web-based photos on Flickr

Land Rover Defender 130 Td5/MMB by Richard Barron

10 7

Taken by Mark Middleton and they are helping to make the biggest pool of British Red Cross related pictures on the web.

Based in Lecistershire. May not be MMB as the design is not quite the same as I remember it.

Airbus A-340 - Wing - 1bb by Manfred Sommer

2

. . . flight to Bangkok

________________________

The Airbus A340 is a long-range, four-engine, wide-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed and produced by the European aerospace company Airbus. The A340 was assembled at Toulouse, France. It seats up to 375 passengers in the standard variants and 440 in the stretched -600 series. Depending on the model, it has a range of between 6,700 to 9,000 nautical miles (12,400 to 16,700 km; 7,700 to 10,400 mi). Its distinguishing features are four high-bypass turbofan engines and three-bogie main landing gears.

The A340 was manufactured in four fuselage lengths. The initial variant, A340-300, which entered service in 1993, measured 63.69. The shorter -200 was developed next, and the A340-600 was a 15.96 metres stretch of the -200. The -600 was developed alongside the shorter A340-500, which would become the longest-range commercial airliner until the arrival of the Boeing 777-200LR. The -200 and -300 models were powered by the 151 kilonewtons (34,000 lbf) CFM56-5C, while the 267-kilonewton (60,000 lbf) Rolls-Royce Trent 500 was the exclusive powerplant for the extended-range -500 and -600 models. The initial A340-200 and -300 variants share the fuselage and wing of the twin-engine Airbus A330 with which it was concurrently designed. The heavier A340-500 and -600 are longer and have larger wings.

Launch customers Lufthansa and Air France placed the A340 into service in March 1993. In September 2011, 379 orders had been placed (not including private operators), of which 375 were delivered. The most common type were the A340-300 model, with 218 aircraft delivered. Lufthansa is the biggest operator of the A340, having acquired 59 aircraft. The A340 is used on long-haul, trans-oceanic routes due to its immunity from ETOPS restrictions; however, with reliability and fuel efficiency in engines improving, airlines have gradually phased out the type in favour of the more economical Boeing 777 twinjet, while Airbus has positioned the larger variants of the Airbus A350 as a successor. Airbus announced on 10 November 2011 that A340 production had been concluded.

DEVELOPMENT

BACKGROND

When Airbus designed the Airbus A300 during the 1970s, it envisioned a broad family of airliners to compete against Boeing and Douglas, two established US aerospace manufacturers. From the moment of formation, Airbus had begun studies into derivatives of the Airbus A300B in support of this long-term goal. Prior to the service introduction of the first Airbus airliners, Airbus had identified nine possible variations of the A300 known as A300B1 to B9. A 10th variation, conceived in 1973, later the first to be constructed, was designated the A300B10. It was a smaller aircraft that would be developed into the long-range Airbus A310. Airbus then focused its efforts on the single-aisle market, which resulted in the Airbus A320 family, which was the first digital fly-by-wire commercial aircraft. The decision to work on the A320, instead of a four-engine aircraft proposed by the Germans, created divisions within Airbus. As the SA or "single aisle" studies (which later became the successful Airbus A320) underwent development to challenge the successful Boeing 737 and Douglas DC-9 in the single-aisle, narrow-body airliner market, Airbus turned its focus back to the wide-body aircraft market.

The A300B11, a derivative of the A310, was designed upon the availability of "ten ton" engines. It would seat between 180 and 200 passengers, and have a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km). It was deemed the replacement for the less-efficient Boeing 707s and Douglas DC-8s still in service. The A300B11 was joined by another design, the A300B9, which was a larger derivative of the A300. The B9 was developed by Airbus from the early 1970s at a slow pace until the early 1980s. It was essentially a stretched A300 with the same wing, coupled with the most powerful turbofan engine at the time. It was targeted at the growing demand for high-capacity, medium-range, transcontinental trunk routes. The B9 would offer the same range and payload as the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, but would use between 25% to 38% less fuel. The B9 was therefore considered the replacement for the DC-10 and the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar.

To differentiate the programme from the SA studies, the B9 and B11 were redesignated the TA9 and TA11 (TA standing for "twin aisle"), respectively. In an effort to save development costs, it was decided that the two would share the same wing and airframe; the projected savings were estimated at US$500 million (about £490 million or €495 million). The adoption of a common wing structure also had one technical advantage: the TA11's outboard engines could counteract the weight of the longer-range model by providing bending relief. Another factor was the split preference of those within Airbus and, more importantly, prospective airliner customers. Airbus vice president for strategic planning, Adam Brown, recalled,

North American operators were clearly in favour of a twin[jet], while Asians wanted a quad[jet]. In Europe, opinion was split between the two. The majority of potential customers were in favour of a quad despite the fact, in certain conditions, it is more costly to operate than a twin. They liked that it could be ferried with one engine out, and could fly 'anywhere' - ETOPS (extend-range twin-engine operations) hadn't begun then.

DESIGN EFFORT

The first specifications of the TA9 and TA11 were released in 1982. While the TA9 had a range of 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km), the TA11 range was up to 6,830 nautical miles (12,650 km). At the same time, Airbus also sketched the TA12, a twin-engine derivative of the TA11, which was optimised for flights of a 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) lesser range. By the time of the Paris Air Show in June 1985, more refinements had been made to the TA9 and TA11, including the adoption of the A320 flight deck, fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control system and side-stick control. Adopting a common cockpit across the new Airbus series allowed operators to make significant cost savings; flight crews would be able to transition from one to another after one week of training. The TA11 and TA12 would use the front and rear fuselage sections of the A310. Components were modular and also interchangeable with other Airbus aircraft where possible to reduce production, maintenance and operating costs.Airbus briefly considered a variable camber wing; the concept was that the wing could change its profile to produce the optimum shape for a given phase of flight. Studies were carried out by British Aerospace (BAe) at Hatfield and Bristol. Airbus estimated this would yield a 2% improvement in aerodynamic efficiency. However, the plan was later abandoned on grounds of cost and difficulty of development.

Airbus had held discussions with McDonnell Douglas to jointly produce the aircraft, which would have been designated as the AM 300. This aeroplane would have combined the wing of the A330 with the fuselage of the McDonnell Douglas MD-11. However, talks were terminated as McDonnell Douglas insisted on the continuation of its trijet heritage. Although from the start it was intended for the A340 would be powered by four CFM56-5 turbofan engines, each capable of 25,000 pounds-force (110 kN), Airbus had also considered developing the aircraft as a trijet due to the limited power of engines available at the time, namely the Rolls-Royce RB211-535 and Pratt & Whitney JT10D-232.

On 27 January 1986, the Airbus Industrie Supervisory Board held a meeting in Munich, West Germany, after which board-chairman Franz Josef Strauß released a statement, "Airbus Industrie is now in a position to finalise the detailed technical definition of the TA9, which is now officially designated the A330, and the TA11, now called the A340, with potential launch customer airlines, and to discuss with them the terms and conditions for launch commitments". The designations were originally reversed because the airlines believed it illogical for a two-engine jet airliner to have a "4" in its name, whilst a quad-jet would not. On 12 May 1986, Airbus dispatched fresh sale proposals to five prospective airlines including Lufthansa and Swissair.

PRODUCTION AND TESTING

In preparations for production of the A330/A340, Airbus's partners invested heavily in new facilities. Filton was the site of BAE's £7 million investment in a three-storey technical centre with an extra 15,000 square metres of floor area. BAe also spent £5 million expanding the Chester wing production plant by 14,000 m2 to accommodate a new production line. However, France saw the biggest changes with Aérospatiale starting construction of a new Fr.2.5 billion ($411 million) assembly plant, adjacent to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, in Colomiers. By November 1988, the first 21 m pillars were erected for the new Clément Ader assembly hall. The assembly process, meanwhile, would feature increased automation with holes for the wing-fuselage mating process drilled by eight robots. The use of automation for this particular process saved Airbus 20% on labour costs and 5% on time.

British Aerospace accepted £450 million funding from the UK government, short of the £750 million originally requested. Funds from the French and German governments followed thereafter. Airbus also issued subcontracts to companies in Austria, Australia, Canada, China, Greece, Italy, India, Japan, South Korea, Portugal, the United States of America, and the former Yugoslavia. The A330 and A340 programmes were jointly launched on 5 June 1987, just prior to the Paris Air Show. The order book then stood at 130 aircraft from 10 customers, apart from the above-mentioned Lufthansa and International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). Eighty-nine of the total orders were A340 models. Over at McDonnell Douglas, ongoing tests of the MD-11 revealed a significant shortfall in the aircraft's performance. An important carrier, Singapore Airlines (SIA), required a fully laden aircraft that could fly from Singapore to Paris, against strong headwinds during mid-winter in the northern hemisphere. The MD-11, according to test results, would experience fuel starvation over the Balkans. Due to the less-than-expected performance figures, SIA cancelled its 20-aircraft MD-11 order on 2 August 1991, and ordered 20 A340-300s instead. The MD-11 failed commercially and unsuccessfully competed with the A340.

The first flight of the A340 occurred on 21 October 1991, marking the start of a 2,000-hour test flight programme involving six aircraft. From the start, engineers noticed that the wings were not strong enough to carry the outboard engines at cruising speed without warping and fluttering. To alleviate this, an underwing bulge called a plastron was developed to correct airflow problems around the engine pylons and to add stiffness. European JAA certification was obtained on 22 December 1992; FAA followed on 27 May 1993.

ENTRY INTO SERVICE AND DEMONSTRATION

Airbus delivered the first A340, a -200, to Lufthansa on 2 February 1993. The 228-seat A340-200, named Nürnberg, entered service on 15 March. The A340s were intended to replace aging DC-10s on the airline's Frankfurt–New York services. Meanwhile, Air France took its first A340-300 on 26 February, the first of nine it planned to operate by the end of the year. The A340 replaced the Boeing 747s on Paris–Washington D.C., flying four times weekly. Coincidentally, the first Air France A340 was the 1000th Airbus aircraft to leave the Toulouse facility since the consortium's beginning.

During the Paris Air Show, on 16 June 1993 an A340-200 named The World Ranger took off for a round-the-world demonstration and publicity-stunt flight. The aircraft, carrying 22 persons, had been modified for the flight, including the addition of five center tanks. Taking off at 11:58 local time, The World Ranger made only one stop en route – in Auckland, New Zealand – and arrived back in Paris 48 hours and 22 minutes later, at 12:20. The flight broke six world records at the time. Among the six was the longest non-stop flight by an airliner, when the aircraft flew 19,277 kilometres (10,409 nmi) from Paris, arriving in Auckland in record time. The A340 would hold this record for a total of 12 years; in 2005, a Boeing 777-200LR flew from Hong Kong eastward toward London, successfully completing a 21,602 kilometres (11,664 nmi) journey.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS AND END OF PRODUCTION

During the 1990s, the A340-300 was challenged by the more fuel-efficient Boeing 777-200ER twinjet. In addition, airlines were looking for replacement aircraft for their 1970s-era Boeing 747-100s and -200s, so Airbus investigated a stretched airframe in the form of the A340-400X. This proved unpopular, as the CFM56 engines were at the limits of their growth capability and the range would have decreased to around 10,000 km (5,400 nmi). A new plan to develop an A340 variant with a larger wing and engine combination was decided upon. Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce and General Electric competed to be selected as the supplier of the new engine to power the type; talks between General Electric and Airbus over an exclusive engine arrangement collapsed in 1997 following disagreement over cost and risk-sharing. Airbus ultimately decided to adopt a variant of the Rolls-Royce Trent engine series, which was viewed as cost-effective as it did not involve developing an independent power plant. In April 1996, Airbus announced that it would offer a stretched variant of the aircraft, designated as the A340-600. The A340-500/600 would be developed as ultra-long range (ULR) aircraft.

During the 2000s, sales slowed despite the introduction of the A340-500 and A340-600 and their high gross weight variants, the A340-500IGW and A340-600HGW, respectively as the Boeing 777-200LR and -300ER began to dominate the long-range, 300-400 seating sector. Airbus confirmed in January 2006 that it had conducted studies into developing an A340-600E (Enhanced). Airbus projected that it would be more fuel-efficient than earlier A340s, closing the 8–9% disparity with the Boeing 777 via the use of the new Trent 1500 engine as well as technologies derived from the A350 programme. In 2007, Airbus predicted that another 127 A340 aircraft would likely be produced through 2016, the projected end of production.

On 10 November 2011, Airbus announced the end of the A340 program. At that time, the company indicated that all firm orders had been delivered. The decision to terminate the program came as A340-500/600 orders came to a halt, with analyst Nick Cunningham pointing out that the A340 "was too heavy and there was a big fuel burn gap between the A340 and Boeing’s 777". Bertrand Grabowski, managing director of aircraft financier DVB Bank SE, noted "in an environment where the fuel price is high, the A340 has had no chance to compete against similar twin engines, and the current lease rates and values of this aircraft reflect the deep resistance of any airlines to continue operating it”. Airbus has positioned the larger versions of the A350, specifically the A350-900 and A350-1000, as the successors to the A340-500 and A340-600.

As a sales incentive amid low customer demand during the Great Recession, Airbus had offered buy-back guarantees to airlines that chose to procure the A340. By 2013, the resale value of an A340 declined by 30% over ten years, and both Airbus and Rolls-Royce were incurring related charges amounting to hundreds of millions of euros. Some analysts have expected the price of a flight-worthy, CFM56-powered A340 to drop below $10 million by 2023. As an effort to support the A340's resale value, Airbus has proposed reconfiguring the aircraft's interior for a single class of 475 seats. As the Trent 500 engines are half the maintenance cost of the A340, Rolls-Royce proposed a cost-reducing maintenance plan similar to the company's existing program that reduced the cost of maintaining the RB211 engine powering Iberia's Boeing 757 freighters. Key to these programs is the salvaging, repair and reuse of serviceable parts from retired older engines. Airbus could offer used A340s to airlines wishing to retire older aircraft such as the Boeing 747-400, claiming that the cost of purchasing and maintaining a second-hand A340 with increased seating and improved engine performance reportedly compared favourably to the procurement costs of a new Boeing 777.

DESIGN

The Airbus A340 is a widebody twin-aisle passenger airliner which, along with its sibling the A330, has the distinction of being the first truly long-range aircraft to be produced by Airbus. It is powered by four FADEC turbofan jet engines, optimized to perform long distance routes. The A340 had built upon developments made in the production of earlier Airbus aircraft and as such shares many features with those aircraft, such as a common cockpit design with the Airbus A320 and A330; as the aircraft was developed at the same time as the A330 the two aircraft employ many similar components and sections, such as identical fly-by-wire control systems and similar wings. Both before and after the A340 entered revenue service, the features and improvements that were developed for the type were usually shared with the A330, a significant beneficial factor in performing such programs.

The A340 is a low-wing cantilever monoplane, the wing itself is virtually identical to that of the A330. The wings were designed and manufactured by BAe, which developed a long slender wing with a very high aspect ratio to provide high aerodynamic efficiency.[Nb 1] The wing is swept back at 30 degrees and, along with other design features, allows a maximum operating Mach number of 0.86. The wing has a very high thickness-to-chord ratio of 12.8 per cent, which means that a long span and high aspect ratio can be attained without a severe weight penalty. For comparison, the rival MD-11 has a thickness-to-chord ratio of 8–9 per cent. Each wing also has a 2.74 m tall winglet instead of the wingtip fences found on earlier Airbus aircraft. The failure of International Aero Engines' radical ultra-high-bypass V2500 "SuperFan", which had promised around 15 per cent fuel burn reduction for the A340, led to multiple enhancements including wing upgrades to compensate. Originally designed with a 56 m span, the wing was later extended to 58.6 m and finally to 60.3 m. At 60.3 m, the wingspan is similar to that of the larger Boeing 747-200, but with 35 percent less wing area.

The flight deck of the A340 is a glass cockpit, based upon the control systems first used on the smaller A320. Instead of a conventional control yoke, the flight deck features side-stick controls. The main instrument panel is dominated by a total of six cathode ray tube monitors which display information to the flight crew; on later aircraft these monitors have been replaced by liquid crystal displays. Flight information is directed via the Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) and systems information through the Electronic Centralised Aircraft Monitor (ECAM). The aircraft monitoring system is connected to various sensors throughout the aircraft and automatically alerts the crew to any parameters detected outside of their normal range; pilots can also manually inspect systems of their choosing at any time. The information display system is designed to be easily interpreted and give a clear picture of the aircraft's operational status. Instead of paper manuals, electronic CD-ROM-based manuals are used; Airbus offers web-based updates to electronic documentation as an option.

Many measures were taken from the start of the A340's design process to reduce the difficulty and cost of maintenance, which was reportedly half of that of the earlier Airbus A310 despite the increase in size. The aircraft's four engines featured improved controls and monitoring systems that enabled engine parameters to be more readily checked and avoid unnecessary early removals; the four-engine approach also avoided the stringent ETOPS requirements such as more frequent inspections. The A340 also has a centralised maintenance computer which provides comprehensive easily understandable systems information, which can be transmitted in real-time to ground facilities via the onboard satellite-based ACARS datalink. Some aspects of the maintenance, such as structural changes, remained unchanged, while increased sophistication of technology in the passenger cabin, like the in-flight entertainment systems, were increased over preceding airliners.

OPERATIONAL HISTORY

The first variant of the A340 to be introduced, the A340-200, entered service with the launch customer, Lufthansa, in 1993. It was followed shortly thereafter by the A340-300 with its operator, Air France. Lufthansa's first A340, which had been dubbed Nürnberg (D-AIBA), began revenue service on 15 March 1993. Air Lanka (later renamed Sri Lankan Airlines) became the Asian launch customer of the Airbus A340; the airline received its first A340-300, registered (4R-ADA), in September 1994. British airline Virgin Atlantic was an early adopter of the A340; in addition to operating several A340-300 aircraft, Virgin Atlantic announced in August 1997 that it was to be the worldwide launch customer for the new A340-600. The first commercial flight of the A340-600 was performed by Virgin in July 2002.

Singapore Airlines ordered 17 A340-300s and operated them until October 2013. The A340-300s were purchased by Boeing as part of an order for Boeing 777s in 1999.[75] The airline then purchased five long-range A340-500s, which joined the fleet in December 2003. In February 2004, the airline's A340-500 performed the longest non-stop commercial air service in the world, conducting a non-stop flight between Singapore and Los Angeles In 2007, Singapore Airlines launched an even longer non-stop route using the A340-500 between Newark and Singapore, SQ 21, a 15,344 kilometres (8,285 nmi) journey that was the longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight in the world. The airline continued to operate this route regularly until the airline decided to retire the type in favour of new A380 and A350 aircraft; its last A340 flight was performed in late 2013.

The A340 was typically used by airlines as a medium-sized long-haul aircraft, and was often a replacement for older Boeing 747s as it was more likely profitable. Airbus produced a number of A340s as large private jets for VIP customers, often to replace aging Boeing 747s in this same role. In 2008, Airbus launched a dedicated corporate jetliner version of the A340-200: one key selling point of this aircraft was a range of up to 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km). Airbus had built up to nine different customized versions of the A340 to private customer's specific demands prior to 2008.

The A340 has frequently been operated as a dedicated transport for heads of state. A pair of A340-300s were acquired from Lufthansa by the Flugbereitschaft of the German Air Force; they serve as VIP transports for the German Chancellor and other key members of the German government. The A340 is also operated by the air transport division of the French Air Force, where it is used as a strategic transport for troop deployments and supply missions, as well as to transport government officials. A one-of-a-kind aircraft, the A340-8000, was originally built for Prince Jefri Bolkiah, brother of the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah. The aircraft was unused and stored in Hamburg until it was procured by Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of the House of Saud, and later sold to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, then-President of Libya; the aircraft was operated by Afriqiyah Airways and was often referred to as Afriqiyah One.

In 2008, jet fuel prices doubled compared to the year before; consequently, the A340's fuel consumption led airlines to reduce flight stages exceeding 15 hours. Thai Airways International cancelled its 17-hour, nonstop Bangkok–New York/JFK route on 1 July 2008, and placed its four A340-500s for sale. While short flights stress aircraft more than long flights and result in more frequent fuel-thirsty take-offs and landings, ultra-long flights require completely full fuel tanks. The higher weights in turn require a greater proportion of an aircraft's fuel fraction just to take off and to stay airborne. In 2008, Air France-KLM SA's chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon disparagingly referred to the A340 as a "flying tanker with a few people on board". While Thai Airways consistently filled 80% of the seats on its New York City–Bangkok flights, it estimated that, at 2008 fuel prices, it would need an impossible 120% of seats filled just to break even. Other airlines also re-examined long-haul flights. In August 2008 Cathay Pacific stated that rising fuel costs were hurting its trans-Pacific long-haul routes disproportionately, and that it would cut the number of such flights and redeploy its aircraft to shorter routes such as between Hong Kong and Australia. "We will ... reshap[e] our network where necessary to ensure we fly aircraft to where we can cover our costs and also make some money." Aviation Week noted that rapid performance increases of twin-engine aircraft has led to the detriment of four-engine types of comparable capacity such as the A340 and 747.

By 2014, Singapore Airlines had phased out the type, while Emirates Airlines decided to accelerate the retirement of its A340 fleet. International Airlines Group, the parent of Iberia Airlines (which is also the operator of the last production A340 built), is overhauling its A340-600s for continued service for the foreseeable future, while it is retiring its A340-300s. The IAG overhaul featured improved conditions and furnishings in the business and economy classes; the business-class capacity was raised slightly while not changing the type's overall operating cost. Lufthansa, which operates both Airbus A340-300s and -600s, concluded that, while it is not possible to make the A340 more fuel efficient, it can respond to increased interest in business-class services by replacing first-class seats with more business-class seats to increase revenue.

In 2013, Snecma announced that they planned to use the A340 as a flying testbed for the development of a new open rotor engine. This test aircraft is forecast to conduct its first flight in 2019. Open rotor engines are typically more fuel-efficient but noisier than conventional turbofan engines; introducing such an engine commercially has been reported as requiring significant legislative changes within engine approval authorities due to its differences from contemporary jet engines. The engine, partly based on the Snecma M88 turbofan engine used on the Dassault Rafale, is being developed under the European Clean Sky research initiative.

VARIANTS

There are four variants of the A340. The A340-200 and A340-300 were launched in 1987 with introduction into service in March 1993 for the -200. The A340-500 and A340-600 were launched in 1997 with introduction into service in 2002. All variants were available in a corporate version.

A340-200

The -200 is one of two initial versions of the A340; it has seating for 261 passengers in a three-class cabin layout with a range of 13,800 kilometres (7,500 nmi) or seating for 240 passengers also in a three-class cabin layout for a range of 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nmi). This is the shortest version of the family and the only version with a wingspan measuring greater than its fuselage length. It is powered by four CFMI CFM56-5C4 engines and uses the Honeywell 331–350[A] auxiliary power unit (APU). It initially entered service with Air France in May 1993. Due to its large wingspan, four engines, low capacity and improvements to the larger A340-300, the -200 proved heavy and unpopular with mainstream airlines. Only 28 A340-200s were produced. The closest Boeing competitor is the Boeing 767-400ER.

One version of this type (referred to by Airbus as the A340-8000) was ordered by the prince Jefri Bolkiah requesting a non-stop range of 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nmi). This A340-8000, in the Royal Brunei Airlines livery had an increased fuel capacity, an MTOW of 275 tonnes (606,000 lb), similar to the A340-300, and minor reinforcements to the undercarriage. It is powered by the 150 kilonewtons (34,000 lbf) thrust CFM56-5C4s similar to the -300E. Only one A340-8000 was produced. Besides the -8000, some A340-200s are used for VIP or military use; users include Royal Brunei Airlines, Qatar Amiri Flight, Arab Republic of Egypt Government, Royal Saudi Air Force, Jordan and the French Air Force. Following the -8000, other A340-200s were later given performance improvement packages (PIPs) that helped them achieve similar gains in capability as to the A340-8000. Those aircraft are labeled A340-213X. The range for this version is 15,000 kilometres (8,100 nmi).

As of April 2016, there are 11 Airbus A340-200s in service, of which 6 are used in government fleets.

A340-300

The A340-300 flies 295 passengers in a typical three-class cabin layout over 6,700 nautical miles (12,400 km). This is the initial version, having flown on 25 October 1991, and entered service with Lufthansa and Air France in March 1993. It is powered by four CFMI CFM56-5C engines and uses the Honeywell 331–350[A] APU, similar to the -200. Its closest competitor is the Boeing 777-200ER. The A340-300 will be superseded by the A350-900. 218 -300s were delivered in total.

The A340-300E, often mislabelled as A340-300X, has an increased MTOW of up to 275 tonnes (606,000 lb) and is powered by the more powerful 34,000 lbf (150 kN) thrust CFMI CFM56-5C4 engines. Typical range with 295 passengers is between 7,200 to 7,400 nautical miles (13,300 to 13,700 km). The largest operator of this type is Lufthansa, who has operated a fleet of 30 aircraft. The A340-300 Enhanced is the latest version of this model and was first delivered to South African Airways in 2003, with Air Mauritius receiving the A340-300 Enhanced into its fleet in 2006. It received newer CFM56-5C4/P engines and improved avionics and fly-by-wire systems developed for the A340-500 and -600.

As of April 2016, there were 135 Airbus A340-300s in service.

A340-500

The A340-500 was introduced as the world's longest-range commercial airliner. It first flew on 11 February 2002, and was certified on 3 December 2002. Air Canada was supposed to be the launch customer, but filed for bankruptcy in January 2003, delaying delivery to March. This allowed early deliveries to the new launch customer, Emirates, allowing the carrier to launch nonstop service from Dubai to New York—its first route in the Americas. The A340-500 can fly 313 passengers in a three-class cabin layout over 16020 km (8650 nm). Compared with the A340-300, the -500 features a 4.3-metre fuselage stretch, an enlarged wing, significant increase in fuel capacity (around 50% over the -300), slightly higher cruising speed, a larger horizontal stabilizer and a larger vertical tailplane. The centerline main landing gear was changed to a four-wheel bogie to support additional weight. The A340-500 is powered by four 240 kN (54,000 lbf) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 553 turbofans and uses the Honeywell 331–600[A] APU. It was the world's longest-range commercial airliner until the introduction of its direct rival, Boeing 777-200LR, in February 2006.

Due to its range, the -500 is capable of travelling non-stop from London to Perth, Western Australia, though a return flight requires a fuel stop due to headwinds. Singapore Airlines used this model (initially in a two-class, 181-passenger layout, later in a 100-passenger business-only layout) for its Newark–Singapore nonstop route, SQ 21: an 18-hour, 45-minute "westbound" (really northbound to 130 km (70 nm) abeam the North Pole; then south from there across Russia, Mongolia and People's Republic of China), 18-hour, 30-minute eastbound, 15,344 kilometres (8,285 nmi) journey that was the longest scheduled non-stop commercial flight in the world, this flight route ceased operation in 2013. The Singapore Airlines -500 is the first aircraft to include a corpse cupboard, used for storing the body of a passenger who dies during a flight.

The A340-500IGW (Increased Gross Weight) version has a range of 17,000 km (9,200 nmi) and a MTOW of 380 t (840,000 lb) and first flew on 13 October 2006. It uses the strengthened structure and enlarged fuel capacity of the A340-600. The certification aircraft, a de-rated A340-541 model, became the first delivery, to Thai Airways International, on 11 April 2007. Nigerian airline Arik Air received a pair of A340-542s in November 2008, using the type to immediately launch two new routes, Lagos–London Heathrow and Lagos–Johannesburg; a non-stop Lagos–New York route began in January 2010. The A340-500IGW is powered by four 250 kN (56,000 lbf) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 556 turbofans.

In April 2016, there were 8 A340-500s in service.

A340-600

Designed to replace early-generation Boeing 747 airliners, the A340-600 is capable of carrying 379 passengers in a three-class cabin layout 13,900 km (7,500 nmi). It provides similar passenger capacity to a 747 but with 25 percent more cargo volume, and at lower trip and seat costs. First flight of the A340-600 was made on 23 April

2001. Virgin Atlantic began commercial services in August 2002. The variant's main competitor is the 777-300ER. The A340-600 will eventually be replaced by the A350-1000.

The A340-600 is 12 m longer than a -300, more than 4 m longer than the Boeing 747-400 and 2.3 m longer than the A380. It held the record as the world's longest commercial aircraft until February 2010 with the first flight of the Boeing 747-8. The A340-600 is powered by four 250 kN (56,000 lbf) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 556 turbofans and uses the Honeywell 331–600[A] APU. As with the -500, it has a four-wheel undercarriage bogie on the fuselage centre-line to cope with the increased MTOW along with the enlarged wing and rear empennage. Upper deck main cabin space can be optionally increased by locating facilities such as crew rest areas, galleys, and lavatories upon the aircraft's lower deck. In early 2007, Airbus reportedly advised carriers to reduce cargo in the forward section by 5.0 t to compensate for overweight first and business class sections; the additional weight caused the aircraft's centre of gravity to move forward thus reducing cruise efficiency. Affected airlines considered filing compensation claims with Airbus.

The A340-600HGW (High Gross Weight) version first flew on 18 November 2005 and was certified on 14 April 2006. It has an MTOW of 380 t and a range of up to 14,630 km (7,900 nmi), made possible by strengthened structure, increased fuel capacity, more powerful engines and new manufacturing techniques like laser beam welding. The A340-600HGW is powered by four 61,900 lbf (275 kN) thrust Rolls-Royce Trent 560 turbofans. Emirates became the launch customer for the -600HGW when it ordered 18 at the 2003 Paris Air Show; but postponed its order indefinitely and later cancelled. Rival Qatar Airways, which placed its order at the same airshow, took delivery of only four aircraft with the first aircraft on 11 September 2006. The airline has since let its purchase options expire in favour of orders for the Boeing 777-300ER.

In July 2015, seven airlines worldwide operated A340-600s. In April 2016, there were 77 A340-600s in service

OPERATORS

A total of 227 aircraft (all A340 variants) were in airline service in July 2015 with operators Lufthansa (41), Iberia (24), South African Airways (17), Swiss International Air Lines (15), Air France (13), Virgin Atlantic (11), Etihad Airways (11), Cathay Pacific (8), Scandinavian Airlines (8), and other airlines with fewer aircraft of the type.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS

As of September 2015, the A340 has never been involved in a fatal incident, although there have been five hull losses:

20 January 1994 – an Air France A340-200 registered F-GNIA was burnt out after a fire started during servicing at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

24 July 2001 – an A340-300 of SriLankan Airlines was destroyed on the ground at Bandaranaike International Airport; being one of 26 aircraft which were damaged or destroyed during a major attack upon the airport by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam militants.

2 August 2005 – Air France Flight 358, a crash and fire after A340-300 F-GLZQ overran runway 24L at Toronto Pearson International Airport while landing in a thunderstorm. The aircraft slid into Etobicoke Creek and caught fire. All 297 passengers and 12 crew survived; 43 people were injured, 12 serious.

9 November 2007 – an Iberia Airlines A340-600 was badly damaged after sliding off the runway at Ecuador's Mariscal Sucre International Airport. The landing gear collapsed and two engines broke off. All 333 passengers and crew were evacuated via inflatable slides, and there were no serious injuries. The aircraft was scrapped.

15 November 2007 – an A340-600 was damaged beyond repair during ground testing at Airbus' facilities at Toulouse Blagnac International Airport. During a pre-delivery engine test, multiple safety checks had been disabled, leading to the non-chocked aircraft accelerating to 57 km/h and colliding with a concrete blast deflection wall. The right wing, tail, and left engines made contact with the ground or wall, leaving the forward section elevated several meters and the cockpit broken off; nine people on board were injured, four of them seriously. The aircraft was written off and was later used at Virgin Atlantic's cabin crew training facility in Crawley. It was due to be delivered to Etihad Airways.

20 March 2009 – Emirates Flight 407 was an Emirates flight flying from Melbourne to Dubai-International using an A340-500. The flight failed to take off properly from Melbourne Airport, hitting several structures at the end of the runway before eventually climbing enough to return to the airport for a safe landing. The occurrence was severe enough to be classified an accident by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

WIKIPEDIA

Parade Portfolio Management Tools... by Raffaella Loro

7 4

I've recently been working with Lift Interactive to redo my photography website... a fortuitous partnership as they have just recently launched a new portfolio management tool designed for photographers and creative professionals.

Parade is a web based intuitive portfolio management tool that provides stunning, thoughtfully designed, fully editable Flash website templates that allow for easy instant edits. Right now they offer a selection of templates, but I believe that in a few months they will also be launching a custom design service that is based on the same backend system so that photographers or creative professionals will still have control over the content of their site.

Some of my images are being used in one of the demo sites, but make sure to check them all out. It's a really cool and useful service for photographers.

COZY MULTISCENES SKYBOXS by Cozy Multiscene Skybox

6

️ Experience Ultimate Comfort with Cozy Multiscenes Skyboxs! 🏡 maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Night%20Haven/169/75/1004

Only 250$/Week!

youtu.be/YlgmT-o6si0

At Cozy Multiscenes Skyboxs, you don’t just rent a home you get access to a full lifestyle experience with 50 beautifully designed homes included in one package!

And the best part? Every month, we add brand new scenes to your rezzer, completely free of charge! Pay 4 Week 1 Gift ♥

✨ What You Get:

Name : Eros

•Options XXXtra Box

•Options Rezz bed

• No Premium Account Needed

• High-quality mesh builds with stunning detail

• Switch scenes anytime – unlimited changes during your stay

• 50+ unique homes available instantly

• New scenes added every month at no extra cost

• Free upgrades – all new builds are automatically added to your rezzer

• Tenant group invite control – let your guests rez and set home

• Hybrid dance ball for couples

• Web-based radio included

• Built-in security for total protection (New Security System)

️ 100 prims to decorate and personalize your space as you wish.

💸 All of this for just 250L$/week!

🎁 And remember – the longer you stay, the more your options grow!

Every month brings a new home scene to explore.

📨 Contact us in-world for a tour or more information.

Step into the cozy life with Cozy Multiscenes Skyboxs – because your Second Life should feel like home.

Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India - DoubleRoom by Tune Hotels

3

NEWS RELEASE

AHMEDABAD OPENING MARKS TUNE HOTELS’ ENTRY INTO INDIA

Presents new green ideas; Rs 599 per night introductory rate

NEW DELHI, 3 May 2013 – Award-winning international hotel chain, Tune Hotels, is all set to welcome its first guests in India with the opening of the 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad this month.

“We look forward to offering travellers to Ahmedabad an unbeatable proposition that combines great savings with a great comfortable stay and in a location that is annexed to the newest Shopping Mall in Ahmedabad. Our business model is designed to take care of the needs of travellers in India looking for great comfort without paying exorbitant rates,” said Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.

“Ahmedabad is an amazingly vibrant city in the fast growing state of Gujarat and we are looking to welcome both business and leisure travellers. We are very excited about this hotel as it marks our brand’s very first entry into India’s very exciting hospitality market. The Tune Hotel Ahmedabad aims to serve both domestic travellers and visitors from abroad, especially members of the large non-resident Indian (NRI) community from Gujarat settled in places like the US, Britain and the Gulf, who may already have had prior knowledge of the brand in the five countries we are already present in” he said.

To celebrate the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, online bookings are now accepted with attractive all-inclusive room charges that start from as low as 599 Indian rupees (US$11 / RM34 / Bt330 / Rp108,000). Guests have the option to choose and pay only for amenities that they require.

The promotion is offered exclusively online at www.tunehotels.com and bookings can be made from 3 May 2013 until 10 May 2013, subject to availability of rooms. The rate is available on a first come, first served basis, for stay period starting 15 May 2013 until 30 September 2013.

The arrival of Tune Hotels in India will also introduce new green ideas to hotel stay.

“We at Tune Hotels pursue a conscious policy of being environmental-friendly by optimising use of available resources, reduction of waste and by introducing processes that save on energy consumption. And our guests have endorsed our operations that encourage lifestyles that protect the environment,” Lankester said.

“As part of our business philosophy, we strive to remain locally-relevant in each and every community that we’re in, and this includes being responsible towards the local environment. We invite our guests in India to celebrate with us the introduction of new green concepts.”

The 100-room Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, annexed to the newly developed 4D Square Mall in the city’s Motera area, is well positioned on the main thoroughfare to the state capital of Gandhinagar and a stone’s throw away from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Patel cricket stadium.

Providing world-standard, high quality accommodation by focusing on key essentials but minus the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, Tune Hotels keeps its operating costs low and savings are passed on to guests in the form of super low rates.

Aside from its standard single and double rooms, Tune Hotels will be introducing family rooms that can accommodate between four to six people in order to meet the needs of the Indian guests, especially in the wedding market.

“In addition to larger room varieties, we have also made other adjustments in our offerings to serve our Indian guests better including more expansive food and beverage availability within the hotel. With a view to the huge wedding market in India, the hotel is able to cater to the needs for major banquet facilities for that total wedding experience. In fact, we’ve taken bookings for our very first wedding entourage already!” said Lankester.

Apart from properties in major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai –Tune Hotels is focusing on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities along with hotels in the tourist triangle destinations of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi. Tune Hotels will have five to six hotels in Gujarat as part of our 20 planned hotels across India in the next three years.

Commenting on the prospects for Tune Hotels in India, Lankester said: “India’s domestic hospitality market in total is huge and the major international brands all have a focus on the country. We see strong growth in both business and tourist segments as the domestic economy remains resilient. India’s middle class is expanding and rising disposable incomes have boosted travel. We are in a good position to offer quality affordable accommodation to these travel groups.”

Tune Hotels has received over four million guests since the opening of its first hotel in Downtown Kuala Lumpur in 2007. With the opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad, there will be 29 Tune Hotels in operation globally. The rest are 11 in Malaysia, five in the UK, four in the Philippines, four in Thailand and four in Indonesia.

By the end of 2013, Tune Hotels will have operating hotels in eight countries. Apart from India the company is set to open properties in Japan and Australia this year. Future projects are also coming up in the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Tune Hotels’ Indian expansion signifies growing economic relations between India and Malaysia, which has emerged as India’s key partner in Southeast Asia. Companies and business people are increasingly benefitting from these expanded business links and two-way flow of investment and people continues to rise. India-Malaysia trade hit a record high of $13.5 billion in 2012, a 7.3 per cent growth over 2011, while tourist traffic also continues to remain strong between the two countries.

Tourist arrivals between the two countries have been on the rise with Malaysia being among India’s top 10 sources of tourism, while India was Malaysia's sixth biggest source of tourists in 2012.

The opening of Tune Hotel Ahmedabad comes as Asia’s largest low-cost carrier AirAsia plans to launch its domestic airline services in India in a new venture.

“We see this as a great boost for not only travel between Malaysia and India, but adding further attraction to increasing travel within India. Like AirAsia, we pride ourselves on being a customer-focussed brand,” Lankester said.

Tune Hotels is part of Tune Group, a lifestyle business conglomerate co-founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, who are the Group Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer respectively of Asia’s largest low cost carrier AirAsia.

For real-time updates and promotion alerts, guests can stay connected with Tune Hotels via Facebook at www.facebook.com/tunehotelsIndia and on Twitter via www.twitter.com/tunehotels.

For booking and further information, visit www.tunehotels.com.

AHMEDABAD FACTS & ATTRACTIONS:

Bhadra Fort – Situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, its significance was established in 1411 the year Sultan Ahmad Shah established Ahmedabad as the capital of Gujarat Sultanate. The fort was built on the East Bank of the Sabarmati River and in 2012, a joint initiative between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and the Archeological Survey of India was signed to restore and redevelop to the fort to its former glory.

AutoWorld Museum – Featuring the largest collection of vintage automobiles in India, the AutoWorld Museum is located in Ahmedabad. The museum was founded by the Pranlal Bhogilal family and features cars, motorcycles and jeeps by marque carmakers such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Daimler-Chrysler and many more.

Sidi Sayed Mosque, Lal Darwaja – The mosque of Sidi Sayed is one of the most prominent mosques in Ahmedabad. Constructed in the year 1573, the mosque has gained worldwide recognition for it's intrincate artistic splendour.

Kankaria Lake – The Kankaria Lakefront development offers its visitors a myriad of activities and attractions apart from the gorgeous and serene view. Along the lake's 2.3km circumference, visitors can treat themselves to water sports & rides, visit the Balloon Safari, Kankaria Zoo, Kid City and a host of other attractions.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial - This is one of the most important buildings in Ahmedabad city of Gujarat. It is a museum as well as an exhibition center, dedicated to the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Akshardham Temple – The temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat is one of the largest Temples in the state. The monument that enshrines the 2.1 metre gold-leafed Murti of Lord Swaminarayan is the focal point of the temple. The monument itself, which is 30 meters in height was build with 6 thousand tonnes of Pink Sandstone and is largely heralded as an architectural masterpiece.

Sabarmati Ashram – This ashram is widely known as the Gandhi Ashram, in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, who spent 12 years of his life here. Located at the base of the Sabarmati river, the Ashram is recognised as a monument of national significance due to the role the place had played for the Independence of India.

- END –

About Tune Hotels

Tune Hotels is part of the lifestyle business conglomerate Tune Group that was founded by Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun. Tune Hotels seeks to innovate and revolutionise the way services are made available and has employed efficient web-based technologies to reach and engage its customers, presenting a unique lifestyle opportunity.

All Tune Hotels’ properties feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: a five-star bed, powerful hot showers and energy-conserving ceiling fans along with housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, CCTV surveillance, and 24-hour security.

The Tune Group of companies are Tune Air (a substantial shareholder of AirAsia), Tune Hotels, Tune Money (holding company of Tune Insurance), Tune Talk, Tune Box, Tune Studios, Tune Tones, Caterham F1 Team, Queens Park Rangers Football Club (QPR) and Educ8 Group (owner of Epsom College in Malaysia).

Photos are available from www.flickr.com/tunehotels.

For media enquiries please contact:

Cymantha Sothiar

Mobile: +6012 315 3638

Fax: +603 7955 5899

Email: cymantha@tunehotels.com

Q & A with Mark Lankester

Group CEO, Tune Hotels

Q: Where does the environment figure in Tune Hotels’ business philosophy?

A: For us at Tune Hotels, being environment-friendly is not a slogan. Using resources in a way that reduces waste and promotes healthy lifestyles is built in our daily operations whether it is saving energy or minimising waste. As a value hotel chain we by nature consume less resources. Shorn of the generally underutilised facilities commonly found in other hotels such as swimming pools, business centres and gymnasiums, we are promoting a more sustainable form of travel.

Q: What specific examples of green steps can you provide?

A: To give you an example of our energy conservation ways, we have a pay-as-you-use air-conditioning system programmed into guest keycards. Ceiling fans are a standard feature in our hotel rooms so guests have a choice not to use air-conditioning. And those who do need air-conditioning have it by agreeing to a small charge. Hallway air-conditioners in our hotels are set on a timer system so they turn on in alternate sequence to conserve power. We also actively use energy-efficient bulbs wherever we can. In developing new projects, we will look at how green standards can be incorporated in the location, size and building methods. Recycling containers are provided at all our hotels.

Q: How will Tune Hotels execute its green initiatives in India?

A: As part of our green initiatives, we encourage people to make smarter choices about the use of resources. Most people in India consider wastefulness as something bad. There is already a level of awareness about environmental degradation and how resources must be used better. People listen to arguments in favour of protecting the environment. Therefore, it is important for the hospitality industry to take its corporate social responsibility seriously.

Just recently the government of Delhi asked the city’s five-star hotels to conserve water and set up waste treatment plants. In our messages we are going to highlight why sustainable travel is important and how our guests can be part of our environment-friendly practices. Our properties do not feature swimming pools so most of our efforts will be directed at efficient use of water in rooms, laundry and energy efficient practices.

Q: These days it is not uncommon to see hotels putting up instructions for guests on towel and linen use. What are Tune Hotels’ practices in this regard?

A: This is an important area for any hotel to show what it can do to check water pollution. Laundry operation involves significant use of detergents, chemicals, water and electricity. By seeking the cooperation of our guests we can considerably reduce water use. Most people who stay at home are happy not to change bathroom towels and their bed linen every single day. Surely they can be encouraged to do the same during hotel stays. Tune Hotels reduces water consumption and the flow of laundry effluents into the environment by providing towels, if required for a small charge.

Q: How does Tune Hotels set green standards?

A: When we develop our hotels we invest in systems and technologies that are compatible with our green standards. Then we invest in our staff training and customer education so that we benefit from our environmental efforts. We always look at new technological developments in the hospitality industry so that we can improve our response to environmental issues.

We are keen to work with government bodies, academia, community and industry associations to promote green practices in travel. We strongly believe that environmental concerns should go mainstream in the hospitality business.

- ENDS -

I Love Working from Home by David Sasaki

6 18

I can't imagine ever working in a cubicle.

Leonardo Dialogo (Nanotechnology Art) by dr_marvel

7 5

Panoramic image of art installation by Jo Ann Fleischhauer at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, MD Anderson Cancer Center, South Campus Research Building 3, 6th floor entryway corridor.

Jo Ann is the Artist in Residence at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

Key features of the installation to note are (1) the granite floor intricately inlaid with Buckyballs and other 3D geometric objects associated with nanotechnology, (2) the Fibonacci series and quotes on the walls, and (3) the mirrored ceiling.

50 separate photographs were stitched together to create this image, which was a joint effort with jimmah_v.

View the full-resolution GigaPan panorama, and read additional details about the artwork, at: gigapan.org/gigapans/60670/

View a web-based Culture Map article on the art installation at:

culturemap.com/newsdetail/10-07-10-art-and-science-meld-i...

More of Jo Ann's artwork can be viewed at her website:

www.jofleischhauer.com/

Watchman by Dah Professor

25 23

This Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flew in, perched on the foot bridge and both of us sat and watched a small flock of Common Mergansers fishing in the river. After the heron landed the number of Mergansers fishing near the bridge increased in number, as though they were more comfortable with an extra pair of eyes keeping watch. - Millstone River, Princeton, New Jersey

View On Black

This image is (or was at one time) one of my most popular images

click on the following link to see a slideshow of Dah Professor's Top 100 Images

It is also the "glamor" (as they call it) ID image on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology "All About Birds" web based bird guide.

Note: This is the first image in a series of images,

unfortynately, in order to see the other pics on the "new" improved Flickr, you'll have to scroll up the comment section to the top of the comment list, or click on the following link to

view the other image in this series

Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans by Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington

3

Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF

Photo by Matt Christenson, BLM

Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM

----------------------------------------

For the first Americans, and the study of them today, it all starts with a point.

A sharp point fastened to a wooden shaft gave the hunter 13,000 years ago a weapon that could single-handedly spear a fish or work in numbers to take down a mammoth.

For a prehistoric human, these points were the difference between life and death. They were hunger-driven, handmade labors of love that took hours to craft using a cacophony of rock-on-rock cracks, thuds and shatters.

They have been called the first American invention, and some archaeologists now think 3-D scanning points can reveal more information about both the technology and the people.

The Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory at Oregon State University takes up only a few rooms on the ground floor of Waldo Hall, one of the supposedly haunted buildings on campus.

There are boxes of cultural history everywhere, and floor-to-ceiling wood cabinets with skinny pull-out drawers housing even more assets, but the really good stuff, evidence of the earliest known cultures in North America, lives in an 800-pound gun safe.

Loren Davis, anthropology professor at OSU and director of the lab, thinks 3-D scanning, printing, and publishing can circumvent the old traditions of the field, that artifacts are only to be experienced in museums and only handled by those who have a Ph.D.

“We are reimagining the idea of doing archaeology in a 21st century digital way,” said Davis. “We don’t do it just to make pretty pictures or print in plastic, we mostly want to capture and share it for analysis,” he added.

Nearby in the L-shaped lab, one of his doctoral students is preparing to scan a point that was discovered on Bureau of Land Management public lands in southeast Oregon.

Thousands of points have been unearthed since the 1930s in North America, the first being in eastern New Mexico near a town called Clovis. That name is now known worldwide as representing the continent’s first native people.

More recently, though, other peoples with distinctive points were found elsewhere, and some researchers think it means there was differing technology being made at the same time, if not pre-Clovis.

One such location is the Paisley Caves in southern Oregon ― one of the many archaeologically significant sites managed by the BLM.

The earliest stem point from Paisley Caves was scanned at Davis’ lab and a 3-D PDF was included in a 2012 multi-authored report in the journal Science.

Davis estimates his lab at OSU has scanned as many as 400 points, including others from BLM-managed lands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

More scans would mean a bigger database for comparing points and determining what style they are.

“Ideally, we want to get as many artifacts scanned as possible,“ said Davis. “The BLM offers a lot of access to public data ― this is just another way of doing it.”

---

Transforming a brittle piece of volcanic glass, by hand, into a beautiful and deadly 4-inch-long spear point is a process.

In one hand would be a hard shaping rock, or maybe a thick section of antler, and in the other would be the starter stone, which in addition to igneous could be jasper, chert, or any other chippable rock that creates a hide-puncturing level of sharpness.

After what might be hundreds of controlled strokes and rock rotations, the rough shape of a lance or spear tip would take form. Discarded shards of stone would often result in more points, or other useful tools like scrapers and needles.

Clovis points are distinguished by their length, bifacial leaf shape and middle channels on the bottom called flutes. Eventually the repetitive flaking of the point would stop, and the hunter would use precise pressure points to create the flute on one or each side that likely helped slot the finished product into a spear-like wooden pole.

The hunter was now mobile and ready to roam.

---

Prior to 3-D scanning, OSU doctoral student Sean Carroll picks up a can of Tinactin, gives it the obligatory shake, and completely covers “one of the oldest technologies in North America” with antifungal spray.

The talc and alcohol from the athlete’s foot remedy helps the software see even the slightest indents in the point, and it rubs right off afterwards.

“I want to scan all the Clovis I can get my hands on,” said Carroll, who came to OSU because of Davis’ 3-D lab and is using the medium as a big part of his dissertation.

Two random items, a power plug adapter and a ball of clay, are placed on each side of the fluted point to give the camera and light projector perspective. The objects create margins that force the structured light patterns to bend and capture more of the point’s surface detail.

Even so, like the hunter rotating the shaping rock, the archaeologist has to rotate the foam square holding the three items. Each scan takes about six seconds.

Carroll and Davis estimate that the learning curve for this process was about 100 hours. One hundred hours of trial and error -- and a lot of watching YouTube videos -- for a finished product that they think is indisputably worth it.

A completed 3-D scan of a point will have about 40,000 data points per square inch. The measurements are so precise, they can determine the difference between flake marks as thin as a piece of paper.

Davis says no archaeologist with a pair of calipers can come close to measuring the data obtained via 3-D, because simply, “there are some jobs that robots are really good at.”

“If the end game is measurements, well you could spend your whole life with a pair of calipers trying to achieve what we can do in 10 minutes,” said Davis.

---

Last year, the famous human relative nicknamed Lucy had 3-D scans of her 3.2 million year old bones published in the journal Nature.

In 2015, archaeologists from Harvard University completed a 3-D scan of a winged and human-headed stone bull from Mesopotamia that stands 13 feet high at the Louvre Museum.

And the Smithsonian Institution is currently beta testing a website dedicated to publishing 3-D models from its massive collection, including molds of President Abraham Lincoln’s face and the entire Apollo 11 command module.

All of these new-school efforts are based upon the old-school scientific principles of preservation and promotion.

Rock points, fossils, hieroglyphics -- various forms of cultural assets are susceptible to environmental conditions and not guaranteed to be around forever. Three-dimensional scanning is the most accurate way to digitally preserve these items of merit.

Once accurate preservation is done, there are opportunities for promoting not just science, but specific research goals.

In the case of the Lucy bones, scientists hope that crowdsourcing the 3-D data will help get more experts to look at the fossils and prove that the tree-dwelling ape died from a fall.

When it comes to comparing one specific stemmed point to an entire hard drive of scanning data, BLM archaeologist Scott Thomas thinks the work being done at the OSU lab can move archaeology to a new level.

“The 3-D scanning method blows anything we have done out of the water,” said Thomas.

That ability to compare points can lead to insights on how these hunting tools moved over geography, and even expand theories about how native groups learned new technologies.

“It’s going to be a really powerful tool someday -- not too far off,” said Thomas.

While long-term data analysis may not be the sexiest form of archaeology, holding a 3-D printed stem point is a pretty cool educational tool.

Davis of OSU has incorporated 3-D prints into his classes and said his students are able to make a tactile connection with artifacts that otherwise are not available.

“The students really enjoy these printed and digital models and often say that they are almost like the real thing,” said Davis.

---

This spring, Davis is traveling to Magadan, Russia -- aka Siberia -- to inspect and scan some points that may be linked to Clovis peoples.

The goal in Siberia, of course, is to further expand the 3-D database. He is specifically interested in comparing them to stems from a BLM-managed site he excavated in Idaho called Cooper’s Ferry.

As his student, Carroll, begins to clean up and put the scanned points into their individually labeled ziplocked bags, Davis can’t help but mention how much easier international research could be with 3-D scanning.

“You can share cultural resource info with people in other countries and you don’t have to come visit,” he said, adding that Russia isn’t the easiest country to enter.

“It’s as easy as sending an email,” Carroll agreed.

Davis then mentioned his 11-year-old child and how much of school curriculum these days is web-based as opposed to text-based.

“There’s nothing wrong with books, I’m a huge fan of books, but it’s a different way of learning,” said the archaeology professor.

And with that, he made another point.

-- by Toshio Suzuki, tsuzuki@blm.gov, @toshjohn

Best places to find 3-D archaeology online:

-- Sketchfab.com is one of the biggest databases on the web for 3-D models of cultural assets. Institutions and academics alike are moving priceless treasures to the digital space for all to inspect. Two examples: via the British Museum, a 7.25-ton statue of Ramesses II is available for viewing and free download; and via archaeologist Robert Selden Jr., hundreds of 3-D models are open to the public for study, including several Clovis points from the Blackwater Draw National Historic Site in New Mexico.

-- The Smithsonian Institution is bringing the best of American history to a new audience via their 3-D website (3d.si.edu). Amelia Earhart's flight suit? Check. Native American ceremonial killer whale hat? Check. Face cast of President Abraham Lincoln? Check and check -- there are two. And their biggest 3-D scan is still coming: the 184-foot-long space shuttle Discovery.

-- Visitors to Africanfossils.org can filter 3-D model searches by hominids, animals and tools, and also by date, from zero to 25 million years ago.

The sleek website, with partners like National Geographic and the National Museums of Kenya, makes it easy to download or share 3-D scans, and each item even comes with a discovery backstory and Google map pinpointing exactly where it was found.

film streaming by jeffes rita

Watching streaming film on the web is probably the next best thing on the internet and online sites that provide you with the latest links to web-based movies and television shows is becoming a big hit. If you find this method is interesting it is a good idea to search for those online sites which provide lots of links. You should make sure they update the web site regularly so that you can get for instance, the newest episode from your favorite TV program or movies.http://www.filmstreaming4u.com/

s e a t a c e a n i s t i c by epiclectic

5

epiFlection.epiclectic.com - The Album

Twisted graphic enhancements of mostly found life form images captured from the web-based world, courtesy of the epiPhone camera, Photoshop and the warped mind of the epiclectic.

Disclaimer - If anyone objects to me reprocessing one of their images, please drop me a flickr mail and I will be more than happy to provide a link to your original image - or remove it from my public photo stream.

Call for Images - If you have a photograph you would like to submit for an official epiFlection treatment, send me a flickr mail with a link to your photo. Once posted, you will get credit, a link to your photo, and a great photo for downloading, printing, framing and giving as a wonderful gift to loved ones in your close circle of friends.

Award Certificates by Steve Czajka

4 1

I recently completed some work for an awards program. I have done this for the past few years. While it is a great deal of effort, it is rewarding for me as a designer. This years program consisted of

-Nominations Posters

-Nominees Posters

-Nomination Tent Cards

-Awards Certificates

-Invitations

-Web graphics (not shown)

-Web based form (not shown)

Each of the certificates has custom calligraphy completed with my new Designer Type that I plan to offer commercially. I was quite please with the outcome this year. The print centre did an amazing job. I think the graphic design adds a great deal of class to the awards program. I think it is important that when you receive an award it should be a quality award. And the custom calligraphy really adds a personal touch.

The design did change moderately from last year. As a result I had to make some adjustments, but I was able to carry the logo and star identity throughout the design process. I like the white on black look as it adds a great element of class, formality, and elegance.

Connect with me if you are in need of graphic design for a corporate awards program, business logo design or other.

Cheers

Steve

Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans by Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington

2

Photos were captured at the Pacific Slope Archaeological Laboratory on the Oregon State University Campus in Corvallis, Dec. 13, 2016, to accompany the feature story below: "Printing the past: 3-D archaeology and the first Americans." Article online here (and below): goo.gl/viKEZF

Photo + Story by Toshio Suzuki, BLM