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Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 05-Aug-23.
Taken on a dark, wet morning in May!
This aircraft was delivered to ANA Australian National Airways in Oct-56 as VH-INT. Australian National were merged with Ansett Airlines in Oct-57 to form Ansett ANA.
In Dec-66 the aircraft was sold to Trans-Union Airlines as F-BOEV. It was sold to Europe Aero Service in Sep-71 and sold again to Transportes Aeriens Reunis in Jun-73.
In 1975 it was sold Delta Air Transport, Belgium, as OO-VFG. They kept it until Mar-78 when it was sold to 'R. Korastinsky' as N9383A. In May-78 it became EC-DCK with Aerotransporte de Espana and was briefly wet-leased to Nigerian Trade Wings.
With Aerotransporte it became a freighter and although many windows were blanked it never received a main-deck cargo door. It was stored at Alverca, Portugal, in Sep-79.
A year later it was sold to Lukum Air Services as 9Q-CCM. Sold to Kinair Cargo in 1983, it was stored at Kinshasa, Zaire, in 1986. As far as I'm aware it never flew again. It was sold to Transair Cargo in 1995. They were renamed TAC Air Services in Jun-98. It was eventually broken up at Kinshasa.
Replace the front machine gun with a custom one,
and hollow the end to make it more realistic.
Also I added an axe and 3rd party shuffle on the back.
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Latest update here;
www.flickr.com/photos/129721037@N03/33419710810/in/datepo...
Originally built as Penn Central 7868, then transitioned to Conrail 7868, now we're seeing this Geep as Norfolk Southern 2923. Since retired form the NS active roster, the GP38-2 worked for three railroads, and never missed a step.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 05-Aug-17.
KLM UK was renamed from Air UK and operated ATR.72's and Fokker 100's until it was absorbed into KLM Cityhopper in Holland. The ATR's were disposed of and the Fokker 100's were re-registered in Holland
First flown in Sep-96 with the ATR test registration F-WWLT, this aircraft was stored at Toulouse, France until it was delivered to ATRiam Capital and leased to Air UK as G-UKTN in Jun-98.
It was repainted and renamed KLM uk in Apr-99. The aircraft was withdrawn from service abd stored to Norwich, UK in Nov-99. It ferried to Jersey, Channel Islands, UK in basic KLM livery in Dec-99 and was used as a back-up aircraft by British Regional Airlines operating for British Airways Express.
The aircraft was stored at Norwich again in Oct-01 and returned to service with KLM uk in Feb-02 for the summer season and was stored at Norwich again in Sep-02. In Nov-02 KLM uk became KLM cityhopper UK while G-UKTN remained stored.
It was returned to ATRiam Capital as F-WQNL in Jun-03 and was stored at Toulouse until it was leased to Cimber Air, Denmark as OY-RTF in Nov-04. Cimber Air was renamed Cimber Sterling in Dec-08 after it bought parts of Sterling Airways after it ceased operations two months earlier.
It was wet-leased to AeroSvit Ukrainian Airlines in Oct-11 and returned to Cimber Sterling in May-12 when they ceased operations. The aircraft was stored at Soenderborg, Denmark.
It was sold to Danish Air Transport Leasing as OY-LHB in Apr-13 and operated as Danish Air Transport A/S. In Jul-13 the aircraft was wet-leased to Aer Arran and operated flights on behalf of Aer Lingus Regional for one month, it returned to Danish Air Transport in Aug-13.
In Jul-18 it was wet leased to an Italian subsidiary, DAT Volidisicilla and operates local flights within southern Italy. On 27-Mar-19 Danish Air Transport became known as DAT A/S, the services for DAT Volidiscilla continued. Current, updated 22-Feb-25.
Replacing an earlier scanned slide with a better version 12-May-15, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 03-Dec-23.
Built as a Beech AT-11 Kansan, this aircraft was delivered to the US Army Air Forces serialled 42-36966 in 1942 and used for aircrew basic training.
It was converted to Beech C-45H Expeditor standard in 1953 and re-serialled 52-10610. It was sold into the civil aviation market as N9597Z (date unknown),
The aircraft was sold to LAVCO, the Libyan Aviation Company as N176L around 1968 and operated on oil well support, based in Tripoli, Libya.
It was sold to ATC Inc (USA) in Mar-75. The registration was cancelled in Oct-86, presumably it was permanently retired.
***Replaced photo 12/30/2012***
"Finished" M78 by adding some subs yesterday. We'll call this V2.0. I was just happy to image again. The handbox is back from repair and the guiding worked ok. Soon I should receive a new filterwheel and I won't have to combat reflections and halos anymore. Also since I dismantled all the imaging gear the images were rotated 90 degrees and created havok with stacking & processing, resulting in a massive crop.
Added luminance and green subs. I don't think I will bin the subs anymore if possible
With the excuses out of the way..........
Images taken Nov 10,2012 & Dec 12,2012
Camera QHY9M
Telescope: Orion ED102CF
L-3x900 sec 2x2 bin
R- 3x900 sec 2x2 bin
G-3x900 sec 2x2 bin
B- 5x900 sec 2x2 bin
Acquired with Nebulosity 2. Dark frames subtracted and DDP applied to each channel
Post-Processed in Photoshop CS6
Replacing an earlier scanned 6"x4" print with a better version 24-Jun-22 (DeNoise AI)..
First flown in Oct-72 with the Douglas test registration N1341U, this aircraft was initially stored at Long Beach, CA, USA. It was originally due to be registered F-BTDA with UTA Union Transport Maritime, but that registration wasn't taken up and it was delivered to UTA as F-BTDB in Feb-73.
UTA was merged into Air France in Dec-92. Air France didn't really want the DC-10's and it was wet-leased to Scibe Airlift Zaire / European Airlift in Jul-93. It was immediately sub-leased, operated by Air France, to LAP Lineas Aereas Paraguayas.
The aircraft was returned to Scibe / European Airlift in Oct-93 and was repossessed by Air France in Dec-93 when it was stored at Brussels, Belgium. It was sold to Pegasus Capital in Jun-94 and was immediately leased to ChallengAir as OO-JOT.
The aircraft operated a lot of sub-lease flights over the next couple of years. Britannia Airways between Jun/Oct-94, Air Europe SpA (Italy) between Oct-94/Apr-95, TAROM Romania between May/Oct-95, Caledonian Airways between Oct/Dec-95, Air Europe SpA between Dec-95/Mar-96, Corsair (France) between Mar/Jun-96 and again between Jun/Sep-97.
It was returned direct to the lessor by Corsair and re-registered N13088. The aircraft was leased to Continental Airlines in Oct-97 and returned to the lessor in Sep-01, right after the '9/11' terrorist atrocity. It was now 29 years old and was permanently retired at Mojave, CA, USA. It was last noted still at Mojave in Jan-06 in basic Continental livery.
Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 12-Jun-20.
First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to Boullioun Aviation Services and leased to Midway Airlines (USA) as N314ML in Jan-01. Midway ceased operations on '9/11', 11-Sep-01.
The aircraft was returned to the lessor and stored at Goodyear, AZ, USA later the same month. It was leased to the resurrected Midway Airlines in Dec-01 and repossessed by the lessor in Jul-02.
The aircraft was leased to Rio-Sul Servicios Linhas Aereas (Brasil) as PR-SAH in Aug-02 and returned to the lessor as N271CH in Mar-03. It was leased to Air-Berlin as D-ABAA in May-03 and returned to the lessor in May-11.
It was fitted with blended winglets in May-11 before being leased to Yakutia Airlines (Russia) as VQ-BLT in Jun-11. The aircraft returned to the lessor as N271AG in Jan-15 and was stored at Victorville, CA, USA.
It was sold to Southwest Airlines in Feb-16 and after maintenance, cabin refit and painting at Seattle-Everett it was re-registered N7882B in May-16 prior to service entry.
The aircraft was temporarily stored at Seattle-Everett in late Mar-20, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It returned to service in Mar-22. The aircraft was permanently retired at Coolidge, AZ, USA in Jan-25
31176 powers the 14:56 Middlesbrough - Newcastle service through Stockton on 20th September 1985.
For the enthusiasts, the temporary return of loco hauled trains to the Durham coast Line was a welcome dividend of Class 143 Pacer unreliability.
The Arlington Memorial Bridge, often shortened to Memorial Bridge, is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule (or drawbridge) that crosses the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. First proposed in 1886, the bridge went unbuilt for decades thanks to political quarrels over whether the bridge should be a memorial, and to whom or what. Traffic problems associated with the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in November 1921 and the desire to build a bridge in time for the bicentennial of the birth of George Washington led to its construction in 1932.
Designed by the architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, decorated with monumental statues depicting valor and sacrifice by sculptor Leo Friedlander, cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry, Florence, Italy, Arlington Memorial Bridge defines the western end of the National Mall. The bridge's draw span was permanently closed in 1961 and replaced in 2018 by one that does not open.
On November 11, 1921, President Warren G. Harding traveled to the dedication ceremony for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He became caught in a three-hour traffic jam because Highway Bridge (on which he traveled) could not handle the traffic. Resolving to prevent that from happening again, Harding sought an appropriation of $25,000 in 1922 to fund the work of the bridge commission. Congress approved his request on June 12, 1922.
Initially, the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission proposed a site for the bridge at the New York Avenue site, upstream from its current position. But the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA), which had legislative authority to approve the siting and design of memorials, opposed the plan. With President Harding presiding, the Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission held a joint meeting with Vice President Calvin Coolidge and the Commission of Fine Arts on December 18, 1922, at which time it was unanimously decided to adhere to the McMillan Plan and site the bridge on a line of sight between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House in Arlington National Cemetery. The parties also agreed to seek to construct a low (rather than monumental) bridge with a bascule (drawbridge) in the center to permit ship traffic to reach the Georgetown waterfront.
The bridge commission asked the Commission of Fine Arts whether there should be an open design competition (as in the past) or whether the bridge commission should pick a designer itself. The CFA recommended a direct selection, and provided the names of three firms: Charles A. Platt, who designed the Freer Gallery of Art; Paul Philippe Cret, who designed the Pan-American Union Building; and the firm of McKim, Mead and White. The bridge commission chose a direct selection, and picked the firm of McKim, Mead and White on April 4, 1923. Architect William Mitchell Kendall was the lead designer.
Members of the D.C. business community immediately pressed for resolution on whether the bridge would have a draw span. Merchants in Georgetown wanted their small harbor to be reachable by large ships. On February 17, 1923, Colonel C.O. Sherrill of the Army Corps of Engineers stated that the Corps would only approve a bridge with a draw span.
Kendall's first design, submitted to the CFA in May 1923, was generally well received. His plan envisioned a low, Neoclassical arch bridge. Two statues stood atop each pier on both sides of the bridge. The D.C. approaches consisted of a traffic circle around the Lincoln Memorial linked to the Potomac River by a plaza and monumental steps (the "watergate"). Two memorial columns were placed in this plaza. On the Columbia Island landing, Kendall envisioned a gigantic crossarm circumscribed by a grassy ellipse, with traffic circles at the terminus of the north and south arms. The traffic circles would accommodate Lee Highway and the Mt. Vernon Memorial Parkway. Within the ellipse were placed two 181-foot (55 m) tall memorial columns. Two circular Greek Revival temples were planned for the western shoreline. The commission was especially pleased that Kendall had the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway linked to the traffic circle around the Lincoln Memorial rather than passing beneath the bridge via an arch. (Kendall had, in fact, intended to pass it through one of the bridge's arches but forgot to make the change.) However, CFA members asked that he consider widening the bridge to 100 feet (30 m) from the proposed 80 feet (24 m). The CFA also discussed at length its long-standing proposal for a major traffic circle on Columbia Island, within which would be placed a memorial to Robert E. Lee. There was also concern whether enough space had been allotted to permit the Mount Vernon Memorial Parkway, Lee Highway, and Memorial Drive (which was planned to cross the Boundary Channel via the Boundary Channel Bridge into Virginia and link with the main gate to Arlington National Cemetery). When the CFA gave its preliminary approval to the bridge design (but withheld a resolution on the approaches), models of the bridge went on public display in February 1924.
The Arlington Memorial Bridge Commission oversaw the design and construction of the bridge. Arlington Memorial Bridge informally opened on January 16, 1932. The dedication ceremony was headed by President Herbert Hoover who became the first person to drive across it, leading a small party of 12 cars down the George Washington Parkway to Mt. Vernon as a kick-off for Washington's 200th birthday celebration. Due to a lack of lights, ongoing construction and poor connections on the Virginia side, the bridge and highway were only open during daylight hours on Saturday and Sunday. Weekend-only operations ended on March 16, 1932. Though temporary lights were added in time for the 200th birthday, the bridge wasn't opened for day and night use until both the bridge and highway were officially illuminated on May 6, 1932.
Designed by architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White, the neoclassical bridge is 2,163 feet (659 m) long. The bridge cost $7.25 million to build, of which $900,000 was attributed to the center draw span.
Construction of the Virginia approaches to the bridge took six years. The National Capital Parks Commission (NCPC) had authority to plan and approve regional transportation plans, and wanted the Virginia approaches to the bridge to be new roads. This would help stimulate housing and economic growth in Arlington County. The state of Virginia (which would provide some of the funding for the approaches) and Arlington County officials wrestled with the problems of cost and development. New roads and approaches would be the most costly (largely due to the need to obtain rights-of-way), a major consideration in the Great Depression. Yet, connecting the bridge to existing roadways would not stimulate development. The choice of a route also had political considerations, as neighborhoods vied to be the recipient of this economic stimulus. The construction of Lee Boulevard (now known as Arlington Boulevard) and Washington Boulevard eastward both provided an opportunity for economic stimulus. The state and county eventually agreed to push Lee Boulevard north around Arlington National Cemetery. When this project ran into rights-of-way problems, the state and county constructed Washington Boulevard south around the cemetery. When the Lee Boulevard problems were resolved, and with the addition of large amounts of new federal dollars, the state and county resumed construction of the Lee Boulevard approaches. The Lee Boulevard approach finally opened in October 1938. The construction of The Pentagon in 1941 and extensive war-related building south of the cemetery in 1942 led the federal government to approve a second connection by extending Washington Boulevard past Arlington National Cemetery and over Boundary Channel as well.
At the time it opened, the Arlington Memorial Bridge bascule span was the longest, heaviest (3,000 short tons (2,700 t)), and fastest-opening bascule span in the world.
The northeastern entrance to the Arlington Memorial Bridge features The Arts of War sculptures, Sacrifice and Valor, which were completed by Leo Friedlander in 1951. One of which was cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry of Florence, Italy. On the pylons of each pier of the bridge are large circular discs with eagles and fasces designed by sculptor Carl Paul Jennewein.
The closest Metro station to the bridge is Arlington Cemetery. The bridge connects, both literally and symbolically, the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington House, the former home of Civil War General Robert E. Lee. This placement was done intentionally to represent the reunification of the North and the South.
At the southwestern terminus on Columbia Island, the bridge and its connecting roadways connect with the George Washington Memorial Parkway, State Route 27 and State Route 110. At the northeastern terminus, the bridge and its connecting roadways connect with Constitution Avenue, Independence Avenue, the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, and the District of Columbia segment of Interstate 66.
A peculiarity of the traffic circle at the southwestern terminus is that traffic already in the circle must yield to traffic entering the circle — the opposite of the standard rule. During morning rush hour, a portion of the traffic circle is closed to prevent mergers that would otherwise tie up rush hour traffic.
The center portion of the bridge was originally a metal draw span, intended to allow large vessels to pass upriver to Georgetown. However, with the construction of the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge immediately upstream, which has no such provision, the draw mechanism was abandoned. It was opened for the last time on February 28, 1961. The bascule leaves were to be counterbalanced with scrap steel embedded in concrete, but during the Great Depression there was not enough scrap available for the project. A ship load of Swedish iron ore eventually provided the 2,400 short tons (2,200 t) needed for the counterweights.
Arlington Memorial Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 4, 1980.
The Potomac River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States that flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is 405 miles (652 km) long, with a drainage area of 14,700 square miles (38,000 km2), and is the fourth-largest river along the East Coast of the United States and the 21st-largest in the United States. More than 5 million people live within its watershed.
The river forms part of the borders between Maryland and Washington, D.C., on the left descending bank, and West Virginia and Virginia on the right descending bank. Except for a small portion of its headwaters in West Virginia, the North Branch Potomac River is considered part of Maryland to the low-water mark on the opposite bank. The South Branch Potomac River lies completely within the state of West Virginia except for its headwaters, which lie in Virginia.
The Potomac River runs 405 mi (652 km) from Fairfax Stone Historical Monument State Park in West Virginia on the Allegheny Plateau to Point Lookout, Maryland, and drains 14,679 sq mi (38,020 km2). The length of the river from the junction of its North and South Branches to Point Lookout is 302 mi (486 km).
The river has two sources. The source of the North Branch is at the Fairfax Stone located at the junction of Grant, Tucker, and Preston counties in West Virginia. The source of the South Branch is located near Hightown in northern Highland County, Virginia. The river's two branches converge just east of Green Spring in Hampshire County, West Virginia, to form the Potomac. As it flows from its headwaters down to the Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac traverses five geological provinces: the Appalachian Plateau, the Ridge and Valley, the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont Plateau, and the Atlantic coastal plain.
Once the Potomac drops from the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain at the Atlantic Seaboard fall line at Little Falls, tides further influence the river as it passes through Washington, D.C., and beyond. Salinity in the Potomac River Estuary increases thereafter with distance downstream. The estuary also widens, reaching 11 statute miles (17 km) wide at its mouth, between Point Lookout, Maryland, and Smith Point, Virginia, before flowing into the Chesapeake Bay.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly called Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with Maryland to its north and east. Washington, D.C., was named for George Washington, a Founding Father and first president of the United States. The district is named for Columbia, the female personification of the nation.
Washington, D.C., anchors the southern end of the Northeast megalopolis, one of the nation's largest and most influential cultural, political, and economic regions. As the seat of the U.S. federal government and several international organizations, the city is an important world political capital. The city had 20.7 million domestic visitors and 1.2 million international visitors, ranking seventh among U.S. cities as of 2022.
The U.S. Constitution in 1789 called for the creation of a federal district under the exclusive jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. As such, Washington, D.C., is not part of any state, and is not one itself. The Residence Act, adopted on July 16, 1790, approved the creation of the capital district along the Potomac River. The city was founded in 1791, and the 6th Congress held the first session in the unfinished Capitol Building in 1800 after the capital moved from Philadelphia. In 1801, the District of Columbia, formerly part of Maryland and Virginia and including the existing settlements of Georgetown and Alexandria, was officially recognized as the federal district; initially, the city was a separate settlement within the larger federal district. In 1846, Congress returned the land originally ceded by Virginia, including the city of Alexandria. In 1871, it created a single municipality for the remaining portion of the district, although its locally elected government only lasted three years and elective city-government did not return for over a century. There have been several unsuccessful efforts to make the district into a state since the 1880s; a statehood bill passed the House of Representatives in 2021 but was not adopted by the U.S. Senate. Designed in 1791 by Pierre Charles L'Enfant, the city is divided into quadrants, which are centered around the Capitol Building and include 131 neighborhoods. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 689,545, making it the 23rd-most populous city in the U.S., third-most populous city in the Southeast after Jacksonville and Charlotte, and third-most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic after New York City and Philadelphia. Commuters from the city's Maryland and Virginia suburbs raise the city's daytime population to more than one million during the workweek. The Washington metropolitan area, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, is the country's seventh-largest metropolitan area, with a 2023 population of 6.3 million residents.
The city hosts the U.S. federal government and the buildings that house government headquarters, including the White House, the Capitol, the Supreme Court Building, and multiple federal departments and agencies. The city is home to many national monuments and museums, located most prominently on or around the National Mall, including the Jefferson Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. It hosts 177 foreign embassies and serves as the headquarters for the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization of American States, and other international organizations. Many of the nation's largest industry associations, non-profit organizations, and think tanks are based in the city, including AARP, American Red Cross, Atlantic Council, Brookings Institution, National Geographic Society, The Heritage Foundation, Wilson Center, and others.
A locally elected mayor and 13-member council have governed the district since 1973, though Congress retains the power to overturn local laws. Washington, D.C., residents are, on the federal level, politically disenfranchised since the city's residents do not have voting representation in Congress; the city's residents elect a single at-large congressional delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives who has no voting authority. The city's voters choose three presidential electors in accordance with the Twenty-third Amendment.
The District of Columbia was created in 1801 as the federal district of the United States, with territory previously held by the states of Maryland and Virginia ceded to the federal government of the United States for the purpose of creating its federal district, which would encompass the new national capital of the United States, the City of Washington. The district came into existence, with its own judges and marshals, through the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801; previously it was the Territory of Columbia. According to specific language in the U.S. Constitution, it was 100 square miles (259 km2).
The district encompassed three small cities: Alexandria, formerly in Virginia, Georgetown, formerly Maryland, and the deliberately planned central core, the City of Washington. Both the White House and the United States Capitol were already completed and in use by 1800 as called for by the 1791 L'Enfant Plan for the City of Washington, although the city was not formally chartered until 1802. Beyond those cities, the remainder of the district was farmland organized by the 1801 Act into two counties, Washington County, D.C., on the Maryland side, and Alexandria County, D.C., on the Virginia side, encompassing today's Arlington County, Virginia, and the independent city of Alexandria.
The district was governed directly by the U.S. Congress from the beginning. Alexandria City and County were ceded back from the federal government to the commonwealth of Virginia in 1846, in a process known as retrocession, anticipating the 1850 ban on slave trading (but not slavery) in the district.
Washington and Georgetown retained their separate charters for seventy years, until the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871. That act cancelled the charters of the towns and brought the entire area within the district borders under one district government, ending any distinction between "the District of Columbia" and "Washington", making the two terms effectively synonymous.
Main article: History of Washington, D.C. § Establishment
Congress determined, in the Residence Act of 1790, that the nation's capital be on the Potomac, between the Anacostia River and today's Williamsport, Maryland, and in a federal district up to 10 miles square. The exact location was to be determined by President George Washington, familiar with the area from his nearby home and properties at Mt. Vernon, Virginia.
Its trans-state location reflected a compromise between the Southern and Northern states. Virginia lobbied for the selection, an idea opposed by New York and Pennsylvania, both of which had previously housed the nation's capital. Maryland, whose State House was older than that of Virginia, and like Virginia a slave state, was chosen as a compromise. At Washington's request the City of Alexandria was included in the district, though with the provision that no federal buildings could be built there. The new capital district was at about the center of the country.
About 2/3 of the original district was in Maryland and 1/3 in Virginia, and the wide Potomac in the middle. The future district was surveyed in 1791–92; 24 of its surviving stone markers are in Maryland, 12 in Virginia. (See Boundary Markers of the original District of Columbia.) Washington decided that the capital's location would be located between the mouth of the Anacostia River and Georgetown, which sits at the Potomac's head of navigation.
As specified by Article One of the United States Constitution, in fact as one of the enumerated powers of section 8, Congress assumed direct administrative control of the federal district upon its creation by the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801. There was no district governor or executive body. The U.S. House created a permanent Committee on the District of Columbia in January 1808, and the U.S. Senate established its counterpart in December 1816. These committees remained active until 1946. Thus the U.S. Congress managed the detailed day-to-day governmental needs of the district through acts of Congress—an act authorizing the purchase of fire engines and construction of a firehouse, for instance, or an act to commission three new city streets and closing two others in Georgetown.
The five component parts of the district operated their own governments at the lower level. The three cities within the district (Georgetown, the City of Washington, and Alexandria) operated their own municipal governments, each with a continuous history of mayors. Robert Brent, the first mayor of the City of Washington, was appointed directly by Thomas Jefferson in 1802 after the city's organization that year.
The remaining rural territory within the district belonged either to Alexandria County D.C., (district land west of the Potomac outside the City of Alexandria, formerly in Virginia) or to Washington County, D.C., (the unincorporated east side, formerly in Maryland, plus islands and riverbed). Both counties operated with boards of commissioners for county-level government functions. Both counties were governed by levy courts made of presidentially appointed Justices of the Peace. Prior to 1812, the levy courts had a number of members defined by the president, but after that Washington County had 7 members. In 1848, the Washington County levy court was expanded to 11 members, and in 1863 that was reduced by two to nine members.
The language of the establishing act of 1801 omitted any provision for district residents to vote for local, state-equivalent, or federal representatives.
This omission was not related to any constitutional restriction or, apparently, any rationale at all. Legal scholars in 2004 called the omission of voting rights a simple "historical accident", pointing out that the preceding Residence Act of July 16, 1790, exercising the same constitutional authority over the same territory around the Potomac, had protected the votes of the district's citizens in federal and state elections. Those citizens had indeed continued to cast ballots, from 1790 through 1800, for their U.S. House representatives and for their Maryland and Virginia state legislators. James Madison had written in the Federalist No. 43 that the citizens of the federal district should "of course" have their will represented, "derived from their own suffrages." The necessary language simply did not appear in the 1801 legislation.
The prospect of disenfranchisement caused immediate concern. One voice from a public meeting in January 1801, before the bill's passage, compared their situation to those who fought against British taxation without representation in the Revolutionary War—20 years prior. Despite these complaints the bill went into effect as written. Given exclusive and absolute political control, Congress did not act to restore any of these rights until the 1960s. The district still has no voting representation in Congress, and the decisions of its long-sought local government established in 1973 are still subject to close congressional review, annulment, and budget control.
Residents of Alexandria saw no economic advantage from being in the District. No federal buildings could be built on the south side of the Potomac, nor did they have representation in Congress. Some resistance was expressed immediately. One leading figure in the fight to retrocede through the 1820s was Thomson Francis Mason, who was elected mayor of Alexandria, D.C., four times between 1827 and 1830. Also Alexandria was a center of the profitable slave trade – the largest slave-trading company in the country, Franklin and Armfield, was located there – and Alexandria residents were afraid that if the District banned the slave trade, as seemed likely, this industry would leave the city.
To prevent this, Arlington held a referendum, through which voters petitioned Congress and the state of Virginia to return the portion of the District of Columbia south of the Potomac River (Alexandria County) to Virginia. On July 9, 1846, Congress retroceded Alexandria County to Virginia, after which the district's slave traders relocated to Alexandria. The district's slave trade was outlawed in the Compromise of 1850. The penalty for bringing a slave into the district for sale, was freedom for the slave. Southern senators and congressmen resisted banning slavery altogether in the District, to avoid setting a precedent. The practice remained legal in the district until after secession, with the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act signed by Lincoln on April 16, 1862, which established the annual observance of Emancipation Day.
The District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871 created a single new district corporation governing the entire federal territory, called the District of Columbia, thus dissolving the three major political subdivisions of the district (Port of Georgetown, the City of Washington, and Washington County) and their governments. By this time the county also contained other small settlements and nascent suburbs of Washington outside its bounded limits, such as Anacostia, which had been incorporated in 1854 as Uniontown; Fort Totten, dating at least to the Civil War; and Barry Farm, a large tract bought by the Freedmen's Bureau and granted to formerly enslaved and free-born African Americans in 1867.
The newly restructured district government provided for a governor appointed by the president for a 4-year term, with an 11-member council also appointed by the president, a locally elected 22-member assembly, and a five-man Board of Public Works charged with modernizing the city. The first vice-chair of that Board of Public Works was real-estate developer Alexander Robey Shepherd, the architect and proponent of the consolidating legislation. From September 1873 to June 1874, Shepherd would serve as the second, and final, governor of the District.
The Seal of the District of Columbia features the date 1871, recognizing the year the district's government was incorporated.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 25-Feb-25.
First flown in Mar-88 with the British Aerospace (Avro) test registration G-5-099, this aircraft was delivered to Trident Aviation Leasing and leased to Loganair as G-OLCA in Jul-88.
It was wet-leased to British Airways for three months between May / Jul-90 and wet-leased to NortJet (a Spanish charter airline) for four months between Sep / Nov-90. It was also wet-leased to AirSur (Spain) between Dec-90 / Feb-91.
The aircraft was returned to British Aerospace Asset Management in Nov-91 and stored until it was leased to Air UK for three months between Jan / Mar-92. A few days later it was leased to LAR Transregional (Portugal) and returned to the lessor in Oct-92.
It was immediately leased to Malmo Aviation (Sweden) and returned to the lessor in Feb-93. The aircraft was leased to Jersey European Airways in Mar-93 and was re-registered G-JEAJ in Sep-93. It was wet-leased to Malmo Aviation in Mar-98 and returned to Jersey European the following month.
In Jun-00 Jersey European was renamed British European Airways (the original British European [BEA] was merged with BOAC to form British Airways in 1974). This British European was renamed FlyBe Airlines in Jul-02.
The aircraft was returned to the lessor and stored at Kemble, UK in Oct-06. It was ferried to Bacau, Romania in Mar-07 and converted to B.Ae 146-200QT standard with the addition of a main deck cargo door.
It was due to be leased to Amerer Air (Austria) as OE-IAA but the lease wasn't taken up and the aircraft was ferried to Southend, UK, in Jun-08 for further storage. It returned to Bacau in Dec-08 and returned to long-term storage. Converting it to a freighter appears to have been a waste of money as it was broken up at Bacau, Romania in 2015. Updated 25-Jan-23.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 16-Feb-24.
One of three parked at Manchester UK after ceasing operations.
Named: "Spirit of Bournemouth".
First flown in Jun-87 with the British Aerospace test registration G-31-761, this aircraft was leased to Aliblu Airways (Italy) as I-BLUO in Sep-87 and returned to BAe in Nov-90. It was re-registered G-BSZK the following month and stored before being re-registered again as G-LOGV in Jul-91.
It was leased to Loganair in Oct-91 and returned to BAe in Feb-94. The aircraft was leased to 'euro direct airlines' as G-OEDA in Mar-94. They didn't last and ceased operations in Feb-95. The aircraft was returned to BAe and stored at Manchester, UK.
It was transferred to Jetstream Aircraft Ltd in Mar-95 and remained in storage until it was leased to Knight Air in Feb-96. It returned to Jetstream Aircraft in Mar-96.
It was leased to Manx Airlines (Europe) as G-LOGV later the same month and transferred to BRA British Regional Airlines in Sep-96. It was returned to Jetstream Aircraft in Apr-97 and transferred to British Aerospace (Operations) Ltd in Jun-97.
The aircraft was sold to Inglis Aircraft (New Zealand) as ZK-JSI in Jul-97 and leased to Origin Pacific Airways the same day. Origin Pacific ceased operations in Aug-06 and the aircraft was stored at Nelson, New Zealand. It was last noted still at Nelson, derelict, in Mar-11.
Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version, plus DeNoise AI, 10-Feb-23.
First flown with the Airbus test registration D-AVZS, this aircraft was delivered to Kingfisher Airlines (India) as VT-KFY in Nov-07. It was sold to AWAS Ireland Leasing on delivery and leased back to Kingfisher.
Kingfisher ceased operations at the end of Sep-12 and the aircraft was stored at Delhi. The closure of Kingfisher was a mess and the lessor was unable to repossess the aircraft until Jul-13 when it was re-registered OE-ICK.
In the runup to their closure, Kingfisher had been 'borrowing' parts off grounded aircraft to keep others flying and it was early Jan-14 before the lessor was able to ferry the aircraft via Dubai to Dublin, Ireland.
After two months in maintenance and storage at Dublin, the aircraft was leased to Aegean Airlines (Greece) as SX-DGP in Mar-14. It was withdrawn from service and stored at Athens, Greece in Sep-22.
The aircraft was ferried to Antayla, Turkey in Jan-23 and returned to the lessor as 2-XDGP. Currently parked at Antalya it's awaiting lease to a new Turkish company, BBN Airlines. Updated 10-Feb-23.
Day 104 - April 14th
RHS Hyde Hall Gardens always puts on a glorious display of tulips in spring time, these pots will remain on show until the flowers are finished, then they will be replaced with summer bedding
I replaced it . This is after my new edit. On the old one I uploaded earlier today, the quality sucked ass on the left side, so I spent like 20 minutes or so on the retouching part on iPhoto...it took to effing long...but it's worth it :) I know it's not perfect...'cause I don't wanna spend like an hour on it...but it's way better :)
Enjoy :)
For a couple years I worked as a roofer, and having roof top delivery of materials is a life saver. I included as many details as I could on the roof, but the rest of the house is a bit lacking.
Still, not bad for my first diorama.
There is one big mistake being made in this diorama, and whoever spots it gets an imaginary cookie!
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 24-Feb-25.
-Phantasia- Germany World Tail.
First flown with the Boeing test registration N1795B, this aircraft was delivered to Deutsche BA as D-ADBT in Sep-98. It was sold to a lessor on delivery and leased back to Deutsche BA.
Deutsche BA was a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, they bought 49% of what was Delta Air, Germany in 1992 when it was renamed Deutsche BA. It became a wholly owned subsidiary when they acquired the other 51% in 1997.
British Airways sold it to a private equity company in mid 2003. The name was changed to 'FlyDBA.com' in Nov-03. This aircraft was returned to the lessor in Feb-04 and was leased to Aegean Airlines, Greece as SX-BGW in Apr-04.
The aircraft returned to the lessor in Mar-08 when it was initially stored at Brussels, Belgium and later at Dinard, France. It was leased to Norwegian Air Shuttle as LN-KHB in Sep-08. It was retro-fitted with blended winglets in Feb-09.
In Nov-14 the aircraft was stored at Stavanger, Norway for the 2014/15 winter and returned to service in Mar-15. In Sep-15 it was stored at Lasham, UK before moving to Stavanger again in Oct-15. In Nov-15 it ferried to Budapest, Hungary for a 'C' check and was stored there in Dec-15.
It must have been a long winter because it stayed at Budapest until it ferried to Sofia, Bulgaria in Mar-17 where it was returned to the lessor. It was leased to Bul Air, Bulgaria as LZ-BVN in Apr-17 but never entered service. It remained stored at Sofia and was eventually permanently retired.
It shows in most databases as 'stored' but it's not likely to return to service, The aircraft is now 27 years old and has been stored for 8 years. Updated 23-Feb-25.
Old wooden trestles that carried Santa Fe trains over dry creek beds similar to this one are being replaced. This is the face of modern railroading.
Location: Northwest of Great Bend, KS
replaced my asics nimbus with saucony progrid ride. can't quite believe the colour scheme. effing mint green laces!
to good times though, my ugly new friends. oh, the place we'll run.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 11-Jan-22 (DeNoise AI).
Another history nightmare...
This aircraft was delivered to Air Europe as G-BNPB in Mar-88. It was leased to Odyssey International (Canada) as C-FGHT between Oct-89/Apr-90. It was sold to a lessor in Dec-90 and leased back to Air Europe. Air Europe ceased operations in Mar-91 and the aircraft was repossessed by the lessor.
In Jun-91 it was leased to Air Europa with the temporary registration EC-771, becoming EC-FGG in Sep-91. It was returned to the lessor in May-92 and immediately leased to Philippine Airlines as RP-C4006. It was returned to the lessor in Aug-98 and was stored.
The aircraft was leased to Debonair (UK) as G-DEBZ in May-99 and returned to the lessor in Oct-99 after the summer season when it returned to storage. It was re-registered N202KG in Dec-99 and remained stored until it was leased to British World Airlines as G-OBWY in Mar-00.
The aircraft was wet-leased to the easyJet Airline Company between Jun/Jul-00 and to National Jet Italia between Jan/Apr-01. It was returned to the lessor and stored in Dec-01. In Mar-02 it was leased to Astraeus Airlines as G-STRA.
It was wet-leased to AirAsia (Malaysia) between Dec-04/May-05 and to FlyBe (UK) between Dec-06/Nov-06 when it was returned to the lessor and stored at Southend, UK.
The aircraft was leased to Adam Sky Connection Airlines (Adam Air - Indonesia) as PK-KKY in Dec-06. After a series of accidents and incidents, Adam Air's operating license was revoked by the Indonesian authorities in Mar-08 and the aircraft was stored at Kuala Lumpur - Subang.
It was returned to the lessor in Jun-08 and re-registered N240AG. It remained stored at Subang until it was leased to Silver Air (UAE) as A6-FAY in Dec-08. It returned to the lessor in Dec-09 and was again registered N240AG.
It was sold to Safair (South Africa) as ZS-SPU in Jun-10. It was leased to Velvet Sky Airlines (South Africa) in Mar-11. They ceased operations in Feb-12 and the aircraft was repossessed by Safair and stored at Johannesburg.
It was sold to Star Air Cargo in Nov-13. In Mar-15 the aircraft was leased to Skywise. They didn't last either and it was returned to Star Air in Oct-15 just before they ceased operations in Dec-15.
Finally, it was leased to Swazi Airways in Oct-15. The aircraft was permanently retired at Johannesburg, South Africa in Nov-16.
BUS 3865 (1993) Bus 3865 was originally delivered to Queens Surface Corporation for service on its routes out of what is now MTA Bus Company’s College Point Depot. In May 2000, Bus 3865 and 11 other TMC RTS buses were transferred to Jamaica Buses Inc., to replace the last of the 1980 Grumman Model 870s. Jamaica Buses was established in 1933, as a subsidiary of the company operating electric streetcars in Queens since the late 1890s. After more than 70 years of service, Jamaica Buses was taken over by MTA Bus. Company on June 30, 2006. Its depot was renamed Baisley Park Depot. Copyright Tom Turner
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 05-Jan-25
The early version of Ryanair's livery.
First flown with the Boeing test registration N1786B, this aircraft was delivered to Ryanair as EI-CSF in May-00. Blended winglets were added and 'eyebrow windows' were removed in Jan-07.
The aircraft was sold to CIT Aerospace International in Mar-08 and immediately leased to The IMP Group Ltd, trading as CanJet Airlines as C-FTCX. It was sub-leased to Travel Service Airlines (Czech Republic) as OK-TSJ in May-15 for the European summer season.
In Sep-15, The IMP Group made the decision to close down CanJet's own flight operations due to high losses, retaining some of the aircraft for sub-lease to other airlines. OK-TSJ was returned to IMP Group/CanJet in Nov-15, becoming C-FTCX again.
It was sub-leased to Air Transat in Dec-15 for the winter season, returning to IMP Group/CanJet in May-16. At the end of May-16 the aircraft was re-registered SP-ENO and sub-leased to Enter Air, Slovak Republic.
It was sold to Avolon Aerospace in Apr-17 while the lease to Enter Air continued. The aircraft was withdrawn from service and parked at Warsaw, Poland(?) at the end Oct-23. It was ferried to Knock, Ireland at the end of Nov-23 and stored.
It was returned to the lessor as EI-CSF, again, in Jan-24. The aircraft was broken up at Knock in Jul-24.
Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 11-Apr-24.
First flown with the ATR test registration F-WWEQ, this aircraft was delivered to a lessor and leased to Aer Arann as EI-REN in Mar-08. It operated some service for Aer Lingus Regional but didn't stay long and returned to the lessor in Nov-08.
It was sold to Erik Thun AB the following day as SE-MDA and leased to Golden Air Flyg (Sweden) at the end of Nov-08 and operated on behalf of Kullaflyg. It was returned to Golden Air Fly in 2009.
Golden Air Flyg was sold to Braathens Regional Airlines in late 2012 and was merged into BRA Braathens Regional Airlines on 01-Jan-13. The aircraft was leased to DAT Danish Air Transport in Apr-19 and sub-leased to Caribbean Airlines a week later. It returned to DAT and Braathens Regional in Sep-19.
In Jul-20 the aircraft was operated for Air Leap, a Swedish Virtual Airlines. It returned to Braathens Regional in late Dec-21 and was parked at Billund, Denmark. It was returned to the lessor at the end of Jan-22 and stored at Halmstad AFB, Sweden.
In Apr-22 the aircraft was ferried to East Midlands Airport, UK and was repainted in full Blue Islands livery. It was leased to Blue Islands Airways, UK as G-ISLO in May-22. Current, updated 11-Apr-24.
This view shows Ayr's first ALX200 Dart, 33443 (X613 JCS) running light to replace a break down in the winter of 2008.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a (slightly) better version 25-Apr-19.
Scan cropped quite a bit, it was well beyond the focal length of the 200mm telephoto I had at the time.
Tyres (or tires if you're in North America!) are a bit flat so I'm guessing this unmarked C-97G has reached the end of it's operational life. It looks like engines 1 & 2 have already been removed and are on stands just behind the aircraft.
OK, Not 100% confirmed, but I'm reasonably sure this is HI-473CA, a converted KC-97L, ex Agro Air of the Dominican Republic. Ex HI-473 and serial 53-0150 of the USAF
You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
- Katy Perry, Firework
Had one of my prints on the front page of etsy today and in the etsy newsletter too. :) Joel says I'm "etsy famous." Hopefully that will lead to more sales so I can cover the cost of the prints I'm making for the Ann Arbor Art Fair. :)
Shannon asked me the other day whether I thought it was possible that my choice to set an alarm every day and start working on my book like it was my job during the time when my "real job" was at a standstill and producing no work or income for me might be what led to the successes that seem to be starting to trickle my way now. I think the answer is yes. I could very easily have let myself slip into another bout of depression, not left the house, and felt like a failure. Instead, I focused on what I could control. I started aggressively chasing dreams that I've been sitting on for a while. As a result, I'm pulling in some real income from my photography now and I have 228 pages of my book written and ideas for at least two more. I'm going on a road trip out to Maine to spend almost a week in the town that is the setting for my book so that I can hopefully finish the story and add some vital details that really make the town come to life for my readers. My "real job" is starting to fire back up, so when I get home I'll have actual work to do. I'm also going to be showing my photography during the Ann Arbor Art Fair and for who knows how many more weekend/week events after that. I never thought that half of that was possible.
Maybe I didn't go about it the traditional way. Maybe there were some that scoffed at my choice to write when I did. But from where I'm standing now, I can only see the benefits of following my heart. I may not be in a 100% financially stable situation yet...but I know I'm on my way. And I'll get there eventually. And I don't think I would have been able to say that with such confidence if I hadn't started working on my book when I did. And I certainly wouldn't feel as sure of myself as I do now.
Musically Challenged: Katy Perry - Firework
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 12-May-20. Taken well beyond the focal length of my old 200mm lens. A bit grainy.
Originally built as a DC-8-61 in Apr-66, this aircraft wasn't delivered to United Airlines as N8071U until Aug-67. It was converted to DC-8-71 standard in Dec-83. It was sold to a lessor in Apr-90 and leased back to United. It was returned to the lessor in Sep-90 and converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in May-91. The aircraft was leased to Flagship Express Services in Jun-91 and repossessed by the lessor in Dec-91. It was immediately leased, short term, to American International Airways (Kalitta) and returned to the lessor in Jan-92 when it was stored. It was leased, short term again, to American International Airways between Dec-92/Jan-93. The aircraft was leased to Burlington Air Express in Mar-93 and re-registered N821BX in Jun-93. Burlington was renamed BAX Global Air Cargo in Oct-97. It was transferred to Aero USA Inc in Dec-99 and leased back to BAX Global. It was returned to Aero USA in Dec-02 and immediately leased to ATI Air Transport International. It was sold to Cargo Aircraft Management in Jan-10, the lease to ATI continued. The aircraft was permanently retired at Mojave, CA, USA in mid 2012 after 45 years in service. Updated (May-20).
Replacing an earlier digital photo with a better version 06-Nov-22.
Leased to Mexican start-up Aladia for winter 2006/07, this reverted to its original UK registration, G-JMCE, on return.
First flown with the Boeing test registration N1795B, this aircraft was delivered to GATX and leased to jmc AIR as G-JMCE in Jun-00. It was wet-leased to Ryan International Airlines, operating for Apple Vacations (USA), between Dec-01/Apr-02, Dec-02/Apr-03 (jmc Air had officially been renamed Thomas Cook Airlines on 31-Mar-03) and again between Dec-03/May-04 and Dec-04/May-05.
In Nov-06 the aircraft was sub-leased to Aladia,com (Mexico) as XA-JPB, it returned to Thomas Cook in May-07. For two winter seasons, Nov-10/Apr-11 & Dec-11/Apr-12, the aircraft was sub-leased to Jazz Air (Canada) as C-GJZH and operated on behalf of Thomas Cook Canada. In Jan-14 it was wet-leased to Thomas Cook Scandinavia and returned to Thomas Cook UK in Apr-14.
The aircraft was returned to the lessor in May-15 and was stored at Southend, UK. It was sold to Wells Fargo Bank Northwest as N169CR in Aug-15, as trustee for Shun Feng Airlines (SF Airlines, China). It was transferred to SF Airlines three weeks later as B-7082 and ferried to Xiamen, China in Sep-15. It was converted to freighter configuration with a main deck cargo door in Dec-15. The aircraft entered service with SF Airlines in early Jan-16. Current, updated 30-Jul-21.
Welcome again, one and all. A bit of a shift in gears today, though nothing too crazy. Today, we look at one rare-ish Figma, SP-006 Cute from Queen's Blade Spiral Chaos.
So, once upon a time (2004 ish), Sony wanted to play ball in the portable console market to challenge the then leader, the Nintendo DS. What they came up with is the Playstation Portable, or PSP. Technologically, it could be described as a Playstation 1.5 - more powerful than the original PSX, but nowhere near PS2 levels. The system officially lasted until 2016, at which time the PS Vita (RIP) was in full swing.
As is the way with consoles, there are console exclusive games, and sometimes, these games come with exclusive goodies. Such is the case for several PSP titles, including the first Queen's Blade release - Spiral Chaos. Never played it, but I do know that the Collectors Edition Japanese releases came with an exclusive Figma.
The Figma is of a character named Cute, a Queen's Blade entry created specifically for this game. MSRP for this set was 9,800 Yen, which I believe was the game, a CD, the figure, and of course the sweet exterior box.
Well, I got bored enough and found a decently priced one on eBay - sadly it didn't come with the game or other goodies, but lets be honest I wouldn't exactly rush out to resurrect my PSP just for this one game.
The figure comes with a decent package for a pack in Figma - there's the figure, three total face plates (neutral, smiling, embarrassed), two blades, a variety of hands, a Shift Body, and the standard Figma stand.
Your first question right now.. what is a Shift Body? Well, in case you were not aware, Queen's Blade has a claim to fame - namely "battle damage" resulting in fighters becoming more and more naked. In most toys and statues, this is replicated by having a cast off feature, something that is even replicated in the Revoltech toys.
Well, Good Smile Company included a separate body to replicate this, which is nice in that it certainly doesn't compromise quality of the outfit on the Normal Body. The unfortunate thing is that the Shift Body is not fully articulated, and is meant to be displayed in one particular pose, outlined on the Instruction Sheet graphic.
The actual design of the character is quite impressive for a game specific appearance, and the Figma itself replicates game art and other such material I've seen. If you look carefully, you'll notice a bunch of yellow crosses - something that should be very familiar to you if you're a PSN gamer. The gauntlets and boots in particular are outlandish (in an good anime way) and they've been carried over to figure form nicely. I also really love the pouch Cute has on her waist. I also like the multilayering and pleats on the skirt.
Interestingly, from a size perspective, Cute is much bigger that the typical Figma 1.0 release, with proportions that are pretty consistent with more modern figures. Yukiko is pretty typical in terms of size of that era of release and Nat is a modern Figuarts (which I had handy) and is about the same size as your typical Figma release - again, all pretty impressive considering the exclusivity of the figure, the minor price increase compared to the standard game release, and the 2009 release date.
Articulation on the figure is average - she's got single jointed knees, hips, waist, shoulders with slight chest compress and bicep swivel, single jointed elbows, wrists, and head. Missing (which really hurts) is ankle articulation, which highly limits the dynamic posing potential of Cute, further made worse by the fact the skirt highly limits the range of motion of her upper legs. Couple this with the naturally stiff nature of the Figma 1.0 body, and you get a sense of Cute is probably going to spending more time on standing related poses.
From a paint perspective, this is a high quality product. Paint applications and finishes generally look sharp all over the figure, as well as the Shift Body - the weakest application that I could find would be the white on her torn undergarments. There is some paint build up in areas where you have finer details, such as bows, but its more something I noticed as opposed to being an eyesore.
In general, there's no real complaints with regards build quality. Good use of materials, joints do their job, limb length is proper. In general, QC is good, with the exception of those wrists. I have nightmares about breaking them as the pegs are attached to the hands themselves and replacing them is logistical nightmare. The good news is that the wrists are unlikely to break due because they have a hard time staying in slot, an issue further compounded by the cuffs that restrict how tightly you can press the hand in.
Overall, while a dated figure, Cute still looks pretty good and, more importantly, is very well done for a Collectors Edition add-on... of course we here in North America have been getting shafted for years for these sort of things, and everything looks good compared to us. The only real thing I'd have liked to have seen would be an additional "attacking" face plate.
Best of all, Cute isn't that expensive, and is probably the safest thing you'll ever find to display if you're a Queen's Blade/Gate collector.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 07-Nov-17, plus Topaz DeNoise AI 02-Jul-23.
Fleet No: '3229'.
First flown with the Airbus test registration F-WWDG, this aircraft was delivered to Northwest Airlines as N329NW in May-92. It was sold on delivery to A.I. Leasing Inc (Airbus) and leased back to Northwest.
Northwest Airlines was merged into Delta Air Lines in Oct-08. The aircraft was sold to Delta in Dec-16. Now 31 years old, it continues in service. Updated 02-Jul-23.
Today is Jackie's birthday and for some reason she has made it also our check up with the dentist. So I walked Ruby first and then we went to the dentist both OK . Then we had lunch at a nearby Garden Centre and Jackie bought some plants for the garden and the house. So just a couple of quick snaps on my walk.
Replacing a photo from Apr-17 with a better version 15-Sep-18.
Named: "Olivia Rae".
This aircraft was delivered to Virgin Atlantic Airways as G-VCRU in Sep-15. Current (Sep-18).
The singer was performing on a stage in our college program. Disturbing BG in the images were replaced by colors in photoshop .
Baul
The Bauls are a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal which includes Indian State of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims.
They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Bauls believe in living the world as a half-sanyasi (detachment from families). They wander in the countryside of Bengal singing ecstatically of the “ways of love” and “joy of simple ways of living far from the materialistic world”. Baul thought has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam, Vaishnavism and Buddhism.
Their lyrics intertwine a deep sense of mysticism, a longing for oneness with the divine. An important part of their philosophy is "Deha tatta", a spirituality related to the body rather than the mind. They seek the divinity in human beings. Metaphysical topics are dwelt upon humbly and in simple words. They stress remaining unattached and unconsumed by the pleasures of life even while enjoying them. To them we are all a gift of divine power and the body is a temple, music being the path to connect to that power.
With their simple instruments, mostly Ektara (a single string instrument), and percussions, they perform in the temple premises, amidst pure nature, village roads, village fair etc. and sometimes alone for their own pleasure.
Not much is known of their origin. Lalon Fokir is regarded as the most important poet-practitioner of the Baul tradition. Baul music had a great influence on Rabindranath Tagore's poetry and on his music. Though Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.
Bauls pour out their feelings in their songs but never bother to write them down. Theirs is essentially an oral tradition. It is said that Lalon Fokir (1774 -1890), the greatest of all Bauls, continued to compose and sing songs for decades without ever stopping to correct them or put them on paper. It was only after his death that people thought of collecting and compiling his repertoire.
Bauls use a number of musical instruments: the most common is the ektara, a one-stringed "plucked drum" drone instrument, carved from the epicarp of a gourd, and made of bamboo and goatskin. Others include the dotara, a long-necked fretless lute (while the name literally means "two stringed" it usually has four metal strings) made of the wood of a jackfruit or neem tree; besides khamak, one-headed drum with a string attached to it which is plucked. The only difference from ektara is that no bamboo is used to stretch the string, which is held by one hand, while being plucked by another. Drums like the duggi, a small hand-held earthen drum, and dhol and khol; small cymbals called khartal and manjira, and the bamboo flute are also used. Ghungur and nupur are anklets with bells that ring while the person wearing them dances.
Ektara
Ektara (one-string) called iktar, ektar, yaktaro, gopichand, gopichant, gopijiantra, tun tuna) is a one-string instrument most often used in traditional music from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt.
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version 09-Mar-21.
Looking a little the worse for wear. Stored at Vancouver after use by the Atmospheric Research Department of the University of Washington USA (minus radome, windows and patches on the fuselage where equipment had been fitted for it's atmospheric research).
This aircraft was originally delivered to the United States Air Force serialled 52-5796 in 1954. It was transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1976. It was sold to 'Roy L Stafford' as N3984A in 1983. In Aug-84 the aircraft was sold to the University of Washington and re-registered N327UW in Dec-84. It was sold to Matata USA Inc in Jan-01 and sold on to Air Tahoma In Feb-03. Finally, it was sold to Cargo Panama Three as HP-1614CTH in Oct-06. It was withdrawn from use and permanently retired in 2008.
The Normandy Region is served from Paris St Lazare. Top link loco hauled services have been replaced by those rather smart units
Replacing an earlier scanned photo with a better version.
It was only when I was cleaning this photo up after scanning it that I realised how dirty the aircraft was. I guess the awful dark green colour doesn't help.
Replacing an earlier scanned print with a better version 17-Mar-16.
Owned by GECAS, this aircraft was delivered new to Azzurra Air of Italy as EI-CXE in May-02. It was returned to the lessor in Dec-03 and stored at Lasham, UK. It was leased to Astraeus Airlines in May-04 as G-STRH and was fitted with blended winglets around Jun-07. In May-09 the aircraft was sub-leased to Trawel Fly (Italy) and painted in their full livery, returning to Astraeus in Dec-09. It was returned to the lessor in Jan-10 and immediately leased to Cimber-Sterling (Denmark) as OY-MRS. Sterling ceased operations in May-12 and the aircraft was repossessed and stored again at Lasham. In Jul-12 it was re-registered EI-CXE again and remained in storage until May-13 when it was leased to SAS Scandinavian Airlines as SE-REY. It continues in service (as of Mar-16).