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Orchid cactus flower -- experimenting at f/1.2 with a vintage Nikon 50mm lens. The sharpness improves if stopped down to f/2 or 2.8, but I kind of like the dreamy effect and almost nonexistent depth of field of this super-fast lens wide open.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
The shuffling and clattering of shoes are heard in echos as people move orderly yet rushed to and from this transfer hub known as the Metro. The Metro Rail system was nonexistent just 15 years ago and is now vital in connecting people throughout L.A. County. This shot was taken during the morning peak period and I found it surprising to catch this emptiness in-between surges of people moving through here. As people passed they looked like seasoned patrons some laughing with companions and friends but many with a hurried look as if the fear of missing the next ride was heavy upon them. This migration is tightly wound both up and down these stairs, a symptom of design occurring every 5 minutes or so.
This work by David Cantu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by inquiring at: onewideopensky@yahoo.com
Bookmobile supporting Meredosia, Bad Catman, The Flips, and Looming at Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield, IL on January 17, 2014.
Words cannot describe how good it felt to be shooting another show at Black Sheep after so long. It doesn't have the greatest lighting and the photo pit is nonexistent, but I just feel so at home there because that community of people is just incredible. They all support each other so much and it's amazing to be a part of that and to get to photograph it every so often. And then getting to be the guest photographer for Harm House's "Record of the Night" was absolutely awesome. Honestly, when I look back, I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am to the Black Sheep venue and community for everything they've done for me. This was my training ground when I was really getting started, and these are the people who took me in and accepted me without question and without reservation. That, and they put on some kick-ass shows =)
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
17-365-2 Maple Sapling Silhouette
After a long and frustrating night and morning of trying in vain to get my computer online I decided to go for a drive.There is a wildfire out near Detroit Lake Oregon and I thought I would go see if I could find a nice safe spot to get some pictures from. I drove for about 2 hours to find the dirt road that my squirrely GPS was leading me to. I follow it for about a mile and a half to have it tell me, "Make a left" onto a nonexistent path. The forest was so thick that you could not see anything let alone a fire. However on my journeys through the woods I found a nice spot for a few sunset pictures instead.
This was the most beautiful, intense and unusual sunset I have EVER seen! There were upon counting the shots later, about 17 or 18 Dragon heads in the clouds! Also the clouds were constantly changing and forming strange mountains outlined by the setting sun on the horizon! At times the sky looked like it was on fire! Though I never saw a flame, this more than made up for it!
Leeville, Louisiana
on Bayou LaFourche
LaFourche Parish
Leeville was settled by flood victims. On October 1, 1893, a hurricane wiped out the area's main settlement, Caminadaville, which sat on a spit of land bordered on three sides by the Gulf and on the fourth by swamp. Nearly half of Caminadaville's inhabitants perished in the storm, most by drowning, some when the buildings they had taken refuge in collapsed.
Survivors sailed up the bayou in their damaged canots and began buying land from an orange-grower named Peter Lee, who was selling plots for $12.50 each. For sixteen years, they fished, planted rice, and held fais do-do dancing parties in homes with covered verandas.
Then, in 1909, the Leeville Hurricane struck. (A contemporary newspaper account described survivors of that storm subsisting on drowned rabbit.) Six years later, a third hurricane forced residents to flee north once more. According to local legend, the storm surge carried one house from Leeville nine miles inland. The owner simply bought the plot underneath it and moved back in.
In the nineteen-thirties, Leeville rebounded briefly. Oil was discovered in the area, and by the end of the decade there were ninety-eight producing wells in town. The pay was good and regulation nonexistent. Blowouts routinely rained sulfur and brine onto the houses, into the cisterns, over the trees. Tin roofs corroded and vegetable gardens shrivelled up. When the wells ran dry, oil production moved offshore and Leeville was again deserted.
There were no more jobs, and the town itself had begun to wash away. Where once men in straw hats picked oranges and harvested rice, today there is mostly open water.
from: www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15339115_ITM
It's fun to think that we're sitting on the deck of a boat, which is sailing away from a nonexistent, imaginary sea port in Bangalore.
As I was uploading this picture, computer-ji started playing this old song from CID Naseer:
നീല നിശീഥിനീ
നിന് മണിമേടയില്
നിദ്രാ വിഹീന്നായ് നിന്നൂ..
(which roughly translates to (apologies already): blue night / in your mansion / stood I, sleepless..)
7-11 stores are no longer existent in Jacksonville or much of North Florida for that matter. However, they are still quite abundant in the Daytona area and at points south, such as Cocoa Beach. I was surprised to see the sign reading "Oh thank heaven!" because that was a slogan from the 1970's.
I can only guess that the straps around the sign were put up when Fay threatened the area. I saw several other signs that were strapped in that manner.
It's a cruel occurence when society comes to a universal agreement to cast out one of their own. A silent oath, unknown to the victimized individual, is sworn by the sadistic hearts of the Whole. Day after day, Glares pierce Its back as It treads the murky void of exile. Its gaze is met by no one, and Its voice is nonexistent. Chaos quietly consumes It from within as cold realization forms, and wicked truth is discovered.
It has felt the venom of society, slowly eating away at Its thoughts, becoming a constantly fed obsession, that unfortunately, has no end in sight.
Humanity's third flaw: Social Prejudice.
Logo feito para um restaurante inexistente, totalmente fictício.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Logo made for a nonexistent restaurant, totally fictional.
+++ 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 North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
Originally built between 1793 and 1797 during the Second Spanish Period, this Spanish Colonial and Neoclassical-style cathedral is the fourth church to occupy a prominent position at the heart of the city of St. Augustine. The original church, built of flammable materials, stood from 1565 until 1586, when it was burned during an attack by English Privateer Sir Francis Drake. Not even a year later, the church was rebuilt of palm logs, with a straw roof, which succumbed to fire in 1599. In 1605, thanks to a tithe from Spain, a timber church was constructed, which stood until a failed English attack on the city in 1702 by James Moore, then-governor of Carolina colony. There were attempts to rebuild the church during the First Spanish Period, starting in 1707, but these went nowhere, and the money intended for the church’s reconstruction were misallocated by corrupt officials. Instead, during the remainder of the First Spanish Period, mass was held in the St. Augustine Hospital. Following the transfer of governance of Florida to the British in 1763, the need for a new Catholic church was nonexistent, as the catholic population of the colony fled to other Spanish colonies. At the start of the Second Spanish Period in 1784, the need for a new church became more apparent, and work on the current cathedral’s Coquina stone walls began in 1793. The facade of the church features Neoclassical elements around the front doorway, with the Spanish Colonial style being employed on the roofline and limited fenestration on the front facade. The church stood in its original configuration until a fire in 1887 destroyed the timber roof structure and did major damage to the interior. Following the fire, Henry Flagler led the effort to have the cathedral rebuilt, with James Renwick, Jr. designing an expansion of the old building, giving it a rectangular cruciform layout, and adding the Spanish Renaissance-style bell tower and European-style transept to the building. The interior was rebuilt to feature exposed decorative timbers that supported the roof structure, and a decorative polychromatic tile floor. The building has since received a few more additions, which house a chapel, service areas, and offices, as well as a building to the rear of the cathedral along Treasury Street, built in the Mediterranean Revival style, which houses the offices of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Today, the cathedral remains a prominent landmark in the city, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark as part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District in 1970.
+++ 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 North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
+++ 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 North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
A large warehouse nearby the docks which has been weathered by both sun and water. Combining the corrugated iron walls with a folding shutter blends the two together which makes the doorway feel nonexistent.
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
Like I’ve said before, Weston Brewing Company holds a special place in my heart, so lets chalk this horrible beer up to this mysterious “Big Balls Brewery” that is listed on the side of the bottle.
Jesse James America’s Outlaw Beer pours a light copper with a small white head, and sadly this appearance is the best part of this beer.
Light aroma, light taste, light mouthfeel.
The aroma is almost nonexistent with a very light wheat the only thing coming off of it.
Taste starts with wheat then goes to a watery taste, then more water for the aftertaste.
Nothing good about this beer, and now I have to figure out what to do with the rest of the 5 beers in the pack. Maybe the first time I will sink pour that much beer.
Leeville, Louisiana
on Bayou LaFourche
LaFourche Parish
Some of the greatest fishing is right here.
Leeville was settled by flood victims. On October 1, 1893, a hurricane wiped out the area's main settlement, Caminadaville, which sat on a spit of land bordered on three sides by the Gulf and on the fourth by swamp. Nearly half of Caminadaville's inhabitants perished in the storm, most by drowning, some when the buildings they had taken refuge in collapsed.
Survivors sailed up the bayou in their damaged canots and began buying land from an orange-grower named Peter Lee, who was selling plots for $12.50 each. For sixteen years, they fished, planted rice, and held fais do-do dancing parties in homes with covered verandas.
Then, in 1909, the Leeville Hurricane struck. (A contemporary newspaper account described survivors of that storm subsisting on drowned rabbit.) Six years later, a third hurricane forced residents to flee north once more. According to local legend, the storm surge carried one house from Leeville nine miles inland. The owner simply bought the plot underneath it and moved back in.
In the nineteen-thirties, Leeville rebounded briefly. Oil was discovered in the area, and by the end of the decade there were ninety-eight producing wells in town. The pay was good and regulation nonexistent. Blowouts routinely rained sulfur and brine onto the houses, into the cisterns, over the trees. Tin roofs corroded and vegetable gardens shrivelled up. When the wells ran dry, oil production moved offshore and Leeville was again deserted.
There were no more jobs, and the town itself had begun to wash away. Where once men in straw hats picked oranges and harvested rice, today there is mostly open water.
from: www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15339115_ITM
+++ 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 North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
Bookmobile supporting Meredosia, Bad Catman, The Flips, and Looming at Black Sheep Cafe in Springfield, IL on January 17, 2014.
Words cannot describe how good it felt to be shooting another show at Black Sheep after so long. It doesn't have the greatest lighting and the photo pit is nonexistent, but I just feel so at home there because that community of people is just incredible. They all support each other so much and it's amazing to be a part of that and to get to photograph it every so often. And then getting to be the guest photographer for Harm House's "Record of the Night" was absolutely awesome. Honestly, when I look back, I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am to the Black Sheep venue and community for everything they've done for me. This was my training ground when I was really getting started, and these are the people who took me in and accepted me without question and without reservation. That, and they put on some kick-ass shows =)
New Bridge in the background
Leeville, Louisiana
on Bayou LaFourche
LaFourche Parish
Some of the greatest fishing is right here.
Leeville was settled by flood victims. On October 1, 1893, a hurricane wiped out the area's main settlement, Caminadaville, which sat on a spit of land bordered on three sides by the Gulf and on the fourth by swamp. Nearly half of Caminadaville's inhabitants perished in the storm, most by drowning, some when the buildings they had taken refuge in collapsed.
Survivors sailed up the bayou in their damaged canots and began buying land from an orange-grower named Peter Lee, who was selling plots for $12.50 each. For sixteen years, they fished, planted rice, and held fais do-do dancing parties in homes with covered verandas.
Then, in 1909, the Leeville Hurricane struck. (A contemporary newspaper account described survivors of that storm subsisting on drowned rabbit.) Six years later, a third hurricane forced residents to flee north once more. According to local legend, the storm surge carried one house from Leeville nine miles inland. The owner simply bought the plot underneath it and moved back in.
In the nineteen-thirties, Leeville rebounded briefly. Oil was discovered in the area, and by the end of the decade there were ninety-eight producing wells in town. The pay was good and regulation nonexistent. Blowouts routinely rained sulfur and brine onto the houses, into the cisterns, over the trees. Tin roofs corroded and vegetable gardens shrivelled up. When the wells ran dry, oil production moved offshore and Leeville was again deserted.
There were no more jobs, and the town itself had begun to wash away. Where once men in straw hats picked oranges and harvested rice, today there is mostly open water.
from: www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15339115_ITM
Mendon Ponds Park is owned and very poorly maintained by the County of Monroe, NY.
Unfortunately, this extraordinary property is rapidly deteriorating due to an egregious lack of care. Trails are not cleared of debris... signs are useless. Park maintenance is essentially nonexistent. They do have a marketing department. Seriously, the taxpayers are paying the salaries of a county parks marketing department.
Email Mendon Ponds Park complaints to: countyexecutive@monroecounty.gov
replacing the mirror bumper on this sears/ricoh TLS. It was pretty much nonexistent. Whoever owned this camera before me took wonderful care of it though
+++ 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 North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Production of the P-51B/C began at North American's Inglewood California plant in June 1943 and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and 9th Air Forces in the winter of 1943–1944. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, allowing the aircraft to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. Among the almost 4.000 Mustangs of this variant built a quarter was supplied under Lend-Lease to the RAF as the Mustang Mk III. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
The P-51 offered an excellent performance, but North American kept trying to improve, and developed a number of lightweight versions. The lightweight Mustangs had a new wing design and airfoils designed to give less drag than the previous NAA/NACA 45-100. In addition, the planform was a simple trapezoid, with no leading-edge extension at the root.
In 1943, North American submitted a proposal to redesign the P-51D as model NA-104, from an enquiry by the USAAF as to why British aircraft were lighter than American ones. NAA engineers had examined the various components and equipment fitted to Spitfires, and through thorough inspection of airframes and construction plans NAA found that British load factors were less than American ones, and working to the lower load factors helped the design team reduce structural weight wherever possible. Exploiting the structural potential and lightening or reducing other equipment, the NA-104’s revised design was in total some 1,600 lb (730 kg) lighter than the P-51D. Modifications to save weight and improve performance included a thinner laminar flow wing, streamlining changes to the cowling, a simplified undercarriage with smaller wheels and disc brakes (necessitated by the thinner wings), a different canopy, and an armament of only four 0.5” Brownings, even though the ammunition supply was changed to 400 rounds per gun.
The lightweight NA-104 was powered by the new V-1650-9 engine, a redesigned "slimline" version of the Merlin 100-series. The engine’s design was modified to decrease frontal area to a minimum and was the first Merlin series to use down-draught induction systems. The coolant pump was moved from the bottom of the engine to the starboard side, and the engine featured a two-speed, two-stage supercharger and an S.U. injection carburetor. The V-1650-9 not only delivered an increased constant output of 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), it also featured a water-methanol injection that could temporarily boost the engine’s emergency power to 2,218 hp (1.655 kW). The exhaust arrangement was revised, too, exploiting the engine’s residual thrust to gain even more speed. An “uncuffed” three-blade Aeroproducts propeller unit with deeper blades was fitted, to better cope with the higher power output and the higher blade speeds
.
Unlike later lightweight Mustang versions/prototypes the NA-104‘s ventral radiator fairing remained the same shape and size, just as the main landing gear and its covers, both were, despite improved designs on the prototyoe workbench, retained to promote a quick production introduction. The former V-1650-7’s carburetor chin intake was relocated into the right wing’s root, and the cowling was modified and streamlined. The modified nose section was slightly longer than on previous Mustang versions, and to compensate for a resulting slight center of gravity shift forward the rear fuselage was slightly extended with a plug in the rear fuselage, just front of the tail surfaces, what increased the NA-104’s overall length by ~10 inch. As a side effect the longitudinal stability improved, so that the NA-104 did not require the stabilizing fin fillet that had been introduced on the P-51D and some late production P-51B/Cs, too.
In test flights, the NA-104, with optimized fuel load and a highly polished finish, achieved 491 mph (790 km/h) at 21,000 ft (6,400 m). In September 1944 the NA-104 was accepted by the USAAF as a high-performance interceptor under the designation P-51E. 500 aircraft were ordered, primarily for operations in Europe, specifically for the 8th and 9th Air Force, to protect the Allied airfields in Great Britain and as long-range escort fighters for Allied bomber raids against Germany. An option for 1.000 more was signed, too, to be delivered from August 1945.
The first P-51Es arrived in Great Britain in January 1945. However, large-scale combat between 8th Fighter Command and the Luftwaffe interceptor force had become virtually nonexistent after 28 May 1944 but, in August, contact had been made for the first time with both rocket-propelled and jet-propelled interceptors. While themselves a harbinger of a tactical change by the Luftwaffe, the contacts also indicated that the Germans were husbanding their fighter aircraft for sporadic reaction against Allied bomber attacks.
Operational tasks for the USAAFs P-51Es included the support of bomber attacks against German ground transportation during the Allied counter-offensive in the Ardennes in early 1945, strafing ground targets daily. However, on 14 January, strategic bombing resumed with attacks on oil installations near Berlin, and Mustangs were frequently tasked with protecting B-17s, employing a variation of the escort tactic called the "Zemke Fan", designed to lure in interceptors.
The Luftwaffe’s Jagdverbände, severely depleted, turned to jet interceptions beginning 9 February 1945 in an attempt to stop the onslaught of Allied heavy bombers. The Allies countered by flying combat air patrol missions over German airfields, intercepting Me 262s and Ar 234s as they took off and landed, the moment when these fast aircraft were most vulnerable. The tactic resulted in increasing numbers of jets shot down and controlled the dangerous situation, particularly as the amount of German-controlled territory shrank daily.
Another threat was the V-1 flying bomb attacks that had begun in mid-June 1944. The only aircraft with the low-altitude speed to be effective against it was the Hawker Tempest, but by that time fewer than 30 Tempests were available, assigned to No. 150 Wing RAF. Early attempts to intercept and destroy V-1s often failed, but improved techniques soon emerged. These included using the airflow over an interceptor's wing to raise one wing of the V-1, by sliding the wingtip to within 6 in (15 cm) of the lower surface of the V-1's wing. If properly executed, this maneuver would tip the V-1's wing up, over-riding the gyro and sending the V-1 into an out-of-control dive. At least sixteen V-1s were destroyed this way, the first by a P-51 piloted by Major R. E. Turner of 356th Fighter Squadron on 18 June 1944. Once available, the USAAF’s P-51Es were frequently assigned to V-1 interception duties over the Channel and the southern coast of England, alleviating RAF units.
However, with the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945 the P-51E contract was cancelled, as well as the option for more aircraft. Altogether only 363 lightweight P-51Es were completed and reached frontline units, exclusively operating with the 8th and 9th Fighter Command.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 33 ft 3 in (10,15 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 0 in (11,28 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4,08 m)
Wing area: 234 sq ft (21,81 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 66(2)-215
Empty weight: 5,792 lb (2.630 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,268 lb (3.300 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 9,559 lb (4.340 kg)
Maximum fuel capacity: 419 US gal (349 imp gal; 1,590 l)
Powerplant:
1× Packard V-1650-9 liquid-cooled V-12 with 2-stage intercooled supercharger,
delivering 1,380 hp (1,030 kW), 2,218 hp (1,655 kW) WEP with Water methanol injection,
driving a Hamilton Standard constant-speed, variable-pitch three blade propeller with
a 11 ft 2 in (3.40 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 472 mph (760 km/h; 410 kn) at 21,200 ft (6,500 m)
Cruise speed: 362 mph (315 kn, 580 km/h)
Stall speed: 100 mph (87 kn, 160 km/h)
Range: 1,650 mi (1,434 nmi, 2,755 km) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 41,900 ft (12,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,200 ft/min (16.3 m/s)
Wing loading: 39 lb/sqft (192 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.18 hp/lb (300 W/kg)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 14.6
Recommended Mach limit 0.8
Armament:
4× 0.50 caliber (12.7mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 400 RPG
A pair of underwing hardpoints for a pair of drop tanks
or bombs of 100 lb (45 kg), 250 lb (113 kg) or 500 lb (226 kg) caliber
The kit and its assembly:
A project that was more complex than obvious at first glance. The plan was to create a “missing link” between the WWII P-51D and its lightweight sibling P-51H, which came too late in WWII to take seriously part in any combat. There actually were some “interim” designs, which paved the way (the F, G and J models), with lightweight hulls or different engines. My plan was to adopt some details of these aircraft to create the fictional P-51E.
For a look that subtly differs from the well-known P-51D I decided light-headedly to bash two Academy models together: a P-51D hull, mixed with the wings and tail from a P-51B/C kit, plus some inter-kit and external donors. What sounds simple turned out to be a major surgery task, though, because both kits are totally different, produced with individual moulds and few interchangeable parts! Even details which you’d expect to me identical (e. g. wing tip and tail shape) differ markedly.
For the P-51E kitbash the fuselage with cockpit, engine and radiator bath was taken from the P-51D, while the tail and the wings were taken from the P-51B/C, because they were slightly bigger, “edgier”, lacked the fin fillet and featured only four machine guns in the wings. Mating these parts called for many adaptations and massive PSR, though. To change the look further I removed the small wing leading edge extensions, for a completely straight edge, and the cowling was changed to look like a mix of the P-51F and J prototypes. The carburetor intake disappeared and a part of the P-51D spinner was used to extend the fuselage a little. A completely new three-blade propeller was scratched, using a Yokosuka D4Y spinner, a piece from an ESCI Ka-34 Hokum main rotor, and clipped blades from a Hasegawa F5U. A styrene tube was added to hold the propeller’s new metal axis. To compensate for the longer nose the rear fuselage a 2mm section of the P-51D hull was retained in front of the transplanted P-51B/C tail (which is a separate hull section, the -D has an integral tail).
The original exhausts were replaced with resin aftermarket pieces for P-400 Airacobra from Quickboost - for which the nose extension paid out, because the V-1710 exhaust arrangement is longer than the Merlin's.
Painting and markings:
I wanted a typical, potentially colorful USAAF livery from early 1945 for this what-if aircraft model. This meant that the aircraft would have a NMF livery, and Invasion Stripes or other ID markings were already removed or not applied to new aircraft anymore. Camouflage had been omitted from 1945, too. As squadron markings I went for the 357th FG red-and-yellow nose markings; these came with Academy’s P-51B/C kit, but I replaced them with decals from a Mistercraft/Intech kit from The Stash™ because their shape was simpler and would (probably) better match the modified lower nose. Searching for later P-51Ds of this group revealed that the aircraft hardly carried any other colorful marking, though – just the tactical code, and maybe some personal markings.
To keep in style I adapted this basis, using a tone called “White Aluminum (RAL 9006)” from a Duplicolor rattle can as an overall basis, but added a thin red edge to the olive drab (Revell 46) anti-glare panel, created with generic decal stripes. The rudder as well as the wing tips were painted in red, an official 363rd FS ID marking, as a counterbalance to the prominent nose, too.
The propeller spinner was painted free-handedly, in an attempt to match the checker decal's colors. Some hull panels were painted in a darker shade of aluminum to make the model look mo0re lively, and some post-shading with Humbrol Matt Aluminum Metallizer was done to improve that effect, too. Cockpit and landing gear wells were painted in a bright green zinc chromate primer tone.
Decals and markings were puzzled together from various sources. Finding a suitable 'B6' code fpr the 363rd FS was tough, but I was eventually able to scratch it from 'P9' codes from two Academy P-47D kits/sheets! BTW, the horizontal bar above the aircraft's individual letter was a real world marking for a second aircraft that bore this tactical code within the unit. The nose art/tag was also donated from an Academy P-47, the yellow font matches the rest of the unit colors well.
The anti glare panel and the propeller blades received a matt varnish coat, while the rest of the hull was covered with a mix of matt and a little semi-gloss varnish - contemporary Mustang photos from 1945 suggest that, despite being bare metal, the aircraft were not polished or shiny at all, yet the aluminum would have some reflections. I think that the final overall finish looks quite good. As a final step I added some light soot stains behind the exhausts and the machine gun orifices, and dry-brushed some silver on edges/areas where paint could have flaked in real life. Not much, but it adds to the overall impression of a used aircraft.
A more demanding project than meets the eye. Bashing the two Mustang kits for a fictional new one might have been a smart idea, but it turned out to be a nightmare because the two 1:72 Mustand Academy kits are totally incompatible. Additionally, the mods I made are VERY subtle, it takes a keen eye to recognize the lengthened hull, the modfied cowling and the cleaner tail. The three-blade prop is the most obvious thing, and with it, from certain angles, the P-51E reminds somewhat of a Yak-9? Probably due to the intake-less cowling and the (for a Mustang) unusual prop? The livery looks plausible and colorful, though. :D
Thanks to my wonderful friend Gina I now know the name of this orchid..Thank you so much Gina!! ; )
I looked it up and here is what is says about them...........
Native to high elevations in northeast India, China, Burma, and Thailand, Vanda coerulea is prized for its flowers' rich blue, a color rare among cultivated orchids. Wild populations of this orchid are almost nonexistent today because local growers have overharvested them for the international horticulture trade.
Although they say a rich blue color the picture they had was more of a purple..
For the soon to be nonexistent group FGR, I decided with only two days left, I better get my ass in gear. .... While doing that not taking any time to setup my camera... just eat and shoot. Hell, I got better things to do like help setup the Rogue Players Group to help fill that void in people's hearts. I don't care what it is gonna take, even if I gotta setup a "Numpty and his Knob" group, just to keep people smiling. It's bigger than me, and I'm just doing my part.
Oh, and thanks to JLovely for picking the day!
Stivan, a small settlement on Adriatic Sea island Cres in Kvarner bay, is an almost abandoned place. Incredibly stony ground, almost nonexistent arable soil, not close enough to the sea shore to be of interest for tourists, offers little to survive. Some old fig trees and olive trees and sheep, this is all one can rely on. But it is situated in a great landscape, in an open, rather flat (as the whole south part of the island) Mediterranean landscape, harsh, wind-swept and sunny, with mild spring and autumn climate and hot summers. Yet, 200 years ago men was capable not only to survive here but also to live full lives and to build large stony farmhouses like this one on my pictures. Now it is a ruin worth nothing, defeated by time and overtaken by Wulfen's Spurge (Euphorbia wulfeni).
Leeville, Louisiana
on Bayou LaFourche
LaFourche Parish
Some of the greatest fishing is right here.
Leeville was settled by flood victims. On October 1, 1893, a hurricane wiped out the area's main settlement, Caminadaville, which sat on a spit of land bordered on three sides by the Gulf and on the fourth by swamp. Nearly half of Caminadaville's inhabitants perished in the storm, most by drowning, some when the buildings they had taken refuge in collapsed.
Survivors sailed up the bayou in their damaged canots and began buying land from an orange-grower named Peter Lee, who was selling plots for $12.50 each. For sixteen years, they fished, planted rice, and held fais do-do dancing parties in homes with covered verandas.
Then, in 1909, the Leeville Hurricane struck. (A contemporary newspaper account described survivors of that storm subsisting on drowned rabbit.) Six years later, a third hurricane forced residents to flee north once more. According to local legend, the storm surge carried one house from Leeville nine miles inland. The owner simply bought the plot underneath it and moved back in.
In the nineteen-thirties, Leeville rebounded briefly. Oil was discovered in the area, and by the end of the decade there were ninety-eight producing wells in town. The pay was good and regulation nonexistent. Blowouts routinely rained sulfur and brine onto the houses, into the cisterns, over the trees. Tin roofs corroded and vegetable gardens shrivelled up. When the wells ran dry, oil production moved offshore and Leeville was again deserted.
There were no more jobs, and the town itself had begun to wash away. Where once men in straw hats picked oranges and harvested rice, today there is mostly open water.
from: www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-15339115_ITM
this little stray managed to get IN through an open window. He however didn't get OUT again. Only problem was that
this little stray managed to get IN through an open window. He however didn't get OUT again. Only problem was that he quite apparently shit his nonexistent trousers. Bastard!
I let him out after taking a few shots ...
Taken while walking through Barrio Viejo in Tucson, realizing that all the previous shots I've taken here are (at least currently) nonexistent.
Sorry for being a slacker visiting photostreams. Have been lazy and trying to be inspired again. It's tough, though, with work and the hard drive crash and all. Hope you all understand.
I'll be travelling a lot for work over the next month, but hope to be a better netizen over the course of that time.
Have a great one!
Traffic along this stretch of road was nonexistent, providing an addictive quiet for this isolated location.
Originally built between 1793 and 1797 during the Second Spanish Period, this Spanish Colonial and Neoclassical-style cathedral is the fourth church to occupy a prominent position at the heart of the city of St. Augustine. The original church, built of flammable materials, stood from 1565 until 1586, when it was burned during an attack by English Privateer Sir Francis Drake. Not even a year later, the church was rebuilt of palm logs, with a straw roof, which succumbed to fire in 1599. In 1605, thanks to a tithe from Spain, a timber church was constructed, which stood until a failed English attack on the city in 1702 by James Moore, then-governor of Carolina colony. There were attempts to rebuild the church during the First Spanish Period, starting in 1707, but these went nowhere, and the money intended for the church’s reconstruction were misallocated by corrupt officials. Instead, during the remainder of the First Spanish Period, mass was held in the St. Augustine Hospital. Following the transfer of governance of Florida to the British in 1763, the need for a new Catholic church was nonexistent, as the catholic population of the colony fled to other Spanish colonies. At the start of the Second Spanish Period in 1784, the need for a new church became more apparent, and work on the current cathedral’s Coquina stone walls began in 1793. The facade of the church features Neoclassical elements around the front doorway, with the Spanish Colonial style being employed on the roofline and limited fenestration on the front facade. The church stood in its original configuration until a fire in 1887 destroyed the timber roof structure and did major damage to the interior. Following the fire, Henry Flagler led the effort to have the cathedral rebuilt, with James Renwick, Jr. designing an expansion of the old building, giving it a rectangular cruciform layout, and adding the Spanish Renaissance-style bell tower and European-style transept to the building. The interior was rebuilt to feature exposed decorative timbers that supported the roof structure, and a decorative polychromatic tile floor. The building has since received a few more additions, which house a chapel, service areas, and offices, as well as a building to the rear of the cathedral along Treasury Street, built in the Mediterranean Revival style, which houses the offices of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Today, the cathedral remains a prominent landmark in the city, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark as part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District in 1970.
I have visited every county in Washington, but haven’t explored Asotin as much as I’d have liked. We stayed there in May, right on the other side of this fence.
Asotin is in the south eastern corner of Washington. It’s steep hills and sparse roads leave it largely empty. Much of it is National and State forest, State wildlife areas, and parks. The few towns (apart from Clarkston) are small and nearly nonexistent.
The Asotin area was originally part of Nez Perce land. There are numerous petroglyphs along the Snake River chiseled by their ancestors hundreds of years before.
The land that became Asotin County was the northwestern part of the Nez Perce territory. The people were big travelers, even finding themselves visiting the Pacific Ocean 400 miles to the west, and crossing the continental divide into the buffalo country in Montana 300 miles to the east.
Their reservation now sits on the other side of the Snake River, though it does not touch it (which is honestly just mean). Unlike many tribes, however, their reservation is on their ancestral lands.
Their most famous leader, Peace Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt; “Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain”), was not allowed to settle on this reservation. He and his people were first sent to Oklahoma where many died (I visited the Nez Perce graveyard this past summer). Then he was allowed to move to the Coleville Reservation in north-central Washington, hundreds of miles away from his home. There he is buried, his doctor saying that he had died “of a broken heart”.
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‘Wisdom Lifts Her Voice’
Camera: Crown Graphic 4×5 (1962)
Lens: 127mm f/4.7 Rodenstock Ysarex; f/8, 1/100sec; Hand-held
Film: Arista Ultra Edu 200
Process: Rodinal; 1+50; 11mins
Along the Grand Ronde River, Asotin County, Washington
These are $15 watermelons. They're pretty typical for Japanese watermelons, weighing in at about the same size as a large cantaloupe in the US.
Incidentally, seedless watermelons seem to be nonexistent here. They do, however, have the square variety.
Atlanta Braves baseball from 20 September 2019 (the night they clinched the division crown). The new park (opened in 2018) gets panned a little because it's usually pretty hot in Georgia and a heck of a lot of seats are in direct sun.
It's a relatively generic stadium (in the new mold of generic stadiums), but it's nice. The area outside the stadium (bars/restaurants) is actually a bit more interesting/unique than the stadium itself.
The biggest drawback is that the Atlanta Braves no longer play in Atlanta. (That and parking is almost nonexistent up there in Marietta near the stadium. We were scratching our heads looking for the actual parking lots.)
As for the game...it was a great game. First time in my life I actually got to see a division-clinching game. (They'd clinched a playoff spot a few days before.)
A young adult Western Slender Glass Lizard from south-central Oklahoma. This species is quite common in some areas of KS, OK, and TX, but nonexistent in seemingly identical, nearby areas.
With my limited (nonexistent) bourbon making knowledge, I believe this is the building where they actually used to do the distilling. The building is around 5 stories, irregularly, with most of the interior woodwork intact (though the outside is beginning to resemble a ramshackle barn.
I wasn't going to go to the bottom of Quilotoa -- but they were doing it in high heels so I had to!
Had a brief talk (as much as my nonexistent Spanish allowed) while they were setting up for their picnic but I had to start making my way back to the top.
self portrait.
I go to class 5 days a week and work 4 (including Saturday and Sundays). When I'm not in class or at work, I'm doing homework. Feels like I don't have any time to follow through with ideas, or when I do have the time, I don't have the people to do it.
I think I'm going to step away from photography for a little bit to focus on some other things. School. Work. My nonexistent personal life. As well as a couple other non-photo art projects I've been toying with, most significantly a series based on Jon Foreman's song My Love Goes Free (listen here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgwlYJ51ES4 ) that I really, really hope comes to fruition the way I see it. I'm so excited about it.
What does that have to do with this photo?
Not much. Other than the fact that its about me, and well...this is a self portrait.
Should I have posted it on my blog instead?
probably.
Will anyone read it?
Unlikely.
pssst. Speaking of blogs
kidwithabulletsoul.tumblr.com/
Its pretty much a combination of anything and everything. Graphics. Photography. Music. And mostly just things I like.
Another dead, broken down car.
--
the sky was nonexistent (blank blanket of nowhere nothing)
and the st.ars did not exist (they were hiding beneath cloudcover)
and we drove along the road (off.off.off we go)
no streetlights no city no bustling crowds
oh, lovely romAntIc(ism) - we were so CONTENT
in ourselves (and in eachother)
and then the brakes failed and the engine grunted and we both screamed (thinking, or so it seemed)
CraaaSH crA-cck
we fell down down down
Originally built between 1793 and 1797 during the Second Spanish Period, this Spanish Colonial and Neoclassical-style cathedral is the fourth church to occupy a prominent position at the heart of the city of St. Augustine. The original church, built of flammable materials, stood from 1565 until 1586, when it was burned during an attack by English Privateer Sir Francis Drake. Not even a year later, the church was rebuilt of palm logs, with a straw roof, which succumbed to fire in 1599. In 1605, thanks to a tithe from Spain, a timber church was constructed, which stood until a failed English attack on the city in 1702 by James Moore, then-governor of Carolina colony. There were attempts to rebuild the church during the First Spanish Period, starting in 1707, but these went nowhere, and the money intended for the church’s reconstruction were misallocated by corrupt officials. Instead, during the remainder of the First Spanish Period, mass was held in the St. Augustine Hospital. Following the transfer of governance of Florida to the British in 1763, the need for a new Catholic church was nonexistent, as the catholic population of the colony fled to other Spanish colonies. At the start of the Second Spanish Period in 1784, the need for a new church became more apparent, and work on the current cathedral’s Coquina stone walls began in 1793. The facade of the church features Neoclassical elements around the front doorway, with the Spanish Colonial style being employed on the roofline and limited fenestration on the front facade. The church stood in its original configuration until a fire in 1887 destroyed the timber roof structure and did major damage to the interior. Following the fire, Henry Flagler led the effort to have the cathedral rebuilt, with James Renwick, Jr. designing an expansion of the old building, giving it a rectangular cruciform layout, and adding the Spanish Renaissance-style bell tower and European-style transept to the building. The interior was rebuilt to feature exposed decorative timbers that supported the roof structure, and a decorative polychromatic tile floor. The building has since received a few more additions, which house a chapel, service areas, and offices, as well as a building to the rear of the cathedral along Treasury Street, built in the Mediterranean Revival style, which houses the offices of the Diocese of St. Augustine. Today, the cathedral remains a prominent landmark in the city, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark as part of the St. Augustine Town Plan Historic District in 1970.
Biyadhoo Island Resort
The mattress is allmost nonexistent, asking the reception for a decent one is futile.
At Biyadhoo Island Resort it is like sleeping on the ground with a sheet as cover
Name: Laura Phipps
Year: Sophomore
quote: "My style is nonexistent, I don't like to stereotype my style"
Shoes: from Rugged Wear house (10$)
Jacket: Hand me down from mom
Pants: 10$ from JC penny
Scarf: 5$ sale at Belk
Choice: I chose Jordi Koaltic because he has some of the most imaginative and creative pictures I’ve come across. He typically uses many inanimate objects to help enhance his photos. Through these inanimate objects, he managed to create impossible angles, nonexistent depths. All in all, he was able to create photos from scratch.
Intention: I wanted to capture the playful essence in Koaltic’s photos by including floating objects.
Reference: “most of us can use a little more confidence and a little less fear as we take greater risks and create our work.”
Outcome: I chose paintbrushes because I love painting and they create an interesting dynamic
Edit: I had to heal the creases on the sheet in the background and remove the strings that held up the brushes. I also increased the saturation and vibrancy.