technological photos on Flickr

GEM Trailblazer Summer in Singapore’s NTU by Emilie F. Yaakaar

Singapore City Tour:

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Technological University Dublin, Tallaght, 03/10/2024.

"Air Corps 112" lifting off for the short trip across to Baldonnel, it had arrived from Co. Tipperary on an air ambulance mission.

My Heart Stood Still by 10 mm

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I took one look at you, that's all I meant to do

And then my heart stood still,

My feet could step and walk, my lips could move and talk

And yet my heart stood still.

Though not a single word was spoken, I could tell you knew

That unfelt clasp of hands told me so well you knew

I never lived at all until the thrill of that moment

When my heart stood still.

1:72 Saab J 23B; 'Vit Adam’ ('White A', s/n 2323), Swedish Air Force Upplands Flygflöttilj 16, Air Staff Flight; Uppsala (Eastern Sweden); summer 1947 (Whif/Kit bashing) by Dizzyfugu

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+++ DISCLAIMER +++

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

Some background:

In March 1941 Saab was given the task to design a better fighter than the Seversky Republic P-35s and Reggiane 2000s, at that time the only fighter aircraft Sweden was able or allowed to buy and the air force’s most modern fighters. Several other foreign designs, including the German Bf 109 or even the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero had also been considered.

Anyway, during the ongoing war the procurement of foreign equipment had no predictable future, and so a program for an indigenous fighter aircraft was launched the same year. This resulted in two different designs, which were both initially constructed around an imported German DB 603 engine – a deal which had become possible through the allowance of German transport flights to Norway over Swedish territory, a reason why no Allied equipment was sold to Sweden.

The resulting designs, the L-21 and L-23, differed considerably from each other. The Saab L-21 was a futuristic twin-boom pusher. This unconventional layout was a technological risk, with ejection seat and all, but it was expected to exploit the DB603 engine to the max, with a low-drag airframe (e .g. with a totally buried radiator installation inside of the inner wings) and a well-balanced center of gravity, which was expected to improve handling and turn radius. It was the favored design of Saab’s engineers.

As a fall-back option, though, the L-23 was added. It was a more conservative design with the same DB 603 engine, but with the engine in the classic nose position, a tunnel radiator under the rear fuselage, low tapered wings and a conventional tail. The overall outline resembled the P-51B/C Mustang. Most interestingly, the J 23 was to have a Bofors ejection seat, too, despite its conventional layout.

In December 1941 both designs were approved for prototypes, so that a direct comparison of both layouts could be made. The first of three J 21 prototypes flew on 30 July 1943, while the first three J 23 fighters followed on 10 August, just two weeks later.

Flight tests and evaluation continued until mid-1944 and, despite less weight and size, the J 23 turned out to be fast (Max. speed 626 km/h (388 mph) with the DB 603), but considerably less maneuverable than the J 21, which in itself was also not a perfect aircraft and frequently faced overheating problems.

Faced with two mediocre designs and an urgent need for a modern fighter, it was eventually decided to go ahead with the J 21 for serial production, but a pre-production batch of upgraded J 23 was also ordered for field tests and further development. In the meantime, Sweden had acquired rights to produce the DB 605 in license, and the new fighter was to be adapted to this more modern and powerful engine – it was hoped that the new engine would improve the J 23’s performance, and it was also fitted to the production J 21.

This re-engined variant was the J 23A, of which twelve aircraft were constructed at the main plant in Trollhättan and delivered from August 1945, too late to be involved in typical interception duties at the Swedish borders.
Deliveries of the favored J 21 started in December of the same year. The latter’s field performance turned out to be unsuited for the interceptor role, and the cooling problems persisted. Relegated mainly into the bomber and CAS role (the J 21 turned out to be a passable ground attack aircraft and a stable gun platform), the limitation of the J 21’s pusher design led to a revival of the front-engine J 23.

The resulting J 23B became the aircraft’s actual production variant, incorporating many improvements which had been developed and tested on the prototypes and the pre-production J 23As. These included aerodynamic modifications like a different airfoil on the outer wings and a lowered horizontal stabilizer, coupled with an extended rear fuselage for better directional stability and a slimmed-down radiator fairing for less drag. These machines were delivered from late 1946 on, and a total of forty-six J 23B airframes were produced until early 1948.

In service, the lighter J 23Bs proved to be a better interceptor than the J 21, with a higher top speed and rate of climb, but its handling was less responsive than the pusher aircraft with the same engine and armament.

Overall the J 23B was regarded as inferior to the very similar J 26 (the P-51D) in almost any respect, and the J 23B was never really popular with its flight or ground crews. Consequently, the J 23Bs active fighter career was short and the machines were only operated by the F 16 fighter wing and the F 20 Air Force Academy, both based at Uppsala Airfield, primarily used for advanced weapon and air combat training.

A new evaluation of the J 21 and the J 23 in 1947 led to the decision to retain the J 21 series but to consider the modification of the airframe to accommodate a jet engine. While production line J 21A series aircraft were first selected for conversion, the initial piston-engine version continued in production in five series "batches" that were completed in 1948–49.

Further J 23B production was not resumed, instead the J 26 and J 27 were procured. Anyway, the age of the piston-engine fighter came soon to a close and the Swedish Air Force entered the jet age. Consequently, the J 23B was already phased out, together with the J 21, after 1954.

General characteristics:

Crew: one

Length: 9.58 m (31 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 11.3 m (37 ft 8 in)

Height: 3.96 (13 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 20.00 m² (215.28 ft²)

Empty weight: 2,535 kg (5,583 lb)

Loaded weight: 3,445 kg (7,588 lb)

Max. take-off weight: 3,663 kg (8,068 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Daimler-Benz liquid-cooled, supercharged, 60° inverted V12 DB 605B engine,

rated at 1,085 kW (1,455 hp / 1,475 PS) and license-built by SFA.

Performance:

Maximum speed: 680 km/h (367 knots, 422 mph)

Cruise speed: 495 km/h (265 knots, 308 mph)

Range: 750 km (466 mi)

Service ceiling: 11,200 m (36,685 ft)

Rate of climb: 17 m/s (3,340 ft/min)

Armament:

1× engine-mounted 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 or Bofors cannon,

firing through the propeller hub

4× 13 mm Bofors-built Colt machine guns in the outer wings nose

Underwing hardpoints for various bombs, drop tanks and unguided rockets

The kit and its assembly:

The “Swedish Season” continues! The Saab 23 is another “phantom of the past”, a real world design that never left the drawing board. The J 23 actually started as an alternative to the J 21, but was discarded in late 1941 in favor of the more promising, yet bigger and heavier, pusher design. But that would not stop modelers from trying to build one, even though I have never seen a model of this aircraft? Having recently tried to build a Saab 27 fighter caught me in the right mood for another whiffy Swedish design, so I took a chance on the J 23, too.

At first glance you can mistake the J 23 for a P-51B with an engine from a late Bf 109, some sources describe it as “a Swedish Messerschmitt”. But that’s only superficial, much like the later Griffon-powered J 27 project which can be described as a “Super Spitfire”, but this does not do justice to the aircraft’s construction.

Both were independent developments, even though the P-51 (some early specimen were forced to land in Sweden and closely examined) certainly had a massive impact on both designs.

Anyway, the information basis surrounding the J 23 is worse than the J 27’s, and I only had rather vague profile drawings/sketches at hand for reference. A basis model was also hard to find: the rear section from a P-51B (in this case an Intech kit from Poland) was settled, since the Mustang’s cockpit shape, dorsal section and fin come really close to the J 23. But you cannot simply mate a P-51 with a Bf 109 nose, it would result in a rather wacky Mustang-thing because the proportions are not right.

Finding a good solution was not easy, and I was lucky to find a Hasegawa Ki-61 in the stash – it has a German engine (an earlier DB 601, though) and an overall layout similar to the P-51B. But the Ki-61 is considerably larger than a Bf 109, more in the P-51’s size class. Despite many detail modifications I decided to mate these unlikely aircraft for the J 23s basis – engraved panel lines on both kits made the combination less obvious, too.

The InTech P-51B gave its tail and the cockpit section (excluding the radiator tunnel and the wing roots), cut away from the rest of the Mustang fuselage with a Z-shaped cut. With a matching cut on the Ki-61’s fuselage, the engine and the whole wing/fuselage intersection were used. Styrene strips held the fuselage sections in place, on the outside the seams were later blended with nitrous compound putty. One benefit of this solution is that the OOB P-51 canopy could be used (even though the rear end fit necessitated some body work), and the resulting cockpit position was just as far forward as on the J 23, right above the wings. As a consequence the rear fuselage behind the cockpit appears to be rather long, but that is AFAIK correct, the J 23 had these slightly odd proportions!

For the J 23’s DB 605 engine a different, bigger spinner had to be mounted – scratched from a massive PZL 23 spinner and single blades (from the Hasegawa Ki-61), together with a metal axis and a styrene tube adapter inside of the nose. Some putty work was necessary to fair over the Ki-61 guns on the cowling, the typical DB 601 front bulge and blend the bigger, new spinner to the rest of the fuselage, but the result looks O.K.

The Ki-61’s original wings and landing gear could, thanks to the original fuselage section from the Hasegawa kit, be carried over and easily mounted, even though the wing tips were clipped for a square, Mustang-esque shape (the J 23’s look in all illustrations I’ve seen like upscaled Bf 109E wings).

The InTech P-51’s horizontal stabilizers were used, but for a J 23 they had to be placed in a different position: further back (so that wedges for the vertical rudder had to be cut out) and considerably lower, necessitating some (more) body work to hide the original attachment points. The new position adds to the impression of an extended fuselage section behind the cockpit, even though the P-51 donor fuselage section is only a little longer than the Ki-61’s. All tail surface outlines were slightly modified, too.

The J 23’s typical, shallow radiator tunnel had to be scratched, the semi-buried construction sits far behind the wings’ training edge. In an initial step, the removed Ki-61 radiator’s gap as well as the P-51 tail wheel well were faired over with styrene sheet and new intake/outlet ramps integrated into the lower rear fuselage. The tunnel itself is the narrow, aerodynamic fairing of a Boulton Paul Defiant’s machine guns behind the turret (raised when not in use), left over from a Pavla kit, opened at both ends.

As a consequence of the new and long radiator tunnel, the P-51 tail wheel well was moved about 5mm further back and the fuselage profile under the tail fin re-shaped.

One of the final steps was the cockpit interior, because I was not sure concerning the relative position of the P-51’s canopy (cut into three pieces for open display) and dashboard and the Ki-61’s cockpit floor panel and seat. But both turned out to match relatively well, and I added a tank and radio dummy behind the seat in order to prevent a clear view into the rear fuselage.

The landing gear was taken OOB from the Ki-61 – it looks similar to the real J 23 arrangement, so I stuck with it. The tail wheel comes from the InTech P-51, just the covers were scratched for the re-located well.

All gun barrels on spinner and wings are hollow steel needles, no ordnance was hung under the wings, even though the Ki-61 hardpoints were retained. After all, it’s a fighter aircraft.

Painting and markings:

Once more a classic, if not conservative, livery for a fictional aircraft – and in this case I chose the simple olivgrön/ljust blågrå camouflage of the late Fourties, coupled with contemporary color-coded letters identifying the individual aircraft and its squadron within the Flygflöttilj group.

The uniform upper surfaces were painted with RAF Dark Green (Humbrol 163). This tone has an olive drab touch and comes IMHO pretty close to the original Swedish color, the frequently recommended FS 34079 is IMHO too blue-ish. For the underside I used Humbrol 87 (Steel Gray), which is a blue-greenish gray. The authentic tone would be FS 36270, but on a model it appears much too dark, so that the lighter Steel Gray is a handy and individual alternative.

A light black ink was applied in order to emphasize the panel lines, some more depth was added through dry-painted panels with lighter shades of the basic colors (in this case, Humbrol 155 and 128).

The cockpit interior was painted in dark gray (Humbrol 32), while the landing gear and the wells became Aluminum (Humbrol 56).

As an aircraft of the air staff flight, this J 23 received a white spinner and a white code letter on the tail. These and other markings came from various sources and spare decal sheets. Some extra color was added with red warning markings on the wings above the flaps, plus some visual markings - all made with generic decal stripes. The cock nose art is a personal addition - taken from a Spanish Bf 109D, but AFAIK such personal markings were not uncommon on Swedish Air Force aircraft in the post WWII era.

An eye-catcher and some variety on the otherwise simple green/gray livery are white high-viz markings on the wing tips and a wide fuselage band. Such additional markings were frequently used in the post WWII-era during exercises, training or public displays. Styles varied considerably, though, between “color blocks” and wide single bands which I used (seen on a J 21) and even dense, thin zebra stripes on wings and fuselage. In this case, the white markings were painted onto wings and fuselage (Humbrol 34).

Since most panel lines on the fuselage were lost I painted some new ones with a soft pencil. Finally, after some gun soot and exhaust stains made with grinded graphite as well as some dry-brushed silver on the wings’ leading edges and around the cockpit were added, the kit received a coating with matt acrylic varnish.

Another scratch build of an obscure Swedish aircraft that never reached the hardware stage – and pretty successful, IMHO. This sleek J 23 model looks just as harmless and innocent, but involved massive construction work in almost every area as the kitbashed J 27 before. It’s actually the first model rendition of the J 23 I have seen so far – and another funny fact is that this “Swedish Messerschmitt” was built without any Bf 109 part at all!

Texas Tech – Science Building (Lubbock, Texas) by cmh2315fl

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Historic Science Building on the Texas Tech campus in Lubbock, Texas. The U-shaped Spanish Renaissance Revival style building was constructed in 1950-51 and links the Chemistry Building and the old Library building. The building now houses the Departments of Physics and Geosciences.

The Science Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as a contributing resource to the Texas Technological College Historic District (NRHP District No. 96000523). Texas Tech University was established in 1923 as Texas Technological College.

1967 NSU RO 80 by Georg Sander

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The NSU Ro 80 was a technologically advanced large sedan-type automobile produced by the German firm of NSU from 1967 until 1977. Most notable was the powertrain; a 113 bhp (86 kW), 995 cc twin-rotor Wankel engine driving the front wheels through a semi-automatic transmission employing an innovative vacuum system. It was voted Car of the Year for 1968 by European motoring writers.

Unfortunately for NSU, the car developed an early reputation for unreliability, from which it would never escape. The Wankel engine in particular suffered from heavy wear on the rotor tip seals, among many other problems, and some early cars required a completely rebuilt engine before 30,000 miles (50,000 km), with problems visible as early as 15,000 miles (24,000 kilometres). The fact that the rotary engine design was inherently thirsty (typically 15-18 mpg) and a poor understanding of the Wankel engine by dealers and mechanics did not help this situation. By the 1970 model year, most of these problems were resolved, but a necessarily generous warranty policy and damage to the car's reputation had undermined NSU's financial situation irreparably. NSU was acquired by Audi (of the Volkswagen group) in 1969. Second hand Ro80s were virtually worthless in the 1970s due to the well-publicised engine problems, and a common "cure" for an ailing rotary engine was to simply swap it for a Ford V4 "Essex" engine (as found in Mk1 Transits) purely as it was one of the few engines compact enough to fit in the Ro80's engine bay. Thus in an ironic twist, one of the smoothest engines in the world was replaced by one of the roughest. The NSU's unpopularity caused by the above problems means that surviving examples are very rare, and are now considered highly-prized classic cars with values to match, particularly as thanks to Mazda's perseverance with rotary design, the tip seal problem has been all but eradicated.

Other technological features of the Ro 80 aside from the powertrain were the four wheel ATE Dunlop disc brakes, which for some time were generally only featured on expensive sports or luxury saloon cars. The front brakes were mounted inboard, reducing the unsprung weight. The suspension was independent on all four wheels, with MacPherson struts at the front and semi-trailing arm suspension at the rear, both of which are space-saving designs commonly used today. Power assisted ZF rack and pinion steering was used, again foreshadowing more recent designs.

The car featured an automatic clutch which was commonly described as a three-speed semi-automatic gearbox: there was no clutch pedal but instead, on top of the gearknob, an electric switch that operated a vacuum system which disengaged the clutch. The gear lever itself then could be moved through a standard 'h pattern' gate.

Interior trim combined cloth covered seats with pvc headlining and a carpeted floor.

The styling, by Claus Luthe who was head of design at NSU and later BMW, was considered very modern at the time and still holds up well; the Ro 80 has been part of many gallery exhibits of modern industrial design. The large glass area foreshadowed 1970s designs such as Citroën's. The shape was also slippery, with a drag coefficient of 0.355 (very good for the era, although average for modern cars). This allowed for a top speed of 112 mph (179.2 km/h). Indeed, comparisons have been drawn between the design of the Ro80 and the superbly aerodynamic 1984 Audi 100 - the shape is very, very similar.

Series production started in October 1967: the last examples came off the production line in April 1977. There were 37,204 vehicles produced during the ten year production run.

(Wikipedia)

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Der NSU Ro 80 war eine Limousine der gehobenen Klasse von NSU, später Audi NSU. Er erschien 1967 mit einer revolutionären aerodynamischen Karosserie, die ihrer Zeit weit voraus war. Ebenfalls ungewöhnlich war der Wankelmotor, der 115 PS leistete. Dieser Motor machte in der Frühzeit durch häufige Dichtleistendefekte auf sich aufmerksam, denen jedoch der Hersteller mit kulantem Motorenaustausch begegnete. Dennoch litt der Ruf des neuen Modells und des Wankelmotors darunter erheblich.

Die konsequente Umsetzung der Keilform im Entwurf von Claus Luthe war ein stilprägender Impuls für das Automobildesign der 1980er-Jahre. Insbesondere bei Audi sollte das Erscheinungsbild des Ro 80 maßgeblich für ganze Fahrzeuggenerationen werden. Das charakteristische hintere Dreiecksfenster ist bis heute typischer Bestandteil des Designs bei Audi.

Der Ro 80 wurde in nur 37.398 Exemplaren bis 1977 produziert und blieb, technisch gesehen, ohne Nachfolger. Das letzte produzierte Fahrzeug wurde 1977 dem Deutschen Museum übergeben. Weitere Fahrzeuge sind unter anderem in der Pinakothek der Moderne in München, im Depot des Deutschen Technikmuseums Berlin, im Deutschen Zweirad- und NSU-Museum und im Audi Forum in Neckarsulm, im museum mobile in Ingolstadt, im EFA-Museum für Deutsche Automobilgeschichte in Amerang sowie in der Autostadt in Wolfsburg ausgestellt. Das Schnittmodell des Ro 80, mit dem der Wagen auf der IAA vorgestellt wurde, wird im Museum Autovision als Teil der Dauerausstellung Wankelmotor gezeigt.

Der weltweit älteste noch erhaltene NSU Ro 80 gehört einem Architekten aus Frankfurt am Main, und trägt die Fahrgestell-Nr. 80 001 061, Fertigungsdatum Donnerstag, der 19. Oktober 1967, Farbe saguntoblau.

Das „Ro“ im Namen steht für Rotationskolben im Gegensatz zu „K“ wie beim VW K 70, das für Kolben bzw. Hubkolben stand.

Bei den ersten Serienmotoren kam es infolge eines Konstruktionsfehlers zu vermehrten Motorschäden. Hatten die Motoren in der Erprobung über 200 000 km gehalten, so verloren sie in Kundenhand oft schnell an Kompression. Schnell wurde eine falsche Materialpaarung als Ursache dafür erkannt. Eilig wurden Material sowie die Teilung der Dichtleisten geändert und somit war das Dichtleistenproblem vorerst gelöst. In Verbindung mit einem Ferrotic-Mittelteil und einer härteren Enesilschicht mit höherem Siliziumkarbidanteil ging man später auf die ursprüngliche Dichtleistenteilung zurück. Ab Anfang 1970 wurden die neuen Ferrotic-Dichtleisten in die Serie eingeführt.

Als ebenfalls problematisch erwies sich die Doppelzündung, zum einen von der Einstellung her und zum anderen wegen des hohen Abbrands der Zündkontakte, was dann durch zu viel Frühzündung zu Motorschäden führte. Dies wurde durch eine Einfachzündung in Verbindung mit einer Hochspannungskondensatorzündung (HKZ) auf Kosten des Spritverbrauchs behoben. Die kulante Austauschpraxis führte zeitweise dazu, dass über 35 % der angeblich defekten Motoren in Ordnung waren. Nachdem der Zündzeitpunkt sowie der Vergaser neu eingestellt wurden und der Motor einen Probelauf auf dem Prüfstand absolviert hatte, wurden diese Motoren wieder als Austauschmotoren ausgeliefert.

Ein nicht unerheblicher Anteil an Motorschäden ging auf das Konto des Drehmomentwandlers, den man gegen das Schieberuckeln (verursacht durch den Umfangseinlass) einbaute und der zum Teil für den Mehrverbrauch des Ro 80 mitverantwortlich war. Da der Wankelmotor erheblich höher drehte (wohl eher wegen erheblicher Überdrehzahl aufgrund fehlender Drehzahlbegrenzung), passierte es bei einer Reihe Drehmomentwandlern, dass sie sich radial ausdehnten. Dadurch zogen sie sich axial zusammen und nun kollidierte das Pumpen- mit dem Turbinenrad. Da der Wandler im Motorölkreislauf hing, gelangten dadurch Späne in den Motor, was dann umgehend zu Motorschäden führte. Auch erwies sich ein kleines Nadellager im Wandler als anfällig, dessen häufiger Ausfall ebenfalls zu Spänen im Motoröl führte und damit indirekt für einen defekten Motor sorgte. Dies wurde dann durch einen verstärkten Wandler behoben. Ab Herbst 1971 führte man dann in Verbindung mit der Bosch-Hochspannungskondensatorzündung und thermischer Abgasentgiftung einen akustischen Drehzahlwarner ein, der die elektrische Benzinpumpe bei Überdrehzahl abschaltete und dadurch eine Überdrehzahl des Motors wirksam vermied.

Anfänglich war alle 20 000 km ein Ölwechsel nötig, der später jedoch entfiel. So mancher Fahrer glaubte deshalb, man müsste kein Öl mehr nachfüllen, worauf einige Motoren ohne Öl liegen blieben. Dieser Art Motorschäden begegnete man mit einer geänderten zweiflutigen Ölpumpe. Der Einlass für den Wandlerkreislauf wurde höher angesetzt. Bevor nun der Motorölkreislauf kein Öl mehr bekam, saugte der Wandlerkreislauf Luft, woraufhin der Wandleröldruck absank und die Öldruckanzeige aufleuchtete. Ignorierte der Fahrer die Warnlampe, übertrug der Wandler keine Kraft mehr an das Getriebe und das Auto blieb stehen. Spätestens jetzt wusste der nachlässige Fahrer, dass er vergessen hatte, den Ölstand zu kontrollieren.

Ein weiteres Problem, das ebenfalls direkt zu Motorschäden führte, war eine Öldosierpumpe ohne Nullanschlag. Dies führte dazu, dass, wenn diese Pumpe falsch eingestellt wurde, im Leerlauf kein Öl für die Trochoidenschmierung geliefert wurde. Daraufhin wurde eine geänderte Öldosierpumpe eingesetzt, die nun nicht mehr auf Null gestellt werden konnte.

Problematisch war auch, dass man gleich mehrere bis dahin unerprobte Verfahren in Verbindung mit dem Wankelmotor einführte. So hieß es von dem Enesilverfahren scherzhaft, es funktioniere nur bei Südwind, was auf die Witterungsempfindlichkeit anspielte. Auch gab es anfänglich Probleme mit der Dosierung und Korngröße des eingebetteten Siliziumkarbids und der Dosierung des Saccharin (das als Einebner für Nickelschichten in der Galvanik angewendet wird). Zudem waren die Werkstätten zum Teil mit der Technik rund um den Motor überfordert. Teilweise aber entwickelten einige Kunden auch geradezu kriminelle Energien. Kurz vor dem Ablauf der Garantie provozierten sie absichtlich einen Motorschaden.

Als das Dichtleistenproblem gelöst schien, kam es wieder zu gehäuften Motorschäden. Nun war es aber kein Konstruktionsfehler, sondern ein Zulieferer, der sich nicht an die Fertigungsvorschriften hielt.

Bei den letzten Ausführungen der Motoren bestanden die Dichtleisten komplett aus Ferrotic, diese Aggregate erwiesen sich als äußerst robust. Zusätzlich kam der Lebensdauer die Einführung des bleifreien Benzins entgegen. Anders als ein Viertakthubkolbenmotor dessen Ventilsitze mit Blei geschmiert werden mussten konnte der Wankelmotor des Ro 80 problemlos mit bleifreiem Kraftstoff betrieben werden, da beim Wankelmotor für die Gaswechselsteuerung keine Ventile benötigt werden.

(Wikipedia)

technological witches with marshmallow's wand by Paula Amparo

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revue ac3

ilford fp4 125

ai_1_-843 by Rafael Jan Rorzyczka

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In a distant future, a war rages between China and Japan over Hong Kong and the surrounding areas. Japan, facing a population crisis and famine, invades Hong Kong in a desperate bid for land. Among the many technological advancements employed in the war, one stands out: the "Grandmas" androids.

These androids were not specifically designed for war, but rather emerged from civilian purposes naturally. The idea behind their creation was to prolong the lives of elderly women by turning them into androids, half machine and half human. The creators of the Grandmas chose to use elderly women as the base for their androids because of the differences in neuroplasticity between young and old brains.

Neuroplasticity refers to the ability of the brain to change and adapt in response to experiences. In young brains, neuroplasticity is high, allowing for quick learning and adaptation, but also making it harder to control the behavior of the brain. In contrast, in old brains, neuroplasticity is lower, making it easier to control and direct the behavior of the brain. This is why the creators of the Grandmas decided to use elderly women as the base for their androids.

However, as time passed, the Grandmas' brain tissue began to decay and artificial intelligence started to take over more and more parts of their brain. Despite this, their behavior remains the same, as the small parts of living brain tissue that still remain continue to dominate their behavior. Their primary function is to cook and care for all those around them, even other androids, although they do not need food themselves. They often pretend to eat just to make the other grandmas happy. They also tend to wounded or damaged androids, applying dirt and old rags to the damaged components and trying to comfort the machine. These behaviors are not programmed, but have developed naturally, as the Grandmas' loving and caring nature dominates their behavior.

In addition to their caretaking duties, the Grandmas also chat constantly, providing wisdom and anecdotes, spreading gossip, and talking the entire time. They have an endless stream of stories and observations from their long lives and they share them with anyone who will listen. They are also known to be a great source of comfort and solace for the soldiers on the battlefield, providing a sense of normalcy and humanity in the midst of the chaos and destruction of war.

Grandmas do not fight in combat, but they are often seen trying to break up furious fights on the battlefield, often putting themselves in danger to do so. On rare occasions, they will fight if they witness injustice on the battlefield, using all their advanced abilities to defend the innocent.

Despite the care and compassion that the Grandmas show, many humans avoid them and children are often scared of them, while adults are often annoyed by their caring nature. But as the war rages on, the Grandmas continue to provide a beacon of hope and humanity amidst the destruction and chaos. As the war progresses, the Grandmas become more and more important to the soldiers as they provide not only food and care, but also a sense of normalcy and humanity in the midst of the chaos and destruction of war.

The Grandmas' unique blend of advanced technology and human-like behavior make them a powerful symbol of the blurred lines between human and machine in this war-torn future. They may not have been specifically designed for war, but the Grandmas' presence on the battlefield serves as a reminder that even in the darkest of times, compassion and humanity can still prevail. Even as their brains decay and artificial intelligence takes over more and more of their functions, the Grandmas' ingrained behavior and love for others continues to shine through.

1967 NSU RO 80 (02) by Georg Sander

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