original military operator and also more suitable for operations in the Far North), but the primitive OOB "engine plate" was replaced by a deeper and much better detailed resin piece found in the scrap box (IIRC, left over from a converted ArtModel Polikarpov I-185). It fits snuggly into the OOB front end, even though the ring cover needed some tuning. The propeller is new, too (from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A/F, IIRC), mated with a new axis.

In order to adapt the He 70 to the new floats the original landing gear openings were closed (thankfully, the kit comes with dedicated covers) and blended into the lower wing surface with putty. In order to give the floats a good hold to the fuselage, small round adapters (actually rings cut from a 3mm styrene tube) were glued to the lower hull. Not the most elegant solution, but a pragmatic way to bridge some gaps and lay a good foundation.

In order to add stability to the aircraft with the additional draggy floats, I mounted a ventral fin under the rear fuselage, under the fin.

Another detail: due to the floats, the crew and potential passengers would need boarding ladders, and I used the He 115 as a benchmark. I knew that I have some PE ladders somewhere, but could not find them... So I had to improvise and converted IP window frames from a H0 scale American industrial building into boarding aids. Looks better than most OOB solutions!

Towards the finish line, a HO scale pilot figure added to the cockpit (it's tight and the canopy so thick that I could not fit an 1:72 pilot inside!) and the canopy stuck into place with white glue.

Painting and markings:

I kept this aspect very simple, and used the livery of a post-WW2 Ju 52/3m as benchmark: uniform silver, but apparently not in NMF – but this could also be corroded aluminum. Or is it a silver paint coat against corrosion? The only contrast were black engine covers, and the airline markings.

In order to achieve the silver paint look I tried an experiment: a basic overall coat with acrylic paint from a rattle can, a Duplicolor tone called "Weissaluminium" - which, on the reference sample, rather looks like a greyish paint than a true NMF; at first I was skeptical about the mica particles' size when the paint was still fresh, but once dry the coat looked very good and even, and more like a bare NMF than expected. On top of that, some panel shading with Polished Aluminum Metallizer was added, but only lightly.

In order to add some more "color" I decided to paint the underwater parts of the floats in black. Not a good idea – at least with the Tamiya tape I used for a clean demarcation line... Painting went fine, but when I removed the tape wide sections of the alu paint came off with them. Hmpf.

Anyway, I will try to use the damage creatively and not sand it off or overpaint the damage with silver - I'll rather use a grey primer, as if some real world damage would have been repaired. After all, it's a kind of bush aircraft.

Then the black cowling was added, and I started with the decals, which had to be improvised. For the civil registration code on the wings I used large USAF 45° characters (from a Colorado Decals sheet) – chosing those letters which do not show the typical font, rather simple forms.

For the fuselage markings I used leftover material from an 1:144 SAS Caravelle from Mistercraft. These are a little modern for the aircraft’s intended timeframe, but the characteristic blue cheatline with the dragon boat head at the nose was already present on early post-war SAS aircraft, so this detail is more or less O.K., and with the trim in place the aircraft looks very elegant. The “Scandinavian” line also comes from the Caravelle – it should be complemented by “Airlines System” in smaller front, but this was not available, and the line alone was already so big and long that it covers literally the whole cabin.

However, the problem with these decals was that the cheatlines featured the triangular Caravelle windows, so that I had to paint them over manually (with Humbrol 104, which is a good match, though). Some more decals, like the country emblems on the fuselage, come from an Italeri SAS Ju 52/3m, or the OOB sheet. The cabin doors were simulated with single 0.5mm decal strips in black.

Finally the kit was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), the windows were created with Humbrol ClearFix (instead of the OOB styrene pieces) and almost no other weathering was done. In a final step, the floats were mounted under the fuselage and a wire antenna added.

Not a spectacular whif, but an elegant one, despite (or thanks to?) the relatively simple civil scheme. The Letov S.328 floats are IMHO a good match in size and volume, but somehow I think the floats’ track with is a little too narrow? Anyway, I stuck with it, and the resulting He 70 floatplane does not look bad at all.

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. The two surviving species of camel are the dromedary, or one-humped camel (C. dromedarius), which inhabits the Middle East and the Horn of Africa; and the bactrian, or two-humped camel (C. bactrianus), which inhabits Central Asia. Both species have been domesticated; they provide milk, meat, hair for textiles or goods such as felted pouches, and are working animals with tasks ranging from human transport to bearing loads.

The term "camel" is derived via Latin and Greek (camelus and κάμηλος kamēlos respectively) from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl.

"Camel" is also used more broadly to describe any of the six camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae: the two true camels and the four New World camelids: the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña of South America.

BIOLOGY

The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years. A full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts and sustain speeds of up to 40 km/h. Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg.

The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla, a large, inflatable sac he extrudes from his mouth when in rut to assert dominance and attract females. It resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind. The male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the only ungulates to mate in a sitting position.

ECOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL ADAPTIONS

Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was once commonly believed. The humps are actually reservoirs of fatty tissue: concentrating body fat in their humps minimizes the insulating effect fat would have if distributed over the rest of their bodies, helping camels survive in hot climates. When this tissue is metabolized, it yields more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration (as oxygen is required for the metabolic process): overall, there is a net decrease in water.

Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg camel can drink 200 L of water in three minutes.

Camels are able to withstand changes in body temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, before they cool off at night again. Maintaining the brain temperature within certain limits is critical for animals; to assist this, camels have a rete mirabile, a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other which utilizes countercurrent blood flow to cool blood flowing to the brain. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C Any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat; the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat. Camels can withstand losing 25% of their body weight to sweating, whereas most other mammals can withstand only about 12–14% dehydration before cardiac failure results from circulatory disturbance.

When the camel exhales, water vapor becomes trapped in their nostrils and is reabsorbed into the body as a means to conserve water. Camels eating green herbage can ingest sufficient moisture in milder conditions to maintain their bodies' hydrated state without the need for drinking.

The camels' thick coats insulate them from the intense heat radiated from desert sand; a shorn camel must sweat 50% more to avoid overheating. During the summer the coat becomes lighter in color, reflecting light as well as helping avoid sunburn. The camel's long legs help by keeping its body farther from the ground, which can heat up to 70 °C. Dromedaries have a pad of thick tissue over the sternum called the pedestal. When the animal lies down in a sternal recumbent position, the pedestal raises the body from the hot surface and allows cooling air to pass under the body.

Camels' mouths have a thick leathery lining, allowing them to chew thorny desert plants. Long eyelashes and ear hairs, together with nostrils that can close, form a barrier against sand. If sand gets lodged in their eyes, they can dislodge it using their transparent third eyelid. The camels' gait and widened feet help them move without sinking into the sand.

The kidneys and intestines of a camel are very efficient at reabsorbing water. Camel urine comes out as a thick syrup, and camel feces are so dry that they do not require drying when the Bedouins use them to fuel fires.

Camels' immune system differs from those of other mammals. Normally, the Y-shaped antibody molecules consist of two heavy (or long) chains along the length of the Y, and two light (or short) chains at each tip of the Y. Camels, in addition to these, also have antibodies made of only two heavy chains, a trait that makes them smaller and more durable. These "heavy-chain-only" antibodies, discovered in 1993, are thought to have developed 50 million years ago, after camelids split from ruminants and pigs.

GENETICS

The karyotypes of different camelid species have been studied earlier by many groups, but no agreement on chromosome nomenclature of camelids has been reached. A 2007 study flow sorted camel chromosomes, building on the fact that camels have 37 pairs of chromosomes (2n=74), and found that the karyotime consisted of one metacentric, three submetacentric, and 32 acrocentric autosomes. The Y is a small metacentric chromosome, while the X is a large metacentric chromosome.The hybrid camel, a hybrid between Bactrian and dromedary camels, has one hump, though it has an indentation 4–12 cm deep that divides the front from the back. The hybrid is 2.15 m at the shoulder and 2.32 m tall at the hump. It weighs an average of 650 kg and can carry around 400 to 450 kg, which is more than either the dromedary or Bactrian can. According to molecular data, the New World and Old World camelids diverged 11 million years ago. In spite of this, these species can still hybridize and produce fertile offspring. The cama is a camel–llama hybrid bred by scientists who wanted to see how closely related the parent species were. Scientists collected semen from a camel via an artificial vagina and inseminated a llama after stimulating ovulation with gonadotrophin injections. The cama has ears halfway between the length of camel and llama ears, no hump, longer legs than the llama, and partially cloven hooves. According to cama breeder Lulu Skidmore, cama have "the fleece of the llamas" and "the strength and patience of the camel". Like the mule, camas are sterile, despite both parents having the same number of chromosomes.

EVOLUTION

The earliest known camel, called Protylopus, lived in North America 40 to 50 million years ago (during the Eocene). It was about the size of a rabbit and lived in the open woodlands of what is now South Dakota. By 35 million years ago, the Poebrotherium was the size of a goat and had many more traits similar to camels and llamas. The hoofed Stenomylus, which walked on the tips of its toes, also existed around this time, and the long-necked Aepycamelus evolved in the Miocene.

The direct ancestor of all modern camels, Procamelus, existed in the upper Miocone and lower Pliocene. Around 3–5 million years ago, the North American Camelidae spread to South America via the Isthmus of Panama, where they gave rise to guanacos and related animals, and to Asia via the Bering land bridge. Surprising finds of fossil Paracamelus on Ellesmere Island beginning in 2006 in the high Canadian Arctic indicate the dromedary is descended from a larger, boreal browser whose hump may have evolved as an adaptation in a cold climate. This creature is estimated to have stood around nine feet tall.

The last camel native to North America was Camelops hesternus, which vanished along with horses, short-faced bears, mammoths and mastodons, ground sloths, sabertooth cats, and many other megafauna, coinciding with the migration of humans from Asia.

DOMESTICATION

Most camels surviving today are domesticated. Along with many other megafauna in North America, the original wild camels were wiped out during the spread of Native Americans from Asia into North America, 12,000 to 10,000 years ago. The only wild camels left are the Bactrian camels of the Gobi Desert.

Like the horse, before their extinction in their native land, camels spread across the Bering land bridge, moving the opposite direction from the Asian immigration to America, to survive in the Old World and eventually be domesticated and spread globally by humans.

Dromedaries may have first been domesticated by humans in Somalia and southern Arabia, around 3,000 BC, the Bactrian in central Asia around 2,500 BC, as at Shar-i Sokhta (also known as the Burnt City), Iran.

Discussions concerning camel domestication in Mesopotamia are often related to mentions of camels in the Hebrew Bible. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J for instance mentions that "In accord with patriarchal traditions, cylinder seals from Middle Bronze Age Mesopotamia showed riders seated upon camels."

Martin Heide's 2010 work on the domestication of the camel tentatively concludes that the bactrian camel was domesticated by at least the middle of the third millennium somewhere east of the Zagros Mountains, then moving into Mesopotamia, and suggests that mentions of camels "in the patriarchal narratives may refer, at least in some places, to the Bactrian camel." while noting that the camel is not mentioned in relationship to Canaan.

Recent excavations in the Timna Valley by Lidar Sapir-Hen and Erez Ben-Yosef discovered what may be the earliest domestic camel bones found in Israel or even outside the Arabian peninsula, dating to around 930 BCE. This garnered considerable media coverage as it was described as evidence that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written after this time.

The existence of camels in Mesopotamia but not in Israel is not a new idea. According to an article in Time Magazine, the historian Richard Bulliet wrote in his 1975 book "The Camel and the Wheel" that "the occasional mention of camels in patriarchal narratives does not mean that the domestic camels were common in the Holy Land at that period." The archaeologist William F. Albright writing even earlier saw camels in the Bible as an anachronism. The official report by Sapir-Hen and Ben-Joseph notes that "The introduction of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius) as a pack animal to the southern Levant signifies a crucial juncture in the history of the region; it substantially facilitated trade across the vast deserts of Arabia, promoting both economic and social change (e.g., Kohler 1984; Borowski 1998: 112-116; Jasmin 2005). This, together with the depiction of camels in the Patriarchal narrative, has generated extensive discussion regarding the date of the earliest domestic camel in the southern Levant (and beyond) (e.g., Albright 1949: 207; Epstein 1971: 558-584; Bulliet 1975; Zarins 1989; Köhler-Rollefson 1993; Uerpmann and Uerpmann 2002; Jasmin 2005; 2006; Heide 2010; Rosen and Saidel 2010; Grigson 2012). Most scholars today agree that the dromedary was exploited as a pack animal sometime in the early Iron Age (not before the 12th century BCE)" and concludes that "Current data from copper smelting sites of the Aravah Valley enable us to pinpoint the introduction of domestic camels to the southern Levant more precisely based on stratigraphic contexts associated with an extensive suite of radiocarbon dates. The data indicate that this event occurred not earlier than the last third of the 10th century BCE and most probably during this time. The coincidence of this event with a major reorganization of the copper industry of the region - attributed to the results of the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I - raises the possibility that the two were connected, and that camels were introduced as part of the efforts to improve efficiency by facilitating trade."

MILITARY USES

By at least 1200 BC, the first camel saddles had appeared, and Bactrian camels could be ridden. The first saddle was positioned to the back of the camel, and control of the Bactrian camel was exercised by means of a stick. However, between 500–100 BC, Bactrian camels attained military use. New saddles, which were inflexible and bent, were put over the humps and divided the rider's weight over the animal. In the seventh century BC, the military Arabian saddle appeared, which improved the saddle design again slightly.

Camel cavalries have been used in wars throughout Africa, the Middle East, and into modern-day Border Security Force of India (though as of July 2012, the BSF has planned the replacement of camels with ATVs). The first use of camel cavalries was in the Battle of Qarqar in 853 BC. Armies have also used camels as freight animals instead of horses and mules.

In the East Roman Empire, the Romans used auxiliary forces known as dromedarii, whom they recruited in desert provinces. The camels were used mostly in combat because of their ability to scare off horses at close ranges (horses are afraid of the camels' scent), a quality famously employed by the Achaemenid Persians when fighting Lydia in the Battle of Thymbra.

19th and 20th CENTURIES

The United States Army established the U.S. Camel Corps, which was stationed in California in the late 19th century. One may still see stables at the Benicia Arsenal in Benicia, California, where they nowadays serve as the Benicia Historical Museum. Though the experimental use of camels was seen as a success (John B. Floyd, Secretary of War in 1858, recommended that funds be allocated towards obtaining a thousand more camels), the outbreak of the American Civil War saw the end of the Camel Corps: Texas became part of the Confederacy, and most of the camels were left to wander away into the desert.

France created a méhariste camel corps in 1912 as part of the Armée d'Afrique in the Sahara in order to exercise greater control over the camel-riding Tuareg and Arab insurgents, as previous efforts to defeat them on foot had failed. The camel-mounted units remained in service until the end of French rule over Algeria in 1962.

In 1916, the British created the Imperial Camel Corps. It was originally used to fight the Senussi, but was later used in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I. The Imperial Camel Corps comprised infantrymen mounted on camels for movement across desert, though they dismounted at battle sites and fought on foot. After July 1918, the Corps began to become run down, receiving no new reinforcements, and was formally disbanded in 1919.

In World War I, the British Army also created the Egyptian Camel Transport Corps, which consisted of a group of Egyptian camel drivers and their camels. The Corps supported British war operations in Sinai, Palestine, and Syria by transporting supplies to the troops.

The Somaliland Camel Corps was created by colonial authorities in British Somaliland in 1912; it was disbanded in 1944.

Bactrian camels were used by Romanian forces during World War II in the Caucasian region.

The Bikaner Camel Corps of British India fought alongside the British Indian Army in World Wars I and II.

The Tropas Nómadas (Nomad Troops) were an auxiliary regiment of Sahrawi tribesmen serving in the colonial army in Spanish Sahara (today Western Sahara). Operational from the 1930s until the end of the Spanish presence in the territory in 1975, the Tropas Nómadas were equipped with small arms and led by Spanish officers. The unit guarded outposts and sometimes conducted patrols on camelback.

FOOD USES

DAIRY

Camel milk is a staple food of desert nomad tribes and is sometimes considered a meal in and of itself; a nomad can live on only camel milk for almost a month. Camel milk is rich in vitamins, minerals, proteins, and immunoglobulins; compared to cow's milk, it is lower in fat and lactose, and higher in potassium, iron, and vitamin C. Bedouins believe the curative powers of camel milk are enhanced if the camel's diet consists of certain desert plants. Camel milk can readily be made into a drinkable yogurt, as well as butter or cheese, though the yields for cheese tend to be low.

Camel milk cannot be made into butter by the traditional churning method. It can be made if it is soured first, churned, and a clarifying agent is then added. Until recently, camel milk could not be made into camel cheese because rennet was unable to coagulate the milk proteins to allow the collection of curds. Developing less wasteful uses of the milk, the FAO commissioned Professor J.P. Ramet of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires, who was able to produce curdling by the addition of calcium phosphate and vegetable rennet. The cheese produced from this process has low levels of cholesterol and is easy to digest, even for the lactose intolerant. The sale of camel cheese is limited owing to the small output of the few dairies producing camel cheese and the absence of camel cheese in local (West African) markets. Cheese imports from countries that traditionally breed camels are difficult to obtain due to restrictions on dairy imports from these regions.

Additionally, camel milk has been made into ice cream in a Netherlands camel farm.

MEAT

A camel carcass can provide a substantial amount of meat. The male dromedary carcass can weigh 300–400 kg, while the carcass of a male Bactrian can weigh up to 650 kg. The carcass of a female dromedary weighs less than the male, ranging between 250 and 350 kg. The brisket, ribs and loin are among the preferred parts, and the hump is considered a delicacy. The hump contains "white and sickly fat", which can be used to make the khli (preserved meat) of mutton, beef, or camel. Camel meat is reported to taste like coarse beef, but older camels can prove to be very tough, although camel meat becomes more tender the more it is cooked. The Abu Dhabi Officers' Club serves a camel burger mixed with beef or lamb fat in order to improve the texture and taste. In Karachi, Pakistan, some restaurants prepare nihari from camel meat. In Syria and Egypt, there are specialist camel butchers.

Camel meat has been eaten for centuries. It has been recorded by ancient Greek writers as an available dish at banquets in ancient Persia, usually roasted whole. The ancient Roman emperor Heliogabalus enjoyed camel's heel.[31] Camel meat is still eaten in certain regions, including Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and other arid regions where alternative forms of protein may be limited or where camel meat has had a long cultural history. Camel blood is also consumable, as is the case among pastoralists in northern Kenya, where camel blood is drunk with milk and acts as a key source of iron, vitamin D, salts and minerals. Camel meat is also occasionally found in Australian cuisine: for example, a camel lasagna is available in Alice Springs.

A 2005 report issued jointly by the Saudi Ministry of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details cases of human bubonic plague resulting from the ingestion of raw camel liver.

RELIGION

ISLAM

Camel meat is halal for Muslims. However, according to some Islamic schools of thought, a state of impurity is brought on by the consumption of it. Consequently, these schools hold that Muslims must perform wudhu (ablution) before the next time they pray after eating camel meat.

Also, some Islamic schools of thought consider it haraam for a Muslim to perform salat in places where camels lie, as it is said to be a dwelling place of shaytan.

According to Suni ahadith collected by Bukhari and Muslim, Muhammad ordered a certain group of people to drink camel milk and urine as a medicine. However, according to Abū Ḥanīfa, the drinking of camel urine, while not forbidden (ḥaram), is disliked (makrūh) in Islam.

Camel urine is sold as traditional medicine in shops in Saudi Arabia. The Sunni scholar Muhammad Al-Munajjid's IslamQA.info recommends camel urine as beneficial to curing certain diseases and to human health and cited Ahadith and scientific studies as justification. King Abdulaziz University researcher Dr. Faten Abdel-Rajman Khorshid has claimed that cancer and other diseases could be treated with camel urine as recommended by the Prophet. The United Arab Emirates "Arab Science and Technology Foundation" reported that cancer could be treated with camel urine. Camel urine was also prescribed as a treatment by Zaghloul El-Naggar, a religious scholar. Camel urine is the only urine which is permitted to be drunk according to the Hanbali madhhab of Sunni Islam. The World Health Organization said that camel urine consumption may be a factor in the spread of the MERS virus in Saudi Arabia. The Gulf Times writer Ahmad al-Sayyed wrote that various afflictions are dealt with camel urine by people. Dandruff, scalp ailments, hair, sores, and wounds were recommended to be treated with camel urine by Ibn Sina. Arab American University Professor of Cell Biology and Immunology Bashar Saad (PhD) along with Omar Said (PhD) wrote that medicinal use of camel urine is approved of and promoted by Islam since it was recommended by the prophet. A test on mice found that cytotoxic effects similar to cyclophosphamide were induced on bone marrow by camel urine. Besides for consumption as a medicinal drink, camel urine is believed to help treat hair. Bites from insects were warded off with camel urine, which also served as a shampoo. Camel urine is also used to help treat asthma, infections, treat hair, sores, hair growth and boost libido.

Several Sunni Ahadith mention drinking camel urine. Some Shia criticized Wahhabis for camel urine treatment. Shia scholars also recommend the medicinal use of camel urine. Shia Hadith on Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq reported that shortness of breath (asthma) was treated with camel urine. Shia Marja Ayatollah Sistani said that for medicinal purposes only, sheep, cow, and camel urine can be drunk.

JUDAISM

According to Jewish tradition, camel meat and milk are not kosher. Camels possess only one of the two kosher criteria; although they chew their cud, they do not possess cloven hooves:

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.

— Leviticus 11:4

DISTRIBUTION ANDNUMBERS

There are around 14 million camels alive as of 2010, with 90% being dromedaries. Dromedaries alive today are domesticated animals (mostly living in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, Maghreb, Middle East and South Asia). The Horn region alone has the largest concentration of camels in the world, where the dromedaries constitute an important part of local nomadic life. They provide nomadic people in Somalia (which has the largest camel herd in the world) and Ethiopia with milk, food, and transportation.

The Bactrian camel is, as of 2010, reduced to an estimated 1.4 million animals, most of which are domesticated. The only truly wild Bactrian camels, of which there are less than one thousand, are thought to inhabit the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia.

The largest population of feral camels is in Australia. There are around 700,000 feral dromedary camels in central parts of Australia, descended from those introduced as a method of transport in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This population is growing about 8% per year. Representatives of the Australian government have culled more than 100,000 of the animals in part because the camels use too much of the limited resources needed by sheep farmers.

A small population of introduced camels, dromedaries and Bactrians, wandered through Southwest United States after having been imported in the 1800s as part of the U.S. Camel Corps experiment. When the project ended, they were used as draft animals in mines and escaped or were released. Twenty-five U.S. camels were bought and imported to Canada during the Cariboo Gold Rush.

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