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I am so glad to be able to launch my (facebook) page today with the celebration of the NHS. On my cycle across the Tamar today I happened to see this amazing light display being setup by Mass Affect Lighting at the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee. I took the opportunity to photograph this display of gratitude to the NHS and all our frontline workers!
Please all stay safe, stay at home and support our NHS in these trying times!
This artistic provocation seeks to estimate the orders of magnitude of critical ecosystem services fundamental to all planetary life processes. It is common to use economic metaphors, which entail specific understandings of value, to describe our relationships with society, the world, and the biosphere. Today’s prevailing economic conventions are unable to recognize the intrinsic value of the ecosystems on which all life depends. In cultures overdetermined by concepts from economics, we are left without adequate discursive instruments to socially or politically address the importance of ecosystem contribution to life on Earth. This experiment consists of 1 square meter of wheat, cultivated in a closed environment. Critical inputs such as water, light, heat, and nutrients are measured, monitored, and displayed for the public. This procedure makes palpable the immense scale of ecosystem contributions and provides a speculative reference for a reckoning of the undervalued and over exploited “work of the biosphere.”
Philipp Gartlehner of the Ars Electronica Center planted barley with the heilp of the Life Support system and after three months, the harvest was ready to be brought in. The cost for growing one square meter of barley indoors accounted for the massive amount of 430 Euro. Another reason why we really have to take care for our ecosystem.
Photo: Ars Electronica - Martin Hieslmair
Please vote for my five photos over at the NME/Nikon photo competition 2012. Thanks!
Check out the set here.
Husky is a new protected support vehicle, providing commanders with a highly mobile and flexible load carrying vehicle.
This has been designed for a range of Afghanistan missions, including transporting food, water and ammunition, and acting as a command vehicle at headquarters.
Some vehicles will be fitted out as protected ambulances.
Equipped with a machine gun, Husky will join its sister vehicles Wolfhound and Coyote as part of the £350m Tactical Support Vehicle programme.
Photographer:Andrew Linnett
Continuing the collaborative project Toy-kyo...
Our warm wishes to all the people in Japan...
Miniature Toy-kyo is doing well meanwhile.
Stay tuned for more tilt-shift digi-magic in miniature worlds!
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Photo of Tokyo (view from the Sky Deck at the top of Roppongi Hills) by Hisako R
Photo of my hand - Katrin Ray
Tilt-shift processing & photomontage by Katrin Ray
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buy original art!!!!
the cat in the centre is by judibird. i am getting some of her fabulous dots as christmas presents.... and you?
andrea the cat, amalia and some of their cat friends wish you a merry and generous holiday season!!!!
support arts and crafts!!!!
www.flickr.com/people/judibird/
from the left: andrea is a giant littlest pet shop head repainted by me on a licca body. wears shorts dynamite girls vintage vinyl, shirt blythe casual affair, boots momoko, headpiece by petronitas aka petronialocuta. in her arms is a kitten from a chelsea doll by mattel. grinning cat by judibird. amalia is a punkaholic people blythe customized my be. she wears a dress bought by this is blythe, tights coolcat, sneakers momoko. holds a cat from dynamite girls spooky sooky. far right is a littlest pet shop cat left as is.....
Racó de la Calma (Maricel) - Sitges, Barcelona (Spain).
ENGLISH
Balcony of the Palau Maricel de Mar.
That complex of buildings is located in the same place where it was the old medieval Sitges hospital. Some of the elements of that old construction as certain gothic arches still being part of the new construction.
In 1912 the millionaire Charles Deering starts with the help of Miquel Utrillo i Morlius (engineer) the construction of Maricel Palace in order to assure the conservation of his art collections. Deering bought the houses in both sides of the street and arranged the buildings sea side as his residence. That building has a tower with embattlements named Torre de Sant Miquel (Saint Michael tower), and a bridge over the street communicating both sides of palace.
The main gate of Maricel de Terra (Land section of palace) has an impressive staircase leading into the Gold Room (the main room) and through that to the Blue Room. Above that rooms are the cloister with a fantastic view on the sea.
The decorative elements of façades are in part taken from other places and in part commissioned by Deering to artists and manufacturers of Sitges or Barcelona, as Pere Jou an sculptor who make the capitals of windows.
The sea side of Maricel is today a Museum housing the art collection of Charles Deering. The land side buildings are used as an events center.
Perhaps Maricel is closer of Noucentisme that of Modernisme (Art Nouveau), but the ideas inspiring it are the same sustained by Art Nouveau artists as Rusiñol, Casas, Utrillo and others being part of Sitges group.
Source: www.gaudiallgaudi.com/AA905.htm
------------------------
CASTELLANO
Balcón del Palau Maricel de Mar.
Este complejo de edificios, está situado en el mismo lugar en que se levantaba el antiguo hospital medieval de Sitges. Algunos de los elementos de este antiguo hospital, como son algunos arcos góticos, forman parte de la construcción actual.
En el año 1912 el millonario Charles Deering empezó con la colaboración del ingeniero Miquel Utrillo i Morlius la construcción del Palacio Maricel como lugar para asegurar la conservación de sus colecciones de arte. Deering compró las casas a cada lado de la calle y arregló las del lado de mar para su residencia. Este edificio tiene una torre con almenas llamada Torre de Sant Miquel que está conectada a través de un puente con los edificios del lado de tierra.
La puerta principal del Maricel de Tierra da acceso a una escalinata monumental por la que se llega al Salón de Oro y a través de este al Salón Azul. Sobre estos salones está el claustro con magníficas vistas sobre el mar.
Los elementos decorativos de las fachadas son en parte procedentes de otros edificios anteriores derribados y en parte encargados por Deering a artistas y artesanos de Sitges y Barcelona, como Pere Jou un escultor que realizó los capiteles de las ventanas.
El Maricel de mar es actualmente un Museo que aloja la colección de arte de Charles Deering. Los edificios del lado de tierra se utilizan como centro de actividades.
Probablemente Maricel está más cerca del Noucentisme que del Modernismo, pero las ideas que lo inspiraron eran las mismas de renombrados artistas del Modernismo como Rusiñol, Casas, Utrillo y otros que formaban parte del grupo de Sitges.
Fuente: www.gaudiallgaudi.com/EA905.htm
ماذا إستفاد الكورد من الاسلام غير الخسارة …
ماذا إستفاد الكورد من الاسلام والمسلمين غير الاحتلال والتدمير والدمار …
ماذا إستفاد الكورد من الاسلام والمسلمين غير الإبادة الجماعية في الانفال و…
ماذا إستفاد الكورد من الاسلام والمسلمين غير الجهل والتخلف …
ماذا إستفاد الكورد من الاسلام والمسلمين غير نهب وسرقة ممتلكات الكورد وخيرات وموارد كوردستان منذ أكثر من ١٤٠٠ عام
Kurdish Massage through Referendum was for Democracy, Peace, Humanity, Justice, Human dignity and Freedom!
We want to achieve our goals by peacful Talks with our neighbouring countries as our president said!
سـەرۆك بـارزانــی ...
مردن هەلدەبژێرین، بەلام چۆك نادەین بۆ كەس ...
If you are serious about stopping terrorism, support the Kurdish people in their fight against it.
کوان ئەو دەوڵەتانەی دیموکراسی بە گەلان دەفرۆشنەوە؟
Where is democracy. Can't hear a single word from democratic countries about #Kurdistanblockade
#Support_Kurdistan
#ادعموا_كُوردستان
#نعم_للاستقلال #جمهورية_كوردستان
#NoFlightBanOnKurdistan
#KurdistanBlockade
دماء الشهداء تناديكم ادعموا كوردستان
دموع أمهات وزوجات وابناء الشهداء تناديكم ادعموا كوردستان
ادعموا كوردستان التي سقيت ترابها بدماء الشهداء
#Support_Kurdistan
#ادعموا_كُردستان
This is right. This is the freedom of a a nation long deserving of it. No more dictatorship..it is 2017 and we deserve to be free
"[The] ceiling and the supporting architecture was painted by Verrio and illustrates the entrance to Hell as a cat's mouth. The figurative scheme on the walls were added by Thomas Stothard (1755-1834) at the beginning of the 19th century" - info from the Burghley House mini guide.
"Burghley House is a grand sixteenth-century English country house near Stamford, Lincolnshire. It is a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, built and still lived in by the Cecil family. The exterior largely retains its Elizabethan appearance, but most of the interiors date from remodellings before 1800. The house is open to the public and displays a circuit of grand and richly furnished state apartments. Its park was laid out by Capability Brown.
The house is on the boundary of the civil parishes of Barnack and St Martin's Without in the Peterborough unitary authority of Cambridgeshire. It was formerly part of the Soke of Peterborough, an historic area that was traditionally associated with Northamptonshire. It lies 0.9 miles (1.4 km) south of Stamford and 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Peterborough city centre.
The house is now run by the Burghley House Preservation Trust, which is controlled by the Cecil family.
Burghley was built for Sir William Cecil, later 1st Baron Burghley, who was Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I of England, between 1555 and 1587, and modelled on the privy lodgings of Richmond Palace. It was subsequently the residence of his descendants, the Earls, and since 1801, the Marquesses of Exeter. Since 1961, it has been owned by a charitable trust established by the family.
Lady Victoria Leatham, antiques expert and television personality, followed her father, Olympic gold-medal winning athlete, IAAF President and MP, David Cecil, the 6th Marquess, by running the house from 1982 to 2007. The Olympic corridor commemorates her father. Her daughter, Miranda Rock, is now the most active live-in trustee. However, the Marquessate passed it in 1988 to Victoria's uncle, Martin Cecil, 7th Marquess of Exeter, and then to his son, William Michael Anthony Cecil, both Canadian ranchers on land originally bought by the 5th Marquess, who have not lived at Burghley.
The house is one of the main examples of stonemasonry and proportion in sixteenth-century English Elizabethan architecture, reflecting the prominence of its founder, and the lucrative wool trade of the Cecil estates. It has a suite of rooms remodelled in the baroque style, with carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The main part of the house has 35 major rooms, on the ground and first floors. There are more than 80 lesser rooms and numerous halls, corridors, bathrooms, and service areas.
In the seventeenth century, the open loggias around the ground floor were enclosed. Although the house was built in the floor plan shape of the Letter E, in honour of Queen Elizabeth, it is now missing its north-west wing. During the period of the 9th Earl's ownership, and under the guidance of the famous landscape architect, Capability Brown, the south front was raised to alter the roof line, and the north-west wing was demolished to allow better views of the new parkland. A chimney-piece after the design of Venetian printmaker Giovanni Battista Piranesi was also added during his tenure.
The so-called "Hell Staircase" and its neighbour "The Heaven Room" has substantial ceiling paintings by Antonio Verrio, between 1697 and 1699. The walls to the "Hell Staircase" are by Thomas Stothard, who completed the work about a century later. The Bow Room is decorated with wall and ceiling paintings by Louis Laguerre." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
Might have to go back to work soon, so I'm enjoying all the time I have in my Leggs Sheer Energy Active Support
Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Thomas Vermaelen and Aaron Ramsey at the Annual Arsenal Ball in aid of Centrepoint and the Arsenal Charitable Trust, Emirates Stadium, Thursday 19 May
This looks like a serial killer's basement to me. I'm happy to report it's a scene from a coal mine (under filtration).
DARIEN, Ga., October 9, 2016 – Georgia Army National Guard 1st Lt. Alexander Lemmings, a platoon leader with Troop A, 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry assists McIntosh County Fire Department personnel during Hurricane Matthew response operations, Troop A and B have worked to clear roads and facilitate the return of citizens to McIntosh county following Hurricane Matthew. Georgia National Guard photo by Sgt. Shye Stallings
Buying Girl Scout cookies helps support a fine organization, and in today's mad world, it can also be a political act. WTF? Because GSA believes in diversity (including LGBT), a Right Wing Nut Job excuse for a bishop in St. Louis has asked his parishes to dump sponsorship of the Girl Scouts. I hope Pope Francis removes him for lack of Christian charity and setting a poor example.
The last time I tried their famous chocolate mints and peanut butter sandwich cookies, they weren't as good as past versions. However; their shortbread cookies shown here are still good, and I've gotten some on each of my last three grocery shopping trips. Many stores like HEB and Kroger allow the Girl Scouts to set up their cookie displays outside in front of the store or inside the entrance. The stores won't lose any business but will gain community goodwill. except among the Right Wing Nut Jobs. It takes a really mean-spirited person to hate the Girl Scouts. Of course, some of them are running for President / Fuehrer.
The girls selling them weren't all Anglo either. There was a nice diverse mix of girls including several of their mothers wearing clothes from several Asian countries. That means today's assortment of Girl Scouts will be tomorrow's American women doing all kinds of things, especially filling leadership roles. If there are enough Girl Scouts, our country will be in good hands.
Survivors and supporters of those battling breast cancer gathered in Madison for the More Than Pink event.
As I mentioned, I ran my Suntan Leggs and had to toss them out, so today I get to wear a fresh never before worn pair Leggs Sheer Energy Active Support Pantyhose.
I wasn't able to race The Bec this year due to illness, so I went along to support and photograph one of Britain's best know cycle events. What an amazing event for riders and spectators alike. Many of these riders would have ridden the 'double header', and raced at the Catford climb in the morning.
Back on station for break...
Saw the Incident Support Unit parked up..
Getting ready for the Coronavirus I guess..
Lots of emails, notices and equipment arriving on our stations in past few days..
www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-f...
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronavirus
I work for Yorkshire Ambulance Service in and around the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire.
It’s a great job and I feel very honoured to be able to help people at their point of need.
Check out the website for all sorts of info re YAS and the work we do.
+++ 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 OV-10 Bronco was initially conceived in the early 1960s through an informal collaboration between W. H. Beckett and Colonel K. P. Rice, U.S. Marine Corps, who met at Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, and who also happened to live near each other. The original concept was for a rugged, simple, close air support aircraft integrated with forward ground operations. At the time, the U.S. Army was still experimenting with armed helicopters, and the U.S. Air Force was not interested in close air support.
The concept aircraft was to operate from expedient forward air bases using roads as runways. Speed was to be from very slow to medium subsonic, with much longer loiter times than a pure jet. Efficient turboprop engines would give better performance than piston engines. Weapons were to be mounted on the centerline to get efficient aiming. The inventors favored strafing weapons such as self-loading recoilless rifles, which could deliver aimed explosive shells with less recoil than cannons, and a lower per-round weight than rockets. The airframe was to be designed to avoid the back blast.
Beckett and Rice developed a basic platform meeting these requirements, then attempted to build a fiberglass prototype in a garage. The effort produced enthusiastic supporters and an informal pamphlet describing the concept. W. H. Beckett, who had retired from the Marine Corps, went to work at North American Aviation to sell the aircraft.
The aircraft's design supported effective operations from forward bases. The OV-10 had a central nacelle containing a crew of two in tandem and space for cargo, and twin booms containing twin turboprop engines. The visually distinctive feature of the aircraft is the combination of the twin booms, with the horizontal stabilizer that connected them at the fin tips. The OV-10 could perform short takeoffs and landings, including on aircraft carriers and large-deck amphibious assault ships without using catapults or arresting wires. Further, the OV-10 was designed to take off and land on unimproved sites. Repairs could be made with ordinary tools. No ground equipment was required to start the engines. And, if necessary, the engines would operate on high-octane automobile fuel with only a slight loss of power.
The aircraft had responsive handling and could fly for up to 5½ hours with external fuel tanks. The cockpit had extremely good visibility for both pilot and co-pilot, provided by a wrap-around "greenhouse" that was wider than the fuselage. North American Rockwell custom ejection seats were standard, with many successful ejections during service. With the second seat removed, the OV-10 could carry 3,200 pounds (1,500 kg) of cargo, five paratroopers, or two litter patients and an attendant. Empty weight was 6,969 pounds (3,161 kg). Normal operating fueled weight with two crew was 9,908 pounds (4,494 kg). Maximum takeoff weight was 14,446 pounds (6,553 kg).
The bottom of the fuselage bore sponsons or "stub wings" that improved flight performance by decreasing aerodynamic drag underneath the fuselage. Normally, four 7.62 mm (.308 in) M60C machine guns were carried on the sponsons, accessed through large forward-opening hatches. The sponsons also had four racks to carry bombs, pods, or fuel. The wings outboard of the engines contained two additional hardpoints, one per side. Racked armament in the Vietnam War was usually seven-shot 2.75 in (70 mm) rocket pods with white phosphorus marker rounds or high-explosive rockets, or 5" (127 mm) four-shot Zuni rocket pods. Bombs, ADSIDS air-delivered/para-dropped unattended seismic sensors, Mk-6 battlefield illumination flares, and other stores were also carried.
Operational experience showed some weaknesses in the OV-10's design. It was significantly underpowered, which contributed to crashes in Vietnam in sloping terrain because the pilots could not climb fast enough. While specifications stated that the aircraft could reach 26,000 feet (7,900 m), in Vietnam the aircraft could reach only 18,000 feet (5,500 m). Also, no OV-10 pilot survived ditching the aircraft.
The OV-10 served in the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Navy, as well as in the service of a number of other countries. In U.S. military service, the Bronco was operated until the early Nineties, and obsoleted USAF OV-10s were passed on to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms for anti-drug operations. A number of OV-10As furthermore ended up in the hands of the California Department of Forestry (CDF) and were used for spotting fires and directing fire bombers onto hot spots.
This was not the end of the OV-10 in American military service, though: In 2012, the type gained new attention because of its unique qualities. A $20 million budget was allocated to activate an experimental USAF unit of two airworthy OV-10Gs, acquired from NASA and the State Department. These machines were retrofitted with military equipment and were, starting in May 2015, deployed overseas to support Operation “Inherent Resolve”, flying more than 120 combat sorties over 82 days over Iraq and Syria. Their concrete missions remained unclear, and it is speculated they provided close air support for Special Forces missions, esp. in confined urban environments where the Broncos’ loitering time and high agility at low speed and altitude made them highly effective and less vulnerable than helicopters.
Furthermore, these Broncos reputedly performed strikes with the experimental AGR-20A “Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS)”, a Hydra 70-millimeter rocket with a laser-seeking head as guidance - developed for precision strikes against small urban targets with little collateral damage. The experiment ended satisfactorily, but the machines were retired again, and the small unit was dissolved.
However, the machines had shown their worth in asymmetric warfare, and the U.S. Air Force decided to invest in reactivating the OV-10 on a regular basis, despite the overhead cost of operating an additional aircraft type in relatively small numbers – but development and production of a similar new type would have caused much higher costs, with an uncertain time until an operational aircraft would be ready for service. Re-activating a proven design and updating an existing airframe appeared more efficient.
The result became the MV-10H, suitably christened “Super Bronco” but also known as “Black Pony”, after the program's internal name. This aircraft was derived from the official OV-10X proposal by Boeing from 2009 for the USAF's Light Attack/Armed Reconnaissance requirement. Initially, Boeing proposed to re-start OV-10 manufacture, but this was deemed uneconomical, due to the expected small production number of new serial aircraft, so the “Black Pony” program became a modernization project. In consequence, all airframes for the "new" MV-10Hs were recovered OV-10s of various types from the "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.
While the revamped aircraft would maintain much of its 1960s-vintage rugged external design, modernizations included a completely new, armored central fuselage with a highly modified cockpit section, ejection seats and a computerized glass cockpit. The “Black Pony” OV-10 had full dual controls, so that either crewmen could steer the aircraft while the other operated sensors and/or weapons. This feature would also improve survivability in case of incapacitation of a crew member as the result from a hit.
The cockpit armor protected the crew and many vital systems from 23mm shells and shrapnel (e. g. from MANPADS). The crew still sat in tandem under a common, generously glazed canopy with flat, bulletproof panels for reduced sun reflections, with the pilot in the front seat and an observer/WSO behind. The Bronco’s original cargo capacity and the rear door were retained, even though the extra armor and defensive measures like chaff/flare dispensers as well as an additional fuel cell in the central fuselage limited the capacity. However, it was still possible to carry and deploy personnel, e. g. small special ops teams of up to four when the aircraft flew in clean configuration.
Additional updates for the MV-10H included structural reinforcements for a higher AUW and higher g load maneuvers, similar to OV-10D+ standards. The landing gear was also reinforced, and the aircraft kept its ability to operate from short, improvised airstrips. A fixed refueling probe was added to improve range and loiter time.
Intelligence sensors and smart weapon capabilities included a FLIR sensor and a laser range finder/target designator, both mounted in a small turret on the aircraft’s nose. The MV-10H was also outfitted with a data link and the ability to carry an integrated targeting pod such as the Northrop Grumman LITENING or the Lockheed Martin Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP). Also included was the Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver (ROVER) to provide live sensor data and video recordings to personnel on the ground.
To improve overall performance and to better cope with the higher empty weight of the modified aircraft as well as with operations under hot-and-high conditions, the engines were beefed up. The new General Electric CT7-9D turboprop engines improved the Bronco's performance considerably: top speed increased by 100 mph (160 km/h), the climb rate was tripled (a weak point of early OV-10s despite the type’s good STOL capability) and both take-off as well as landing run were almost halved. The new engines called for longer nacelles, and their circular diameter markedly differed from the former Garrett T76-G-420/421 turboprop engines. To better exploit the additional power and reduce the aircraft’s audio signature, reversible contraprops, each with eight fiberglass blades, were fitted. These allowed a reduced number of revolutions per minute, resulting in less noise from the blades and their tips, while the engine responsiveness was greatly improved. The CT7-9Ds’ exhausts were fitted with muzzlers/air mixers to further reduce the aircraft's noise and heat signature.
Another novel and striking feature was the addition of so-called “tip sails” to the wings: each wingtip was elongated with a small, cigar-shaped fairing, each carrying three staggered, small “feather blade” winglets. Reputedly, this installation contributed ~10% to the higher climb rate and improved lift/drag ratio by ~6%, improving range and loiter time, too.
Drawing from the Iraq experience as well as from the USMC’s NOGS test program with a converted OV-10D as a night/all-weather gunship/reconnaissance platform, the MV-10H received a heavier gun armament: the original four light machine guns that were only good for strafing unarmored targets were deleted and their space in the sponsons replaced by avionics. Instead, the aircraft was outfitted with a lightweight M197 three-barrel 20mm gatling gun in a chin turret. This could be fixed in a forward position at high speed or when carrying forward-firing ordnance under the stub wings, or it could be deployed to cover a wide field of fire under the aircraft when it was flying slower, being either slaved to the FLIR or to a helmet sighting auto targeting system.
The original seven hardpoints were retained (1x ventral, 2x under each sponson, and another pair under the outer wings), but the total ordnance load was slightly increased and an additional pair of launch rails for AIM-9 Sidewinders or other light AAMs under the wing tips were added – not only as a defensive measure, but also with an anti-helicopter role in mind; four more Sidewinders could be carried on twin launchers under the outer wings against aerial targets. Other guided weapons cleared for the MV-10H were the light laser-guided AGR-20A and AGM-119 Hellfire missiles, the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System upgrade to the light Hydra 70 rockets, the new Laser Guided Zuni Rocket which had been cleared for service in 2010, TV-/IR-/laser-guided AGM-65 Maverick AGMs and AGM-122 Sidearm anti-radar missiles, plus a wide range of gun and missile pods, iron and cluster bombs, as well as ECM and flare/chaff pods, which were not only carried defensively, but also in order to disrupt enemy ground communication.
In this configuration, a contract for the conversion of twelve mothballed American Broncos to the new MV-10H standard was signed with Boeing in 2016, and the first MV-10H was handed over to the USAF in early 2018, with further deliveries lasting into early 2020. All machines were allocated to the newly founded 919th Special Operations Support Squadron at Duke Field (Florida). This unit was part of the 919th Special Operations Wing, an Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the United States Air Force. It was assigned to the Tenth Air Force of Air Force Reserve Command and an associate unit of the 1st Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). If mobilized the wing was gained by AFSOC (Air Force Special Operations Command) to support Special Tactics, the U.S. Air Force's special operations ground force. Similar in ability and employment to Marine Special Operations Command (MARSOC), U.S. Army Special Forces and U.S. Navy SEALs, Air Force Special Tactics personnel were typically the first to enter combat and often found themselves deep behind enemy lines in demanding, austere conditions, usually with little or no support.
The MV-10Hs are expected to provide support for these ground units in the form of all-weather reconnaissance and observation, close air support and also forward air control duties for supporting ground units. Precision ground strikes and protection from enemy helicopters and low-flying aircraft were other, secondary missions for the modernized Broncos, which are expected to serve well into the 2040s. Exports or conversions of foreign OV-10s to the Black Pony standard are not planned, though.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2
Length: 42 ft 2½ in (12,88 m) incl. pitot
Wingspan: 45 ft 10½ in(14 m) incl. tip sails
Height: 15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Wing area: 290.95 sq ft (27.03 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 64A315
Empty weight: 9,090 lb (4,127 kg)
Gross weight: 13,068 lb (5,931 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 17,318 lb (7,862 kg)
Powerplant:
2× General Electric CT7-9D turboprop engines, 1,305 kW (1,750 hp) each,
driving 8-bladed Hamilton Standard 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) diameter constant-speed,
fully feathering, reversible contra-rotating propellers with metal hub and composite blades
Performance:
Maximum speed: 390 mph (340 kn, 625 km/h)
Combat range: 198 nmi (228 mi, 367 km)
Ferry range: 1,200 nmi (1,400 mi, 2,200 km) with auxiliary fuel
Maximum loiter time: 5.5 h with auxiliary fuel
Service ceiling: 32.750 ft (10,000 m)
13,500 ft (4.210 m) on one engine
Rate of climb: 17.400 ft/min (48 m/s) at sea level
Take-off run: 480 ft (150 m)
740 ft (227 m) to 50 ft (15 m)
1,870 ft (570 m) to 50 ft (15 m) at MTOW
Landing run: 490 ft (150 m)
785 ft (240 m) at MTOW
1,015 ft (310 m) from 50 ft (15 m)
Armament:
1x M197 3-barreled 20 mm Gatling cannon in a chin turret with 750 rounds ammo capacity
7x hardpoints for a total load of 5.000 lb (2,270 kg)
2x wingtip launch rails for AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs
The kit and its assembly:
This fictional Bronco update/conversion was simply spawned by the idea: could it be possible to replace the original cockpit section with one from an AH-1 Cobra, for a kind of gunship version?
The basis is the Academy OV-10D kit, mated with the cockpit section from a Fujimi AH-1S TOW Cobra (Revell re-boxing, though), chosen because of its “boxy” cockpit section with flat glass panels – I think that it conveys the idea of an armored cockpit section best. Combining these parts was not easy, though, even though the plan sound simple. Initially, the Bronco’s twin booms, wings and stabilizer were built separately, because this made PSR on these sections easier than trying the same on a completed airframe. One of the initial challenges: the different engines. I wanted something uprated, and a different look, and I had a pair of (excellent!) 1:144 resin engines from the Russian company Kompakt Zip for a Tu-95 bomber at hand, which come together with movable(!) eight-blade contraprops that were an almost perfect size match for the original three-blade props. Biggest problem: the Tu-95 nacelles have a perfectly circular diameter, while the OV-10’s booms are square and rectangular. Combining these parts and shapes was already a messy PST affair, but it worked out quite well – even though the result rather reminds of some Chinese upgrade measure (anyone know the Tu-4 copies with turboprops? This here looks similar!). But while not pretty, I think that the beafier look works well and adds to the idea of a “revived” aircraft. And you can hardly beat the menacing look of contraprops on anything...
The exotic, so-called “tip sails” on the wings, mounted on short booms, are a detail borrowed from the Shijiazhuang Y-5B-100, an updated Chinese variant/copy of the Antonov An-2 biplane transporter. The booms are simple pieces of sprue from the Bronco kit, the winglets were cut from 0.5mm styrene sheet.
For the cockpit donor, the AH-1’s front section was roughly built, including the engine section (which is a separate module, so that the basic kit can be sold with different engine sections), and then the helicopter hull was cut and trimmed down to match the original Bronco pod and to fit under the wing. This became more complicated than expected, because a) the AH-1 cockpit and the nose are considerably shorter than the OV-10s, b) the AH-1 fuselage is markedly taller than the Bronco’s and c) the engine section, which would end up in the area of the wing, features major recesses, making the surface very uneven – calling for massive PSR to even this out. PSR was also necessary to hide the openings for the Fujimi AH-1’s stub wings. Other issues: the front landing gear (and its well) had to be added, as well as the OV-10 wing stubs. Furthermore, the new cockpit pod’s rear section needed an aerodynamical end/fairing, but I found a leftover Academy OV-10 section from a build/kitbashing many moons ago. Perfect match!
All these challenges could be tackled, even though the AH-1 cockpit looks surprisingly stout and massive on the Bronco’s airframe - the result looks stockier than expected, but it works well for the "Gunship" theme. Lots of PSR went into the new central fuselage section, though, even before it was mated with the OV-10 wing and the rest of the model.
Once cockpit and wing were finally mated, the seams had to disappear under even more PSR and a spinal extension of the canopy had to be sculpted across the upper wing surface, which would meld with the pod’s tail in a (more or less) harmonious shape. Not an easy task, and the fairing was eventually sculpted with 2C putty, plus even more PSR… Looks quite homogenous, though.
After this massive body work, other hardware challenges appeared like small distractions. The landing gear was another major issue because the deeper AH-1 section lowered the ground clearance, also because of the chin turret. To counter this, I raised the OV-10’s main landing gear by ~2mm – not much, but it was enough to create a credible stance, together with the front landing gear transplant under the cockpit, which received an internal console to match the main landing gear’s length. Due to the chin turret and the shorter nose, the front wheel retracts backwards now. But this looks quite plausible, thanks to the additional space under the cockpit tub, which also made a belt feed for the gun’s ammunition supply believable.
To enhance the menacing look I gave the model a fixed refueling boom, made from 1mm steel wire and a receptor adapter sculpted with white glue. The latter stuff was also used add some antenna fairings around the hull. Some antennae, chaff dispensers and an IR decoy were taken from the Academy kit.
The ordnance came from various sources. The Sidewinders under the wing tips were taken from an Italeri F-16C/D kit, they look better than the missiles from the Academy Bronco kit. Their launch rails came from an Italeri Bae Hawk 200. The quadruple Hellfire launchers on the underwing hardpoints were left over from an Italeri AH-1W, and they are a perfect load for this aircraft and its role. The LAU-10 and -19 missile pods on the stub wings were taken from the OV-10 kit.
Painting and markings:
Finding a suitable and somewhat interesting – but still plausible – paint scheme was not easy. Taking the A-10 as benchmark, an overall light grey livery (with focus on low contrast against the sky as protection against ground fire) would have been a likely choice – and in fact the last operational American OV-10s were painted in this fashion. But in order to provide a different look I used the contemporary USAF V-22Bs and Special Operations MC-130s as benchmark, which typically carry a darker paint scheme consisting of FS 36118 (suitably “Gunship Gray” :D) from above, FS 36375 underneath, with a low, wavy waterline, plus low-viz markings. Not spectacular, but plausible – and very similar to the late r/w Colombian OV-10s.
The cockpit tub became Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231, Humbrol 140) and the landing gear white (Revell 301).
The model received an overall black ink washing and some post-panel-shading, to liven up the dull all-grey livery. The decals were gathered from various sources, and I settled for black USAF low-viz markings. The “stars and bars” come from a late USAF F-4, the “IP” tail code was tailored from F-16 markings and the shark mouth was taken from an Academy AH-64. Most stencils came from another Academy OV-10 sheet and some other sources.
Decals were also used to create the trim on the propeller blades and markings on the ordnance.
Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and some exhaust soot stains were added with graphite along the tail boom flanks.
A successful transplantation – but is this still a modified Bronco or already a kitbashing? The result looks quite plausible and menacing, even though the TOW Cobra front section appears relatively massive. But thanks to the bigger engines and extended wing tips the proportions still work. The large low-pressure tires look a bit goofy under the aircraft, but they are original. The grey livery works IMHO well, too – a more colorful or garish scheme would certainly have distracted from the modified technical basis.
Vessel BIBBY POLARIS (IMO: 9187526, MMSI: 232585000) is an offshore support vessel built in 1998 and currently sailing under the flag of United Kingdom. BIBBY POLARIS has 114m length overall and beam of 22m. Her gross tonnage is 8234 tons
GENERAL
Built May 1998
Flag British
Class Det Norske Veritas
+1A1 , EO,DSVIII / DSVI, SF, Dynpos AUTRO,
ERN (99,99,98), HELDK, (DK+)
Description Diving Support Vessel
Compliance with MODU Code and MOU Regulations
GMDSS Area A3
Official No. 901941
Call Sign M Y K R 6
IMO No. 918 7526
MMSI No. 232 585 000
DnV No. 20600
Selcall No. 47425
Gross Tonnage 8234
Nett Tonnage 2471
Deadweight (Summer) about 5,500 tonnes
DIMENSIONS
Length OA 113.57 m
Length BP 107.35 m
Breadth Mld. 22.00 m
Depth Mld. 9.50 m
Draught (Summer) 6.75 m
PERFORMANCE / CONSUMPTION
Service Speed 11.00kt.
CARGO AREAS
Working Deck Dims. 35 m x 21 m (abt.)
Working Deck Area 700 m² (abt.)
Deck Strength 5 tonnes / m²
Deck Load 1,500 tonnes (abt.)
One Carousel installed below aft deck
TANK CAPACITIES
Fuel Oil 1,300 m3 (abt.)
Potable Water 460 m3 (abt.)
STABILISATION
Intering Active Roll Reduction System (1 x tank)
ACCOMMODATION
Wheelhouse and accommodation fully air conditioned.
Total Berths 104
Hospital 1 Berth
Gymnasium Yes
Charterer’s spaces including Suites, Operations areas and Survey / Work Type areas.
HELIDECK
Load Capability Cleaned for EC225 (11.0t)
D Value 19.5 m
Heli-reception and full emergency equipment.
Ein Kampfflugzeug vom Typ Tornado beim Abwurf von Luft-Bodenflugkörpern MATRA mit Fallschirmbremsung während einer Close Air Support-Übung mit Fliegerleittrupps (Joint Terminal Attack Controller, JTAC) auf dem Truppenübungsplatz in Munster, am 05.05.2015.
©Bundeswehr/Jana Neumann
During home visits relatives/home caregivers are provided with information by TASO trained community Volunteer nurses or TASO staff. The AIDS Community workers (ACWs) also trained by TASO offer support to home-caregivers by providing simple nursing care and first aid and referrals to bedridden clients.
SSee the whole photo-set about TASO (The Aids Support Organisation).
www.flickr.com/photos/christianbobst/sets/72157622752927870/
For more information about this MOC, or if you want this made into an official LEGO set, click here to go to LEGO Ideas and support this project. It's free!
This Invader Zim LEGO set was designed by me and my wife. My inspiration for this set was the dome from the TMNT Kraang Lab Escape set and of course the Invader Zim show. I knew the dome would be perfect for the Voot. After a lot of trial and error, I was finally happy with the Voot and decided to make the house as well. I didn't have the pieces to build the house in real life, so I used LDD to build it. I rebuilt both the house and Voot in LeoCAD and MLCAD to get the custom coloring. Due to the custom coloring, I was unable to render this project in POVray. These renders are screenshots from LDVIEW. My wife designed the printed pieces and minifigures. She also edited the renders to include the custom printed pieces, minifigures and backgrounds.
© All Rights Reserved. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my prior permission.
Government introduced a motion in support of the Trans Pacific Partnership, and the wealth, jobs, and opportunity it will create for British Columbians.
news.gov.bc.ca/factsheets/factsheet-trans-pacific-partner...