“On 10 June 1977, former Skylab Deputy Director John Disher, NASA's Director of Advanced Programs, directed NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, to conduct an in-house study of the feasibility of reusing Skylab in the Space Shuttle program. On 16 November 1977, MSFC engineers J. Murphy, B. Chubb, and H. Gierow presented results of the study to NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight John Yardley. Before coming to NASA in 1974, Yardley had managed Skylab assembly at McDonnell Douglas, the Orbital Workshop's prime contractor.

The MSFC engineers first assessed Skylab's condition. They reported that when the Skylab 4 crew returned to Earth, the Orbital Workshop's water system contained 1930 pounds of water (enough to supply three men for 60 days). The water, they said, probably remained potable, but could have developed a bad taste. If not still potable, it could be used for bathing. In any case, the Skylab water system included resupply points, so a Space Shuttle crew could replenish it if water transfer equipment were developed.

The oxygen/nitrogen supply remaining on Skylab was probably sufficient to supply three men for 140 days at Skylab's operating pressure of five pounds per square inch, the MSFC engineers estimated. The ventilation and carbon dioxide removal systems were almost certainly functional. Even if they were not, their most important components were designed to be replaceable in space.

The MSFC engineers also assessed Skylab's electrical power system. They estimated that the main solar array Conrad and Kerwin had freed could still generate between 1.5 and 2.5 kilowatts (KW) of electricity, and that the batteries it had charged, located in Skylab's Airlock Module, were probably still usable. The batteries for the ATM arrays, on the other hand, were almost certainly frozen. They recommended that controllers reactivate the main array electrical system from the ground before the first Shuttle visit, and that any effort to revive the ATM electrical system be left until a later time.

More problematic than the electrical system was the attitude control system, which relied on a trio of Control Moment Gyros (CMGs) to turn Skylab so that, among other things, it could point its solar arrays at the Sun. One CMG had failed and another showed signs of impending failure. In addition, Skylab's guidance computer was probably dead after being subjected to "extreme thermal cycling." The Orbital Workshop's thruster system, on the other hand, was probably operational with about 30 days of propellant remaining.

Finally, the MSFC team looked at Skylab's cooling system, which had leaked while the astronauts were on board and had probably frozen and ruptured since the last crew returned to Earth. They called "serviceability of [the] cooling system. . .the most questionable area" as far as Skylab's reusability was concerned, but added that "any inflight 'fixes' should be well within the scope of crew capability."

The MSFC engineers then proposed a four-phase plan for reactivating and reusing Skylab. The target date for the first Phase I milestone had already passed by the time they briefed Yardley: they called for an October 1977 decision on whether Skylab should be reboosted to a higher orbit, extending its orbital lifetime until about 1990, or deboosted so that it would reenter over an unpopulated area.

Assuming that NASA decided to reboost Skylab, then a ground reactivation test would occur between June 1978 and March 1979. If the reactivation test was successful, then a Space Shuttle Orbiter would rendezvous with Skylab during the Shuttle Program's fifth Orbital Flight Test mission in February 1980. The Orbiter would conduct an inspection fly-around, then deploy an unmanned Teleoperator spacecraft from its payload bay. Using a control panel on the Shuttle, the astronauts would guide the Teleoperator, which would carry an Apollo-type probe docking unit, to a docking with the front docking port on Skylab's Multiple Docking Adapter. The Teleoperator would then fire its thrusters to raise Skylab's orbit. Its work done, it would then detach, freeing up the front port for Phase II of MSFC's plan.

Phase II would begin in March 1980, when NASA would initiate development of Skylab refurbishment kits, a 10-foot-long Docking Adapter (DA), and a 25-KW Power Module (PM). The DA would include at one end an Apollo-type probe docking unit for attaching it to Skylab's front port and at the other end an Apollo-Soyuz-type androgynous unit to which Shuttle Orbiters and the PM could dock.

The first refurbishment kit and the DA would reach Skylab on board a Shuttle Orbiter in January 1982. During the same mission, spacewalking Shuttle astronauts would fold two of the four ATM solar arrays to improve clearance for visiting Orbiters and would retrieve the meteoroid experiment the Skylab 4 astronauts had left on the ATM.

A second Shuttle visit in August 1983 would bring additional refurbishment kits and would repair Skylab's damaged cooling system plumbing. As time allowed, the Phase II crews would perform undefined "simple passive experiments" on board Skylab and would collect samples of its structure for analysis on Earth.

Phase III would begin in March 1984 with delivery of the PM and any remaining refurbishment kits, the MSFC engineers told Yardley. Using the Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System robot arm, astronauts would lift the PM from the Orbiter's payload bay and turn it 180° so that it protruded forward well beyond the Orbiter's nose. They would then dock one of the PM's three androgynous docking units to an identical unit at the front of the Orbiter's payload bay. The Shuttle would use another of the PM's docking units to dock with the DA on Skylab.

Following docking with Skylab, the astronauts would deploy the PM's twin solar arrays and thermal radiators, link it to Skylab's systems by cables extended through open hatchways or installed on the hull during spacewalks, and power up the PM's three CMGs to replace Skylab's crippled attitude control system. The Orbiter would then undock from the PM, leaving it attached permanently to Skylab, and NASA would declare the revived and expanded Orbital Workshop to be fully habitable.

Phase III would continue with the first in a series of 30-to-90-day missions aboard Skylab. During these, a Shuttle Orbiter carrying a Spacelab module in its cargo bay would remain docked with the Orbital Workshop. The astronauts would work in the Spacelab module, take advantage of Skylab's large pressurized volume to perform "simple experiments" requiring more room than Shuttle and Spacelab could provide (for example, preliminary space construction experiments), and begin building up stockpiles of food, film, clothing, and other supplies on board. Another 30-to-90-day mission would see the astronauts refurbish and use selected Skylab science experiments, install new experiments based on Spacelab experiment designs, and stockpile more supplies. Between these missions, the new and improved Skylab would fly unmanned.

The MSFC engineers told Yardley that the volume available to a crew on board a Shuttle Orbiter without a Spacelab module in its payload bay would total only 1110 cubic feet. Adding a Spacelab would increase that to about 5100 cubic feet. This was, however, less than half the pressurized volume of Skylab. For a mission including a Shuttle Orbiter, Spacelab module, and Skylab, the total volume available to the crew would exceed 16,400 cubic feet.

They were not specific about what Skylab would be used for when Phase IV began in mid-1986, though they did offer several intriguing possibilities. Shuttle Orbiters might, for example, attach Spacelab modules and experiment pallets to the third docking port on the PM. A Shuttle External Tank might be joined to Skylab to serve as a strongback for large-scale space construction experiments using a mobile "space crane." The experiments might include construction of a large space power module or a multiple beam antenna. A new "floor" might be assembled within Skylab, enabling it to house up to nine astronauts. As NASA developed confidence in the revived space laboratory's health, manned missions on board Skylab without a Shuttle Orbiter present might commence, leading to permanent manning and "support [of] major space operations."

The MSFC engineers did not estimate the cost of Phases I and IV of their plan, though they did provide a (perhaps optimistic) pricetag for Phases II and III. Their estimate did not include Space Shuttle transportation and contractor study costs. In Fiscal Year (FY) 1980, NASA would spend $2 million each on Phases II and III. This would climb to $5 million for Phase II and $3.4 million for Phase III in FY 1981. FY 1982, the plan's peak funding year, would see $4.5 million spent on Phase II and $10.2 million spent on Phase III. In FY 1983, NASA would spend $2.5 million to close out Phase II and $12 million to continue Phase III. The following year it would spend $9.1 million on Phase III. Phase III closeout in FY 1985 would cost $4.5 million. Phase II would cost a total of $14 million, while the more ambitious Phase III would total $41.2 million. Phases II and III together would cost $55.2 million.

MSFC's presentation to Yardley concluded with a call for more in-house and contractor studies in FY 1978. McDonnell Douglas and Martin Marietta subsequently began more detailed Skylab reuse studies, the former under supervision of NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and the latter under MSFC supervision. The Martin Marietta and McDonnell Douglas studies will be discussed in forthcoming posts.

Reference:

Skylab Reuse Study Presented to Mr. Yardley by MSFC, November 16, 1977.”

The above superb article, as are so so many others – thankfully - at:

spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2015/11/reviving-reusing-...

In addition to:

spaceflighthistory.blogspot.com/2015/11/

Credit: DSFP's SPACEFLIGHT HISTORY blog/David S. F. Portree

Also, a condensed write-up at:

www.astronautix.com/s/sts-2a.html

Credit: Astronautix website/Mark Wade

Sadly, an opportunity lost.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

After the division of Czechoslovakia by Germany in 1939, Slovakia was left with a small air force composed primarily of Czechoslovak combat aircraft. This force defended Slovakia against Hungary in March 1939, in the Slovak–Hungarian War in March 1939 in which Hungary reoccupied Carpathian Ruthenia and parts of southern Slovakia. In this the SVZ suffered some losses against Royal Hungarian Air Force. Later, the SVZ also took part in the German Invasion of Poland. The SVZ took part in Axis offensives in the Ukraine and Russian Central front sectors of the Eastern Front under the lead of Luftwaffe in the Stalingrad and Caucasus operations. This engagement resulted in great losses of aircraft and personnel, though.

Since Hs 123 production had already stopped in 1940 and all tools had been destroyed, the permanent attritions could not be replaced - due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts the type’s numbers dwindled. When Romania and the Soviet Union entered Slovakia, they organized with some captured aircraft and defectors a local Insurgent Air Force to continue the fight against Axis forces in country, including the last operational Slovak Hs 123s. No aircraft survived the war.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 8.33 m (27 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)

Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)

Wing area: 24.85 m² (267.5 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)

Gross weight: 2,215 kg (4,883 lb)

Powerplant:

1× BMW 132Dc 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with 660 kW (880 hp),

driving a 2-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller

Performance:

Maximum speed: 341 km/h (212 mph, 184 kn) at 1,200 m (3,937 ft)

Range: 860 km (530 mi, 460 nmi) with a 100 l drop tank

Combat range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi) with 200 kg (440.9 lb) of bombs

Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)

Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)

Armament:

2× 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, 400 rpg

Up to 450 kg (992.1 lb) of bombs under fuselage and wings

The kit and its assembly:

A relatively simple what-if project, and it took a while to figure out something to do with a surplus Airfix Hs 123 A kit in The Stash™ without a proper plan yet. The Hs 123 is an overlooked aircraft, and the fact that all airframes were used during WWII until none was left makes a story in Continental Europe a bit difficult. I also did not want to create a German aircraft – Finland was an early favorite, because I wanted to add a ski landing gear (see below), but since I won’t build anything with a swastika on it this option was a dead end. Then I considered an operator from the Balkans, e. g. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or Slovakia – and eventually settled for the latter because of the national markings.

The kit was built almost OOB, and the Airfix Hs 123 is a nice offering. Yes, it’s a simple kit, but its is IMHO a very good representation, despite the many rivets on the hull, a rather bleak interior and some sinkholes (e. g. on the massive outer wings struts). It goes together well, just a little PSR here and there. I just added a dashboard (scratched from styrene sheet) and modified the OOB 50 kg bombs with extended impact fuzes with a flat, round plate at the tip, so that the bomb itself explodes above soft ground or snow for a bigger blast radius.

The only major modification is a transplanted ski landing gear from a PM Model (Finnish) Fokker D.XXI, which had to be reduced in length to fit under the compact Hs 123. A small tail ski/skid was scratched from styrene sheet material.

Thankfully, the Hs 123 only calls for little rigging – just between the central upper wing supports and there is a characteristic “triangle” wiring in the cowling. All these, together with the wire antenna, were created with heated sprue material.

Painting and markings:

Finland had been a favorite because I would have been able to apply a more interesting paint scheme than the standard Luftwaffe RLM 70/71/65 splinter scheme with a low waterline that was typical for the Hs 123 during WWII. However, as a former Luftwaffe aircraft I retained this livery but decided to add a winter camouflage as a suitable thematic supplement to the skis.

The basic colors became Humbrol 65 underneath and 30 and 75 from above – the latter for a stronger contrast to the Dunkelgrün than Humbrol 91 (Schwarzgrün). Thanks to the additional whitewash mottles, which were inspired by a similar livery seen on a contemporary Bulgarian Avia B.534, I did not have to be too exact with the splinter camouflage.

The cockpit and cowling interior were painted with RLM 02 (Humbrol 240), the propeller blades became Schwarzgrün (Humbrol 91, further darkened with some black) and the bombs were painted in a dark grey (Revell 77) while the small 100 l drop tank became bare aluminum (Revell 99).

However, before the white mottles could be added, the kit received its decals so that they could be painted around the markings, just as in real life. The Slovak national markings had to be scratched, and I used standard white simplified German Balkenkreuze over a cross made from blue decal stripes. Later a separate red decal circle was placed on top of that. The only other markings are the red “7” codes, edged in white for better contrast (from a Heller Bf 109 K) and the fuel information triangles on the fuselage from the Hs 123’s OOB sheet. As an ID marking for an Eastern Front Axis aircraft, I retained the wide yellow fuselage stripe from the OOB, sheet, too, and added yellow tips on the upper wings’ undersides.

The whitewash camouflage was then created with white acrylic paint (Revell 05), applied with a soft brush with a rounded tip. Once this had dried, I treated the surfaces with fine wet sandpaper for a weathered/worn look.

Finally, after some soot stains behind the exhausts and around the machine gun nozzles, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging (see above) was done.

The Hs 123 might not be the sexiest aircraft of WWII, but I like this rugged pug which could not be replaced by its successor, the Ju 87, and served in its close support role until literally no aircraft was left. Putting one on skis worked quite well, and the exotic Slovak markings add a special touch – even though the national markings almost disappear among the disruptive whitewash camouflage! The result looks quite plausible, though, and the old Airfix kit is IMHO really underestimated.

Class 37 number 37373 unofficially named "Lightning" at Tinsley TMD on 6th March, 1993. The locomotive was stored un-serviceable by the end of March and was moved to Stratford during June, 1993 and withdrawn by the end of the year. She was scrapped during July, 1997.

Kingston-upon-Hull City Transport 223 is standing on Commercial Street in Sheffield city centre. It is one of eleven Roe bodied Leyland Atlanteans hired by Hull to South Yorkshire PTE during 1981 to cover for a shortage of serviceable buses. It is a PDR1/1, new in 1967.

On return to Hull after the loan, it was sold for scrap.

12 September 1978 on the former Deli Railway in North Sumatra, 0-4-4T no.27 was photographed at Tanjungbalai. Built by Hohenzollern in 1903, it is in steam having just brought in a freight off the 4km branch from the port area at Teluk Nibung.

Six were built for the Deli Railway, all in 1903, but we only managed to track down two of them. No.28 was also seen shunting at Kisaran on the same day. A visitor a few years later found 27 dead, but still serviceable in the shed at Tanjung Balai.

Taken on 18/03/23 and some notes based on Wikipedia, other Flickrites (acknowledged in brackets) and also based on a chat I had with a volunteer at Cranmore.

This vehicle was a London Underground 1938 Stock driving

car No. 10229. It was one of 1.121 such cars built by Metro-Cammell and Birmingham RC&W, with No. 10229 being completed in 1940. "According to Wikipedia an "...additional 173 cars were added to the fleet by the end of 1953, comprising 91 new builds (the 1949 Tube Stock), 76 conversions from Pre-1938 Tube Stock or 1935 Tube Stock, and six unconverted cars of 1935 Tube Stock, and the stock was used on the London Underground until 1988. During their long lives they worked on the Bakerloo, Northern, Piccadilly, East London and Central lines."

Meanwhile the former ex-Underground 1923 'Standard Tube Stock' Class 485 trains used on the isle of Wight were approaching the end of their economic working life and it was decided to purchase and refurbish 1938 stock. In 1989 16 carriages were initially refurbished at Eastleigh and formed into eight two cars units, entering service in 1990. In 1992 No. 10229 formed the A-end of an additional unit sent to the Island, numbered 483-009 (Mikey Lawlor) and a further two cars were "... also shipped to Ryde depot, although this was for spares only and was never used in passenger operation on the Island." (Wikipedia).

The final days of the 483 units on the island were beset with issues as Wikipedia records. "On 13 September 2019, South Western Railway announced that because of a "safety issue" only one of the units was able to run, which meant cancelling just under half of scheduled services and running only an hourly service on the Island Line. This reduction in service was by mid-September expected to last for approximately one month, until 14 October, but the company warned that the trains' age and increasing difficulty of getting spare parts meant it might take longer. Normal service was not restored for approximately 5 weeks, but further fleet faults brought repeated disruption through much of November. Just 3 days after the news that only one Class 483 was serviceable, on 16 September 2019 the government announced that the fleet would be replaced by five two-car Class 484s." In the case of No. 483-009 this had been relegated to the role of the Ryde shunter since 2016.

The withdrawn 483 units have attracted the interest of preservationists (despite the problems of third/fourth rail electric units running on heritage railways) and also the hospitality industry. The latter was the case with No. 10229, which I understand was purchased for use as a bar and transferred to Cranmore for a cosmetic overhaul. The result was a vehicle turned out it LT red livery but erroneously numbered 10289 after repainting (Mr. Ratty and Ian Docwra). Additionally Ian, who has an eye for detail, noted that it retains "... the electric door buttons, but with brass manual door handles fitted. The LT lettering is also too small, and is probably a bus example." Subsequently " ... unfortunately the vehicle was vandalised with mindless graffiti some time after this picture was taken. Why do we revere a certain so-called ‘artist’ who encourages such criminal behaviour?" (Glen Batten). However, a) as far as I know this was the only vehicle at Cranmore affected in this way b) the graffiti looks a little too neat to my eye and c) it seems a spooky coincidence that the graffiti artist added the words 'Dom Perignon' to a vehicle destined for a third career in hospitality. So, my thinking is that the graffiti is deliberate.

Based on the chat I had with a volunteer whilst I was at Cranmore the new owner of the carriage was declared bankrupt after the work was completed and a new buyer is/was being sought

Maybe the most prominent class of all engines built for Deutsche Bundesbahn after WW II, two class 10 Pacifics:

From 1950 on already their projecting wasn’t to the best advantage, and precious time was wasted before plans for the new express engine could come true - Mr. Friedrich Witte, one of the CME´s of the Minden developing and trial office very much preferred the very good proposal that Henschel had made, but for proportional election in the end Krupp got the order to build two Pacific engines, after plans had been changed from a Prairie design to a Pacific, including a lot of alterations consuming too much time.

Then also Krupp took too much time (and even less care) to build the engines, preferring to build new diesel and electric engines at the same time, very much to the annoyance of Witte and his crew at Minden.

So it was not until spring 1957 that the first class 10 engine left Krupp works for trial tests. More time was spent then to overcome a lot of bigger and minor teething troubles. One year later both engines were given to Bebra MPD to make use of them on heavy express trains between Hamburg and Nürnberg/Treuchtlingen/Ingolstadt, dependant on progress in electrification. After complete electrification of the busy north-south mainline up to Hannover and Hamburg, both engines were transferred to Kassel MPD in Oct, 1962 to serve on the traditionally heavy express trains between Kassel and Frankfurt, a flat 200 km, until 1966. The last small stronghold after electrification of the line to Frankfurt for both engines was a pair of regional express trains between Kassel and Münster - a result of the problem with their high axle load of almost 22 tons, too much for many lines, thus limiting their operational area to a few mainlines.

A book could easily be filled with stories about the pros and cons, the performance and troubles of the engines, that definitely were to come too late. DB headquarters decided not to invest any more time and money in improving the engines´ performance.

The sorry end of the class that weren’t much loved by engine men came soon, after 10 002 had suffered a damage of her driving gear, and in January 1968 a breaking valve spindle put 10 001 out of service.

After having served at last as stationary steamer at Ludwigshafen MPD, 10 002 was scrapped at Offenburg shops.

10 001 had a slightly better fate.

My image shows 10 001 at Bebra MPD on June 10th, 1971 where she was kept as moving exhibit before she finally was sold to the Neuenmarkt-Wirsberg German Steam engine’s museum.

Though not serviceable, there she is for her admiring enthusiasts.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sie kam zu spät -

- die vielleicht berühmteste unter den Neubaulokomotiven der Deutschen Bundesbahn!

Schon ihre Entwicklung stand unter keinem guten Stern, aufgrund wechselnder Vorgaben von Seiten der Hauptverwaltung wurden viele Bauentwürfe wieder verworfen. Außerdem war es wohl eher eine Entscheidung des Proporzes, daß letztlich, sehr zum Unwillen von Friedrich Witte, dem Lokomotivbaudezernenten bei der Lokversuchsanstalt in Minden, die Firma Krupp mit dem Bau der beiden neuen Schnellzuglokomotiven der Baureihe 10 beauftragt wurde, obwohl es einen viel besseren Entwurf der Firma Henschel gab. Nachdem der Bau der beiden Lokomotiven nur schleppend voranging, verzögerte sich die Indienststellung der 10 001 bis zum Frühjahr 1957, als längst absehbar war, daß die Elektro- und Dieseltraktion zukünftig die Dampflok komplett ablösen würde.

Aufgrund von Baumängeln, wie von Friedrich Witte befürchtet, verbrachte die neue Schnellzuglok anfangs sehr viel Zeit für Garantiearbeiten im Krupp-Werk und im Ausbesserungswerk Braunschweig, bis man endlich mit Probefahrten beginnen konnte.

Nach der Beseitigung weiterer Kinderkrankheiten wies man die Maschine, wie auch ein Jahr später (!) die 10 002, dem Bw Bebra zu, wo sie im schweren Schnellzugdienst auf der Nord-Südstrecke zwischen Treuchtlingen, Würzburg und Hamburg eingesetzt wurden. Weil es nur zwei dieser eleganten Maschinen gab, war es nicht möglich, ihnen bestimmte, besonders schwere Züge zuzuweisen; sie verkehrten vornehmlich wie ihre Vorgängerinnen, die Baureihe 01.10, die sie eigentlich ablösen sollten, in gleichartigen Plänen.

Da sie eine Achslast von 22 t hatten, waren sie zudem nicht so freizügig einsetzbar, so daß ihr Einsatzgebiet auf die Strecken um Kassel und Bebra beschränkt blieb. Nachdem die Nord-Süd-Strecke elektrifiziert war, wurden sie im Oktober 1962 zum Bw Kassel umbeheimatet, wo sie vor den traditionell schweren Zügen auf der Main-Weser-Bahn zwischen Kassel und Frankfurt(Main) Dienst taten und dort ihre unbändige Kraft unter Beweis stellen konnten. Nach der Elektrifizierung auch dieser Strecke war ihr letztes Refugium ein Eilzugpaar zwischen Kassel und Münster(Westfalen).

Das Ende der beiden bei den Personalen eher ungeliebten Loks kam, als bei der 10 002 im Dezember 1966 ein Triebwerksschaden und bei 10 001 im Januar 1968 ein Schieberstangenbruch eintrat.

10 002 wurde schließlich nach einem unwürdigen Heizlokdasein in Ludwigshafen Hbf im AW Offenburg verschrottet.

10 001 hatte ein besseres Schicksal. Nachdem sie in Kassel konserviert abgestellt und für das Verkehrsmuseum in Berlin vorgesehen war, wurde sie einige Jahre auf allen möglichen Ausstellungen gezeigt. Nachdem sich schließlich abzeichnete, daß das Verkehrsmuseum in Berlin in absehbarer Zeit seine Pforten nicht öffnen würde, kaufte das Deutsche Dampflokmuseum in Neuenmarkt die Maschine.

Dort ist sie, wenn auch nicht betriebsfähig, heute zu bewundern.

Das Foto zeigt 10 001 in ihrem ersten Heimat-Betriebswerk, Bebra, wo sie eine Zeitlang im Freien abgestellt war und ihren Kolleginnen der Baureihe 01.5 der Deutschen Reichsbahn aus dem Bw Erfurt P begegnete, die ein etwas gnädigeres Schicksal hatten.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The T-33 was a 2-seat jet fighter-trainer developed out of the F-80 fighter by extending the nose and cockpit to allow for two pilots seated in tandem under a single long bubble canopy. This straightforward adapation of a pioneering and successful but soon-obsolescent fighter unexpectedly became the most important and widespread military jet trainer in history. Originally it was designated T-80C, and some examples operated by the U.S. Navy were designated TO and later TV. In Canada, where it was produced under license, it was called the CT-33 or CT-133 and nicknamed the Silver Star. A total of 6,557 were built including license production in Canada (656 aircraft) and Japan (210 aircraft). Many European, Central and South American and Asian nations friendly to the United States have used the T-33, including most NATO members.

Unexpectedly, the T-33 turned out to be slightly faster than the F-80 fighter on which it was based, probably because the extended nose made both the nose and canopy longer and slimmer (an aerodynamicist would say they have a higher fineness ratio).

Some small air forces continue to operate T-33s, a testament to the serviceability of a design that basically dates from 1943, when the requirements for jet-powered airframes were poorly understood. Canada released its final T-33s into the civilian market in 2008, boosting the flying warbird population of these aircraft. Canada had been a major source of earlier warbird airframes as well, with more returning from other countries. As a static display, the T-33 has been a favorite for mounting on pedestals as gate guardians to airports and air bases, and most of the many countries that have operated them have one or more preserved in their national museums.

The aircraft in this image is actually a Canadian built Silver Star 3 built under license in Canada in 1956, and saw service with the Royal Canadian Air Force. I took the photo at AirVenture 2019 in Oshkosh, WI.

Jett Ebnyx is extremely skilled and dangerous. Her mercenary work has included many types of jobs such as transporter, body guard, and espionage, but her favored jobs are bounty hunting and assassinations. She relies on her natural skill, but will not shy away from using cybernetic enhancements or augments if the need arises. She is an accomplished pilot and a serviceable mechanic. She can make minor adjustments to her gear and ship as well as repair her equipment or wounds. She speaks several languages without the use of a translation implant. Jett doesn't seem concerned with fame but doesn't try to keep to the shadows. Depending on the job, her presence can either be elusive or prominent. This is also how her personality plays out. She'll either keep to herself, or be the center of attention.

It's a Kaigelu 316--an inexpensive Duofold knock-off from the "People's republic of cheap, but serviceable pens." This one lives up to that standard.

RLF_9539

A four-car Class 108 DMU heads east at Dover Bridge, Eastwood on the 28th December 1985. The sets were forming "The Moorsrider" - a charter under the auspices of the LCGB North West Branch which ran from Southport to Whitby. The train left Southport with a completely different set of DMUs, including a Cravens Class 105, but the entire set was failed at Manchester Victoria and had to be replaced by the 108 sets which Michael captured here. Later, further problems beset the train when it left York without a guard although he soon caught up by running along the ballast after the train was stopped at the next signal! The train eventually arrived at Grosmont three hours late in the snow and dark. The NYMR had arranged a steam service to take the tour passengers to Pickering - top and tailed by GWR 6619 and D7029, which wasn't able to proceed further than Fen Bog due to snow blocking the line. Half of the tour passengers had stayed on the DMU to Whitby, which subsequently lost all lighting and heating in one of the two 108 sets. Everybody crammed into the remaining serviceable 2-car set for the very late return journey to Southport. BR gave a 100% refund to the tour operator, which seems only right, given the nightmare journey they'd experienced! The question crosses my mind as to how Michael knew that the train would be past this point at the time he was there. Or perhaps he just waited a long time for it to appear. No RTT then!

The City of Toronto is going through a massive transformation, actually this is happening throughout all of Southern Ontario. It's an area owned by developers where anything and everything is being torn down and replaced with something new. Plazas, malls and other small retail spaces are closing and being transformed into multiple story condominiums. Detached homes are being bought by individuals with deep pockets and sometimes developers to be replaced with McMansions. Schools and prisons are closing at a rapid pace to be replaced with what are called superschools and superjails, which are basically the same thing just on a larger scale. Even our hospitals are closing down and being replaced with more modern facilities. Will these new buildings stand the test of time and last as long as the ones they replaced, were built to last? Only time will tell.

While I hate to see so many well built and architecturally interesting buildings lost forever, I also realize that this building boom is not showing any signs of slowing down and will continue to happen for years to come. But the irony of the whole situation is not lost on me. In times where media is bombarded by the threat of global climate change and the relentless and expensive push towards green everything, I find it amusing that when it comes to buildings, no one cares about being "green". Think about all of the waste materials and pollution created from the demolition of existing buildings (which are still perfectly serviceable), they are then rebuilt with materials that yet again creates an extensive amount of waste and emissions when they are being manufactured, yet nobody is talking about this.

Over this past year I have been fortunate enough to have visited a very large variety of disused buildings, including several firsts, in fact this has probably been my most productive year of exploring to date!

This building used to be a plaza with office space and contained many different businesses including, a Tim Hortons, a dentists office, a gym, a Rogers store, a law office, as well as many other businesses. It is in the process of being torn down to make way for more high density housing.

Self Portrait, North York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

©James Hackland

Extract from 'A Day on the Road' article from the Commercial Motor Magazine October 21st 1909.

A Motor-transport Contractor's Leyland Steam Wagon on Greasy Stone Setts in Lancashire.

Recounted by a Member of the Editorial Staff.

" It is twenty minutes past three, Sir!" announced the night porter, at the Park Hotel, Preston, one recent Monday morning, after he had already alarmed me by vigorously knocking on the door of my bedroom. I conveyed to him, with as much grace as I could muster at that early hour, an intimation that I was no longer asleep, and that there was no need to awaken

every other visitor in the hotel. I had arrived at Preston not more than four hours previously, after a most tiresome journey, by train and taxicab, from York, and, if my manner was rather short, I sincerely hope that the obliging official who aroused me on that morning has not since been consumed with grief on account of my hastily-spoken words. When I readied the coffee-room, and discovered that he had prepared a tempting breakfast for me, 1 felt more kindly disposed towards him. Having done full justice to the meal. I left the hotel in order to keep an appointment, at the running-shed of H. Viney and Co., Ltd., Motor-transport Engineers, of Strand Road, Preston, whence I was to start with a Levland " steamer " on its usual Monday's round. The Preston Town Council had evidently neglected to settle the previous quarter's account for street lighting, and, as the streets were absolutely deserted at that early hour, I gave up the attempt, unguided, to reach the running shed, and awaited the arrival of the wagon in Fishergate, along which thoroughfare the machine was bound to pass, on its way to Burnley.

This five-ton wagon and trailer are loaded up each Saturday, and the start is made not later than 4 a.m. on the Monday morning following for the places named, where over 200 cases of Whitbread's bottled stout and beer are delivered during 22 calls. This " round " forms part of a large contract, which is to extend over many years, with Whitbread and Co., Ltd. The total distance for this run is about 50 miles, and the total imposed load on the wagon and its trailer is nearly eight tons. When the wagon put in an appearance, in Fishergate, shortly after four o'clock, I made myself as comfortable as possible among the cases of bottled goods, and by 6.15 we had reached Blackburn, and the wagon was climbing the long stonesett-armoured hill on the road to

Burnley. The greasy state of the surface caused the wheels to skid very badly, and, had not the vehicle been skilfully handled by the men in charge, there might have been a serious accident; as it was, we ultimately surmounted the hill after the use of sacks. grit and—nausele. When nearing Church, at 7 a.m., we made our first halt for water, and again, just before entering Burnley, we took in a further supply, not because it was immediately needed, but so that we might be enabled to complete the delivery of the bulk of our cargo in Burnley and Brierfield without making further stops for watering. The first delivery, consisting of 20 cases of bottled stout and ale, was made at Burnley at 8.20 a.m., and at several other places in this town were further deliveries made.

Burnley's streets have an unenviable reputation among drivers of heavy commercial vehicles; many a wagon is forced, by the electric tramcars, on to the excessive side-fall of the roads, and, once its wheels slide into the gutter of a Burnley street, a steel-tired machine is only " pinched" out again with great difficulty. We made the last local delivery in the Burnley district at 10.30, at a point less than eight miles from the boundary line which separates Lancashire from Yorkshire. Brierfield was our next place of call ; here we left over 100 eases of bottled goods, and received the same number of " empties." I took a. photograph of the wagon when in the position to which it was backed, along a narrow lane some 30 yds. long, for unloading, and this view shows how little room there was to spare between the two walls and the sides of the vehicle; a slight error of judgment on the part of the driver, and he would have had the not too-substantially-built walls falling in on his wagon. In addition to this man, " Joe " Ridgley, and the stoker, a. loader accompanies this wagon, and his duties are particularly responsible; lie must not only "do his little bit " so far as the handling of the load is concerned, but he must also, in many cases, collect the aeccents for the goods delivered, and make due allowances for " returned empties," etc. These three men formed a. N cry cheery " crowd," and I was pleased to note that they showed genuine interest in their work, and, when not occupied in the handling of the load, each would find some little duty to perform in connection with the wagon or its trailer-duties which were discharged automatically, and without a grumble; in fact, the stoker's " chuckle" was something to remember for many a day. I was informed that he is an ex-army man who had been through the South-African campaign. I can imagine that such a nature as is habitually displayed by him would make him a very popular man amongst the Tommies after a hard da3's work. Having witnessed the completion of the exchange of full bottles for empty ones, I left the men to partake of their mid-day meal, and sought. out • a satisfying, if not too-appetising, meal for myself at a neighbouring hotel. We were all on the road again by 12.45, and, before leaving Brierfield, we took up more water, from a stone trough at the side of the road. This trough receives its supply from a spring in the side of a neighbouring bill, and, consequently, is " free " water to all comers. Notwithstanding this, the local authorities have posted a notice to the effect that the taking of water is prohibited. How much regard we paid to this notice may be judged by those readers who choose to examine the accompanying illustration of the notice and the tank in question. The " snaky" object at the lower right-hand corner is our suction hose. I may add that a

Yorkshire " was standing near by, also waiting to take in water, and a " limb of the law " was not many yards away. Legal proceedings, I am told, can only be taken if the watering steamer causes any obstruction to the electric trams, the tracks for which take up the greater part of the road. We collected the last of the empties, in Burnley, at three p.m., and made for Preston, via Padtham, Read, Whalley and Mellowbrook, then along the Blackburn road, and through Sandesbury, to Preston. A very large part of the road taken on the return journey is macadam, and, consequently, good time was made.

We arrived at Strand Road, Preston, about 6.30 p.m., and I was there

met by Mr. C. be M. Gosselin, the managing director of H. Viney and Co., Ltd., who very kindly showed me his trading books for the past year, and permitted MB to make certain extracts relating to the cost of running for his Leyland wagons. The vehicle which I accompanied is " No. 6 " of a fleet of similar machines operated by this company over an area bounded by Blackburn, Burnley, Oldham, Manchester and Wigan, a map of which district was reproduced on page 490 of our issue of the 19th August last. " No. 6 " was purchased two years ago, its condition at that time being little better than scrap iron. A considerable sum was expended on repairs, and the replacement of broken and worn-out parts, and thus a good and serviceable machine was created out of the old wreck. The cost of this initial overhaul was, of course, charged to capital account. Since it was put into service, the wagon, which usually draws a loaded trailer behind it, has maintained a weekly average of 161:1 miles, whilst the average weekly mileage for the whole of the company's vehicles of the fleet is 15611

'the total cost per mile run for " No. 6 " is is. 10. per mile, whereas the average for all the vehicles of the fleet is is. 24d. per mile. The latter amount is made up as follows :— This total cast per mile is higher than many of the figures which we have given, from time to time, for wagons in ordinary employment, but it must be noted that, for work of this class, three men are generally needed -hence, the high charge for wages.

Depreciation, too, is necessarily placed at a higher rate by a contractor working in such a district OS Lancashire than would be necessary in the ease of a private owner situated in a district where work is less strenuous. Viney and Co., Ltd., intends to build up a motor-haulage business on sound commercial lines, and the excellent relationship which exists between the management and the men clearly indicates the determination, of both sides, to attain success. It may, therefore, safely be assumed that

the figures we have given are on the liberal side, and take into account every possible charge and contingency against the vehicles. I may add that this company pays the following price for its stores: gear oil, is. per gallon ; cylinder oil, le. 6d_ per gallon ; paraffin for lamps, 5d. per gallon ; and coke, 70. per cwt., or 15s. per ton. The tare weight of " No. 6 " is 4 tons 19 cwt. ; its trailer weighs 1 ton 7 cwt.; and the gross weight to be moved, when both wagon and trailer are loaded, is 15 tons 6 cwt.

The foreman at Thazi Junction shed in Burma had two serviceable GC class 2-8-2+2-8-2 Garratts at his disposal, but unfortunately due to a shortage of coal neither were in use at the time of my visit in February 1979.

The foreman was kind enough to use the YC class 4-6-2 that had worked in from Toungoo on the morning passenger to tow GC833 out of the shed so that I could get some photographs.

I have never seen any reports of the Garratts being used after this date and have often wondered if they did ever turn a wheel in anger again?

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With Luke fitting into the landspeeder and an easy mod to the Snow Speeder for the pilot, the rest of the minifigs in the 2014 Star Wars Advent Calendar were feeling left out. The four mocs in the back row are all alt-models from the advent calendar: AT-AT, TIE Fighter, STAP, Republic Gunship.

Building a micro-microfighter for the Super Battle Droid was harder that I expected; I started trying to rebuild the AAT for it, but I couldn't get it to work. The STAP was my second effort and I'm really happy how it turned out. The other builds are serviceable with the AT-AT being pretty terrible, but the Snow Trooper demanded an AT-AT...

I was planning to do a full alt build run on this years calendar like I did with last years advent calendar, but inspiration isn't striking.

The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) A1 Class is an English class of 0-6-0T steam locomotive. Designed by William Stroudley, 50 members of the class were built in 1872 and between 1874 and 1880, all at Brighton Works. The class has received several nicknames, initially being known as "Rooters" by their south London crews. However, the engines were more famously known as "Terriers" on account of the distinctive 'bark' of the exhaust beat.

A1 (Terrier) Class 0-6-0T No. 3 ‘Bodiam’ (70 ‘Poplar’, BR No.32570) designed by William Stroudley, built in 1872 at Brighton Works. Rebuilt to A1X in 1943 at St Leonards Works.

In May 1901 it was for £650 to Kent & East Sussex Railway and went into service K&ESR No. 3 ‘Bodiam’ where it stayed to 1931 when it was withdrawn from service and left to rusting on a siding at Rolvenden Yard until in 1932/33 it lost its name around 1935. It became serviceable when another Terrier (71 ‘Wapping’ then running as No.5 ‘Rolvenden’) was cannibalised for parts to restore ‘Bodiam’ back into service but without the nameplate.

It went to British Rail (S) in 1948 at nationalisation, when it was based at Rolvenden, moving to Ashford, then spent time at St Leonards from 1954 before moving to Brighton in 1957 and ended up working on the Hayling Island Branch, based at Eastleigh in 1963 being withdrawn in the same year. It was sold to Kent & East Sussex Preservation Society in April 1964 and then acquired by The Terrier Trust 1995 for use on the K&ESR now preserved as No. 3 ‘Bodiam’.

Photographer: unknown – Copyright – H.G. Casserley Print – taken on shed at Rolvenden on 21/09/1935.

XM655 is an Avro Vulcan B Mk2, and the youngest Vulcan in existence (the third to last produced; XM656 and XM657 have both been scrapped). Delivered to 9 squadron at RAF Cottesmore in November 1964, she tranferred to the Waddington Wing in January 1968. She then served with 101 and 44 squadrons, and was with 50 squadron when she was put up for disposal in late 1983. She was bought by businessman Roy Jacobsen who had hopes to fly her on the airshow circuit.

She was the first Vulcan “civilianised” and was flown in to Wellesbourne Mountford about a week after a Cat 3 Check, on the 11th of February 1984. Hundreds of people were there to watch her arrive. She had flown only 5,744 hours, making her a very viable proposition for taking to the air once more. However, the Civil Aviation Authority made it clear that the aircraft would not be flying again without stringent conditions being satisfied. While efforts at funding the work necessary were begun and the aircraft was put on the civil register as G-VULC, little real progress was made. A plan to fly the aircraft in America got as far as registering the aircraft on the American civil register as N655AV but no further. After two years Roy Jacobsen lost interest in XM655 and bought another Vulcan (XL426) which was delivered to Southend. Parking fees were mounting at Wellesbourne and after a number of years the airfield owners took Jacobsen to court to recover them. The result was that the ownership of the aircraft passed to Wellesbourne Airfield.

XM655 had stood without attention for so long that she was in quite poor condition. Ten years of neglect had finally put paid to any lingering hopes of her ever flying again. At one stage she had been broken into, the cockpit instrumentation vandalised and the co-pilot’s control column removed with a hacksaw. The wingtip panels were also damaged at some point. With the transfer of ownership however, the future began looking brighter.

The Delta Engineering Association was formed to look after XM655 and they made it clear from the outset that their intention was to get her into ground running condition only. The aircraft was gradually brought back to life – all the hydraulics were overhauled, the damage to the cockpit was repaired and a number of engine runs undertaken.

Delta moved from Wellesbourne to Kemble in March 1996, and after the brief and unhappy existence and demise of the XM655 Association, the volunteers remaining at Wellesbourne decided that the best way forward would be a properly constituted membership organisation to look after XM655. As a result the 655 Maintenance and Preservation Society (655MaPS) was formed in late 1998.

Thanks to the generosity of Wellesbourne Airfield and with funds provided by the society’s members and other donors, 655MaPS have been able to assemble an impressive collection of workshops, storage units and ground equipment to support and service XM655.

The rear spar has been inspected and found to be in excellent condition. XM655 now has fuel in her tanks at all times to keep the system and the seals ‘wet’. All the aircraft systems are powered up and exercised regularly.

The aircraft has been repainted several times to keep the inevitable corrosion of the more than 50 year old structure under control, the flying control surfaces (elevons and rudder) have been reskinned, the jet pipe end caps have been replaced and the three engines with the longest running hours have been removed, opened, inspected and re-installed.

Engine ground runs (EGRs) are carried out approximately every three months, together with slow taxi runs to ensure the steering and braking systems are functional. Once each year, usually in June, XM655 takes part in Wellesbourne Wings and Wheels, which is our major public event of the year. Reports of past events can be found on the Taxi Runs page, and details of the next event are on the Events page.

XM655 is virtually complete in terms of installed equipment, with the H2S Radar, the Terrain Following Radar (TFR) and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems all still in-place, as well as the complete suite of Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) equipment. The only notable item missing when XM655 left RAF service was the in-flight refuelling probe; not surprising considering the world-wide hunt for serviceable probes which had occurred during the Falklands conflict a couple of years earlier. Eventually, a replacement probe was obtained and installed, and XM655 regained her familiar profile.

4 stored Locos form this line up at the Depot which had more stored and withdrawn locos on shed than serviceable ones. 08665 is seen along with 37's 712, 670 and 051

In the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy faced the need for a jet-powered replacement for the large, piston-engined AD-1 Skyraiders. In response, the renowned aircraft designer Edward "Ed" Heinemann and his team at the Douglas Aircraft Company crafted the revolutionary A-4 Skyhawk. This highly versatile aircraft, with its innovative design, quickly became a staple in the world of military aviation at the time. It's worth noting that Douglas Aircraft Company had a penchant for names with "Sky" for their military aircraft.

The Skyhawk's key feature was its small delta-shaped wing. This unique design, with a wingspan of only 27.5 feet (8.4m), allowed the aircraft to be stored on hangar decks without the need for folding wings. The elimination of heavy and complex wing-folding mechanisms saved weight and made the A-4 Skyhawk a versatile and popular choice for many air forces worldwide, including those of Argentina, Israel, Kuwait, and other countries.

The A-4 Skyhawk, a true workhorse, played a pivotal role in Vietnam combat missions. All ordnance and extra fuel were carried externally on racks underneath the wings and central fuselage. The Skyhawk could also be configured as a "buddy tanker," Refueling other aircraft in flight. Seven squadrons flew Skyhawks from Intrepid during her three combat deployments to Vietnam between 1966 and 1969.

Typical Skyhawk missions were lightly armed surveillance and heavily loaded strikes on strategic targets. Some significant strikes on higher priority targets, called alpha strikes, included aircraft from multiple aircraft carriers, which flew in coordination with U.S. Air Force bombers. On these missions, some of the Skyhawks served as flak suppressors. As the name implies, Flak suppressors attacked the anti-aircraft emplacements around the primary target rather than attacking the main target itself. The A-4 Skyhawk's agility and firepower made it a valuable asset in these complex and high-stakes missions. Its serviceability rate was also very high, reaching upwards of 95%, which was nearly a third of all USN sorties in Vietnam.

This A-4B Skyhawk, BuNo 142833, flew with attack squadron VA-95 ("Green Lizards") during Intrepid's first deployment to Vietnam in 1966. It also flew with Squadron VA-34 ("Blue Blasters") from May to November 1967. It has since been restored to how it would’ve looked when serving with VA-95, which looks really nice in my opinion!

There are good numbers for the early afternoon 13.36 Sroda Miasto-Zaniemysl service seen calling at Annopole with loco Px48 1920 tender forward.

Other class members seen at Sroda depot were Px48 1907, 1756 & serviceable 1926.

16th October 1997.

This shot was taken during an RCTS East Midlands shed bashing trip and being a Saturday afternoon Toton had a whopping 99 locos on shed most of which were serviceable unlike the diesel graveyard it appears as these days with lines of stored class 60's etc.

25 323 was a Crewe Diesel allocated machine when this image was taken and lasted a further two years in service being withdrawn on 09/03/1987 despite sustaining accident damage at Fazakerley Yard in Liverpool during February 1986 which was was repaired at Allerton Depot. Its appointment with the "gas axe" came in November 1987 at Vic Berry's yard in Leicester after a period in the famous dump stack of type 2's. 58 022 on the other hand had only been in service two months when this was taken. Having been completed at BREL Doncaster Works by December 1984 it was taken into BR stock on 07/01/1985 allocated to Toton Depot.

The next two images in my photosteam depict 58 022 in 1990 and 2014 portraying a very different picture to this one.

Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd.:

Mercedes-Benz O530 WEB628 /

Mercedes-Benz Citaro (12.0m)

N38F - 07/2012

Ex-Arriva Southern Counties South Disposal (GLw-3908) (12/08/2020)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (SH-3908) (12/2017)

Ex-Arriva Kent & Surrey Ltd., Maidstone, Kent (ME-3908) (06/2017)

Ex-T-GM (Heathrow) (09/2012)

New to the T-GM Group (Heathrow) for 2012 Olympic Game shuttle duties.

A bit of a proud moment for us at Arriva Tunbridge Wells, as the first of 2 Citaro's were made serviceable having been VOR at another garage for 2-and-a-half years! Our coachmaker, Wayne, has done outstanding work on them both, which has certainly given them a fresh new lease of life, something they truly deserve! MOT passed on Friday 4th September, taxed early Saturday morning.

Seen here out on a road test (after having had the silencer fitted to the air dryer) and impromptu photo shoot.

War Memorial, Mount Pleasant, Royal Tunbridge Wells

Sunday 6th September 2020

Formerly a Stagecoach East example of the Alexander bodied Dennis Trident, which was a transfer when the Long Sutton depot became part of East Midlands operations in 2019.

A long period inactive in 2021 eventually saw the vehicle finally serviceable, although not tracking. By the time it was able to be monitored again in February 2023, the bus had received 'Local' livery in November 2022.

Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts "Lochmere Limited" excursion pulls to a stop beside the impressive Laconia Passenger Station built by the Concord and Montreal Railroad in 1892, three years before that road was swallowed up by the expanding B&M system.

Designed by New York City architect Bradford Gilbert, it is built out of granite and red sandstone, and has a central area, the former waiting room, that is 2-1/2 stories in height, with a pyramidal roof. That area is flanked by single-story sections with tall hip roofs, and its front is dominated by a porte-cochère with large rounded arches. The waiting room area features a large sandstone fireplace, and has a floor covered in patterned tile.

The size and scale of the station were due in part to the activism of Charles Busiel, a local businessman who was the Mayor of Laconia from 1893 to 1895 and then governor of New Hampshire from 1895 to 1897. Having also sat on the board of the Concord and Montreal it is clear that his influence led this small city to receive a station as grand as those in much larger communities. Placed on the National Historic Register in 1892 it is the last large station left in the state since the cities of Manchester and Concord having long since lost their depots to the wrecking ball.

Sitting beside MP 27.5 of the state owned former White Mountain Mainline it saw its last thru passenger train in October 1954 when the Boston- Montreal Aloutte was shifted to the Northern mainline upon the abandonment of the White Mountain mainline from Plymouth to Wells River. For another decade Laconia would rate RDC service to Boston until that too disappeared in January 1965. A decade later the B&M petitioned for abandonment and the town was poised to lose the rail service it had had since 1849. But the state of New Hampshire stepped in and purchased the full 73 miles from Concord to Lincoln. A series of freight operators tried and failed until finally the New England Southern took over in 1982. But freight operations dwindled, and by the early 1990s the NEGS had no freight customers remaining north of Tilton. However in 1986 the Plymouth and Lincoln Railroad had been formed with the purpose of operating a theme park and railroad out of Lincoln, New Hampshire that had transformed itself from a paper mill town to tourist destination. The following year the HOBO railroad was born operating on the northern 7 miles of line between Lincoln and Woodstock. Four years later thanks to their success in Lincoln the state offered the P&L the opportunity to operate another section of the same rail line and a new lease gave the company exclusive passenger access to the entire 50 miles from Tilton to Lincoln. In 1991 the Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroad started operations on 8 miles of lakeside trackage between Meredith and Lakeport with a stop in Weirs Beach and has operated successfully ever since. Additionally the railroad operates a series of scheduled foliage trips north 15 miles from Meredith through Ashland to Plymouth. But outside of these operations there are two separate segments comprising the other 20 miles of line that see no movement other than the occasional company work train or equipment move. Consequently the opportunity to photograph trains on these sections of track is exceedingly rare.

And though the full length of the railroad is maintained in serviceable condition, to the best of my knowledge the rails beside the depot here saw only 6 trains pass the entirety of 2020 prior to this trip. Originally scheduled for the spring it was cancelled due to the state of the world, but when it was approved to run this fall I knew I had to get out.

And while the little train was rather motley looking it was interesting enough in it's own right. The four car train consisted of three demotored RDCs of the kind that provided the last scheduled service on this line in B&M days along with a 1954 Pullman of CN heritage that was later used (and is still painted for) by the Bangor and Aroostook. Bracketing the train was PLRR 1590 (an EMD SW1001 blt. 1974 for the Reading) on the south end and PLRR 1012 (and EMD SW100 blt. 1970 for the Burlington Northern) on the north.

Laconia, New Hampshire

Saturday October 31, 2020

The twelve GC class 2-8-2+2-8-2 Garratts of the Burma Railways were built to a wartime design for use on the Indian sub continent which were transferred to the BR at the end of the war.

By 1979 they had been replaced on the steep branches for which they were built and, despite a lot of wishful thinking by railway management, only two remained serviceable.

GC839 (built 1944) was not one of them, but was still in reasonable condition when photographed at Thazi Jct shed on 24 February 1979.

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37209 approaches the East Coast Main Line from the Mexborough direction at St James Junction, Doncaster with an fully fitted air braked freight, 24th February 1979.

Locomotive History

Originally D6909 it entered traffic in December 1963 allocated to Landore. Remained in South Wales (with a spell at Canton) until transferred to Tinsley in February 1974 and is a Tinsley locomotive at the time of the photograph. Transferred to Stratford November 1987 it received its last classified repair at Doncaster Works in August 1988. Its last few years saw transfers to Tinsley, Motherwell, Immingham, Tinsley again before a final move in May 1992 to Inverness. Through out the early part of the summer of 1992 37209 was used almost exclusively in multiple with either 37063, 37156, 37170 or 37221 on overnight sleeper trains between Edinburgh and Inverness and Aberdeen. However by mid July it was stored un-serviceable. It migrated down to Tinsley becoming a permanent fixture on the scrap line there before its final movement across to Doncaster MPD in 2002 where it was broken up on site by Harry Needle in July 2002.

The Arcade & Attica Railroad's Locomotive #18 sits in front of the company's engine shop in Arcade, NY, building steam in a steady light rain, as she prepares to participate in a May 2025 photo shoot organized by Dynamo Productions.

The Arcade & Attica is New York State's only steam tourist railroad and has been in existence since the 1960s. The railroad possesses two steam locomotives, but the one pictured here is the only one that is operable at the moment. This roughly 70-ton product of the American Locomotive Company was built in 1920 for a Cuban sugar mill, but the deal was never consummated. The engine ended up being sold to the Michigan-based Charcoal Iron Co., and later, the Newberry Lumber & Chemical Co. In 1946, she was sold to the Boyne City Railroad, also in Michigan, where she was used in regular freight service until 1950. She was stored serviceable as reserve power until 1962, when the Arcade & Attica became aware of her and acquired her for tourist operations. Since the 1960s, this engine has operated off and on here, alternating with the line's other steam engine, the 4-6-0, ten-wheeler #14.

- Pic by my late father Alexander 'Alec' Crisdale, using KODAK Kodachrome slide positive color film.

- In Oct 1968 after this photo was shot, VH-ALB was badly damaged in a wind storm at Camden (refer to ADF Serials link at end of history for pics).

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AIRCRAFT HISTORY

- This a/c had an extensive & colourful history (courtesy of the ADF Serials website), of which I have included some edited highlights -

Dec 1935/Jan 1936 - First flight, England.

21/2/1936 - Delivered to 1AD Laverton from overseas.

3/4/1936 - Assigned 101 Flt (later 5 Sqn), Richmond, NSW

20/4/1937 - Embarked HMAS SYDNEY

28/2/1938 - Struck side of HMAS SYDNEY and sank in Jervis Bay. Later salvaged & repaired.

22/12/1939 - Forced landing in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney when roof hatch flew off into propeller.

11/7/1940 - Embarked HMAS PERTH

21/1/1941 - Forced landing in Gunnamatta Bay, Port Hacking, NSW, after flying wire fitting failed during target towing.

6/2/43 - Arrived 9 Sqn Bowen. Later Coded ‘YQ-P’

7/8/43 -Ground looped to port at Cairns, Qld after flight from Mornington Island and damaged port spar, aileron and float. 12/1/44 -Removed to Qantas for repair

14/12/45 - 2 FBRD for storage with Pegasus 2M2 No 16664

22/3/46 - Storage at 2 AD Schofields

25/4/46 - Damaged by hailstorm

13/5/46 - At Maintenance Sqn Rathmines

14/8/46 - Airframe offered by CDC for sale by tender by 6.9.46. Aircraft with 2 CRD, RAAF Richmond, NSW, reported as 'fully serviceable'. Total hours 1446.00

15/8/46 Maintenance Sqn Rathmines ex ASR Sqn

==============================

Post-WW2 History

3/10/46 - Sold by CDC to McIlree Motors, Sydney for £600

??/??/?? Registration VH-ALB reserved

13/9/50 Reservation VH-ALB cancelled & aircraft stored by McIlree.

1959 - Sold to P Gibbes, , H. O’Hara and A Whiter & prepared for C of A by Lawrence Engineering & Sales, Camden, NSW

14/4/60 - Re-registered VH-ALB for private use, but later registered for aerial work & operated by Amphair (Amphibious Air Carter) P/L of Toorak, VIC with 7 passenger seats. Flew joy flights from Seaford, Port Philip Bay, VIC.

9/62 - Sold to R.W. Shute for £5,000 to be operated as Barrier Reef Flying Boat Service from Mackay, QLD.

17/3/63 - Last regular commercial flight - placed in storage at Mackay, QLD.

29/10/63 - Flown to Bankstown, NSW & offered for sale.

5/64 - Bought by group of local business men.

2/10/64 - Damaged when ground looped during conversion training.

30/1/66 - Forced landing at Terrigal, NSW, with engine trouble. Later flew back to Camden, NSW.

10/68 - Damaged in wind storm at Camden, NSW.

7/69 - By this time had moved to Bankstown for restoration with a view to competing in the London to Sydney Air Race for which it was allocated Race Number ‘48’

9/7/69 - Test flight for C of A renewal.

26/11/69 - Regular flying recommenced.

8/12/69 - Departed Sydney for Singapore and reached Dili, Timor by 17/12, when it was held up by lack of appropriate fuel. Obviously some damage occurred because after repairs were completed and correct fuel obtained, departed for Bankstown, NSW, Australia on 30/12/69, arriving on 8/1/70.

27/1/70 - Suffered engine failure shortly after take-off at Taree, NSW - starboard wheel struck a stump in long grass during forced landing & undercarriage, fuselage, starboard float & wing were damaged. Aircraft was dismantled & returned to Bankstown. (Pilot Neville M Parnell was uninjured).

9/3/72 - Registration cancelled at owners request.

5/72 - Exchanged with RAF Museum for Spitfire XIV TE384 & $5,000.

1/73-4/73 - flown to UK by RAAF (Richmond to Darwin), then RAF (Darwin, Nadi, Nuku’alofa’ Hawaii, California & Gander)

11/79 - Full restoration complete & aircraft placed on permanent display in the RAF Museum, Hendon, England as A2-4.

Class 37 number 37248 at Tinsley TMD on 29th May, 1993. At the time this loco was stored un-serviceable but it was returned to traffic during November, 1994 and lives on today in preservation.

The sun angle wasn't the greatest, but it was serviceable, and I was thrilled to finally be able to fire off some daylight shots of the Rock Island E8 #652 at Mid-America Car in Kansas City.

Say what you will of it, but it looks MUCH better than before, and I can't wait to shoot this and the 630 up in Iowa.

Took this shot last month on an evening boat ride on the Hudson. Had to push to ISO 10,000. Still serviceable. Nikon Z7 | ISO 10,000 | 24-200mm lens at 92mm | f / 6.3 | 1/60th second.

As to be expected, the servants' quarters of Billilla are very plain and serviceable in comparison to the opulent décor of the family's part of the house. Gone are the wallpapers and carpets, replaced by flagstone and plain wooden floors and cream and ochre painted walls or tiled dados. Nevertheless, they were much better appointed than some other houses of the day.

The long servants hall is made light and airy by the provision of skylights that afford views of the towering house chimneys and the skies above.

All the servants' rooms were lit by gaslight, as were the family rooms. The Weatherly's houskeeper's parlour, known below stairs as the "pugs' parlour" still features original ornate brass gasolier and wall sconces. Although now electrified, they still feature their original gas valves.

Built in High Victorian style in 1878 for successful gold miner Robert Wright, Billilla mansion was originally a thirteen room mansion erected on seven and a half acres of land.

When economic boom turned to bust in the 1880s, the property was purchased in 1888 by wealthy New South Wales pastoralist William Weatherly who named it Billilla after his land holdings and established a home there for his wife Jeannie and their children Violet, Gladys and Lionel.

The house was substantially altered by architect Walter Richmond Butler in 1907, extending the house beyond its original thirteen rooms and adding the Art Nouveau façade seen today.

After William Weatherly's death in 1914, his wife, who was much younger, remained living there until her own death in 1933. She bequeathed the property to her daughter, Violet, who maintained the home with reduced staff until her own death in 1972.

The property was purchased in 1973 by the Bayside Council who subsequently used Billilla as a historical house with guided tours, a wedding and events venue, a school and finally in 2009 as an artist's precinct in the property's outbuildings. Billilla is a beautiful heritage property retaining many of its original features thanks to its long private ownership still incorporating a stately formal garden and the magnificent historic house.

Billilla, at 26 Halifax Street, Brighton, is one of Melbourne’s few remaining significant homesteads, built on land which had originally been owned by Nicholas Were. The house has a mixture of architectural styles, featuring a Victorian design with Art Nouveau features and has exquisite formal gardens, which retain much of their original Nineteenth Century layout.

Billilla retains many original Victorian elements and a number of outbuildings still stand to the rear of the property including the butler’s quarters, dairy, meat house, stable garden store and coach house.

Billilla was opened to the general public as part of the Melbourne Open House weekend 2022.

Billilla was used as a backdrop in the 1980 Australian Channel 10 miniseries adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott's "Water Under the Bridge". It was used at the Sydney harbourside home of Luigi, Honor and Carrie Mazzini.

XM655 is an Avro Vulcan B Mk2, and the youngest Vulcan in existence (the third to last produced; XM656 and XM657 have both been scrapped). Delivered to 9 squadron at RAF Cottesmore in November 1964, she tranferred to the Waddington Wing in January 1968. She then served with 101 and 44 squadrons, and was with 50 squadron when she was put up for disposal in late 1983. She was bought by businessman Roy Jacobsen who had hopes to fly her on the airshow circuit.

She was the first Vulcan “civilianised” and was flown in to Wellesbourne Mountford about a week after a Cat 3 Check, on the 11th of February 1984. Hundreds of people were there to watch her arrive. She had flown only 5,744 hours, making her a very viable proposition for taking to the air once more. However, the Civil Aviation Authority made it clear that the aircraft would not be flying again without stringent conditions being satisfied. While efforts at funding the work necessary were begun and the aircraft was put on the civil register as G-VULC, little real progress was made. A plan to fly the aircraft in America got as far as registering the aircraft on the American civil register as N655AV but no further. After two years Roy Jacobsen lost interest in XM655 and bought another Vulcan (XL426) which was delivered to Southend. Parking fees were mounting at Wellesbourne and after a number of years the airfield owners took Jacobsen to court to recover them. The result was that the ownership of the aircraft passed to Wellesbourne Airfield.

XM655 had stood without attention for so long that she was in quite poor condition. Ten years of neglect had finally put paid to any lingering hopes of her ever flying again. At one stage she had been broken into, the cockpit instrumentation vandalised and the co-pilot’s control column removed with a hacksaw. The wingtip panels were also damaged at some point. With the transfer of ownership however, the future began looking brighter.

The Delta Engineering Association was formed to look after XM655 and they made it clear from the outset that their intention was to get her into ground running condition only. The aircraft was gradually brought back to life – all the hydraulics were overhauled, the damage to the cockpit was repaired and a number of engine runs undertaken.

Delta moved from Wellesbourne to Kemble in March 1996, and after the brief and unhappy existence and demise of the XM655 Association, the volunteers remaining at Wellesbourne decided that the best way forward would be a properly constituted membership organisation to look after XM655. As a result the 655 Maintenance and Preservation Society (655MaPS) was formed in late 1998.

Thanks to the generosity of Wellesbourne Airfield and with funds provided by the society’s members and other donors, 655MaPS have been able to assemble an impressive collection of workshops, storage units and ground equipment to support and service XM655.

The rear spar has been inspected and found to be in excellent condition. XM655 now has fuel in her tanks at all times to keep the system and the seals ‘wet’. All the aircraft systems are powered up and exercised regularly.

The aircraft has been repainted several times to keep the inevitable corrosion of the more than 50 year old structure under control, the flying control surfaces (elevons and rudder) have been reskinned, the jet pipe end caps have been replaced and the three engines with the longest running hours have been removed, opened, inspected and re-installed.

Engine ground runs (EGRs) are carried out approximately every three months, together with slow taxi runs to ensure the steering and braking systems are functional. Once each year, usually in June, XM655 takes part in Wellesbourne Wings and Wheels, which is our major public event of the year. Reports of past events can be found on the Taxi Runs page, and details of the next event are on the Events page.

XM655 is virtually complete in terms of installed equipment, with the H2S Radar, the Terrain Following Radar (TFR) and Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) systems all still in-place, as well as the complete suite of Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) equipment. The only notable item missing when XM655 left RAF service was the in-flight refuelling probe; not surprising considering the world-wide hunt for serviceable probes which had occurred during the Falklands conflict a couple of years earlier. Eventually, a replacement probe was obtained and installed, and XM655 regained her familiar profile.

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta, Bois-d'Haine, no. C. 16 (Series C 1 to C 98). Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM).

American actress Margaret O'Brien (1937) is one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Beginning her career at age 4, O'Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was best known for her natural, emotional style and her startling facility for tears. She received a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944. In her later career, she appeared on television, on stage, and in supporting film roles.

Margaret O'Brien was born Angela Maxine O'Brien in 1937. In 1941, she appeared in a WWII civil defence film and made a minor appearance in her first feature film, after which she became a contract player with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which changed her first name and cast her in the title role of the film Journey for Margaret. O'Brien's mother, Gladys Flores, was a flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, who was also a dancer. O'Brien made her first film appearance with a one-minute shot in Babes on Broadway (Busby Berkeley, 1941) at the age of four under her birth name, Maxine O'Brien. Impressed by the child's expressiveness and emotional range, MGM signed her and changed her first name to Margaret. The following year, her first major role brought her widespread attention. As a five-year-old she played a terrified London war orphan who "adopts" reporter Robert Young in the war drama Journey for Margaret (W.S. Van Dyke, 1942), O'Brien won wide praise for her quite convincing acting style, unusual for a child of her age. By 1943, she was considered a big enough star to have a cameo appearance in the all-star military show finale of Thousands Cheer (George Sidney, 1943). Also In 1943, at the age of seven, Margaret co-starred in You, John Jones (Mervyn LeRoy, 1943), a 'War Bond/Effort, short film, with James Cagney and Ann Sothern '. She played their daughter and dramatically recited President Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address'. She played Adèle, a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent in Jane Eyre (Robert Stevenson, 1943) opposite Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine.

Margaret O'Brien's most memorable role was in the Christmas musical Meet Me in St. Louis (Vincente Minnelli, 1944), opposite Judy Garland. As Tootie Smith, the feisty but fragile little sister of Judy Garland, she was a bright point in a very good film, especially in her musical numbers with Garland and during a Halloween sequence in which she confronts a grouchy neighbour. For her performance, she was awarded a special juvenile Oscar in 1944. Upon its release, Meet Me in St. Louis was both a critical and commercial success. It became the second-highest-grossing film of 1944, behind only Going My Way (Leo McCarey, 1944), and was also MGM's most successful musical of the 1940s. Her other successes included The Canterville Ghost (Jules Dassin, 1944) starring Charles Laughton, Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (Roy Rowland, 1945) with Edward G. Robinson, the Western Bad Bascomb (S. Sylvan Simon, 1946) with Wallace Beery, and the first sound version of The Secret Garden (Fred M. Wilcox, 1949). She played Beth in the 1949 MGM release of Little Women (Mervyn Le Roy, 1949) with June Allyson, but she could not transition to adult roles. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: " As she grew, her charm faded; by 1951's Her First Romance, she was just one of a multitude of Hollywood teen ingenues. A comeback attempt in the 1956 film Glory was serviceable, but the film was badly handled by its distributor RKO Radio and failed to re-establish the actress. A more fruitful role awaited her in a 1958 TV musical version of Little Women, in which O'Brien played Beth, the same role she'd essayed in the 1949 film version. In 1960, O'Brien had a strong supporting part in the period picture Heller in Pink Tights (1960), ironically playing a one-time child actress whose stage mother is trying to keep her in "kid" roles."

Margaret O'Brien shed her child star image, appearing on a 1958 cover of Life magazine with the caption "How the Girl's Grown", and was a mystery guest on the TV panel show What's My Line? O'Brien's acting appearances as an adult have been sporadic, mostly in small independent films and occasional television roles. She has also given interviews, mainly for the Turner Classic Movies cable network. O'Brien gave credit to television for helping her reform and modify her public image. On Robert Montgomery Presents on TV, she co-starred with Cecil Parker in The Canterville Ghost (1950). She appeared as the mystery guest on What's My Line (1957) and starred in The Young Years (1957) on General Electric Theater. She appeared in episodes of the Western series Rawhide and Wagon Train (1958) and later made guest appearances on episodes of Perry Mason (1963), Combat! (1968). and Ironside (1968). Another rare television outing was as a guest star on the popular Marcus Welby, M.D., reuniting O'Brien with her Journey for Margaret and The Canterville Ghost co-star Robert Young. In 1991, O'Brien appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote, starring Angela Lansbury. In 1954, O'Brien's Juvenile Oscar and two other awards were stolen. Several years later, a miniature statuette bearing O'Brien's name surfaced in a catalogue for auction. The long-lost Oscar was found by two memorabilia collectors in a flea market in 1995 and, upon learning of the award's history, the two owners agreed to return the Oscar to O'Brien. Nearly 50 years after she had first received it, and nearly 40 years since it had been stolen, the Academy held a special ceremony in Beverly Hills to return the stolen award to O'Brien. Margaret O'Brien has been married twice, to Harold Allen, Jr. from 1959 to 1968, and in 1974 to steel-industry executive Roy Thorvald Thorsen. The later marriage produced her only child, Mara Tolene Thorsen, born in 1977. O'Brien continues to appear in such films as the horror film Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! (Jared Cohn, 2017) and the Sci-Fi film Impact Event (B. Luciano Barsuglia, 2018).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Rotten Tomatoes, Wikipedia and IMDb.

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

RF655 had been new to Guildford garage in 1953. Seen here in Kingston station yard working route 406 on 17 January 1976. London Country had a severe shortage of serviceable vehicles at the time and any which would run eas pressed into service. No doubt the waiting passengers were gateful for any bus, regardless of external appearance. It would not be withdrawn until 14 months later.

The onslaught against our heritage never lets up. Nottinghamshire County Council is just one of many authorities that continue to replace perfectly good and serviceable cast iron street lighting columns, with awful plain steel galvanised columns.

The picture shows the removal of a century old gas column, that had been converted to electric decades ago. Most of these columns go to scrap, as many authorities have a scrap only policy.

11th November 2020.

"The Citroën 2CV (French: "deux chevaux" i.e. "deux chevaux-vapeur" (lit. 'steam horses'), "two tax horsepower") was an economy car produced by the French car manufacturer Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus and Junkers early all metal aircraft inspired bodywork (corrugated for added strength without added weight), that belied the sheer quality of its underlying engineering. It was designed to motorise the large number of small-holder farmers in 1930s France, who were still using horses and carts. It is considered one of Citroën's most iconic cars. In 1953 Autocar in a technical review of the car wrote of "the extraordinary ingenuity of this design, which is undoubtedly the most original since the Model T Ford". It was described by Car Magazine journalist and author L. J. K. Setright as "the most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car". It was designed for low cost, simplicity of use and maintenance, versatility, reliability, low fuel consumption and off-road driving. For this it had a light, easily serviceable engine, extremely soft long travel suspension (with height adjustment by lengthening/shortening of tie rods) high ground clearance, and for oversized loads a car-wide canvas sunroof, which (until 1955) also covered the boot.

During a production run of 42 years between 1948 and 1990, 3,872,583 2CVs were produced, plus 1,246,306 Fourgonnettes (small 2CV delivery vans), as well as spawning mechanically identical vehicles including the Ami: 1,840,396; the Dyane: 1,444,583; the Acadiane: 253,393; and the Mehari: 144,953, a grand total of 8,756,688, of which there are still 3,382 on the road in the UK as of January 2013.

From 1988 onwards, production took place in Portugal (Mangualde) rather than in France. This arrangement lasted for two years until 2CV production halted. Portuguese built cars, especially those from when production was winding down, have a reputation in the UK for being much less well made and more prone to corrosion than those made in France. Paradoxically the Portuguese plant was more up-to-date than the one in Levallois near Paris, and Portuguese 2CV manufacturing was to higher quality standards"

Source: Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_2CV

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

The Royal Iraqi Air Force (RIrAF) considered its founding day as 22 April 1931, when the first pilots flew in from training in the United Kingdom. The RIrAF was first used in combat against the revolts by tribes in Diwaniya and Rumaytha southern Iraq in 1934 under order of Bakr Sidqi, where it suffered its first combat loss.

However losses, a lack of spares and replacements resulted in their departure, following which the coup was defeated by British forces. The German military mission to Iraq left under cover of darkness on 29 May. Dr. Grobba himself fled Iraq the next day...

General characteristics:

Crew: One

Wingspan 32ft 4½in (9.87m)

Length 28ft 4½in (8.64m)

Height 8ft 2½in (2.50m)

Wing Area 174.05 sq feet (16.7 sq m)

Unladen weight 4,189 lbs (1,190 kg)

Laden weight 5,875 lbs (2,665 kg)

Performance:

Max Speed (Sea Level) 290 mph (466 k/ph)

Max Speed (14.560 ft) 348 mph (560 k/ph)

Cruising Speed 233 mph (375 k/ph)

Climbing Rate 3,510 ft/min (17.83 m/sec)

Max range (on internal fuel):410 miles (660 km) at cruising speed, 820 mi (1.325 km) with drop tank

Service Ceiling 36,500 feet (11,125 m)

Powerplant:

1ˣ Daimler-Benz DB601N with direct fuel injection, rated at 1,175 hp,, inline

Armament:

2ˣ MG FF 20 mm cannons in the wings (60 RPG)

2ˣ 7.9mm MG 17 machine guns above the engine (1.000 RPG)

1ˣunderfuselage hardpoint for a 300l (80 US gal) drop tank or a 250kg (550 lb) bomb

Avionics:

FuG 16Z radio

The kit and its assembly:

This small whif aircraft was inspired by a profile of a Bf 110D from the aforementioned, real 'Sonderkommando Junck' – a grey aircraft, with a white nose, yellow engines, its flanks repainted in sand color and bearing Iraqi markings plus a shark mouth! How odd can reality be?

Anyway, doing a respective Bf 110 is one thing, but a whiffy twist could not hurt. Since storage space is an issue I decided to add some Bf 109 fighters to the German detachment (what did NOT happen!), and build a respective and realistic whif.

I am not a fan of the Bf 109 (as well as the Spitfire), so I kept the building aspect simple: I used a Hobby Boss Bf 109 E-7/trop as basis, and the kit was almost 100% built OOB – it's a nice kit, with very good details and even a decent cockpit!

Only changes I made are a metal axis for the propeller and a respective styrene tube as an adapter, and I put some dark gray styrene foam into the lower fuselage because I was afraid that light could shine through the cooler openings. I also cut the canopy into three pieces, in order to allow an open display. The drop tank and its hardpoint come with the kit.

Painting and markings:

This is where the fun really begins. I used the Bf 110 from IV./ZG 26 as benchmark – it would be a gray aircraft, quickly re-painted for its new operators, and weathered from heavy use in a desert environment.

That said, the aircraft initially received its Eastern Front livery: a RLM 74/75 splinter scheme with a high waterline from above (and some mottles on the flanks), RLM 65 for the lower sides, and a yellow engine (Revell 310, a very good tone for RLM 04) – I took a real aircraft as a benchmark.

Then, the conversion started: firstly, the aircraft would lose its original yellow operation theater markings like a yellow fuselage band and wing tips: painted over with RLM 78 (below) and 79 (upper sides). The same was done with any former national and tactical markings. I made sure that this would look rough and “made by hand”.

Then the upper surfaces received an extra treatment with RLM 78: the flanks were completely painted over (in different shades, beyond the Modelmaster Authentic tone I also used Humbrol 63 and 94), and the upper wing surfaces received a cloudy paint job, too, even though the overpainted national markings were to stand out with a bit of more contrast and the original gray shades below showing through everywhere. The yellow engine received a similar treatment, even though I left the lower side in RLM 04.

All interior surfaces (cockpit, landing gear) were held in RLM 02, while the spinner became white, kept from the Russian front.

The Iraqi markings were puzzled together – the insignia and the fin colors come from a Special Hobby Northrop A-17 bomber, the tactical number belongs to a Egyptian PZL-104 – I am not certain whether the aircraft from 'Fliegerführer Irak' carried any at all? But without any code I found the aircraft to be a bit too bleak... it's a whif, anyway. Some stencils were taken from the OOB sheet, too.

Finally, a thin black ink wash was applied, as well as details with Tamiya “Smoke” and light dry painting with sand and gray all over, and black gun and exhaust soot stains. The aircraft was to look pretty beaten, from the final days of May 1941.As a last step, all was sealed under a coat of matte Revell Acrylic varnish.

A quickie, and a new personal record, I guess, because the whole thing was tinkered together in two days/less than 36 hours overall, and as a novelty I tried to edit a video with sound!

Aircraft maintainers with the Indian air force conduct post-flight maintenance on an SU-30 Fighter following a Red Flag mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Aug. 13 2008. The Indian air force is at Nellis for Red Flag 08-4, a two-week exercise that pits forces in a realistic aerial "battlefield" to hone the fighting skills of American and allied airmen. Republic of Korea, Indian, Navy and Air Force teams are joining the Indian air force in Red Flag 08-4.

Indian Air Force maintainers prepare their Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: Flanker-H) aircraft during Red Flag 08-04 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Aug. 6, 2008. Red Flag is a multinational advanced aerial combat training exercise.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI (NATO reporting name: "Flanker-H") is a twinjet multirole air superiority fighter developed by Russia's Sukhoi and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force (IAF). A variant of the Sukhoi Su-30, it is a heavy, all-weather, long-range fighter.

Development of the variant started after India signed a deal with Russia in 2000 to manufacture 140 Su-30 fighter jets. The first Russian-made Su-30MKI variant was accepted into the Indian Air Force in 2002, while the first indigenously assembled Su-30MKI entered service with the IAF in 2004. The IAF had 240 Su-30MKIs in service as of October 2017. The Su-30MKI is expected to form the backbone of the Indian Air Force's fighter fleet to 2020 and beyond.

The aircraft is tailor-made for Indian specifications and integrates Indian systems and avionics as well as French and Israeli sub-systems. It has abilities similar to the Sukhoi Su-35 with which it shares many features and components.

Origins and acquision

The Su-30MKI was designed by Russia's Sukhoi Corporation beginning in 1995 and built under licence by India's Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The Su-30MKI is derived from the Sukhoi Su-27 and has a fusion of technology from the Su-37 demonstrator and Su-30 program, being more advanced than the Su-30MK and the Chinese Su-30MKK/MK2. Russia's Defence Ministry was impressed with the type's performance envelope and ordered 30 Su-30SMs, a localised Su-30MKI, for the Russian Air Force. It features state of the art avionics developed by Russia, India and Israel for display, navigation, targeting and electronic warfare; France and South Africa provided other avionics.

After two years of evaluation and negotiations, on 30 November 1996, India signed a US$1.462 billion deal with Sukhoi for 50 Russian-produced Su-30MKIs in five batches. The first batch were eight Su-30MKs, the basic version of Su-30. The second batch were to be 10 Su-30Ks with French and Israeli avionics. The third batch were to be 10 Su-30MKIs featuring canard foreplanes. The fourth batch of 12 Su-30MKIs and final batch of 10 Su-30MKIs were to have the AL-31FP turbofans.

In October 2000, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed for Indian licence-production of 140 Su-30MKIs; in December 2000, a deal was sealed at Russia's Irkutsk aircraft plant for full technology transfer. The first Nasik-built Su-30MKIs were to be delivered by 2004, with staggered production until 2017–18. In November 2002, the delivery schedule was expedited with production to be completed by 2015. An estimated 920 AL-31FP turbofans are to be manufactured at HAL's Koraput Division, while the mainframe and other accessories are to be manufactured at HAL's Lucknow and Hyderabad divisions. Final integration and test flights of the aircraft are carried out at HAL's Nasik Division. Four manufacturing phases were outlined with progressively increasing Indian content: Phase I, II, III and IV. In phase I, HAL manufactured the Su-30MKIs from knocked-down kits, transitioning to semi knocked-down kits in phase II and III; in phase IV, HAL produced aircraft from scratch from 2013 onwards.

In 2007, another order of 40 Su-30MKIs was placed. In 2009, the planned fleet strength was to be 230 aircraft. In 2008, Samtel HAL Display Systems (SHDS), a joint venture between Samtel Display Systems and HAL, won a contract to develop and manufacture multi-function avionics displays for the MKI. A helmet mounted display, Topsight-I, based on technology from Thales and developed by SHDS will be integrated on the Su-30MKI in the next upgrade. In March 2010, it was reported that India and Russia were discussing a contract for 42 more Su-30MKIs. In June 2010, it was reported that the Cabinet Committee on Security had cleared the ₹15,000 crore (US$2.2 billion) deal and that the 42 aircraft would be in service by 2018.

By August 2010, the cost increased to $4.3 billion or $102 million each. This increased unit cost compared to the previous unit cost of $40 million in 2007, has led to the rumours that these latest order of 42 Su-30MKIs are for the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) and these aircraft will be optimised and hardwired for nuclear weapons delivery. The SFC had previously submitted a proposal to the Indian Defence Ministry for setting up two dedicated squadrons of fighters consisting of 40 aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons.

HAL expected that indigenisation of the Su-30MKI programme would be completed by 2010; V. Balakrishnan, general manager of the Aircraft Manufacturing Division stated that "HAL will achieve 100 per cent indigenisation of the Sukhoi aircraft – from the production of raw materials to the final plane assembly". As of 2017, HAL manufactures more than 80% of the aircraft. On 11 October 2012, the Indian Government confirmed plans to buy another 42 Su-30MKI aircraft. On 24 December 2012, India ordered assembly kits for 42 Su-30MKIs by signing a deal during President Putin's visit to India. This increases India's order total to 272 Su-30MKIs.

In June 2018, India has reportedly decided not order any further Su-30s as they feel its cost of maintenance is very high compared to Western aircraft.

Upgrades

In 2004, India signed a deal with Russia to domestically produce the Novator K-100 missile, designed to shoot down airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) and C4ISTAR aircraft, for the Su-30MKI. Although not initially designed to carry nuclear or strategic weapons, in 2011, there were plans to integrate the nuclear-capable Nirbhay missile as well.

In May 2010, India Today reported that Russia had won a contract to upgrade 40 Su-30MKIs with new radars, onboard computers, electronic warfare systems and the ability to carry the BrahMos cruise missile. The first two prototypes with the "Super-30" upgrade will be delivered to the IAF in 2012, after which the upgrades will be performed on the last batch of 40 production aircraft. The Brahmos missile integrated on the Su-30MKI will provide the capability to attack ground targets from stand-off ranges of around 300 km. On 25 June 2016, HAL conducted the first test flight of a Su-30MKI fitted with a BrahMos-A missile from Nashik, India. The first air launch of BrahMos from a Su-30MKI was successfully carried out on 22 November 2017.

India is planning to upgrade its Su-30MKI fighters with Russian Phazotron Zhuk-AE Active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars. The X band radar can track 30 aerial targets in the track-while-scan mode and engage six targets simultaneously in attack mode. AESA technology offers improved performance and reliability compared with traditional mechanically scanned array radars. On 18 August 2010, India's Minister of Defence A K Antony stated the current estimated cost for the upgrade was ₹10,920 crore (US$2 billion) and the aircraft are likely to be upgraded in phases beginning in 2012.

The Indian Defence Ministry proposed several upgrades for the Su-30MKI to the Indian Parliament, including the fitting of Russian Phazotron Zhuk-AE AESA radars starting in 2012. During MMRCA trials the Zhuk-AE AESA radar demonstrated significant capabilities, including ground-mapping modes and the ability to detect and track aerial targets. At the 2011 MAKS air-show, Irkut chairman Alexy Fedorov offered an upgrade package with an improved radar, and reduced radar signature to the Indian fleet to make them "Super Sukhois".

In 2012, upgrades of the earlier 80 Su-30MKIs involves equipping them with stand-off missiles with a range of 300 km; a request for information (ROI) was issued for such weapons. In 2011, India issued a request for information to MBDA for the integration of the Brimstone ground attack missile and the long-range Meteor air-to-air missile.

In February 2017, it was reported that the planes would be upgraded with AL-41F turbofan engines, same as the ones on Sukhoi Su-35. In August 2017, the Indian government cleared a proposal of Rs. 30,000 crore to equip the planes with new reconnaissance pods.

Design

Characteristics

The Su-30MKI is a highly integrated twin-finned aircraft. The airframe is constructed of titanium and high-strength aluminium alloys. The engine intake ramps and nacelles are fitted with trouser fairings to provide a continuous streamlined profile between the nacelles and the tail beams. The fins and horizontal tail consoles are attached to tail beams. The central beam section between the engine nacelles consists of the equipment compartment, fuel tank and the brake parachute container. The fuselage head is of semi-monocoque construction and includes the cockpit, radar compartments and the avionics bay.

Su-30MKI aerodynamic configuration is a longitudinal triplane with relaxed stability. The canard increases the aircraft lift ability and deflects automatically to allow high angle of attack (AoA) flights allowing it to perform Pugachev's Cobra. The integral aerodynamic configuration combined with thrust vectoring results in extremely capable manoeuvrability, taking off and landing characteristics. This high agility allows rapid deployment of weapons in any direction as desired by the crew. The canard notably assists in controlling the aircraft at large angles-of-attack and bringing it to a level flight condition. The aircraft has a fly-by-wire (FBW) with quadruple redundancy. Dependent on flight conditions, signals from the control stick position transmitter or the FCS may be coupled to remote control amplifiers and combined with feedback signals from acceleration sensors and rate gyros. The resultant control signals are coupled to the high-speed electro-hydraulic actuators of the elevators, rudders and the canard. The output signals are compared and, if the difference is significant, the faulty channel is disconnected. FBW is based on a stall warning and barrier mechanism which prevents stalls through dramatic increases of control stick pressure, allowing a pilot to effectively control the aircraft without exceeding the angle of attack and acceleration limitations. Although the maximum angle of attack is limited by the canards, the FBW acts as an additional safety mechanism.

The Su-30MKI has a range of 3,000 km with internal fuel which ensures a 3.75 hour combat mission. Also, it has an in-flight refueling (IFR) probe that retracts beside the cockpit during normal operation. The air refueling system increases the flight duration up to 10 hours with a range of 8,000 km at a cruise height of 11 to 13 km.[citation needed] Su-30MKIs can also use the Cobham 754 buddy refueling pods.

The Su-30MKI's radar cross-section (RCS) is reportedly from 4 to 20 square metres.

Cockpit

The displays include a customised version of the Israeli Elbit Su 967 head-up display (HUD) consisting of bi-cubic phase conjugated holographic displays and seven multifunction liquid-crystal displays, six 127 mm × 127 mm and one 152 mm × 152 mm. Flight information is displayed on four LCD displays which include one for piloting and navigation, a tactical situation indicator, and two for display systems information including operating modes and overall status. Variants of this HUD have also been chosen for the IAF's Mikoyan MiG-27 and SEPECAT Jaguar upgrades for standardisation. The rear cockpit has a larger monochrome display for air-to-surface missile guidance.

The Su-30MKI on-board health and usage monitoring system (HUMS) monitors almost every aircraft system and sub-system, and can also act as an engineering data recorder. From 2010, indigenously designed and built HUDs and Multi-Function Displays (MFD) were produced by the Delhi-based Samtel Group Display Systems.

The crew are provided with zero-zero NPP Zvezda K-36DM ejection seats. The rear seat is raised for better visibility. The cockpit is provided with containers to store food and water reserves, a waste disposal system and extra oxygen bottles. The K-36DM ejection seat is inclined at 30°, to help the pilot resist aircraft accelerations in air combat.

Avionics

The forward-facing NIIP N011M Bars (Panther) is a powerful integrated passive electronically scanned array radar. The N011M is a digital multi-mode dual frequency band radar. The N011M can function in air-to-air and air-to-land/sea mode simultaneously while being tied into a high-precision laser-inertial or GPS navigation system. It is equipped with a modern digital weapons control system as well as anti-jamming features. N011M has a 400 km search range and a maximum 200 km tracking range, and 60 km in the rear hemisphere. The radar can track 15 air targets and engage 4 simultaneously. These targets can even include cruise missiles and motionless helicopters. The Su-30MKI can function as a mini-AWACS as a director or command post for other aircraft. The target co-ordinates can be transferred automatically to at least four other aircraft. The radar can detect ground targets such as tanks at 40–50 km. The Bars radar will be replaced by Zhuk-AESA in all Su-30MKI aircraft.

OLS-30 laser-optical Infra-red search and track includes a day and night FLIR capability and is used in conjunction with the helmet mounted sighting system. The OLS-30 is a combined IRST/LR device using a cooled, broad waveband sensor. Detection range is up to 90 km, while the laser ranger is effective to 3.5 km. Targets are displayed on the same LCD display as the radar. Israeli LITENING targeting pod is used to target laser guided munitions. The original Litening pod includes a long range FLIR, a TV camera, laser spot tracker to pick up target designated by other aircraft or ground forces, and an electro-optical point and inertial tracker, which enables engagement of the target even when partly obscured by clouds or countermeasures; it also integrates a laser range-finder and flash-lamp powered laser designator for the delivery of laser-guided bombs, cluster and general-purpose bomb.

The aircraft is fitted with a satellite navigation system (A-737 GPS compatible), which permits it to make flights in all weather, day and night. The navigation complex includes the high accuracy SAGEM Sigma-95 integrated global positioning system and ring laser gyroscope inertial navigation system. Phase 3 of further development of the MKI, will integrate avionic systems being developed for the Indo-Russian Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft programme.

Sukhoi Su-30MKI has electronic counter-measure systems. The RWR system is of Indian design, developed by India's DRDO, called Tarang, (Wave in English). It has direction finding capability and is known to have a programmable threat library. The RWR is derived from work done on an earlier system for India's MiG-23BNs known as the Tranquil, which is now superseded by the more advanced Tarang series. Elta EL/M-8222 a self-protection jammer developed by Israel Aircraft Industries is the MKI's standard EW pod, which the Israeli Air Force uses on its F-15s. The ELTA El/M-8222 Self Protection Pod is a power-managed jammer, air-cooled system with an ESM receiver integrated into the pod. The pod contains an antenna on the forward and aft ends, which receive the hostile RF signal and after processing deliver the appropriate response.

Propulsion

The Su-30MKI is powered by two Lyulka-Saturn AL-31FP turbofans, each rated at 12,500 kgf (27,550 lbf) of full after-burning thrust, which enable speeds of up to Mach 2 in horizontal flight and a rate of climb of 230 m/s. The mean time between overhaul is reportedly 1,000 hours with a full-life span of 3,000 hours; the titanium nozzle has a mean time between overhaul of 500 hours. In early 2015, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar stated before Parliament that the AL-31FP had suffered numerous failures, between the end of 2012 and early 2015, a total of 69 Su-30MKI engine-related failures had occurred; commons causes were bearing failures due to metal fatigue and low oil pressure, in response several engine modifications were made to improve lubrication, as well as the use of higher quality oil and adjustments to the fitting of bearings.

The Su-30MKI's AL-31FP powerplant built on the earlier AL-31FU, adding two-plane thrust vectoring nozzles are mounted 32 degrees outward to longitudinal engine axis (i.e. in the horizontal plane) and can be deflected ±15 degrees in one plane. The canting allows the aircraft to produce both roll and yaw by vectoring each engine nozzle differently; this allows the aircraft to create thrust vectoring moments about all three rotational axes, pitch, yaw and roll. Engine thrust is adjusted via a conventional engine throttle lever as opposed to a strain-gauge engine control stick. The aircraft is controlled by a standard control stick. The pilot can activate a switch for performing difficult maneuvers; while this is enabled, the computer automatically determines the deflection angles of the swiveling nozzles and aerodynamic surfaces.

Operational history

The Sukhoi Su-30MKI is the most potent fighter jet in service with the Indian Air Force in the late 2000s. The MKIs are often fielded by the IAF in bilateral and multilateral air exercises. India exercised its Su-30MKIs against the Royal Air Force's Tornado ADVs in October 2006. This was the first large-scale bilateral aerial exercise with any foreign air force during which the IAF used its Su-30MKIs extensively. This exercise was also the first in 43 years with the RAF. During the exercise, the RAF Air Chief Marshal Glenn Torpy was given permission by the IAF to fly the MKI. RAF's Air Vice Marshal, Christopher Harper, praised the MKI's dogfight ability, calling it "absolutely masterful in dogfights".

In July 2007, the Indian Air Force fielded the MKI during the Indra-Dhanush exercise with Royal Air Force's Eurofighter Typhoon. This was the first time that the two jets had taken part in such an exercise. The IAF did not allow their pilots to use the radar of the MKIs during the exercise so as to protect the highly classified N011M Bars. Also in the exercise were RAF Tornado F3s and a Hawk. RAF "Tornado" pilots were candid in their admission of the Su-30MKI's superior manoeuvring in the air, and the IAF pilots were impressed by the Typhoons agility.

In 2004, India sent Su-30MKs, an earlier variant of the Su-30MKI, to take part in war games with the United States Air Force (USAF) during Cope India 04. The results have been widely publicised, with the Indians winning "90% of the mock combat missions" against the USAF's F-15C. The parameters of the exercise heavily favored the IAF; none of the six 3rd Wing F-15Cs were equipped with the newer long-range, active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars and, at India's request, the U.S. agreed to mock combat at 3-to-1 odds and without the use of simulated long-range, radar-guided AIM-120 AMRAAMs for beyond-visual-range kills. In Cope India 05, the Su-30MKIs reportedly beat the USAF's F-16s.

In July 2008, the IAF sent 6 Su-30MKIs and 2 Il-78MKI aerial-refueling tankers, to participate in the Red Flag exercise. The IAF again did not allow their pilots to use the radar of the MKIs during the exercise so as to protect the highly classified N011M Bars. In October 2008, a video surfaced on the internet which featured a USAF colonel, Terrence Fornof, criticising Su-30MKIs performance against the F-15C, engine serviceability issues, and high friendly kill rate during the Red Flag exercise. Several of his claims were later rebutted by the Indian side and the USAF also distanced itself from his remarks.

In June 2010, India and France began the fourth round of their joint air exercises, "Garuda", at the Istres Air Base in France. During Garuda, the IAF and the French Air Force were engaged in various missions ranging from close combat engagement of large forces, slow mover protection, protecting and engaging high value aerial assets. This exercise marked the first time the Su-30MKI took part in a military exercise in France.

The Indian Air Force first took part in the United States Air Force's Red Flag exercise in 2008. Participating in Red Flag costs the IAF ₹ 100 crore (US$17.5 million) each time. To reduce costs, the IAF decided to take part once every five years. The IAF is taking part in the Red Flag exercise in July 2013, at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, United States. For the exercise, it is dispatching eight Su-30MKIs, two Lockheed C-130J Hercules tactical aircraft, two Ilyushin Il-78 (NATO reporting name Midas) mid-air refueling tankers, one Ilyushin Il-76 (NATO reporting name Candid) heavy-lift aircraft, and over 150 personnel.

The IAF again fielded its MKIs in the Garuda-V exercise with France in June 2014, where they manoeuvred in mixed groups with other IAF aircraft and French Rafales.

On 21 July 2015, India and UK began the bilateral exercise named Indradhanush with aircraft operating from three Royal Air Force bases. The exercises included both Beyond Visual Range (BVR) and Within Visual Range (WVR) exercises between the Su-30MKI and Eurofighter Typhoon. Indian media reported the results were in favour of the IAF with a score of 12-0 at WVR engagements. They also claim that the IAF Su-30MKIs held an edge over the Typhoons in BVR engagements though not in as dominating a manner. The RAF issued a statement that the results being reported by the Indian media did not reflect the results of the exercise. According to Aviation International News In close combat, thrust vector control on the Flankers more than compensated for the greater thrust-to-weight ratio of the Typhoon.

On 27 February 2019, the Pakistani Air Force stated that it had downed an Indian Sukhoi Su-30MKI in an aerial skirmish. The Indian Air Force said this statement was a cover up for the loss of a Pakistani F-16 fighter, stating that all Sukhoi aircraft that were dispatched returned safely.

On 4 March 2019, an Indian Su-30MKI shot down a Pakistani drone in Indian airspace, according to local media reports.

Lancashire Independent Walton's, have quite a varied fleet. This did include quite a few serviceable Optare Spectra's. Back in 2013 K107VLJ, which was new to Wilts & Dorset in 1993, is seen mid-way through a short tour of local roads around Freckleton.

It had passed to New Horizon Travel from W&D, but by the end of 2012 had arrived with Walton's.

Someone mentioned the other day about the difficulties of recording the action on the West Sumatran rack railway centered on Padang Panjang.

Lack of trains, failures, high light, no light, rain and lineside access to the better locations were all issues to contend with. But it was fun.

In September 1978, one of seven 0-10-0T rack tanks that were serviceable slogs uphill between Kayutanam and Padang Panjang with empty coal hoppers.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

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

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

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

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

57 ft 3½ in (17,50 m) including pitot

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 17 ft 6¾ in (5.36 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

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

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

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

Powerplant:

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

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

Performance:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

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

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

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

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

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

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

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

The kit and its assembly:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Painting and markings:

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

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

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

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

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

Due to a shortage of serviceable Class 168s, 165030 is drafted in to work the 1621 to Birmingham Snow Hill. Seen here ready to depart from London Marylebone. Alongside is 165004 on the 1624 departure, also bound Birmingham Snow Hill

3 March 2017

Notts&Derby 132 M132PRA a 1994 Volvo B10B-58 Northern Counties Paladin B49F at Meadow Road Bus Depot in Derby on 29 December 2015.

One of the last serviceable step entrance single decker buses in the fleet, in the last few days of this type of bus being able to carry fare paying passengers.

Pictured during the final rays of sunlight, FLOYD 659-002 (former British Class 56, 56115) is seen shortly after passing Börgönd whilst working the 16:40 Retszilas to Szabadbattyán section of Mercia Charter's "The Things Past". Saturday 5th October 2013.

FLOYD was one of the first open-access freight operators in Hungary and currently operates a varied fleet which includes a number of ex-BR locomotives. Currently they have two serviceable class 56's with a third currently stored pending possible reactivation and also eight class 86's with a ninth purchased for spares.

NAe São Paulo was a Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier in service with the Brazilian Navy. São Paulo was first commissioned in 1963 by the French Navy as Foch and was transferred in 2000 to Brazil, where she became the new flagship of the Brazilian Navy. IHS Jane's reported that during its career with the Brazilian Navy, São Paulo suffered from serviceability issues and never managed to operate for more than three months at a time without the need for repairs and maintenance. On 14 February 2017, the navy announced the ship's demobilisation and subsequently decommissioning.

As to be expected, the servants' quarters of Billilla are very plain and serviceable in comparison to the opulent décor of the family's part of the house. Gone are the wallpapers and carpets, replaced by flagstone and plain wooden floors and cream and ochre painted walls or tiled dados. Nevertheless, they were much better appointed than some other houses of the day.

The long servants hall is made light and airy by the provision of skylights that afford views of the towering house chimneys and the skies above.

All the servants' rooms were lit by gaslight, as were the family rooms. The Weatherly's houskeeper's parlour, known below stairs as the "pugs' parlour" still features original ornate brass gasolier and wall sconces. Although now electrified, they still feature their original gas valves.

Built in High Victorian style in 1878 for successful gold miner Robert Wright, Billilla mansion was originally a thirteen room mansion erected on seven and a half acres of land.

When economic boom turned to bust in the 1880s, the property was purchased in 1888 by wealthy New South Wales pastoralist William Weatherly who named it Billilla after his land holdings and established a home there for his wife Jeannie and their children Violet, Gladys and Lionel.

The house was substantially altered by architect Walter Richmond Butler in 1907, extending the house beyond its original thirteen rooms and adding the Art Nouveau façade seen today.

After William Weatherly's death in 1914, his wife, who was much younger, remained living there until her own death in 1933. She bequeathed the property to her daughter, Violet, who maintained the home with reduced staff until her own death in 1972.

The property was purchased in 1973 by the Bayside Council who subsequently used Billilla as a historical house with guided tours, a wedding and events venue, a school and finally in 2009 as an artist's precinct in the property's outbuildings. Billilla is a beautiful heritage property retaining many of its original features thanks to its long private ownership still incorporating a stately formal garden and the magnificent historic house.

Billilla, at 26 Halifax Street, Brighton, is one of Melbourne’s few remaining significant homesteads, built on land which had originally been owned by Nicholas Were. The house has a mixture of architectural styles, featuring a Victorian design with Art Nouveau features and has exquisite formal gardens, which retain much of their original Nineteenth Century layout.

Billilla retains many original Victorian elements and a number of outbuildings still stand to the rear of the property including the butler’s quarters, dairy, meat house, stable garden store and coach house.

Billilla was opened to the general public as part of the Melbourne Open House weekend 2022.

Billilla was used as a backdrop in the 1980 Australian Channel 10 miniseries adaptation of Sumner Locke Elliott's "Water Under the Bridge". It was used at the Sydney harbourside home of Luigi, Honor and Carrie Mazzini.

Central Line | Bond Street 29/11/2017 21h28

Taking the Central Line tube back from Bond Street to Stratford. Photo taken just before leaving Bond Street station.

Central Line

The Central line was the first line to be modernized in the 1990s, with 85 new 1992-stock trains and a new automatic signalling system installed to allow Automatic Train Operation. The line runs 34 trains per hour for half an hour in the morning peak but is unable to operate more frequently because of a lack of additional trains. The 85 existing 1992-stock trains are the most unreliable on the London Underground as they are equipped with the first generation of solid state direct current thyristor control traction equipment. The trains often break down, have to be withdrawn from service at short notice and at times are not available when required, leading to gaps in service at peak times. Although relatively modern and well within their design life, the trains need work in the medium term to ensure the continued reliability of the traction control equipment and maintain fleet serviceability until renewal, which is expected between 2028 and 2032. Major work is to be undertaken on the fleet to ensure their continued reliability with brakes, traction control systems, doors, automatic control systems being repaired or replaced among other components. The Central line will be part of the New Tube for London Project. This will replace the existing fleet with new air-cooled walkthrough trains and a new more up-to-date automatic signalling system. The line is predicted to run 36 trains per hour, a 25% increase compared to the present service of 34 trains for busiest 30 minutes in the morning and evening peaks and the 27–30 train per hour service for the rest of the peak.

Central Line: 74 kilometers, opened 1900, 'Deep Tube', 49 stations, 1992-Stock trains.

London Underground

The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground, or by its nickname the Tube) is a public rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom.

The world's first underground railway, the Metropolitan Railway, which opened in 1863, is now part of the Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines; the first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line. The network has expanded to 11 lines, and in 2015–16 carried 1.34 billion passengers, making it the world's 11th busiest metro system. The 11 lines collectively handle approximately 4.8 million passengers a day.

Number of lines: 11

Number of stations: 270

Daily ridership: 4.8 million

System length: 402 km

Average speed: 33 km/h

[ Source and more Info: Wikipedia - London Underground ]

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

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

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

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

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

57 ft 3½ in (17,50 m) including pitot

Wingspan: 34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)

Height: 17 ft 6¾ in (5.36 m)

Wing area: 474.5 sq ft (44.08 m²)

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

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

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

Powerplant:

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

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

Performance:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zoom climb: 50,000 ft/min

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

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

Thrust/weight: 0.78 (1.03 empty)

Armament:

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

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

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

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

The kit and its assembly:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Painting and markings:

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

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

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

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

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

No date for this shot of 24072 at Haymarket (thanks Alistair Below) along with a couple of 27's and a 24/25. Mid 70's at a guess.

D5072 was new from Derby in February 1960. In theory it was allocated to March but in reality went to Willesden. After Willesden it spent 5 years at Finsbury Park before moving to Haymarket in August 1966. The loco was initially stored serviceable in August 1975 and withdrawn 2 months later, cutting up was at Doncaster in December 1977.

Image from a slide in my collection by an unknown photographer.