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Toronto Star Article Reads:
'Flinton, Sept. 15 1945– The most streamlined school building in Canada is nearing completion at Flinton,a little backwoods village 42 miles north of Belleville with a population of 225.
It has provisions for the safety andcomfort of its pupils that not eventhe biggest city school can boast. The story of how it came to be built hereis as interesting as its setting.'
Photo by Wilfred Lessard.
To see the full Toronto Star story visit:
pioneer.mazinaw.on.ca/news/2015/CDHS%20Fall%20Newsletter%...
Part of the Jackie Bleecker Album
Note: Commercial use of this image is prohibited without CDHS permission. All CDHS Flickr content is available for personal use providing our Rights Statement is followed:
Waterman Woody Brown’s streamlined catamaran Waikiki Surf Kai dropping off and picking up passengers for a cruise around Waikiki Beach.
Photo details
- 1917 Halekulani Hotel seawall, center left
- The Halekulani's House Without a Key open air bar, restaurant and music venue, above the seawall
- The Halekulanii's landmark Keawe tree above the House Without A Key
Often considered the last of the great traditional Pony Cars before the 80's brought in either blandness or a more streamlined 'Japanese' look, the Camaro Z28 of 1970 was one of the longest running Pony Car generations in automotive history, with a production life of 11 years over which very little in the design changed.
Dubbed 'Super Hugger', the 2nd generation Camaro was developed without the drawback of haste, unlike the original Camaro that was rushed to the showrooms to ward off the Ford Mustang. In addition, a greater budget was also available to the new Camaro as the rewards were reaped for the original's immediate success.
Although it was an all-new car, the basic mechanical layout of the new Camaro was familiar, engineered much like its predecessor with a unibody structure utilizing a front subframe, A-arm and coil spring front suspension, and rear leaf springs. The chassis and suspension of the second generation were greatly refined in both performance and comfort; base models offered significant advances in sound-proofing, ride isolation, and road-holding. Extensive experience Chevrolet engineers had gained racing the first-generation led directly to advances in second-generation Camaro steering, braking, and balance.
The original Camaro of 1970 was powered by a 4.1L Straight-Six engine which produced 155hp. However, a mixture of the oil crisis and legislative change to reduce emissions meant that the compromises had to begin in earnest. The first major change came in 1974 with alterations to the external styling, which brought the headlights inboard. This was followed by another major change in 1978, with colour coded bumpers being added and a new engine which came in the form of a 5.7L V8 which produced 185hp. Prior to this, a Catalytic Converter had been added to the 1975 along with many other tweaks and changes internally that made the cars more reliable and miles between maintenance increased, all being placed under the aptly named "Chevrolet's new Efficiency System."
This particular version is a 1980 model, which shows many of the changes made during the 1979 model year that truly brought this car into the style of the late-70's. The biggest changes for 1979 were the introduction of the luxury-oriented Berlinetta model, replacing the Type LT, and a restyled instrument panel with a much flatter appearance than the previous wraparound design. The base models, RS and Z28 remained, the Z28's now came with a front spoiler and fender flares much like its Pontiac Trans Am twin had, and now came with "Z28" decals that ran from the beginning of the front flares to the bottoms of the doors. Electric rear window defroster became optional this year, replacing the old blower type.
Sales for 1979 were the highest ever for any generation Camaro before or since, numbering 282,571 units. These cars came with the base engine of a 4.4L V8 engine producing 120hp, although a limited edition 5.7L V8 was also available for 1980 model year.
By 1981 though the gig was up for the 1970 Camaro, it's style starting to look quite tired and increasing legislation on emissions labouring it heavily. The 1981 model was fitted for the first time with a CCC (Computer Command Control) unit, and minor tweaks to the styling and engine were carried out, largely to reduce the horsepower of the hungry V8 to comply with demands.
Eventually the 2nd Generation Camaro met its end in 1981, being replaced by the Camaro of 1982 which took on a much more radical and somewhat Japanese style. Although many Camaro fans recoiled at the comparatively mundane looking car, at least General Motors got it right, still giving the machine a raunchy personality as well as a powerful 5.0L V8, unlike what was going on at Ford where the Mustang of 1984 was intended to be based on a Mazda, to which enthusiasts recoiled!
Today this generation of the Camaro has become a monster hit in the retro Pony Car Classics, being tough, reliable but also incredibly well styled, retaining the basic ingredients that made it such a motoring icon of the early 70's. Many believe that this particular version after 1979 was when the car was at its peak, mixing style with substance even in the face of legislative adversity.
From what my American friends tell me, much like old Mustangs and Pontiacs, you can pick up these cars for apparently next to nothing in the USA, and are often the first cars teenagers drive after they pass their test!
If only that were so here in the UK!
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Hawker Fury was a British biplane fighter aircraft used primarily by the Royal Air Force in the 1930s. It was a development of the earlier Hawker F.20/27 prototype fighter, replacing the radial engine of the F.20/27 with the new Rolls-Royce F.XI V-12 engine (later known as the Rolls-Royce Kestrel), which was also used by Hawker's new light bomber, the Hawker Hart. The new fighter prototype, known as the Hawker Hornet, first flew at Brooklands, Surrey, in March 1929. The Hornet was a single-engine biplane, with single bay wings. It was initially powered by a 420 hp (313 kW) Rolls-Royce F.XIC engine enclosed by a smooth, streamlined cowling, but was quickly re-engined with a 480 hp (358 kW) Kestrel IS.
The prototype was evaluated against the similarly powered Fairey Firefly II, being preferred because of its better handling and its all-metal structure, compared with the mainly wooden construction of the Firefly.
The Hornet was eventually won the competition and was purchased by the Air Ministry in early 1930. It was, however, subjected to more tests, with a small initial production order for 21 aircraft placed during 1930. At this stage the Hornet was renamed Fury, as the Air Ministry wanted fighter names that "reflected ferocity". The ultimate production Fury Mk. I made its maiden flight at Brooklands on 25 March 1931.
The Fury was the first operational RAF fighter aircraft to be able to exceed 200 mph (322 km/h) in level flight. It had highly sensitive controls which gave it superb dogfight characteristics and aerobatic performance. It was designed partly for the fast interception of bombers and to that end it had an outstanding climb rate of almost 2,400 ft/min (730 m/min) when powered by a 525 hp/391 kW Kestrel engine. Firmly believing in the aircraft’s potential, Sidney Camm even designed in 1933 a monoplane version of the Fury, but it was not developed further until Rolls-Royce produced what became their famous Merlin engine. The design was then revised according to Air Ministry specification F5/34 to become the prototype Hawker Hurricane.
The Fury I entered squadron service with the RAF in May 1931, but owing to finance cuts in the Great Depression, only relatively small numbers of Fury Is were ordered. The improved Fury II entered service in 1936–1937, increasing total number of operational RAF Fury squadrons to six. Furies remained with RAF Fighter Command until January 1939, replaced primarily with Gloster Gladiators and other types, such as Hawker Hurricane. During the Thirties the Fury was furthermore exported to several customers, including Portugal, Spain, Persia and South Africa. These aircraft were supplied with a variety of engines, including Kestrels, Hispano Suiza and Lorraine Petrel vee-type engines, and Armstrong Siddeley Panther, Pratt & Whitney Hornet and Bristol Mercury radials. A total of 262 Furies were eventually produced.
A major foreign operator of the Fury was Yugoslavia. Initially, Yugoslavia ordered a version called Mk. IA, which was similar to the RAF’s Fury Mk I, for trials and potential license production. It was powered by a Kestrel IIS piston engine, and six were built by Hawker. One was delivered fitted with a 500 hp (373 kW) Hispano-Suiza 12 NB engine, with poorer performance, and was re-fitted with a Kestrel, while a second was later used for trials with a 720 hp (537 kW) Lorraine Petrel HFrs engine.
The valuations were successful and led to the so-called “ Yugoslav Fury”, a thoroughly revised aircraft, powered by a 745 horsepower (556 kW) Kestrel XVI piston engine, fitted with a low drag radiator and a Dowty cantilever undercarriage with internally sprung wheels (similar to the contemporary Gloster Gladiator). Beyond the standard pair of machine guns in the upper front fuselage, these aircraft had provisions for two more machine guns under the lower wings in streamlined pods. Ten were made by Hawker and delivered 1936–37, with a further 40 license-built in Yugoslavia by Ikarus (24) and Zmaj (16).
At that time the RAF was already phasing the Fury out, and twenty of these retired aircraft – originally scheduled to be sold to Persia and already re-engined with new, tropicalized Bristol Mercury radial engines and designated Mk. IB – were taken over by the Royal Yugoslav Air Force, too. The more powerful Mercury engine appreciably improved the Fury’s performance, despite a slightly higher all-up weight and poorer aerodynamics: top speed rose by 30 mph (50 km/h), service ceiling by 3.000 ft (1.000 m) and time to 10.000 ft (3.000 m) was reduced by 20 seconds to just 3½ minutes.
The Mk. IBs arrived in Yugoslavia in mid-1938 and were further upgraded by Zmaj with elements from the license-produced Yugoslav Furies. The most obvious detail were the additional Browning machine guns under the lower wings, and weapons of the same type replaced the original fuselage-mounted Vickers Mk IV machine guns. A new three-blade variable-pitch metal propeller replaced the wooden single-pitch two-blade propeller, greatly improving the aircraft’s handling and fuel economy. The original landing gear was retained, but the wheels were upgraded with Dowty wheels with internal springs (like the Fury Mk. IA) and a tail wheel replaced the original tailskid, making the aircraft better suited for operations on paved runways.
Yugoslav Furies soon saw action against Axis forces in the German invasion of 1941. On 6 April 1941, a squadron of Furies took off against the invading German Messerschmitt Bf 109Es and Messerschmitt Bf 110s. In the resulting air battle 10 Furies were destroyed, almost the entire squadron. In an unequal battle against superior adversaries, five aircraft were destroyed while taking off and eight pilots killed. Two more Furies and Bücker Bü 131 trainers were destroyed on the ground. Of the attacking German aircraft, five Bf 109s and two Bf 110s failed to return, though most were non-combat losses, and at least one was lost after having been rammed by a Yugoslav Fury.
The other active Yugoslav Fury squadron at the time of the invasion strafed enemy tanks and ground forces, some aircraft being lost to ground fire and one was destroyed in a dogfight with an Italian Fiat CR.42. The rest of the Yugoslav Furies were destroyed at the time of Armistice on 15 April or when they became unserviceable.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 26 ft 7 in (8.11 m)
Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
Wing area: 252 sq ft (23.4 m²)
Empty weight: 2,9514 lb (1,340 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 3,814 lb (1,732 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Bristol Mercury IX 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 830 hp (620 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 253 mph (407 km/h, 220 kn) at 14,500 ft (4,420 m)
Range: 270 mi (430 km, 230 nmi)
Service ceiling: 32,800 ft (10,000 m)
Time to altitude: 3 min 35 sec. to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)
Armament:
4× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns; two in the upper front fuselage, synchronized to fire
through the propeller disc with 600 RPG, plus one with 400 RPG beneath each lower wing
The kit and its assembly:
This quick build was based on the remnants of a Matchbox Hawker Fury biplane, which had donated its engine to another build, and leftover pieces from at least two Matchbox Gloster Gladiator kits, all mashed into one to create a fictional late Fury variant with a radial engine and some other updates. The Fury kit is a late Revell re-boxing, and while it retained the crisp details of the original, the molds seem to have suffered a little because the fuselage halves did not fit well and called for considerable PSR.
The Fury – or what was left of it – was built OOB, I just had to improvise the cowling ahead of the cockpit and scratch a front end to replace the inline engine. This was done with a piece from a bulbous (probably 1:48) drop tank, which was tailored to take the upper wing struts, and the rest of the fuselage was sculpted with 2C putty around an engine mount at the core, which was made from styrene profiles.
The different engine was 100% taken from a Matchbox Gladiator, even though I added a matching grid from another 9-cylinder radial for a different look. The three-blade propeller is new, too, probably from a Hobby Boss Fw 190A. From another Gladiator came the underwing machine gun pods as well as the Dowty wheels, which look more modern than the Fury’s OOB wheels. For an even more modernized look I replaced the Fury’s tailskid with a self-castoring tailwheel – apparently from a Gladiator, too.
The exhaust pipes were scratched from wire, the carburetor intake for the Mercury engine is a piece of sprue and the ventral oil cooler is a piece from a backrest (from a Matchbox Heinkel 70).
Painting and markings:
While the idea of an update Fury was quickly settled and defined by the ingredients at hand, finding a suitable operator was not an easy task. I considered various options and eventually settled for Yugoslavia, because this country was major Fury operator and I had appropriate national markings at hand.
The tri-color camouflage was based on the individual und very disruptive schemes that Yugoslavian Hawker Hurricanes carried. Information concerning the colors is quite contradictive, but AFAIK the schemes consisted of a yellowish sand brown, a medium khaki green and a dark, reddish brown, over light blue undersides with a low, wavy waterline raising from the wings to the stabilizers. Every aircraft carried a different pattern, and some machines of British origin also carried the former Temperate Land Scheme (Dark Green/Dark Earth/alu dope undersides), at least for a while.
I used Humbrol 63 (Sand), Modelmaster 2027 (FS 34096, Dark Olive) and Modelmaster 2106 (Burnt Umber), over Humbrol 87 (Steel Grey), because I wanted colors with good contrast from each other. The cockpit interior became anthracite (Revell 09), while the wing struts were painted in a dirty black (Revell 06).
The “windmill” roundels for the wings came from an Xtradecal sheet for Bristol Blenheims, the small fin flash was created with single decal stripes in red, white and blue, trying to match the roundels’ colors. The roman codes were typical for the Hurricanes between 1938-40 and created with single white letters from TL Modellbau. According to the typical Yugoslavian liveries of the era, the aircraft did, beyond national markings and tactical codes, not carry any colorful decoration, but I could not resist and added small unit badges in front of the fin flash.
The model received a light ink washing to emphasize the nice fabric structure on the wings, as well as some post-shading and weathering through dry-brushing with beige. Finally, the model was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging was added, created with heated and stretched black sprue material.
A relatively simple and quick build, and an attempt to “create something plausible” from leftover stuff. While Yugoslavia is not the most exotic operator of the Fury, I think that the fictional aircraft looks good in these colors and markings, even though the bulky radial really kills the Fury’s elegant lines, esp. its streamlined nose section. It looks quite backdated and reminds of a juvenile Fairey Swordfish?
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Due to increasing tensions in Europe which led to World War 2, AVRO Aircraft started developing combat aircraft, and as a subsidiary of Hawker, they had access to the Hurricane plans. At the time that the Hurricane was developed, RAF Fighter Command consisted of just 13 squadrons, each equipped with either the Hawker Fury, Hawker Demon, or the Bristol Bulldog – all of them biplanes with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and non-retractable undercarriages. After the Hurricane's first flight, Avro started working on a more refined and lighter aircraft, resulting in a similar if not higher top speed and improved maneuverability.
The result was Avro’s project 675, also known as the "Swallow". The aircraft’s profile resembled the Hawker Hurricane, but appeared more squatted and streamlined, almost like a race version. Compared with the Hurricane, overall dimensions were reduced and the structure lightened wherever possible. The wings were much thinner, too, and their shape reminded of the Supermarine Spitfire’s famous oval wings. The main landing gear was retractable and had a wide track. The tail wheel was semi-retractable on the prototype, but it was replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.
The Swallow made its first flight on 30th December 1937 and the Royal Air Force was so impressed by its performance against the Hurricane that they ordered production to start immediately, after a few minor tweaks to certain parts of the aircraft had been made.
On 25 July 1939, the RAF accepted their first delivery of Avro Swallow Mk. Is. The first machines were allocated to No.1 Squadron, at the time based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These early machines were powered by a 1.030 hp (770 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II liquid-cooled V-12, driving a wooden two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. The light aircraft achieved an impressive top speed of 347 mph (301 kn, 558 km/h) in level flight – the bigger and heavier Hurricane achieved only 314 mph (506 km/h) with a similar engine. Like the Hurricane, the Swallow was armed with eight unsynchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the outer wings, outside of the propeller disc.
In spring 1940, Avro upgraded the serial production Swallow Mk.I's to Mk.IA standard: the original wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland or Rotol constant speed metal propeller with three blades, which considerably improved field performance. Many aircraft were retrofitted with this update in the field workshops in the summer of 1940.
In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II: This new version, which reached the front line units in July 1940, received an uprated engine, the improved Rolls-Royce Merlin III, which could deliver up to 1,310 hp (977 kW) with 100 octane fuel and +12 psi boost. With the standard 87 Octane fuel, engine performance did not improve much beyond the Merlin II's figures, though.
A redesigned, more streamlined radiator bath was mounted, too, and altogether these measures boosted the Swallow’s top speed to 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m). This was a considerable improvement, and the contemporary Hurricane II achieved only 340 mph (547 km/h).
However, several fundamental weak points of the Swallow remained unsolved: its limited range could not be boosted beyond 300 miles (500 km) and the light machine gun armament remained unchanged, because the Swallow’s thin wings hardly offered more space for heavier weapons or useful external stores like drop tanks. Despite these shortcomings, the pilots loved their agile fighter, who described the Swallow as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter and less as a direct competitor to the Hurricane.
Nevertheless, Avro kept on working to improve the Swallow, but with limited success. For instance, in early 1941, a Swallow Mk. II was modified to carry a pair of 20mm Hispano cannons instead of the inner pair of machine guns. Due to the aircraft’s thin wings, this update necessitated bulged fairings and a modified internal structure for the cannons' ammunition drums. The prototype was operationally tested at the home defense front and the additional firepower was warmly welcomed by the pilots who flew it, since the cannons allowed them to stay out of the German bombers’ machine gun range of and added more punch against German escort fighters in dogfights.
This innovation directly led to the Swallow Mk. III, introduced in August 1941, the fighter’s final production variant. Beyond the armament changes and the respective structural changes to the wings, the Mk. III was still powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin III from the swallow Mk. II, but the variant introduced clipped wing tips in order to compensate for the slightly higher weight of the airframe and to improve roll characteristics at low and medium altitude. Otherwise, the Mk. III was virtually identical to the earlier Mk. II.
Another Mk. II was experimentally converted with a lowered spine and a framed bubble canopy for a better all-around field of view (reminiscent of the Hawker Typhoon's design), but this experiment did not reach production status. The Swallow had already reached its limited development potential and was, by mid-1942, outdated.
Since the Supermarine Spitfire had in the meantime proven its worth and promised a much bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time, the Swallows were quickly phased out from front-line service, too.
Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.57 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.25 m)
Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.60 m)
Wing area: 153 ft² (16.40 m²)
Empty weight: 3,722 lb (1,720 kg)
Gross weight: 5,100 lb (2,315 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V-12, rated at 1,310 hp (977 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 366 mph (590 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)
Range: 320 miles (515 km)
Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (10,970 m)
Rate of climb: 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 29.8 lb/ft² (121.9 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)
Armament:
2× 0.787” (20mm) Hispano Mk II cannon with 60 RPG
4× 0.303” (7,7mm) Browning Mk. II machine guns with 350 RPG
The kit and its assembly:
This is actually a remake of a whif that I have built some time ago for the Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com. This fictional machine – or better: the model – is based on a profile drawing conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and carrying RAF markings.
I had another B.35 kit at hand, as well as other ingredients, so I decided to re-create the same aircraft, just in a later variant that differs in some minor details from the first one. The basis is, once again, a vintage KP Models kit of the early B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It’s a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit’s quality is rather so-so (the molds date back to 1974). Details are quite good, esp. on the exterior. You get a mix of engraved and raised surface details, but fit is mediocre, there is lots of flash and the interior is quite bleak. But, with some effort, things can be mended.
Many donation parts for the Swallow, including the Merlin engine, propeller, landing gear and radiator, were taken from an AZ Models Spitfire Mk. I/II/V, from a Joy Pack, which comes with three of these kits without decals.
New landing gear wells had to be carved out of the massive lower wing halves. Since the original Swallow profile did not indicate the landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from an early Spitfire. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide, but it’s still acceptable and I stuck to the same solution as on my first build of the Swallow. But now I know why the real world B.135 prototype had its landing gear retract outwards – it makes more sense.
The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, diameter and shape match very well, even though the Spitfire Merlin and its respective fuselage intersection is a little too deep for the B.35. As a consequence, some light sculpting with putty was necessary under the fuselage – nothing dramatic, though.
Inside of the cockpit, this time I used more Spitfire material than during my first Swallow build, namely the floor, seat and rear bulkhead/headrest. Like before, I added a tank behind the seat in order to fill the OOB void there, and used the B.35’s OOB headrest struts, as well as the dashboard.
The blurry, single-piece canopy was cut into three pieces for optional open display on the ground, but this was not a smart move since the material turned out to be very thin and, even worse, brittle – cracks were the unfortunate result. L
Since one of the B.35’s wing tips was missing (there’s a deep edge at the tips, and one tip had been broken off and got lost), I reduced the span of both wings, resulting in a square shape that resembles a narrow Hawker Tempest wing.
Another change concerns the armament: trying to beef it up, I added a pair of Hispano cannon to the wings, with the barrels protruding from the wings’ leading edges, reminiscent of the Spitfire’s “B” wing – even though I kept the outer machine guns at the Swallow’s original position.
Finally, I installed my trademark propeller adapter: a styrene tube inside of the fuselage that holds a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely.
Painting and markings:
Once again I went for a conservative route, this time I chose the new standard “Day Fighter” camouflage that the RAF introduced in summer 1941: Dark Green/Ocean Grey (using Humbrol 116 and 106, respectively) with Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 64) undersides.
The typical fuselage ID band and the spinner became Sky (Revell 59) and yellow ID bands were added to the outer wings’ leading edges, created with yellow decal sheet material.
The roundels were chosen to match the 1941 era, with A.1 roundels on the fuselage, B roundels on top of the wings and Type A underneath, they actually belong to P-40s in RAF service and come, including the fin flash, from a Sky Models sheet. The code letters in Sky come from an Xtradecal sheet, the serial number actually belongs to a contemporary RAF P-40C – I was too lazy to create an individual serial number that actually fills a gap in the RAF’s inventory list.
Some light weathering and panel shading was done, as well as some light soot stains around the exhausts and the gun ports on the wings (grinded graphite). Finally, everything sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and wire antennae (stretched sprue material) added.
A simple project, realized in a couple of days – thanks to the experience gathered during the first build of this fictional aircraft. However, the Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's original profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire. The result looks very convincing, and with the clipped wingtips, born as a makeshift solution, it looks even faster than the original build!
I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, slender wings and the sleek fuselage lines. At first glance, it looks like an early Spitfire, but then you notice the different wings, the low canopy and the shorter but deeper tail. Then you can think it was a travestied Yak-3 or LaGG aircraft, but again the details don’t match. It’s a quite subtle creation. Maybe, someday, a third one will join my RAF Swallow duo, but this time in Irish Air Corps colors.
In reality, this locomotive was inspired by the South Australian Railways 520 class 4-8-4 and the hover mono-rail engine from the Legend of Korra TV Show, while the train coaches were inspired by a vintage 2009 LEGO model of "Galaxy Express 999". (Link to Brickshelf: www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=374748 ) The real story behind the of the name 909 Limited is a combination of this fantasy train and the Beatles song "One after 909", which is sort-of about a train.
1930's Micheline streamlined railcar at the Citi du Train (National Railway Museum) in Mulhouse, France. These cars utilized a set of special flanged rubber tires with aluminum safety rings inside.(see the 3rd and 4th photos in this set) The concept was also trialed in America, see this interesting page on the Classic Streamliners website:https://www.classicstreamliners.com/rpc-budd-michelin.html,
A very interesting film from the Micheline archives about their rubber-tired railcars can be found here: www.michelin.com/eng/innovation/fields-of-innovation/tire...
The Shape of Speed
Streamlined Automobiles and Motorcycles, 1930–1942
JUN 16 – SEP 16, 2018
Portland Art Museum
The Portland Art Museum is pleased to announce The Shape of Speed: Streamlined Automobiles and Motorcycles, 1930–1942, a special exhibition debuting at the Museum in Summer 2018. Featuring 19 rare streamlined automobiles and motorcycles, The Shape of Speed opens June 16 and will be on view through September 16, 2018.
The concept of streamlining has fascinated people for generations. Beginning in the 1930s and extending until the outbreak of the World War II, automotive designers embraced the challenge of styling and building truly streamlined cars that were fast and fuel-efficient. They were encouraged by the confluence of aircraft design with the sleek shapes of fast railroad locomotives; new advanced highways such as the Autobahns; and events like the 1939 New York City World’s Fair, which showcased futuristic design.
The Shape of Speed presents a select group of rare automobiles and motorcycles that demonstrate how auto designers translated the concept of aerodynamic efficiency into exciting machines that in many cases, looked as though they were moving while at rest.
The Museum will display 17 cars and two motorcycles—the best of that era’s streamlined offerings—from Europe and the United States. Engineering drawings and period photographs will show some of the aircraft, railroad, ship and yacht designs that influenced the automakers.
Featured designers and engineers include European streamlining pioneer Paul Jaray, along with Richard Buckminster Fuller, Norman Bel Geddes, Raymond Loewy, Harley J. Earl, Hermann Ahrens, Georges Paulin, Joseph Figoni, Dr. Wunibald Kamm, Otto Kuhler, Jean Bugatti, Hans Ledwinka, Gordon Buehrig, and others.
Jamaica Business Resource Center, 90-33 160th Street, Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, United States
La Casina is a rare surviving example of Streamlined Moderne design in New York City. The metal and stucco facade of this former nightclub and restaurant structure was constructed c. 1933, during the period of greatest popularity for the streamlined style. The building, erected in the heart of Jamaica’s commercial center, is representative of the many entertainment facilities built in Jamaica during the first decades of the twentieth century as this area developed into the commercial and entertainment hub for Queens County and nearby sections of Long Island. Although altered over the years, the La Casina Building has been beautifully restored and is again one of the most distinctive structures in Jamaica’s business district.
Development of Jamaica
Jamaica, one of the oldest settlements within the boundaries of New York City, developed into the leading commercial and entertainment center of Queens County. The Dutch purchased land in Jamaica from the Jameco (also spelled Jemeco) Indians in 1655. The following year, Governor Peter Stuyvesant granted a charter to the town, originally known as Rusdorp.
Following the transfer of power from the Dutch to the English in 1664, Rusdorp was renamed Jamaica, after the original Indian inhabitants of the region. Queens County (incorporating present-day Queens and Nassau Counties) was chartered in 1683. The English established Jamaica as the governmental center of Queens County, with a court, county clerk’s office, and parish church (Grace Church; the present structure, dating from 1861-62, is a designated New York Landmark). Outside the town center, Jamaica was largely an area of farm fields and grazing land for cattle. The rural village was officially incorporated by New York State in 1814.
Jamaica’s central location in Queens County and the extensive transportation network that developed in the town during the nineteenth century, resulted in the transformation of the community into the major commercial center for Queens County and much of eastern Long Island. It was the arrival of the railroads that began this transformation. The roads and rail lines connecting Jamaica with other sections of Queens County, with Brooklyn to the west, eastern Long Island, and ferries to New York City had a tremendous impact. Jamaica’s farmland was soon being subdivided into streets and building lots, and new homes were erected.
By the turn of the century, Jamaica’s importance as a commercial area became evident in the impressive buildings beginning to appear on Jamaica Avenue, most notably the Beaux-Arts Jamaica Savings Bank Building (Hough & Deuell, 1897-98), 161-02 Jamaica Avenue. After Jamaica was incorporated into the borough of Queens and became a part of New York City on January 1, 1898, additional transportation improvements brought increasing numbers of people. As a result, the population of Jamaica quadrupled between 1900 and 1920.
It was during the 1920s, when the major mass transit links were in place, and during a period when private automobile ownership was growing at an extraordinary rate, that Jamaica experienced its major expansion as a commercial and entertainment center. By 1925, Jamaica Avenue between 160th Street and 168th Street had the highest assessed valuation in Queens County.
During the 1920s and early 1930s, many small- scale commercial buildings were erected in Jamaica, as well as several major office and commercial structures, including the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce Building (George W. Conable, 1928-29) on 161st Street; the Title Guarantee Company Building (Dennison & Hirons, 1929), 90-04 161st Street; and the J. Kurtz & Sons Store (Allmendinger & Schlendorf, 1931; a designated New York City Landmark) on Jamaica Avenue. In addition, Jamaica developed into a significant entertainment center. By the mid-1930s, there were at least eight movie theaters on or just off of Jamaica Avenue, and there were over sixty restaurants, bars, and clubs, ranging from small ethnic taverns to elegant restaurants. It was within this bustling commercial and entertainment setting that La Casina opened.
The Nightclub:
A Brief Examination of Its History and Design
During the late 1920s and 1930s, the nightclub became a prominent and romantic symbol of New York’s nightlife. While partially based on the reality of the city’s exclusive clubs and restaurants, the nightclub image was largely a fantasy based on Hollywood’s interpretation of these elegant establishments. Nightclubs and restaurants with live shows began to appear in New York City in the late 1920s as the enforcement of Prohibition ebbed. With the end of Prohibition in 1933, nightclubs proliferated." As nightclubs and restaurants with live shows grew in popularity, their designs became increasingly elegant. Clubs and related restaurants such as the Central Park Casino, the Persian Room, the Rainbow Room, El Morocco, the 21 Club, and the Stork, catered to an exclusive clientele. While most New Yorkers could not afford to patronize these establishments, they were well known through newspaper gossip columns, magazines, and other popular media outlets.
Movies such as Broadway (1929), Puttin’ on the Ritz (1930), Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), and Swing Time (1936) created a romantic image of nightclubs with Modeme and Art Deco decor incorporating streamlined walls and ceilings, glistening mirrored floors, and elegantly appointed revelers. Perhaps in homage to popular Latin dances, many of these clubs, both real and cinematic, were given Spanish- sounding names.
Although modest in scale, La Casina was designed to fit the image of the up-to-date night spot. The club and restaurant was provided with a Latin name and its streamlined design echoes, in miniature, the elegant clubs enjoyed vicariously by patrons as they viewed movies at their local movie palaces.
La Casina: The Site and the Design of the Building
La Casina is located on 160th Street between Jamaica Avenue and 90th Avenue. Located only a few blocks from the center of Jamaica, 160th Street was initially developed with modest frame buildings, most erected as residences but later converted for commercial use. In 1907, the Queens Borough Real Estate Exchange erected a neo-Classical style brick and limestone office building designed by Tuthill & Higgins at 90-33 160th Street.
The building was purchased in 1918 by Arnold Behrer, Jr., and Clarence Behrer. On November 1, 1932, the Behrers leased the site to Bernard Levy and La Casino, Inc., for a period of four years (until 1936). According to the lease agreement, the building was "to be used and occupied only as a restaurant, cabaret, beer garden, casino and dance hall." The rent rose from $1,800 a year the first year to $3,000 during the fourth year. All alterations made to the building by the lessee had to be approved by the owner.
The La Casino Supper Club opened in 1933. It first appeared in the Queens telephone directory for winter 1933-34. Apparently, the club was only open for a short time since it did not appear in the telephone directory for winter 1934-35. The club reopened by May 1936. Telephone directory listings continued to call the establishment the La Casino Restaurant. However, the weekly La Casina Journal, published by the establishment, spelled the name with an "a" and also referred to the La Casina Restaurant and Supper Club in its text. The work undertaken to create the present streamlined design was an alteration of the original building, but no surviving alteration application has been located that specifically notes the construction of a new front. Several permits for small alterations were issued in 1933, and one of these may have included the new facade.
La Casina was designed in the Streamlined Modeme style which became popular in America in the 1930s.' Although it initially appeared on residential buildings, the Streamlined Moderne style was soon adapted for commercial buildings since the dramatic massing and dynamic stripped forms drew attention and, therefore, brought people to the buildings. The style was popular for relatively small-scale public buildings, especially those that were erected for businesses that relied on a large paying clientele.
These businesses included hotels, such as those in Miami Beach; theaters, such as the Pan Pacific Auditorium in Hollywood; movie theaters, notably those designed by S. Charles Lee; bus depots, such as the Greyhound Bus Terminal in Washington, D.C.; and roadside structures such as auto showrooms, motels, and diners. Historian Martin Greif characterized the Streamlined Moderne (also sometimes referred to as Depression Modem) as "an art stripped bare of all ornamentation. . . . Ideally, the Depression Modern style was spare . .
. without a single detail that could be called extraneous, without any embellishment, without a line that did not seem inevitable."
With its smooth planes of stucco, dynamic ziggurat massing, sweeping bands of metal, and its lack of applied ornamentation, the La Casina building fits Greifs description of the ideal streamlined structure. The streamlined mode was an appropriate choice for La Casina, not only providing an up-to-date image for the establishment, but also creating a noticeable form for the small midblock structure, one that would attract attention from busy Jamaica Avenue. This was heightened by the use of a bright projecting vertical neon sign announcing the nightclub’s presence.
La Casina: The Restaurant and Nightclub
La Casina offered dining, dancing, and entertainment. According to the La Casina Journal, La Casina offered three shows a night performed by the La Casina Adorables and the La Casina Swing Melo-Dears. The club also featured special guests such as Maureen Rio, the Broadway star of Earl Carroll’s Sketch Book? There was no cover charge and the club offered free parking.
The Journal noted such special events as "Celebrity Night"; "Democratic Night" and "Republican Night" (at the latter two evenings guests were to meet primary candidates); and "Bowery Night," where guests were to dress in old clothes, men were to arrive unshaven, and all were to be entertained by Diamond L’il, Cuspidor Carrie, Fishface Fanny, Gashouse Gertie, Willie the Gonof, Little Annie Rooney, Champagne Lil, and Limehouse Lou.
Later History
La Casina (or a facility with a similar name) occupied the building until about 1938; the last entry in the telephone directory is for winter 1937-38. In 1940, Arnold Behrer, Jr., lost the property in a legal proceeding to the mortgagor, the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. A tax photograph taken by New York City in 1940 shows "For Rent" signs in the picture windows of the club.
In 1942, the building was sold to the Church of God of Greater New York, Inc., although it does not appear to have ever been used as a church (the Church of God was headquartered on 224th Street). The use, if any, of the building in the early 1940s is not known.
In 1946, the former nightclub was sold to Polly Foundations, Inc., which converted the building into a factory that manufactured Ladyform bras. In 1952, the building was purchased by the Ellen Howard Corporation which manufactured Roxanne swim suits in the building until c.1987.
At some point, probably in the 1960s or 1970s, the galvanized-iron cladding of the ziggurat was covered in aluminum siding. The building was vacated in the late 1980s and deteriorated. In 1989, the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation acquired the former home of La Casina. A restoration was undertaken in 1994-95 under the guidance of the architectural firm of Li-Saltzman.
The restoration entailed the removal of the aluminum siding, the replacement of the deteriorated galvanized iron with aluminum that matched the form of the original, the restoration of the stucco at the lower level to its original colors, the removal of historically and stylistically inappropriate glass block windows and their replacement with historically accurate plate-glass windows, and the restoration of the tile flanking the entrance and of the original doors and glass entrance surround. The original vertical sign was conserved and encased within a new sign. The building now houses the Jamaica Business Resource Center.
Description
La Casina is a one-story symmetrical structure with a two-tiered streamlined facade in the form of a stepped pyramid or ziggurat. The base of the pyramid is set parallel to the sidewalk. This section of the building is faced with stucco.
The stuccoed portion of the facade is divided into a lower section that is painted gray and an upper section painted coral (paint studies determined the historical accuracy of these colors). The base is punctuated by a central entrance that is set back from the sidewalk within a five-stepped enframement clad in glazed black tiles at the lower section; the upper section is coral-colored stucco.
The entrance contains its original wood and glass double doors with very large vertically-placed bronze handles supported by silver-metal upper and lower stepped brackets. The doors are set within a frame of opaque black glass. The entrance bay is flanked by rectangular windows.
During the restoration, glass blocks that were crudely installed, probably when the building became a factory in the 1940s, were removed and replaced with historically accurate undivided plate glass. In addition, a shallow ramp for handicapped access has been added in front of the building.
Directly above the entrance is a curving streamlined frontispiece. It is divided into six wide horizontal bands with seven raised narrower bands covering the joints. To either side of this frontispiece is a six-layer stepped ziggurat. The frontispiece and flanking ziggurats were originally clad in smooth galvanized sheet metal attached to a wooden frame. The metal may originally have been painted gray. During the restoration, the deteriorated galvanized metal was replaced with shiny bands of aluminum.
Attached to the Building is the original vertical neon sign. This sign, which retains the words "La Casina" (an "o" for "casino" overlaps the "a"), "Ladyform Bras," "Swim Suits," and "Roxanne Swim Suits,” has been encased in a new aluminum sleeve with the "JBRC" initials of the Jamaica Business Resource Center in neon.
- From the 1996 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
These are a few Streamlined and Semi-streamlined steam locomotives in HO scale. All are brass, except the two British LNER locomotives. Pennsylvania RR (PRR) T-1 4-4-4-4 Duplex by Nickel Plate Products.
The Stout Scarab is a streamlined car, designed by William Bushnell Stout and manufactured by Stout Engineering Laboratories and later by Stout Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan.[1][2]
The Stout Scarab is credited by some as the world's first production minivan,[3] and a 1946 experimental prototype of the Scarab became the world's first car with a fiberglass bodyshell and air suspension.
Background
William B. Stout was a motorcar and aviation engineer and journalist.[4] While president of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Stout met Buckminster Fuller at a major New York auto show and wrote an article on the Dymaxion Car for the society's newsletter.[5]
Contemporary production cars commonly had a separate chassis and body with a long hood. The engine compartment and engine were behind the front axle and ahead of the passenger compartment. The front-mounted engine typically drove the rear axle through a drive shaft underneath the floor of the vehicle. This layout worked well, but limited the passenger space.
In contrast, the Scarab design eliminated the chassis and drive shaft to create a low, flat floor for the interior, using a unitized body structure and placing a Ford-built V8 engine in the rear of the vehicle. Stout envisioned his traveling machine as an office on wheels. To that end, the Scarab's body, styled by John Tjaarda, a Dutch automobile engineer,[6] closely emulated the design of an aluminum aircraft fuselage. The use of lighter materials resulted in a vehicle weighing under 3,000 lb (1,400 kg).[7]
The short, streamlined nose and tapering upper body at the rear foreshadowed contemporary monospace (or one-box) MPV or minivan design, featuring a removable table and second row seats that turn 180 degrees to face the rear — a feature that Chrysler marketed over 50 years later as "Swivel ’n Go".[8]
Although reminiscent of the Chrysler Airflow, streamliner, and the slightly later (1938) Volkswagen Beetle — other aerodynamically efficient shapes, the Stout Scarab was generally considered ugly at the time.[1] Decades later, its futuristic design and curvaceous, finely detailed nose earn it respect as an Art Deco icon.[9]
Innovative features
Front view of Stout Scarab at Stahls Automotive Collection
Rear view of Stout Scarab
The Scarab's interior space was maximized by its ponton styling, which dispensed with running boards and expanded the cabin to the full width of the car. A long wheelbase and the engine directly over the rear axle moved the driver forward, enabling a steering wheel almost directly above the front wheels. Passengers entered through a single, large, common door. A flexible seating system could be easily reconfigured (except for the driver's seat, which was fixed). The design anticipated the seating in modern minivans, such as the Chrysler Voyager and Renault Espace; a small card table could be fitted with the passenger seats as needed. Interiors were appointed in leather, chrome, and wood. Design elements also worked in a stylized ancient Egyptian scarab motif, including the car's emblem. Visibility to the front and sides was similar to that of an observation car, although rearward vision was negligible and there were no rear-view mirrors.[1]
The innovations did not end with the car's layout and body design. In an era where almost everything on the road had rigid axles with leaf springs, the Scarab featured independent suspension using coil springs on all four corners, providing a smoother, quieter ride. The rear-engine-induced weight bias coupled to the coil spring suspension and "Oil Shock Absorbers" endowed the Scarab with "Smooth Riding and Easy Steering on Rough Roads",[7] if not very good handling and traction (even by the standards of the early 1930s, the reputation of the Scarab was one of very poor "blackjack-like" handling). The rear swing axle suspension with long coil spring struts was inspired by aircraft landing gear.[10] The Scarab suspension inspired the later Chapman strut used by Lotus from their Lotus Twelve model of 1957.[10]
The Ford flat-head V8 drove the rear wheels via a custom Stout-built three-speed manual transaxle. The engine was reversed from its normal position, mounted directly over the rear axle and with the flywheel and clutch facing forward. The transmission was mounted ahead of this, reversing and lowering the drive-line back to the axle.[10] This unusual layout would later be repeated by the Lamborghini Countach.
Production
A drivable prototype of the Scarab was completed in 1932, probably the first car to have an aluminum spaceframe unit-construction body. Some frame parts were steel.[11] The second prototype was ready in 1935, with some styling and mechanical changes. The headlamps were set behind a fine, vertical-bar grille, and at the rear, narrow chrome bars curved from the back window down to the bumper, giving the car its Art Deco appearance. The body was changed to steel to reduce cost.[1]
Stout Scarab Experimental (1946)
Stout stated that the car would be manufactured in limited quantities and sold by invitation. Up to a hundred a year were to be made in a small factory at the corner of Scott Street and Telegraph Road (US 24), Dearborn, Michigan.[1] Although the Scarab garnered much press coverage, at $5,000[9] (equivalent to $113,297 in 2024), when a luxurious and ultra-modern Chrysler Imperial Airflow cost just $1,345, very few could pay the hefty premium for innovation. Nine Scarabs are believed to have been built.[12] The vehicles were never produced in volume and were hand-made, with no two Scarabs identical.[4]
Immediately following World War II, Stout built one more prototype Scarab, called the Stout Scarab Experimental.[13][1] It was exhibited in 1946 and was more conventional in appearance, although still equipped with a rear engine. It was a 2-door, featured a wraparound windshield and the world's first fiberglass body. Like its metal counterparts, it too was a monocoque, built up out of only eight separate pieces and featured the world's first fully functioning air suspension, previously developed in 1933 by Firestone. It was never produced.
Legacy
Stout owned and drove his own Scarab, accumulating over 250,000 miles in travel around the United States.[2]
Up to five Scarabs are reported to survive today. A 1935 Scarab in running condition was on display for many years at the Owls Head Transportation Museum in Owls Head, Maine, but was returned to its lender, the Detroit Historical Museum.[4] The Detroit Historical Museum's vehicle was scheduled to be returned to the museum's storage on August 21, 2016, when another car would be rotated into the exhibition....Wikipedia
ex-LNER streamlined A4 Pacific, in its BR guise as 60009 'Union of South Africa', passes the site of Upwey Wishing Well Halt, nearing the end of its journey, with the Dorset Coast Express (1Z82 0845 London Victoria to Weymouth) on 8th August 2019.
This VIS image shows part of the outflow channel called Athabasca Valles. Several streamlined islands are visible at the top of the image.
The source of the flood that carved the channel is likely an outburst of groundwater.
This martian scene spans 18 x 66 kilometers (11 x 41 miles). To see where on Mars this area lies, and to download high-resolution versions of the image, go to themis.asu.edu/zoom-20190702a
See the Red Planet Report at redplanet.asu.edu for updates on Mars research and exploration. For more about Mars geology, check out the Mars-ePedia: marsed.asu.edu/marsepedia
For the latest THEMIS Mars images as received by mission scientists, see themis.asu.edu/livefrommars. To learn more about the THEMIS camera and its Mars images, see themis.asu.edu.
This image is in the public domain and may be republished free of charge. If used, please credit it as NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University.
Majestic Apartments (Irwin S. Chanin with Jacques Delamarre, 1930-1931). Same developer-architect team as at the Chanin Building, here doing a less floral, more streamlined Deco for an almost-twin-tower apartment scheme, set on Central Park West (between 71st and 72nd Streets). Fantastic.
Norfolk Southern operated N&W modern streamlined J class 4-8-4 Northern steam locomotive # 611, is seen rounding a curve in a view taken from a railfan excursion train car in Tennessee, October 1989. This train operated from Chattanooga to a northern location near the Kentucky border, then returned the same day. The on-board railfans with their camera's are really out this day.
+++ 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 Kawasaki Ki-78 started its life as KEN III (Kensan III - research III) at the Aeronautical Research Institute and built at Kawasaki Kokuki Kogyo K.K. (川崎航空工機業株式会社 - Kawasaki Aircraft Industries).The plane was originally planned as a high speed research aircraft and designed to investigate laminar profile wings with high wing loadings.
The KEN III was a very small and compact aircraft, reduced to a minimum. It featured a streamlined, minimum cross-section fuselage, together with a cockpit canopy that was more deicated to speed than good pilot sight. An all-metal construction was used in combination with a small thin wing with a laminar flow profile and a sharp leading edge.
The aircraft was fitted with a licence-built Daimler-Benz DB 601A engine. For short duration power boost methanol/water injection was used, and cooling was improved by a 45 kW (60 hp) turbine driven cooling fan for the radiators, which were placed on both fuselage flanks, right behind the cockpit.
Early in 1938 a high-speed research program was started at the Aeronautical Research Institute of the University of Tokyo, with the attempt to break the World Absolute speed record.
By the outbreak of the war, the whole KEN III project was taken over by the Imperial Japanese Army who gave it the military type designation Ki-78. Kawasaki received the order to build two prototypes of the Ki-78, construction of which was started in September 1941.
The first was completed more than a year later and was flown for the first time on 26 December 1942, but it did not live up to the high expectations concerning top speed - instead of the projected 850km/h the Ki-78 never exceeded 700 km/h (435 mph) under ideal circumstances. Handling was also hazardous. The second Ki-78 was therefore never completed.
A feasibility study to improve the KI-78 flight performance and make it suitable as a high speed fighter showed that extensive airframe modifications were needed. Consequently the World Absolute speed record project was officially terminated and the unfinished second prototype as well as a third airframe modified into what would soon become the Ki-78 Kai.
The Ki-78 Kai was an almost new design. While it kept the KEN III's sleek lines, including the DB 601 and the fan-augmented radiator arrangement, the wings had been considerably enlarged (by ~4m²/171ft²) and the fuselage stretched - primarily in order to improve agility at medium altitude: true to IJA tradition.
As a consequence, armor and other protective measures were reduced to a minimum, while armament consisted of a single 20mm cannon, firing through the propeller hub, plus two 12.7mm machine guns in the wings, outside of the propeller disc. Still, the Ki-78 Kai was about 200kg heavier than the KEN III.
This machine was quickly ushered into production and reached front line units in late 1943, though. Upon the first clashes with Allied fighters the poor survivability became obvious, despite the type's speed and climbing rate potential. This led, after only 50 machines, to the Ki-78 Kai-Otsu (or Kai-II/Improved, Type 2), which received additional armor for cockpit and engine, and a revised armament of two 20mm Ho-5 cannons in the wing. The engine-mounted gun was deleted in order to save weight again, but the modified aircraft weighed again about net 50kg more, but still achieved a staggering 675 km/h in level flight.
This revised version arrived in the Pacific theatre around May 1944, where it replaced the obsolete (but still popular) Ki-27. While the type's performance was on par with the modern Alied fighters of the time, many aircraft were lost due to poor tactics and unexperienced pilots. Furthermore, the Ki-78 Kai was not designed to take much damage, so that it was unpopular, even though in the hands of experienced pilots it was a serious opponent.
Neverthless, until April 1945 only 320 Ki-78 Kai were produced and production was stopped in order to concentrate on radial-powered engines and fighters with a better high altitude performance.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.17 m (26 ft 7 1/2 in)
Wingspan: 9,65m (31 ft 7 1/4 in)
Height: 3.74 m (12 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 16,05 m² (173.3 ft²)
Empty weight: 2.247 kg (5.893 lb)
Loaded weight: 3.148 kg (6.940 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 3.400 kg (7.495 lb)
Powerplant:
1× Daimler-Benz DB 601A V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine,
rated at 1,160 kW (1,550 hp) with Water/Methanol injection for short durations
Performance:
Maximum speed: 675 km/h (420 mph; 364 kn) at 3,500 m (11,500 ft)
Range: 850 km (528 mi)
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,370 ft)
Rate of climb: 17.0 m/s (3,345 ft/min)
Wing loading: 196 kg/m² (40 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 344 W/kg (0.21 hp/lb)
Armament:
2x 20mm Ho-5 cannon with 250 RPG in the outer wings
Provisions for two hardpoints, able to carry a 150kg (330lb) bomb each, but rarely used
The kit and its assembly:
This is a conversion of AZ Model’s Ki-78, which is available in two double sets – the aircraft is so tiny that they put two kits into the box! There had been plans to convert the record breaker into a fast fighter – and my whif is more or less an interpretation of this idea.
Starting point was that the whole aircraft had to be enlarged, in order to put a decent fuel amount and some armament somewhere. First step was increased span/wing area – I found a pair of outer P-38 wings that had a very good size and shape for the task, and the lower side was still “clean” so that I could cut out new openings for the landing gear, using the original parts.
Once the wings were in place, I added a 5mm plug in front of the fin, so that span/length ratio could be kept – the only place due to the flanks-mounted radiators. I kept the fin OOB, because it was big enough, but I implanted bigger horizontal stabilizers - these come from a Matchbox Brewster Buffalo but were considerably reduced in depth, trying to match the main wings's shape.
Air scoops for the oil cooler were added under the front fuselage, and steel needles were implanted as wing cannons.
Painting and markings:
This one is based on a real aircraft, a Ki-84 I found in literature. It was painted in a rather light khaki drab tone from above, with greenish-grey undersides, plus white markings on wing and fin tips.
The upper basic tone is FS 34087 from Modelmaster, applied over a basic coat of acrylic Aluminum (Revell), so that the metal would shine though and even appear chipped in some areas – some wet sanding enhanced the effect, and dry painting with lighter colors like Humbrol 83 (Ochre) emphasized the worn look. An area behind the cockpit received only very little green cover, the propeller spinner was painted in a mix of Olive Drab and Humbrol 95 (Concrete).
For the underside I used Humbrol 90, actually Sky Type ‘S’, but it comes very close to IJA grey and makes a nice contrast to the brownish upper side. Here, too, the paint was applied over an Aluminum primer coat.
The white markings were painted with very light grey; the cockpit interior was painted in a IJA "Cockpit Green", a tome very similar to RLM02. I used Modelmaster's "Faded Olive Drab" as basic tone, plus some dry painting with light grey. The landing gear was kept in aluminum.
Decals were puzzled together from various sources and sheets, e. g. from a Ki-27 aftermarket sheet and a squadron markings set.
Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
The 21-story Look Building dates to 1948-50, when the minimalist aesthetics of European Modernism first began to transform the character of “setback” office buildings. Located on the west side of Madison Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, this handsome mid-20th century modern structure combines tiers of ribbon-like windows with tightly-rounded corners and setbacks faced with white brick to create a unique and memorable silhouette.
Two second-generation, family-run, businesses were responsible for its construction: Uris Brothers, developers, and Emery Roth & Sons, architects. Though they first began to collaborate in the mid-1920s, it wasn’t until the death of each firm’s founder in the mid1940s, that the sons Percy and Harold D. Uris and Julian and Richard Roth, began to focus on commercial development. This informal partnership, which lasted until the 1970s, produced a great number of large Manhattan office buildings. Richard Roth, who attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, served as lead architect. Planned to be stylish and profitable, the building closely followed the requirements of the 1916 zoning code to maximize the square footage while using industrial materials to create sleek, streamlined elevations that suggest the influence of not only the German Expressionist architect Erich Mendelsohn, but also the 1931 Starrett-Lehigh Building and the 1947 Universal Pictures Building in Manhattan.
The new structure was named for Look magazine, which was part of the Cowles media empire. With a strong emphasis on photography, Look became one of the most widely-read magazines in the United States and it remained at this location until ceasing publication in 1971. Other prominent tenants included Esquire Magazine; Pocket Books; the music publisher Witmark & Sons, where singer-songwriter Bob Dylan made some of his earliest studio recordings; the industrial designer Raymond Loewy, and the building’s architects. During the late 1990s, a major and sympathetic restoration of the facade was undertaken by the architects Hardy Holzman & Pfeiffer Associates. At this time, the steel windows were replaced with similar aluminum frames and a new entrance portico was created. The Look Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and the facade is subject to a conservation easement filed with the Trust for Architectural Easements.
DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS
Building Site
The Look Building, at 488 Madison Avenue, stands directly north of the St. Patrick’s Cathedral complex and the Villard Houses . Prior to the First World War, this section of midtown Manhattan was primarily residential, with a mix of free-standing mansions, brownstone row houses, and a growing number of hotels.
Transit improvements, including the extension of the subway north along Lexington Avenue in 1918, as well as on Sixth Avenue in the 1930s, would attract commercial development to the area. While some elegant Fifth Avenue residences, including houses owned by George W. Vanderbilt , Morton & Nellie Plant , and Edward & Frances Holbrook , were converted to new uses around 1917, many structures were demolished and replaced by retail stores and office buildings. Rockefeller Center , which grew out of plans for a large performing arts center, was midtown’s most ambitious commercial ensemble, incorporating stores, offices, and entertainment venues.
In the vicinity of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Roman Catholic diocese of New York owned several structures, including the rectory and cardinal’s residence that flank the Lady Chapel on Madison Avenue, as well as the Villard Houses. It also owned the block on the west side of Madison Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets, where the Look Building would later be erected. This site was originally part of the Roman Catholic Asylum and in 1893 a three-andhalf-story Gothic Revival-style structure was erected to serve as a trade school for boys.
When much of the asylum’s property from Fifth Avenue to Park Avenue was sold in 1902, the structure became Cathedral College, a preparatory seminary to train men for careers in the priesthood. The New York Times called it “a midtown landmark which for two generations had offered a haven for quiet study and religious activities.” In 1942, the school moved to “modern facilities” on West End Avenue and 87th Street and the building was temporarily used by Catholic chaplains serving in the Second World War.
On East 51st Street, the Look Building stands beside a group of low-rise structures, including the former residence of contractor John Pierce . Designed by the prominent architect John Duncan, this five-story neo-Renaissance structure is clad with light-grey granite and was converted to commercial use after 1933. On East 52nd Street, the site adjoins 16 East 52nd Street , a 15-story brownish brick building with limestone details, designed by Schwartz & Gross.
Uris Brothers
Uris Brothers, acting as Neprock Realty, Inc., negotiated the purchase of the L-shaped site from St. Joseph’s Seminary & College in October 1948 for $2.6 million. The demand for office space in midtown Manhattan was growing and this market became their primary focus. Percy Uris and Harold D. Uris were the sons of Harris H. Uris , a Russian immigrant from Latvia, who arrived in New York City in 1892. By the first decade of the 20th century, he and his brothers operated a large iron foundry at 525 West 26th Street where a workforce of about 160 produced ornamental ironwork for the New York City subway system and other clients.
Percy Uris attended Columbia University, graduating with a degree in business administration in 1920. He and his father became commercial developers in the early 1920s, specializing in the construction of hotels and apartment buildings. Harold, who trained as a civil engineer at Cornell University, joined them in 1925. Together, they built numerous Manhattan structures, including the Court Square Building at 2 Lafayette Street, 1 University Place at the corner of Waverly Place, and the Hotel St. Moritz on Central Park South. They experienced great success but, like many of their contemporaries, struggled during the early years of the Depression and lost some of their best-known properties. In the late 1930s, they reentered the real estate field, hiring Emery Roth to design apartment buildings at 2 Sutton Place South and 930 Fifth Avenue . Roth also designed 880 Fifth Avenue, their last residential project, in 1946-48.
Few of Manhattan’s leading builders of the 1920s remained active following the Second World War. The New York Times described the Urises as being, along with the Tishmans, the “only builders . . . who are descended from the leaders of the Nineteen Twenties boom.” Percy and Harold Uris would accomplish this by focusing almost entirely on office building construction. The forecast for this type of real estate was particularly optimistic and using the skills they learned with their father, they would, over the next three decades, create more than 13 million square feet of new office space. Time magazine reported in 1954 that they:
. . . made a fortune out of conforming to the latest taste in office buildings. Their recent constructions in Manhattan have been compared both to wedding cakes and to Assyrian ziggurats, and have more layers than the former, more bulk than the latter and about as much esthetic merit as both combined. Says Percy Uris: “We’re not building in a vacuum. We’re building in a market.”
The company’s productivity was a remarkable accomplishment, one that transformed the midtown skyline and streetscape. Harold Uris recalled:
We had a policy of creating the greatest amount of space for the lowest cost . . . We bought better and built faster than anyone else . . . Efficiency was the key to our success.
In terms of architectural aesthetics, however, their ambitions were modest. They produced a portfolio of buildings that were modern but hardly radical, fresh but conventional. In 1972, Uris explained:
I happen to believe that the interior of a building is more important that the exterior. None of the architectural people agree with me. But you build for those who occupy it, not for those who stand across the street and look at it. We have always built good buildings. I won’t say I am not a perfectionist. I can’t help it if people think every building should be the Taj Mahal.
In 1960, Uris Brothers issued stock to finance future projects which resulted in such colossal structures as the New York Hilton , the Uris Building at 1633 Broadway , and 55 Water Street , which was at the time of completion the world’s largest office building. Shortly after the stock offering was made they began a series of major gifts to Columbia University which financed construction of a new building for the School of Business, called Uris Hall . They also made significant contributions to Cornell University, Lenox Hill Hospital, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Following the death of Percy, Harold sold his stock in the Uris Buildings Corporation to the National Kinney Corporation in 1973.
Emery Roth & Sons
Both before and after the Second World War, the Urises turned to architect Emery Roth with great frequency to produce buildings that were stylish and profitable. Emery Roth, the firm’s founder, was born in Hungary in 1871 and came to the United States around 1884. His talent as a draftsman was quickly recognized and in the decade that followed he worked in Chicago with the architects Burnham & Root, and in New York City with Richard Morris Hunt and Ogden Codman, Jr.
In 1895 he opened his own office and later purchased the practice that would initially be known as Stein, Cohen & Roth. Many of New York City’s finest residential structures were designed by him, such as the Bellclaire Hotel , Ritz Tower , the Beresford , the San Remo , the St. George Hotel in Brooklyn Heights, and the Normandy Apartments . Though his early works display rich and inventive exterior ornamentation, the character of his later buildings is more restrained, reflecting the growing popularity of the Art Deco and Moderne styles.
Roth first collaborated with the Uris family in 1924, designing the Buckingham Apartments, at the northwest corner of Sixth Avenue and 57th Street. It was during this decade that Roth’s sons, Julian and Richard, joined the firm. Julian Roth attended Columbia University and may have been a classmate of Percy Uris. Though not licensed as an architect, he “specialized in building materials, construction methods, cost estimates and the technology of curtain walls.” Richard Roth graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1928 and after briefly working with Allen & Collens in Boston, entered his father’s practice, which was renamed Emery Roth & Sons in 1938. Steven Ruttenbaum, author of Mansions in the Clouds: The Skyscraper Palazzi of Emery Roth, claimed this change had little impact on the firm’s operations and the elder Roth remained “the man who made the decisions, who maintained client contact, and set the fees. He shared the responsibilities of overseeing design development with no one.”
In the 1940s, however, ill health caused Emery Roth to relinquish control of the office. One of his last commissions was 300 East 57th Street, an 18-story tan brick apartment house. Built for developer Samuel Rudin in 1944-48, it featured unusual recessed terraces that were probably added by Richard who became the firm’s chief designer. This sleek project received a medal from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects as one of the city’s best new residential structures. His next project was 505 Park Avenue , a 21story tan brick office building. Located at the northeast corner of 57th Street, the elevations had a strong horizontal orientation, with a “continuous glass front . . . to give a maximum amount of natural light.” This was the first of many buildings Richard designed for Uris Brothers, followed by 4 West 58th Street , incorporating the Paris Theater, and 575 Madison Avenue , between 56th and 57th Streets. Begun in January 1948, the latter building shares many features with the Look Building, such as a two-story base, white brick elevations, and continuous windows that “run entirely around the structure above the second floor level, providing maximum flexibility in the arrangement and subdivision of offices.”
These family-run businesses would remain closely aligned for several decades. Julian Roth later recalled:
Percy Uris would call me and say, Julian, I’ve just bought a plot of land. How soon can Richard have the plans ready?”
Emery Roth & Sons became one of New York City’s most prolific firms. As architect, or architect of record, they were involved in at least 150 structures after the Second World War. In 1967, reporter Thomas Ennis said that Roth has “earned most of the praise – or blame – for the way Manhattan’s business district looks today.” The firm developed a reputation for superior efficiency, employing mostly predictable formulas that maximized square footage and speed of construction. In addition, they collaborated on such high-profile projects as the Pan Am Building , the World Trade Center , and the Citicorp Building . One writer observed: “It seems unlikely any firm in history has been responsible for so many tall buildings within such a short span of time.”
Designing the Look Building
Richard Roth began to prepare his scheme in late 1948 and the final drawings were completed in July 1949. Built on speculation, the Look Building needed to be fashionable, practical, and profitable. Throughout his career, Richard pursued a pragmatic approach to design. Not only did he try to maximize the square footage in buildings but he believed this type of plan created the kind of interior space favored by prospective tenants. When he addressed the Real Estate Board of New York in 1952, Richard urged architects entering the field to develop “a working knowledge of the various codes, laws, regulations, and ruling affecting buildings.” Though he acknowledged that slender towers could be dramatic and beautiful, he believed the market for offices on the smaller, upper floors was limited.
While higher rents may be obtained from tower floors, he said there are fewer good tenants for 5,000 square feet of space than there are for 15,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet.
The 1940s proved to be a transitional period in office building design and the Look Building combines characteristics associated with Streamlined Modernism, sometimes referred to as Art Moderne, and the International Style. In terms of massing, its shape was determined by the 1916 zoning resolution, which was conceived to protect access to light and air in Manhattan’s most crowded districts. To accomplish this, commercial buildings were required to set back at a certain height, which was determined by location and street width. Bulk was regulated and diminished in stages, creating wedding-cake-like silhouettes in which the uppermost floors could cover only 25 per cent of the lot. Slender towers, consequently, were discouraged on all-but-thelargest of properties.
While Roth’s setback massing was fairly conventional, stepping back at every other floor above the 12th story, the treatment of the elevations was somewhat new. Faced with industrial materials, the facade has a strong horizontal emphasis. The building’s developer, Percy Uris, defended this trend toward simplicity, saying:
The new facade, with its horizontal lines and absence of ornamentation is generally admired, but there are some who consider the modern exterior too severe. Actually, if a building has good lines, its simplicity will add to its beauty.
The Look Building has bands of ribbon-like windows that alternate with white brick spandrels. Roth was most likely influenced by two local projects: the Starrett-Lehigh Building and the Universal Pictures Building . Both structures feature continuous bands of fenestration that reflect contemporary interest in functional aesthetics and possibly the work of the German Expressionist architect Erich Mendelsohn, who immigrated to the United States in 1941. Many of his works had a distinctive streamlined appearance, such as the Rudolf Petersdorf Department Store in Breslau, which was illustrated in the New York Times in March 1931 under the headline “German Architecture Goes Modern.”
Of probable greater importance was the Universal Pictures Building, 445 Park Avenue, completed in 1947. Designed by Kahn & Jacobs, the project architect was Elsa Gidoni, who trained in Berlin and was later described as “highly attuned to the International Style work of Erich Mendelsohn.” Built on a comparable block-long site, this 21-story office building has similar bulk and massing, ribbon-like windows, terraces, and air conditioning. It was a great success and entirely rented prior to completion. Developer Paul Tishman asserted these amenities would increase “working efficiency” and “make it possible for tenants to obtain maximum use of space on each floor . . . there just won’t be any unusable areas.”
For the Look Building, Roth fine tuned many of these ideas. While the number of floors and massing is similar, the curved corners allow the windows and spandrels to flow without interruption. According to Percy Uris, this type of fenestration had various benefits. Not only did it provide better lighting and a sense of openness, but he believed it was part of:
. . . a real step forward in office planning. Where the space is used as a large open general office, the effect is light and cheerful. These windows also make for easy subdivision into smaller rooms with more flexibility than formerly possible when masonry and columns more or less determined individual office spaces.
Roth claimed that this approach would satisfy “status conscious tenants . . . because it permitted an even distribution of window space for executive offices, a matter of considerable importance to corporate tenants.”
The stacked, multiple curves give the elevations an organic, almost biomorphic quality. Marv Rothenstein, who worked for Uris Brothers, later wrote:
Everything about them was special, starting with the curved structural steel,
followed by curved concrete forms, curved bricks, curved window frames, and
curved glass.
The corners have a three-and-a-half foot radius and are faced with radial brick. In New York City, buildings with rounded corners are found in Lower Manhattan, where irregularly-shaped parcels provided architects with opportunities to emphasize specific vistas, facades, and entrances. Though concave and convex facades gained greater popularity in the late 1930s and were present in various pavilions at the New York World’s Fair, such features were rarely used in office buildings. It was, however, used to great advantage at the Starrett-Lehigh Building, as well as in Roth’s much simpler design for 505 Park Avenue. These streamlined buildings, however, have much wider curves and were erected with less costly “straight segments.”
Above the 12th story, the Look Building’s setbacks function as private terraces. These unbroken, wrap-around spaces were part of the original design, and appear in the blueprints at Avery Library, Columbia University, with glass doors and metal railings.
In contrast to Rockefeller Center, which had common landscaped gardens on the rooftops, these shallow outdoor spaces seem closer in spirit to residential terraces and, like the upper floors of the Cities Service Building , 70 Pine Street in lower Manhattan, and the Universal Pictures Building, were reached from inside offices. Such amenities were also part of a broader trend after the Second World War to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior space.
To give the Look Building a stylish, modern appearance, Roth faced it with white brick. This material was introduced in the first decade of the 20th century but did not become popular until construction of Manhattan House . Built by the architects Skidmore Owings & Merrill on East 66th Street in 1947-51, this 21-story structure is considered Manhattan’s earliest white brick apartment house, influencing the design of numerous imitators and possibly Richard Roth. Though some explained the popularity of this brick in practical terms, saying it was self-washing and would reflect light into the surrounding area, white was also strongly associated with the European avant-garde, particularly the early minimalist works of Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto.
Construction
Plans for construction of a $6 million structure at 488 Madison Avenue were filed with the Department of Buildings in November 1948. Several months later, during February 1949, D.
E. H. Demolition began tearing down the former home of Cathedral College and excavation of the site began. The Harris Structural Steel Company began to deliver the steel components in June 1949 and by the end of August 1949 the framework was “topped” out. The New York Times reported that this was “considered a postwar record for steel erection.” According to Marv Rothstein, as many as seven four-men riveting teams were involved in the process. The concrete floors were finished in early September 1949, and shortly after, the white brick elevations. About four floors were enclosed each week. As this task progressed, the steel casement windows were installed. Once this job was completed, the interior plastering began. Tenants began to occupy the air-conditioned structure in early 1950.
Tenants
With Cross & Brown as the building’s rental agent, all of the office floors were leased by November 1949 – several months before construction was complete – and all of the retail space by May 1, 1950. This section of midtown Manhattan was a lively hub of media activity, especially around Rockefeller Center. Several magazines were early tenants, including Look, Esquire, and Seventeen. Look was launched by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr., in Des Moines, Iowa, in January 1937. He consolidated the editorial offices at 522 Fifth Avenue, where it remained for a decade. Modeled on European picture magazines, it became a significant rival to Life magazine, which was based in Rockefeller Center, and by 1948 the magazine had a paid circulation of three million. Look would become the largest tenant, with offices on the 10th, 11th and 12th floors.
Uris Brothers agreed to name the building for Look in early 1950. Esquire, which claimed it was “embarrassed by the “new look,” took legal action to stop this, arguing that the change would “convey the false impression” that Esquire was “published or sponsored by the publishers of Look.” No action, however, was taken by the courts and until 1980 large capital letters spelled out “Look Building” on the mechanical tower’s south side. The 1950s would be heyday of Look’s popularity, reaching an estimated 21 per cent of all U.S. adults in 1961. It was the third most popular magazine in the nation and in 1963 it would sign a new lease, almost doubling its office space to more than 200,000 square feet. The New York Times Company purchased the Cowles Media Company in 1971, which included Family Circle and various regional newspapers.
Pocket Books, Inc., a division of Simon & Shuster, which published popular best sellers, was also an original tenant, as was the Music Publishers Holding Company, with such subsidiaries as Harms, Inc., Remick Music, New World Music, Advances Music, and Witmark & Sons. In Witmark’s fifth floor studio, a young Bob Dylan produced a series of important early demo recordings during 1962 and 1963.
Emery Roth & Sons joined the prestigious roster of tenants in April 1950. The New York Times reported that it was only the firm’s “fourth move” in fifty years and they occupied part of the 18th floor until the late 1950s. Three floors above, on the 21st floor, was Raymond Loewy, one of the 20th century’s most significant industrial designers, who appeared on the cover of Time magazine in October 1949 and would design the interiors of Lever House , completed nearby at 390 Park Avenue in 1952. Later tenants have included the Institutional Investor and Abbeville Press.
Subsequent History
In April 1953, the property was sold to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Several months later, in August 1953, the building was leased back to Uris Brothers. Since the 1970s, it has been owned by the 488 Madison Avenue Associates and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The two-story retail base was remodeled with tinted black glass and new shop entrances in the 1980s. Horowitz Immerman Architects were responsible for these alterations. The rest of the exterior was renovated with great sensitivity by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates in 1998. Architect Malcolm Holzman was the partner in charge of the project. He said that his main objective was to “keep the building as it is and not make it into something it will never be.” At the time, the original steel windows were replaced by similar aluminum frames and the glazed brick was cleaned. Additionally, about 20 per cent of the brick was replaced, as well as the original slate windowsills.
Interest in mid-20th century modern architecture was growing in the 1990s and the building’s careful restoration was described in a New York Times article, as well as in a small exhibition, New Life for a Modern Monument: A Salute to 488 Madison Avenue, organized by the Municipal Art Society in autumn 1998. The brochure’s text praised the owners and architects, commenting “The Look Building’s restoration shows how successfully the best postwar buildings can be updated, rewarding investors and delighting passerby.” In 2004, the Look Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and the facade is subject to a conservation easement filed with the Trust of Architectural Easements.
Description
The Look Building stands on the west side of Madison Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets. It occupies an L-shaped lot, measuring 200 feet on Madison Avenue, 140 feet on 51st Street, and 75 feet on 52nd Street. Above the second story, the facade is mainly white brick. Continuous non-historic aluminum windows , three horizontal panes tall, extend continuously around the facade, starting at the west ends of the north and south facades. The center panes are operable and open out from the bottom. Above the 12-story base, every second floor sets back, climaxing with a mostly windowless tower, which incorporates horizontal louvers on the east front.
The two-story retail base is non-historic and dates to the late 1980s. It is divided from the third story on all facades by what appears to be charcoal-colored cast-stone panels, crowned by a curved aluminum molding. The two stories of glass panels are transparent or tinted black and the water table may be granite. The main entrance is at the center of the sloping Madison Avenue facade. There is a recessed passage that leads to a single revolving glass entrance door, flanked by conventional glass doors. The entrance passage is paved with contrasting light and dark gray granite. The exterior panels that face the street are polished black granite and the walls that flank the passage are light brown-and-black marble.
There is a ribbed aluminum ceiling with recessed lighting fixtures, as well as square service panel near center. Above the entrance passage is a wide non-historic aluminum marquee with curved corners and free-standing numerals that identify the address. To the left are three storefronts with recessed entrances. The one closest to the entrance has a horizontal aluminum sign with white lettering. At the corner of 51st Street is a revolving door with dark tinted glass. Directly to the right of this door is a conventional recessed store entrance. To the right of the main entrance is a single storefront with clear glass windows. This storefront incorporates several horizontal aluminum signs with white lettering: on Madison Avenue, at the corner of 52nd Street, and on 52nd Street.
The Fifty-First street facade has four non-historic storefronts, at 19, 21 and 23 East 51st Street. The last address has two entrances. Most of the first-story businesses are identified above the storefronts with metal letters against black glass panels. Though most of the glass on the second story is tinted black, the windows nearest Madison Avenue are transparent. At the west end of the facade, a vertical banner is strung between two horizontal brass poles. A significant number of glass panels toward the west end of the second story have been replaced with horizontal metal louvers. Near the top of the 11th story, at center, a white horizontal box projects out from the facade. In addition, there are four vertical boxes attached at the corner above the third story. There is a fan-like security gate at the west edge of the 7th story.
Fifty-Second Street has a single storefront that extends around the corner from Madison Avenue. To the west of the last window is a single vertical panel of horizontal louvers. At the corner, above the aluminum sign, are two small black boxes with visible wires. The service entrance, with two metal doors that open outward, is located at the west end of the first story. At the middle of the 4th story, two of the upper windows have been replaced with horizontal louvers. Fan-like security gates have been installed at the west end of two of the uppermost floors.
- From the 2010 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
SSR's classic pairing of S317 & S302 is joined by P18 & B75 on grain train 9083 to Deniliquin as the quad loco combo bends through Malmsbury, with the latter two being on the train as far as Bendigo. 8/12/19
A new Henschel 4-6-4 class 61 streamlined steam locomotive for the Deutsche Reichsbahn (works nr. 22500/1935). This elegant locomotive was one of two built specifically for high speed passenger service and pulled the famous Henschel Wegmann Train between Berlin and Dresden. Top speed was 175 km/h.
Henschel-Werkfoto Stromlinienverkleidete Schnellzug-Tenderlokomotive für den Henschel-Wegmann-Zug. Fabriknummer 22500, geliefert 1935 an die Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, größte Geschwindigkeit 175 km/h.
Turtle Bay, Manhattan
Designed by Raymond Hood, among the most prominent American architects of the twentieth century, and built in 1929-30, The Beaux-Arts Apartments is one of the earliest examples in New York City to reflect the trend toward horizontal emphasis in the aesthetic of modern European architecture of the 1920s. Conceived as a corollary to the neighboring Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (a designated New York City Landmark), the Beaux-Arts Apartments at 310 East 44th Street and its twin building on the opposite side of the street were intended to provide residential and studio accommodations for architects and artists, as well as others interested in living in what was anticipated as a midtown artistic community.
The Beaux-Arts Development Corporation, a syndicate of architects associated with the Institute and allied professionals, joined forces to finance, build, and manage their own real estate venture. A striking horizontal composition of alternating brick spandrels and distinctive industrial steel casement windows separated by brick bands, Hood's exterior design employs some of the vocabulary of the then contemporary Art Moderne phase of the Art Deco movement, such as bold massing, streamlined geometric metal railings and corner windows, while it also reflects the aesthetic influence of European modernism. Kenneth Murchison, who designed the innovative interior spaces, created duplex-style studios in the upper four stories which are articulated on the exterior as staggered set-back terraces. The paired Beaux-Arts Apartments create an harmonious residential streetscape, reflecting the development of Turtle Bay during the 1920s as a neighborhood of modern apartment complexes.
Turtle Bay
The community known as Turtle Bay, bounded roughly by East 4 0th East 59th Streets, Third Avenue and the East River, takes its name from the Turtle Bay Farm once located along this portion of the Manhattan waterfront. In the 1850s, Turtle Bay emerged as a residential neighborhood of brick and brownstone rowhouses; by the 1870s, however, its character had changed drastically due to the industrial development of the blocks along the East River with slaughterhouses, breweries, chemical works, and coal and lumber yards. The erection of the Second and Third Avenue Elevated Railways, in 1878 and 1879 respectively, also contributed to the transformation of the area; tenements were built along the dark Avenues beneath the noisy Els. By the turn of the century, many buildings in Turtle Bay had been converted to rooming houses and the neighborhood was populated by groups of recent immigrants.
With the completion of Grand Central Terminal in 1913, midtown Manhattan became the major transportation hub of New York City and also developed into a great commercial center. The revitalization of the Turtle Bay area as a middle-class residential community was spurred by its proximity to the midtown business district.
In 1919, Turtle Bay Gardens (today a designated New York City Historic District), a group of remodeled rowhouses with a common rear garden between East 48th and East 49th Streets, Second and Third Avenues, signaled the renewal of the area. In the 1920s, as apartment living became a more widely accepted alternative to private housing and an economic necessity for many who lived and worked in New York City, higher density development was undertaken in Turtle Bay. Among the large residential complexes constructed in the area at that time were the Tudor City complex, located between East 40th and East 43rd Streets, First and Second Avenues (1925-30, a designated New York City Historic District), which was designed under the supervision of H. Douglas Ives for the Fred French Company and conceived as a middle-class high-rise neighborhood, the Panhellenic Tower (now the Beekman Tower), located at 3 Mitchell Place on the corner of First Avenue and East 49th Street, designed by John Mead Howells and built in 1926-28 as an apartment hotel for college sorority groups; and the Southgate Apartments, located at 400-4 4 4 East 52nd Street, designed by Emery Roth and built in 1929-31. It is in this development climate that the Beaux-Arts Apartments were conceived.
The Beaux-Arts Development Corporation
In 1928, the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design (a designated New York City Landmark) , was erected at 304 East 44th Street. The Institute was chartered in 1916, both to accommodate the educational programs of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, a professional organization composed of former students of the prestigious Parisian Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and to serve as the national headquarters for architectural instruction based on the curriculum of the Ecole. Formerly located in a converted stable on East 75th Street, the Institute relocated to East 44th Street in order to be more accessible to Grand Central Terminal and the offices of architects and draftsmen located in midtown. Raymond Hood and Kenneth Murchison, the architects responsible for the design of the Beaux-Arts Apartments, had been instrumental in the campaign for the new Institute building. Hood chaired the committee which selected the new location and oversaw the real estate transactions, and Murchison co-chaired (with Whitney Warren) the planning committee.
With the Institute nearing completion, the Board of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design formed the Beaux-Arts Development Corporation, a syndicate of Institute architects and outside allied professionals dedicated to the unconventional feat of designing, financing, building, and managing their own real estate venture, the Beaux-Arts Apartments. The Corporation envisioned that these two buildings would serve as companions to the Institute, providing residential and studio accommodations for architects, artists, and others interested in living in what they anticipated would become a midtown artistic community.
The Beaux-Arts Development Corporation was composed of some of the most prominent and well-connected architects of the day. Indeed, the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, the organization from which the Institute and Corporation members came, had long been the fulcrum of professional contact for many of New York's architectural elite. In addition to Hood and Murchison (who was president of both the Beaux-Arts Development Corporation and the Architectural League of New York), the roster of Corporation members included: Whitney Warren, director of the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design; Benjamin Wistar Morris, chairman of the Board of the Institute; the firms of Delano & Aldrich and Voorhees, Gmelin & Walker; John W. Cross of the firm of Cross & Cross; William H. Gompert; James W. O'Connor; and Charles Z. Klauder of Philadelphia.
The syndicate also included decorative artists, a painter, and a sculptor all associated with the Institute, as well as the real estate firm of Douglas L. Ellliman & Company and the prolifc construction firm of George A. Fuller Company. The U.S. Realty & Improvement Company, which was associated with the Fuller Company, and the National City Bank were instrumental in securing the financing needed to make the proj ect a reality.
At the end of 1928, the Beaux-Arts Development Corporation acquired a total 33,000 square feet of property along the north and south sides of East 44th Street, which were occupied by rows of tenement buildings. In February of 1929, the U.S. Realty & Improvement Company announced a radical real estate financing plan for the Beaux-Arts Apartments which required less money down from the Corporation at the outset than a conventional mortgage. Subsequent to the demolition of the buildings on the sites in early 1929, the George A. Fuller Company began construction at once, and the Beaux-Arts Apartments were ready for occupancy by the beginning of 1930.
The Architects of the Beaux-Arts Apartments Raymond Hood (1881-1934)
Among the most prominent and influential American architects of the twentieth century, Raymond Mathewson Hood is mostly remembered as an innovator in the development of the American skyscraper aesthetic. Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Hood studied at Brown University and then transferred to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1900. After graduation, he worked as a draftsman in Boston with Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, an important firm known for its neo-Gothic style designs, before traveling to Paris to study; in 1911, he received his diplome from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and returned to the United States.
Hood worked as a draftsman in Pittsburgh for Henry Hornbostel and in New York for the firm of Palmer, Hornbostel & Jones before establishing his own New York practice in 1914. With the intervention of World War I, Hood did not achieve any great architectural success until 1922 when he was asked to join John Mead Howells in submitting a design for the international competition held by the Chicago Tribune for its new office building. Their winning scheme was a soaring neo-Gothic style tower terminating in set-back peaks and flying buttresses, considered distinguished for its logical plan and clarity of design. The commission secured Hood's reputation as an eminent American skyscraper designer and launched his successful career.
In 1921, Hood established a partnership with J. Andre Fouilhoux, with whom he was associated for the next ten years. At the time when Hood designed the Beaux-Arts Apartments, he was a partner in the firm of Raymond Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux. He also collaborated several times with John Mead Howells, but in all cases, the Art Deco era skyscrapers for which Hood became famous are attributed to him. In New York, Hood designed the American Radiator Building (1923-24), a Gothicizing black tower with a golden crown, located at 4 0 West 4 0th Street; the Daily News Building (1929-30), an emphatically vertical and ornamentally restrained skyscraper, located at 22 0 East 42nd Street; the McGraw-Hill Building (1930-31) , notable for its alternating horizontal bands of blue-green terra-cotta panels and ribbon windows, located at 330 West 42nd Street; and the R.C.A. Building (1932-33) at Rockefeller Center, where Hood was one of the dominant architects of the design team until his death.
(All four of these buildings are esignated New York City Landmarks).
Although the horizontally-composed McGraw-Hill Building is often cited as approaching the aesthetic intentions and functional purity of the International Style, Hood's work never fell strictly within the vein of the European avant-garde. As a self-proclaimed functionalist, he insisted that his designs were based on utility, economics, zoning requirements, and the representation of a building's structural elements. As a consummate designer, however, he advocated polychromy in architecture and used color and massing to create buildings with remarkably distinct appearances that each served as an emblem of the commissioning clients, an approach to design which was opposed by his progressive European contemporaries.
Hood was awarded the Medal of Honor of the Architectural League of New York in 192 6 and served as president of the League between 1929 and 1931, he collaborated with Harvey Wiley Corbett on plans for the Century of Progress Exposition of 193 3 in Chicago, and he was also elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects in 1934, the year he died.
Kenneth M. Murchison (1872-1938)
Born in New York City, Kenneth M. Murchison graduated from Columbia University in 1894, spent the years from 1897 to 1900 at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and opened his own New York office in 1902. His career over the next twenty years primarily involved commissions for the designs of railroad stations. Although these stations display a variety of styles, including neo-Classical, Mission Revival, and neo-Renaissance, all employ Beaux-Arts principles of massing and plan. Among these works are the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Ferryhouse and Station in Hoboken, N.J.; the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Station in Scranton, Pa. ; the Long Island Railroad Stations at Long Beach and Manhattan Beach; and Baltimore's Pennsylvania Station. Murchison also designed the U.S. Marine Hospital in Stapleton, Staten Island, constructed in 1933-36.
An avid critic of contemporary Art Deco architecture, Murchison defended in print the designs of the Chrysler Building and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. On behalf of his work in promoting Beaux-Arts principles, he was named a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor in 1931. In the 1930s, Murchison retired from the architectural profession to join the Central Savings Bank as a vice-president, but he maintained an active interest in the field. In 1935, he was appointed by Mayor LaGuardia to be an advisor (along with Ralph Walker and I.N. Phelps Stokes) for the selection of architects to receive commissions for municipal buildings during the following year.
The Plan of the Beaux-Arts Apartments
The twin, sixteen-story Beaux-Arts Apartments were not only unusual as a joint development project of professionals in the architectural and related fields, but were also inventive in their planning. Although advertised as "studios," most of the units were essentially one-room efficiency apartments of a type that was still uncommon in the late 1920s.
At that time, the meaning of the term "studio" was changing from its sense as a high-ceilinged work space with large windows for artists to that of a small apartment of four or fewer rooms. Duplex-style artists' studio spaces, such as those found in the Bryant Park and Gainsborough Studio buildings built in the first decade of the twentieth century (both designated New York City Landmarks) , are limited in the Beaux-Arts Apartments to the top four floors, where complex interior spatial arrangements and small terraces create staggered set-back penthouses. It was the marketing strategy of the Corporation that the apartments would rent easily if they evoked pre-World War I artists' studios, which had become fashionable as residences.
Although it was the primary intention of the Corporation to create a midtown artistic community, the economic success of the project was thought to be dependent upon the ablility to attract other kinds of tenants who wanted the convenience of living close to the midtown business district.
Kenneth Murchison, who designed the interiors of the Beaux-Arts Apartments, provided such space-saving features as Murphy beds (called "fold-downs") and custom-designed refrigerators and bathroom fixtures of smaller-than-standard proportions. The New Building Applications for the buildings specify that they were to be occupied as "apartment hotels" and that the kitchenettes were not to be used for cooking, but rather as serving pantries "for the purpose of keeping food warm."9 The restaurant at the ground story of 310 East 4 4th Street, known as the Cafe Bonaparte, was intended to provide room service to the tenants and function as a meeting place for the neighborhood intelligentsia. The units were originally leased on a yearly basis; The New York Times announced in November of 1931, however, that a portion of 310 East 44th Street was to be operated as a hotel, with occupancy on monthly or seasonal terms.
Although the onset of the Depression caused the apartments to rent slowly, the innovative project was an overall success in design, financing and management, and the Beaux-Arts Apartments won the 1929 Construction Merit Award for apartment houses given by Building Investment Magazine.
The Design of the Beaux-Arts Apartments
The design of the Beaux-Arts Apartments displays the stylistic influences of diverse trends in architecture of the 1920s and 1930s. Striking compositions, the principal facades of the Beaux-Arts Apartments are early examples in New York of the horizontal emphasis often used by the originators of the International Style and their followers--the reductive, functional approach of such architects as Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Mies van der Rohe, and the expressionist banded designs of Eric Mendelsohn—while employing the streamlined vocabulary of the Moderne phase of the Art Deco movement, an essentially decorative aesthetic of sleek geometric forms symbolic of the "machine age."
Although these stylistic developments share certain visual characteristics, the surface-oriented and polychromatic aspects of Art Deco and what has come to be called Art Moderne were considered antithetical to the purist expression in the work of the European avant-garde, which placed an emphasis on volume rather than surface, monochromatic treatment, and lack of applied ornament. The Beaux-Arts Apartments, therefore, represent a design solution that illustrates an experimentation with styles that characterized "modern" American architecture at the end of the 1920s.
In the massing of each of the twin midblock buildings, end pavilions flank the major central portion of the facade which is set back eight feet from the property line; a two-story base is dominated by a projecting entrance pavilion, while the upper four stories form a series of slight setbacks. The end and center portions of the buildings highlight the form and bulk of the overall composition, demonstrating Beaux-Arts principles of symmetry and axial planning. The paired buildings as a whole, each with its eight-foot-deep garden front embraced by pavilions, create a formal streetscape that is also in keeping with the classical Beaux-Arts doctrine in which Hood, like many of his American contemporaries, was trained. The nature of this pair of facing buildings is one of a protected enclave.
While the overall massing of the Beaux-Arts Apartments follows a classical approach, the setbacks of the upper stories reflect the characteristic massing of the New York Art Deco skyscraper. The most direct influence on the setback scheme was the New York City Zoning Resolution of 1916, an ordinance which required buildings to have setbacks from a certain height above the street line. The impact of the ordinance was delayed until after World War I, when the 1920s building boom in New York drastically altered the skyline with stepped silhouettes.
The setback scheme was inherent to building requirements in New York City, but the Art Deco style itself was popularized by the 1925 Paris Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, an exhibition celebrating a new approach to ornament based on several European sources and its contribution to "modern" design. In New York City, the Art Deco style was readily applied to all types of buildings in the 192 0s, often relying on vertical emphasis, polychromy, patterned brick, rectilinear compositions, and terra-cotta ornament using abstracted forms and repeated motifs. In the late 192 0s and 19 3 0s, the Art Deco style developed into a streamlined Art Moderne style, evocative of the modern machine. This style, characterized by horizontal lines, continuous windows, curves, flat surfaces, and less ornament, was influenced in part by the aesthetic of the European avant-garde.
The architecture of the experimental European modernists of the the early twentieth century addressed various social and aesthetic issues, including the creation of a new architecture appropriate to the modern industrial age that was free from historical references and related directly to technology and engineering. With the modern steel-framed building, load-bearing walls were no longer necessary, allowing a greater area of a facade to be devoted to fenestration.
The steel-framed structure of the Beaux-Arts Apartments provided such an opportunity for large, multi-pane windows. Continuous expanses of glass, or "ribbon windows," were considered by the architects of the International style to express the true nature of modern construction, resulting in a horizontally-composed architecture focused on volume rather than mass. This was the logical result of concrete slab construction, a technological advance which, even more than the steel frame, allowed for completely uninterrupted fenestration.
The Beaux-Arts Apartments, articulated by continuous light brick spandrels and dark brick panels (placed between the windows) composed of alternating courses of red and black brick, is an early example in New York of the trend toward the horizontal aesthetic demonstrated by Art Moderne and the International Style. Roughly contemporary with the Beaux-Arts Apartments were the New School for Social Research building designed by Joseph Urban (1929-30, located in the Greenwich Village Historic District), and in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building designed by George Howe and William Lescaze (1929-32), considered one of the first American buildings in the International Style. These buildings were followed in 19 3 0-31 by the Starrett-Lehigh Building on West 2 6th Street, designed by Russell G. and Walter M. Cory with Yasuo Matsui (a designated New York City Landmark), and the McGraw-Hill Building, designed by Hood.
While Hood did not employ ribbon windows in the principal facades of the Beaux-Arts Apartments, he incorporated large, industrial steel casement windows into the design which he claimed related to the commercial architecture that still existed in the surrounding area. Distinctive corner windows located in the end pavilions, among the earliest examples of this type in New York City, expose the non-structural aspect of the wall. The casement sash, with its regular grid pattern, relates to the geometric treatment of the brickwork and functions as an integral part of the design. All of the windows and the dark panels between them, as contrasted with the continuous light brick spandrels, were intended to read as voids in the composition, a device Hood used in his other work, but here used particularly for horizontal effect. The Daily News Building, in particular, is articulated vertically but compares to the Beaux-Arts Apartments in material, color, and striated design.
Hood claimed that the horizontal composition of the Beaux-Arts Apartments was chosen because it gave "more repose and more of a residential character" to the midblock streetscape.
The restrained ornament, limited to chevron patterns in the terrace and window railings and the entrance pavilions, as well as the polychromatic brickwork, reflect a streamlined approach that was characteristic of the stylized Moderne style. In addition, the Beaux-Arts Apartments demonstrate Hood's concern that architecture be logical and straightforward in the display of its function, each window bay delineating the units of interior space.
Description
The Beaux-Arts Apartments building at 310 East 44th Street occupies a midblock site on the south side of the street between United Nations Plaza and Second Avenue. The steel-framed sixteen-story structure has thirteen-story end pavilions flanking the major central portion of the facade which is set back eight feet from the property line? the upper four stories form setbacks. Above a two-story limestone base, the facade, twelve bays wide, is articulated by horizontal brick banding. The end pavilions and the continuous spandrels are of buff-colored brick, while darker bands panels separating industrial steel casement windows are composed of alternating courses of red and black brick. Almost all of the original steel window frames are intact, although many have been partially modified to accommodate air conditioners. The standard window is a triple two-part casement type with transoms, although single, paired, and wraparound corner variations are also used. The windows, railings, and grilles are all painted reddish brown.
The limestone base is banded by narrow courses of slightly darker stone. The original ground story, extant at the bays west of the entrance, sits partially below grade and set back behind a landscaped area with a simple iron railing. It features glass doors and windows with iron grilles in a decorative diamond pattern. Original triangular lighting fixtures of brushed aluminum are affixed to the wall. A modern glass and aluminum enclosure containing a restaurant has been installed at the bays east of the entrance. The wall has been resurfaced behind the enclosure; the original wall openings are retained, although the windows and doors have been removed. The base is dominated by an entrance pavilion which is at the bay west of the center of the facade. The pavilion is composed of a projecting stone enframement flanked by angled side bays containing paired casement windows. The rectangular double-height entranceway has stepped jambs and is highlighted by a carved frieze of chevrons and geometric forms.
The glass doors (not original) are set in the original brushed aluminum surround. (The original doors had ornate decorative grilles.) The doors are flanked by rectangular lighting fixtures of brushed aluminum with a geometric cut-outdesign. A large window surmounts the doors, and the pavilion is topped by a metal railing with a simple chevron pattern. These railings are repeated elsewhere on the facade, spanning bays at the third, fourth, fifth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth stories, and set-back terraces in the upper four stories.
The upper four stories are massed in a series of terraces. The two center bays, the end bays, and each bay second from the center (internally one-and-a-half-story duplexes), all with larger windows, set back in a different pattern than the rest of the bays, which step back at regular intervals at each story. The end bays and the center bays (which rise to the fifteenth story before stepping back), are are squared in profile, while the others are angled. The duplex windows are an enlarged version of the steel casement windows used elsewhere. The roof is topped by a brick penthouse for mechanical use.
The eastern elevation, visible from the adjacent courtyard, continues the horizontal composition of the facade. Light brick spandrels are interrupted at the center bay, creating a dark vertical stripe at the center of the wall which indicates the stairwell on the interior. The original windows are intact. The stuccoed silhouette of a four-story building which once occupied the adjacent site is visible on the wall. Only the upper four stories of the western elevation are visible above the adjacent six-story Beaux-Arts Institute of Design building. The western elevation has the same design as the eastern elevation, although the top three stories have been painted brown. The rear elevation of 310 East 44th Street is not visible from the street.
Subsequent History
The Beaux-Arts Apartments have continued in use as a residential community within the larger neighborhood of midtown Manhattan. With the construction of the United Nations in 194 7-53 and various supporting residential structures along the East River, the Turtle Bay area underwent yet another transformation and became the home for many international agencies and missions. The Beaux-Arts Apartments have remained a special part of this cosmopolitan neighborhood.
- From the 1989 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report
Sir Billy Butlin’s former British Railways Stanier 8P 4-6-2 ‘Coronation’ class locomotive number 46229 DUCHESS OF HAMILTON of Crewe North Motive Power Depot passes through the closed Cumwhinton railway station on the Up Main line with an additional ‘Thames-Eden Pullman’ return charter (1Z25) which it worked between Carlisle and Leeds where it was replaced by Albert Draper & Son Limited’s former London Midland & Scottish Railway Company Stanier 5P5F 4-6-0 ‘Black Five’ class locomotive number 5305. 14:35, Saturday 23rd April 1983
Note, 46229 was built at the London Midland & Scottish Railway Company’s Crewe works in September 1938 as streamlined locomotive number 6229, the streamlined casing being removed in December 1947. It was transferred to British Railways upon nationalisation of the railways on the 1st January 1948, being renumbered 46229 in week ending 3rd July 1948. It was withdrawn from Edge Hill Motive Power Depot in February 1964 and purchased for preservation by Sir Billy Butlin. It was placed on loan to the National Railway Museum in 1976 where it was restored to working order in early 1980, and was sold to the National Railway Museum in 1987. It was allocated the TOPS number 98829
Ref no BH/03322
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"Like an Arrow, the Streamlined Super Chief Flashes through the Country of the Navajos."
---The Diesel-powered Super Chief sweeps through the Indian country. Agleam with high lights, swift and silent as an arrow, this ultramodern contribution of man's inventive genius to transportation upon rail conveys its hosts of travelers to fateful wartime destinations. Flashing by the sunlit mesas, the Navajos in gaudy dress, the scarlet locomotive and its streamlined cars add central note of color to a realm aglow with splendor.---
***NOTE*** This wonderful illustration was painted by Thornton Oakley, and appeared in the December 1943 issue of National Geographic magazine. It is one of 16 similar paintings, all done by Mr. Oakley, which where intended to "capture the spirit of America's might in moving men, materials, and supplies."
The Mercury, a custom-built, fully air-conditioned train, was New York Central Lines' first streamliner. Completed in 1936, it was "designed as a unit, inside and out, integrating everything from locomotives to dinner china." The locomotive was streamlined with a now-classic "bathrub" shroud, and the heavyweight 1920s commuter cards were refurbished. All the work was done in the railroad's West Albany Shops. The train was tested on the New York Central Line along the Hudson and placed in regular service on the Detroit-Toledo-Cleveland route in July 1936. The Mercury provided express service until the late 1950's.
This model of the Mercury, made by Louis Marx and Company in 1939, is part of the New York Transit Museum Collection. The New York Transit Museum, the largest museum in the United States devoted to urban public transportation history, operates a gallery annex in Grand Central Terminal that presents changing exhibitions.
(The following is a fictional history of a fictional aircraft serving with a fictional air force...though at least the model is real.)
When the FIRAF was formed in 1974, Minister of Defense Akela Canis had no plans to acquire a bomber of any kind, save for strike aircraft like the F-105 Thunderchief or the Panavia Tornado. The small nation had no real need for a strategic bomber. However, groups in Congress disagreed, and Canis was overruled.
With Congress demanding a heavy bomber, Canis was forced to find a solution. He did, however, see some advantages to having a small heavy bomber force: as a veteran of Vietnam, Canis had seen firsthand the power projection ability of the B-52; having a “bomb truck” able to rain bombs onto a target might prove rather useful. It was suggested that the FIRAF procure the B-52D Stratofortress, which the USAF was planning to phase out; Canis demurred, citing the B-52D’s advanced age, while the Carter administration refused to sell it, as it would violate several arms-control treaties. With the B-52D unavailable and Canis’ only other alternative, acquiring the Avro Vulcan, also being refused by the UK, the only route left was for the FIRAF to develop its own design. The cost of such a program would be enormous and far beyond the FIRAF’s budget.
It was then that Canis heard of an abortive attempt by the USAF to replace the cancelled B-1 with an “off-the-shelf” conversion of the Boeing 747 into a massive cruise missile carrier. While converting an airliner to a bomber was not the best solution, it was the only one left. The FIRAF had already chosen the L-1011 for its tanker design, but program delays with the Tristar led Canis to approach McDonnell Douglas about converting the DC-10 into a bomber in June 1979. Canis expected to be flatly turned down or even laughed at, but instead, McDonnell Douglas reacted favorably. The reason was simple: the DC-10 program was in trouble, under attack from the media as being unsafe following the crash of American Airlines Flight 191, and even the USAF was feeling leery about the KC-10 Extender tanker. Canis’ initial proposal buy of 24 aircraft would help restore faith in the aircraft and give more orders to the beleaguered program.
Now that the political problems were solved, the question remained on how to convert the DC-10-30 airframe to that of a bomber. Through Intelani Airlines, two DC-10-30ERs were bought and built first as basic airliners, then gutted and rebuilt as DC-10Bs. This involved first the addition of weapons bays, plus hydraulic bay doors—two forward of the wing, and one aft of it. The basic cockpit of the DC-10-30 was retained, with a three-man crew, while a second compartment was added in what had been the first class section of the airliner, where the bombardier and navigator sat. The aircraft would be fitted with an attack suite based on that of the then-cancelled B-1A and built around the General Electric AN/APB-200 bomb radar, which was mounted in the aircraft’s belly. Finally, Canis insisted that some sort of defensive armament be placed on the DC-10B; a single M61A1 Vulcan 20mm gatling cannon was fitted in the tail below the engine. A gunner’s position was set in what had been the aft galley and restroom section of the DC-10-30; the gunner would control the gun via radar and a TV camera set below the cannon. The aircraft would also be fitted with a comphrensive electronic defense suite, based on that of the B-52H, which would be managed by the navigator.
The first of the DC-10B testbeds flew on 8 June 1981, and ran into problems. The aircraft handled sluggishly on takeoff—though at altitude it flew remarkably well—it was unstable, especially when the bomb bay doors were opened; altitude was less than that of the B-52 and its speed at maximum weight was less than hoped, which in turn also lowered its range. The latter could be solved through aerial refuelling, which had already been planned in the production version, but the DC-10B needed some work. The bay door problem was solved by the use of clamshell doors, but this only partially solved the stability problem, which was traced to the simple fact that the DC-10 had been designed to carry several tons of fuel, cargo, and passengers.
Predator Propulsion, which had joined the project in designing the tail barbette, provided the solution. It had been working on a ramjet design for a proposed reconnaissance UAV, and the company’s scientists proposed fitting one to the DC-10B. While ramjets are not very efficient below 100 mph, the rotation speed of a DC-10 is above that speed. By pumping fuel into the ramjet, it would give the DC-10B added thrust when needed, and as the bomber went faster, the ramjet became more efficient. MDD worried about adding weight to the tail, but the ramjet, since it lacked a fan, was actually lighter than the CF6-50 engines already fitted. One of the DC-10Bs was subsequently modified and test flown in October 1981, and found to be stable and easy to use; the only modification had been to add a reaction fuel tank in the tail, but this had the unintended consequence of helping stability. The higher thrust produced by the ramjet at high speeds did cause oscillation, so streamlined yaw dampeners were added to the sides of the engine. Because of this modification, the testbed was given the designation DC-10RS (Ramjet Special), which accidentally became the official designation of the aircraft—MDD had preferred using the designation B-10A, which the FIRAF had planned as well, but continuing use of the DC-10RS designation by test crews meant it would be the name that stuck.
With testing complete by February 1982, the FIRAF formally ordered 24 DC-10RS, with an option of 12 more; Canis felt that 36 aircraft, each capable of carrying 16 conventional or nuclear-tipped Tomahawks, would be a sufficient deterrent force. The first DC-10RS was accepted by the FIRAF in February 1983.
By 1987, the FIRAF had decided to gradually phase out the Dragon; while it had proven itself an excellent level bomber, it was deemed simply too vulnerable to survive. Work began on the B-3A Pterodactyl to replace it. MDD produced a further six DC-10RS in 1987 before the production line shut for good in September; these were among the last DC-10s produced, as MDD was already switching production to the MD-11. The Dragon was to have its swan song, however, with two squadrons deployed to RAF Fairford for operations against Iraq in 1991; for the first and only time in its career, the DC-10RS was to fire Tomahawks in anger. None were used in the conventional bombing role. After Desert Storm, the Dragon force was gradually drawn down, with the last leaving bomber service in February 1994.
(Back in the real world...)
When I started building models for my fictional "Free Intelani Air Force," getting a small 1/200 scale DC-10 airliner for conversion to a "DC-10RS" was easy. I cut down the tail engine to simulate the ramjet design (which some airline pilot friends of mine told me was indeed possible), and added some odds and ends to beef up the engine pod, as well as simulate the ECM suite on the forward fuselage. The end of a Matra rocket pod was used to simulate the rear turret, and I used a straw hat from a 1/35 scale Viet Cong figure for the bombing radar (which can't be seen in this picture). Throw on a military style camouflage scheme of two shades of gray over black for night operations, add a ghost motif on the tail for squadron art, and voila, one has the DC-10RS Dragon bomber.
This one was a lot of fun to build, and coming up with the history behind it even more so.
Spotted this eye-catching little beauty at Red Canyon Campground near Bryce Canyon in Utah: a Camp-Inn 550 Classic Teardrop Travel Trailer by Pentwell Industries.
Check out their website at: www.tinycamper.com
But be forewarned: this diminutive gem will set you back a cool ten grand!
Nifty streamlined trailer at the OERM Antique Truck Show; this is a Bowlus Road Chief. A company is making them new once again, but this is a restored original.
The Aerotrain was a streamlined trainset introduced by General Motors Electro Motive Division in the mid-1950s. Like all of GM's body designs of this mid-century era, this train was first brought to life in GM's Styling Section. Chuck Jordan was in charge of designing the Aerotrain as Chief Designer of Special Projects. It utilized the experimental EMD LWT12 locomotive, coupled to a set of modified GM Truck & Coach division 40-seat intercity highway bus bodies. The cars each rode on two axles with an air suspension system, which was intended to give a smooth ride, but had the opposite effect.
The two Aerotrain demonstrator sets logged over 600,000 miles (970,000 km) and saw service on the following railroads: the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway; the New York Central Railroad; the Pennsylvania Railroad; and the Union Pacific Railroad.
Starting in February 1956 the Pennsylvania Railroad ran the Pennsy Aerotrain between New York City and Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, leaving New York at 0755; the round trip was scheduled 7 hr 30 min each way. From June 1956 to June 1957 it ran between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
In 1956 Aerotrain No. 2 was leased as a demonstrator to the New York Central, and ran between Cleveland and Chicago.
In March 1956 the Aerotrain made experimental runs for the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway in California as the San Diegan between Los Angeles and San Diego. Its use ended because the trainset had to be turned after each trip and it needed helper locomotives on the Sorrento Grade north of San Diego.
Starting December 1956 Union Pacific ran the ex-New York Central Aerotrain as the City of Las Vegas between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The train was eventually relegated to Chicago commuter service on the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad.
I was looking at this locomotive and was thinking what if it were a Railway Series / Thomas and Friends visiting character. So I added a face to my streamlined 4-8-2 and named him Otto. why I named him that is beyond me, it just popped into my head.
...and yes, I know their never were any 4-8-2's in the UK.Also, when I get the loco next month it will not have a face.
Otto is a newer streamlined fast passenger steam engine who is everyone's friend. He is a student of a much older engine named Warren, and loves to run the fast passenger trains. However, he hides a deep fear of diesels replacing steam engines forever. He feels whenever he is down for repairs or cleanings, diesels are taking his loads and doing them better and faster. Otto worries that someday his fire will go out, and he will be sent to the scrap yard. To prevent this, he works really hard, (perhaps to hard) wearing down his parts faster and working trains that he should have some helper engines on.
Athelgra Neville Gabriel
Cha Dooky Doo
Celebration of Art Neville
Tipitina's, 11/15/2014
New Orleans, Louisiana
ART NEVILLE
If you're lucky enough to be born in New Orleans, you've automatically inherited a lush tapestry of traditions, of which the richest, most varicolored and enduring motif is music. Arthur Neville came into that inheritance in 1937, but in his case the real luck fell to New Orleans, where he has spent most of a lifetime enhancing and expanding that tapestry. It's open to debate exactly where Art learned to weave such glorious new colors into such an already-vibrant fabric of sound - parents who supported and encouraged his musical quest? A childhood curiosity about music in general, and the keyboard in particular? Simply the intense and heady musical environment of the city itself?
What can't be argued that even as a kid he had already begun to shape the sumptuous patterns that the world now recognizes instantly as the Nevilles Sound. As a teenager, no amount of music - even in New Orleans - was too much for Art. He worked for a time in a record shop, where he absorbed the great doo-wop groups of the day: Clyde McPhatter's Drifters, The Orioles, The Clovers, as well as local piano rockers Professor Longhair and Fats Domino. In time he formed his own doo-wop group, and after school, after work, they would sit on a park bench in the crazy half-moon city and sing to the night.
In 1953, Art joined the Hawkettes, who recorded the classic "Mardi Gras Mambo" in 1954. That song turned out to be more influential to other musicians - and to the City of New Orleans - than even Art could have imagined. Listen to the music of his reflections on that historic (and now, very traditional) piece of pop culture:
"I became involved with the Hawkettes, I don't even remember the exact year but it must have been in '53. A friend of mine, one of the members of the Hawkettes at the time, George Davis. He was taking saxophone lessons from Alcee Wallace, one of my friends that we had the doo-wop group with. Mr. Wallace, Alcee's father, was teaching George Davis saxophone and so he told him about me and he needed a piano player."
"And so he came to my home and asked me would I be interested in playing with the Hawkettes. I didn't know who they were at that point and I said "sure," and my mother and father said 'Yeah, go ahead.' And the rest is really history. We went on, and we were the hottest band in New Orleans and the surrounding area we played for every function like sororities, fraternities, and different other functions around New Orleans: Night clubs, little small clubs, large clubs."
"We recorded this song, 'Mardi Gras Mambo,' I don't even remember the year, I think 1953 or 1954, something like that, and lo and behold! 'Mardi Gras Mambo' is still here today."
Most of the Hawkettes went off to college and other pursuits after the recording was made, but Art kept the Hawkettes together, finding musicians where he could. And did. The Hawkettes got such a wide reputation that by 1957 they found themselves touring with Larry Williams, whose "Short Fat Fannie" and "Bony Maronie" had also gone into the pop canon, and remain there. Art came home from this tour (which included the Spaniels), to be drafted into the Navy Reserve's active duty for two years.
"N.A.S., Oceana, Virginia Beach. Aviation," he remembers. "It was a good experience." In a recent discussion, Art remarked, "I was in the Navy Reserve - and I wasn't making the meetings that I should have been making - I was playing Rock 'n Roll.. So they drafted me on Active Duty and that must have been '59 or '60."
Brother Aaron hung in there with the Hawkettes, and when Art returned he rejoined his old friends. "Meanwhile, we started changing players, and we ended up with the guys who wound up being the Meters: Zigaboo, Leo, George," he says.
At the same time, Allen Toussaint and Joe Banashak approached Art with a song that's long since been a New Orleans staple: "All These Things." Art jumped at the chance to record it. "I can see it now," he says fondly.
By 1966, he was touring with brother Aaron in support of the hit single, "Tell It Like It Is." Another classic. Soon after the tour, Art took the first shot at a Neville Brothers grouping with "Art Neville and the Neville Sounds." The band consisted of Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter on bass, Art on piano and organ, Zig Modeliste on drums, brothers Cyril and Aaron Neville and, on saxophone, Gary Brown. It was strictly a labor of love, and the band wasn't making money. But they were getting tighter, more streamlined musically, the sound was getting around. Eventually Art was offered a chance to play the Ivanhoe bar in New Orleans' French Quarter - a coveted gig among local musicians, except that the venue could only accomodate four musicians onstage. Cyril, Aaron and Gary Brown bowed out and went on to pursue their own musical paths, but what remained was a white-hot quartet with a solid rhythmic vision. There at the Ivanhoe, the Meters were born. The band developed a funk-infected R-B sound characterized by subtle shadings and the loose interplay among guitar, bass and Art's Professor Longhair-inspired keyboard figures.
Producer/writer Allen Toussaint took one listen and wanted the Meters for session work.
With Toussaint at the boards, the band released The Meters (1969), featuring the signature instrumentals "Cissy Strut" and "Sophisticated Cissy." By 1972, big fish were circling and the Meters recorded their first of several albums for Warner Brothers. On the strength of this work, the Meters opened for the Rolling Stones' "Tour of the Americas" the following year. In 1976, the Neville brothers' revered uncle George Landry called the boys together to work on an album entitled "The Wild Tchoupitoulas," an aural documentary of sorts of the Mardi Gras Indians. Landry told Art then that the Neville's parents had always longed to see the four brothers work together, and in 1977 that dream became reality for everyone. With Art on keys, Charles blowing sax, Cyril slapping congas and Aaron, well, playing Aaron on vocals, the Neville Brothers groove at last wove itself indelibly into the tapestry. The Neville Brothers was released on Capitol, but so unique and unclassifiable was the sound that the corporate thinkers didn't quite get how to market it.
Not black or white, not strictly soul or R-B, not exactly pop but not rigidly rock either, the problem wasn't so much that the Neville Sound was neither here nor there as that it was here, there and everywhere imaginable. It was off the label's graph and therefore out of its grasp. Things got better. Radio, the national and then the international audience began to blossom with A-M's Fiyo on the Bayou and later Neville-ization. By the time of Uptown Art and the boys were sending their New Orleans sound around the world and back again, and they followed with more of the family groove in albums like the nearly flawless Yellow Moon. The basics stitched together by Art and his keys have created ripples of soulful patterns across every curve in the musical sphere, influencing artists as diverse as Santana, and the Rolling Stones. And Art weaves on. Maybe only the lucky get to be born in New Orleans. But Arthur Neville's vision has made it possible for the rest of us to share a little bit of the grand fortune he's given back to his city.
tipitinas.com/bands/a/art-neville
Art Neville Discography:
Meccano Ltd. Dinky No. 250. I purchased this new in the U.S. in the 1950's. Originally, it had a small bell hanging from the ladder in front of the front window. But, between the time I moved away from home and the time I retrieved this toy from my parents' house as an adult years later, that bell had gotten lost.
Although the number 250 is stamped on the base plate of this toy, no formal name for this vehicle is given there. As Supies Dad indicates in his comment below, the formal name is "streamlined fire engine". First introduced pre-WWII as Dinky No. 25h, this vehicle was reintroduced in 1948 as Dinky No. 25H, and its number changed to No. 250 in 1954.
My understanding is that the old "25" series of Dinkys, from which this toy evolved, each represented a generic vehicle (a generic fire engine, in this case), and not a specific make and model as later Dinkys did. However, I have found several photos on the web of pumper fire engines from the mid to late 1930's that look quite similar to this, and could have served as the basis for this toy. One of these photos was of a 1935 Dennis pumper operated by the London Fire Brigade; another was of a 1939 Leyland pumper used in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Bob Graham, who has been a fire engine enthusiast for many years, indicates that pumpers of this fully enclosed four-door configuration were produced for the London Fire Brigade in the mid to late 1930's by the major British fire appliance manufacturers of the time (Leyland, Dennis, and Merryweather/Albion).
The 1930's pumpers in the photos differ from this toy in that they have headlights (so conspicuously missing from the toy), and the rear axle has four wheels instead on only two, to bear the weight of the crew, equipment, pump, and perhaps ~100 gal water. But they DO all have a large bell hanging near their front window as this model once had (though, of course, the bell was NOT hanging from the ladder). Apparently, the clanging of such a bell by hand was the standard warning device for fire appliances until the late 1930s, when sirens began to become standard.
Streamlined the back design a bit, filling it out better. Body design came from from MoonWerewolfAir, who made really cool Bionicle stopmotions back in the day like 7 or 8 years ago. Their Brickshelf is still up, check it out! www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?m=MoonstalkerWerewolf
Preserved London Midland and Scottish (LMS) 'Princess Coronation Class' 4-6-2 pacific steam locomotive 6229 'Duchess of Hamilton' in 'crimson lake' streamlined livery inside The Great Hall at The National Railway Museum in York in the County of North Yorkshire (UK).
6229 was designed by Chief Mechanical Engineer of the LMS William Stanier and built at Crewe Works in September 1938.
6229 was retired from service as British Railways 46229 in February 1964.
Note the dust on top of the locomotive.
All my 6229's
www.flickr.com/photos/stuart166axe/tags/6229/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LMS_Princess_Coronation_Class_6229_...
Photograph courtesy of my regular photostream contributor David and is posted here with very kind permission.
Tram Blackpool English Electic Railcoach 680
Wikipedia description
The English Electric Railcoach cars were 45 streamlined enclosed single deck trams built by English Electric between 1933-1935. They were numbered 200-224 and 264-283. None of these remained in their original form, with 10 cars (272-281) rebuilt as towing cars for the Progress Twin Set cars in the 1950s and 1960s, 2 cars rebuilt as illuminated cars in the 1960s (209 as the Western Train Locomotive and 222 as the Hovertram), No. 264 rebuilt in 1964 with flat cab-ends and rounded corners, No. 618 (271) rebuilt in 1968 with tapered cab-ends and the last 11 surviving cars as well as Nos. 264 and 618 (220-221, 224, 264-271 and 282-283) rebuilt as the One-Man Operated (OMO) cars in the 1970s. The other 20 cars were scrapped.
English Electric Railcoach car No. 264 was rebuilt in 1964 with flat cab-ends and rounded corners, resembling the Coronation cars and the Twin Set cars. No. 264 was also given exterior plastic panelling to reduce its weight, but was returned to aluminium panelling due the plastic warping and becoming discoloured. No. 264 became No. 611 in 1968. English Electric Railcoach car No. 618 was rebuilt in 1968 with tapered cab-ends, increasing its capacity from 48 to 56. Prior to being rebuilt as the OMO cars, the last 11 cars remaining in their original form, as well as Nos. 264 and 618 (271) were renumbered in 1968: 220-221 became 608-609, 224 became 610, 264-271 became 611-618 and 282-283 became 619-620.
The former Twin Set towing cars 678–680 (278-280) were converted back to single trams with cabs at both ends. English Electric Railcoach tram No. 679 was given an all-over advert for Mecca Bingo in 1994, which featured two big fibreglass bears fitted to the roof, with one on each end. The advert and fibreglass bears were removed in 1995. The last of these in the active fleet, No. 680, was withdrawn in 2008. 678 was preserved by Fleetwood Heritage Leisure Trust in 2011. 679 was preserved by the Lancastrian Transport Trust until 2013, when it joined the retained heritage fleet in Blackpool and will eventually be restored into original condition and regain its original pre-1968 number of 279. 680 was preserved at the Heaton Park Tramway in Manchester in 2011. During December 2013, 680 was transferred to Beamish Museum for an operational loan deal and entered service there. In April 2015, No. 680 was transferred to its permanent home at Heaton Park Tramway and entered service there. In August 2015, No. 680 was transferred to Blackpool for an initial 2-year loan and was repainted into 1990s green and cream livery with black window surrounds.
SSR’s T277 to Yennora lead by B75 and 4532 notches up through Auburn after swapping GM27 with the B class in Enfield
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Options Faces = Enhance Faces
Preset Style = Streamlined
Format = 8" (Large)
Format Margin = None
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Water Bleed = Minimal
Brush = Natural Detail
Brush Focus = Everything
Brush Spacing = Wide
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These are the driving wheels of the C&O Streamlined Hudson 4-6-4 that is housed at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD. This was probably my favorite engine of the day at this place. Some people apparently call this engine ugly or unsightly, but I call it Amazing. What an amazing piece of machinery. I couldn't get over the massive size of it up close.
1960 Streamlined Austin Healey Speedweel Sprite. The car was driven by Graham Hill. In 1960 Hill drove the Speedwell Streamliner at. This looks like the paddock at Goodwood.
Is that an Evla in front?
Streamlined art deco van. This design is a slightly modified version of Flickr user snaillad's van, which you can find in his photostream. I wanted to do a different colour and add a more rounded rear - and I think I achieved the last part quite nicely. First created in MLCad, then built with real bricks.