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Snowy view of Ratcliffe Upon Soar Power Station
Not uploaded many shots recently. A combination of workload at work, personal workload and the fact that Google is closing down my main editing software (Picnik) has left me with little time and no enthusiasm for my hobby.
Things can only get better right?.. ;)
Be aware of the disadvantages of cloud software or to put it another way don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
Edited in Picasa.
Philip Ramond Regan (b. April 6, 1937) is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. During the 1966 season, when he was Walter Alston's favorite arm out of the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen, teammate Sandy Koufax nicknamed him "The Vulture" due to his knack for earning wins in late-inning relief situations.
After one year at Western Michigan University, he signed with the Detroit Tigers in 1956. He compiled a 61-42 record and 3.76 earned run average as a starting pitcher in the Tigers' farm system before earning a call up to the majors midway through the 1960 season. Over six seasons, Regan went 42-44 with a 4.50 ERA for the Detroit Tigers. He was 0-4 with a 4.99 ERA in 1965 when he was demoted to triple A Syracuse. He earned a call up that September, and made two appearances, but it was while he was with Syracuse that Regan learned of interest in him from the Dodgers organization.
Regan called Tigers General Manager Jim Campbell asking to be traded, and on December 15, 1965, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder Dick Tracewski. With Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Claude Osteen and Don Sutton in the starting rotation, Regan was used strictly as a reliever with the Dodgers. He responded by going 14-1 with a 1.62 ERA, 88 strikeouts in 116 innings pitched and a National League leading 21 saves to help the Dodgers capture the NL pennant by a game and a half over the San Francisco Giants.
The Sporting News named him the NL Reliever of the Year and NL Comeback Player of the Year in 1966. He also earned the only All-Star nod in his career, but did not appear in the game. He appeared in two games of the 1966 World Series, allowing just one base runner via walk, and retiring the other five he faced.
On April 23, 1968 he was traded with Jim Hickman to the Chicago Cubs for Jim Ellis and Ted Savage.
During the twilight of his career, Regan found his workload diminishing rapidly. Through May 1972, Regan had pitched just four innings for the Cubs. He asked to be traded or released, and on June 2, his wish was granted. Regan's contract was sold to the crosstown Chicago White Sox.
In 1995, he received his only major league managerial stint, managing the Baltimore Orioles to a 71-73 record. After just one season at the helm, he was fired, and replaced by Davey Johnson.
MLB statistics:
Win–loss record - 96–81
ERA - 3.84
Strikeouts - 743
Saves - 92
Link to all of his issued baseball cards - www.tradingcarddb.com/Person.cfm/pid/4855/col/1/yea/0/Phi...
Spanish card by La Novela Semanal Cinematográfica, no. 76.
Tullio Carminati (1895-1971) was an Italian stage and film actor with a longstanding career from the 1910s to the 1960s. He played in Italian, German, American, British, and French films and on Italian, American, and British stages.
Tullio Carminati was born as Count Tullio Carminati de Brambilla in Zara, Austrian-Hungarian Empire (now Zadar, Croatia) in 1892 (1894, according to IMDb and Wikipedia). He ran away from school and joined a theatre company which soon ran into financial trouble. Disinherited and chased from the house by his father, he had to start working as an actor. He managed to get employed by Alfredo de Sanctis in 1907, during a Dalmatian tour by the latter. In 1909 Carminati arrived in Rome. By mediation of actor Gustavo Serena, Carminati met Ferruccio Garavaglia, first actor of the Compagnia stabile romana, which resided at the Teatro Argentina and which accepted him as an extra. The company director, Ettore Paladini, was not convinced of Carminati’s talent and restricted him to modest parts. In 1910 actress Emma Grammatica discovered him, while giving guest performances at the Argentina. She admired his elegance and spontaneity and convinced the management to give him jeune premier parts. Under this flag, star actor and director Ermete Novelli noticed him in La fiamma and hired him in 1912 for his own company. Novelli became his teacher who learned him to give a balanced and natural performance and the taste for simple and touching solutions. Under the aegis of Novelli, Carminati transformed in a modern, refined and sensible actor, free of affectations. Soon, Marco Praga hired Carminati for his Compagnia stabile of the Teatro Manzoni in Milan and let him play in various modern plays by Gabriele D’Annunzio, Dario Niccodemi, Praga himself, and others. During a tour in South America and back in Milan the focus was more on the lighter repertory.
In 1914 Tullio Carminati made his début in the Italian silent cinema. His first film appearance was in La mia vita per la tua/My life for yours (1914), starring Maria Carmi and directed by Emilio Ghione. When the Manzoni company stopped in 1915, Carminati signed a contract with the Ambrosio company of Turin, playing in the propaganda film Romanticismo/Romanticism (Carlo Campogalliani, Arrigo Frusta, 1915), in which he was the Italian aristocrat fighting the Austrians during the Risorgimento. His co-actress was Elena Makowska who had her breakthrough in this film. Carminati would be paired with Makowska in several other Ambrosio films, as in Val d’Olivi/Val of Olives (Eleuterio Rodolfi, 1916), again set at the Risorgimento. Carminati also did a few films with actress Madeleine Céliat, such as Davanti alla legge/In front of the law (Carlo Campogalliani, 1916). In 1916 Carminati joined the theatre company of Lyda Borelli and Ugo Piperno. He played in Nozze dei Centauri (Wedding of the Centaurs), La donna nuda (The naked woman) and Amanti (Lovers). But soon Carminati left again and focused on film acting, with titles like Tramonto triste/Sad Tramonte (Giuseppe Pinto, 1916) and L’articolo IV/The article IV (Gennaro Righelli, 1917). At the company Tiber Film, he played in a series of films directed by Augusto Genina in 1916-1918: Kalidaa – la storia una mummia/Kalidaa - the history of a mummy (1917), Il trono e la seggiola/The throne and the chair (1918) and in particular the successful films Il presagio/The premonition (1916) and La menzogna/The lie (1916), both with Vera Vergani. By now Carminati had become a real film star, his face and shape endlessly reproduced on postcards, posters and photos, in particular his kiss from Il presagio. Between 1917 and 1922 Carminati acted in twelve star vehicles with the Italian diva Hesperia, such as L’aigrette/The Egret (1917), La donna dei cuori/The woman of the hearts (1917) and La donna abbandonata/The Abandoned Woman (1917), all directed by her husband Baldassarre Negroni. In the late 1910s, Carminati also played with Maria Jacobini in La via più lunga/The longest street (Mario Caserini, 1918) and he made a few films with Gemma and Bianca Stagno Bellincioni. In 1919 Carminati founded his own film company, Carminati-Film. He produced five films with it in 1919-1920, all directed by Enrico Roma, but in the end he was forced to dissolve the company. All in all Carminati played in some 37 Italian silent films between 1914 and 1924. After some failures in the cinema Carminati was forced to return to the stage. There he became extremely successful with his own company, together with Alda Borelli, Lyda's sister, in 1920 and 1921. Carminati’s plays were known for their eye for detail, realism and style and their lack of frivolous overdoing. He played elegant and refined characters, full of spirit and wit. However, his part as Armand in Alexandre Dumas’ La dame aux camélias (Camille) was considered as too cold. When Borelli left the company in 1921, Carminati became director and first actor of Eleonora Duse’s company. Here he directed three dramas of which he played only in one, Cosí sia (Such is) by T. Gallarati Scotti. United Artists producer Joseph Schenck spotted him and offered him to come to Hollywood to play in a series of films, but after the failure of Carminati-Film and because of his workload at the theatre, Carminati had his doubts. When Duse went on tour to the US, Carminati joined the theatre company of Lucio d’Ambra and Mario Fumagalli, appearing in plays by Luigi Pirandello, Roberto Bracco and Sem Benelli. Carminati did only a few films in those years including Mensch gegen Mensch/Person against person (Hans Steinhoff, 1923), shot in Germany with Alfred Abel in the lead. Between 1924 and 1925 Carminati did a series of plays with Italia Almirante Manzini and Lina Tricerri, including the very successful comedy Le nozze di Leporello (The wedding of Leporello) by Luigi Almirante.
Fed up with the decline of the Italian film world and deluded by the collaboration with Italia Almirante Manzini and Lina Tricerri, Tullio Carminati went to the US in 1925, without any clear prospects and without speaking the language properly. After some time, he managed to get a contract with United Artists and played a detective in his first American film: The Bat (Roland West, 1926), with Jack Pickford and Louise Fazenda. This was followed by parts as the 'lover' in The Duchess of Buffalo (Sydney Franklin, 1926) with Constance Talmadge, and Stage Madness (Victor Schertzinger, 1927) with Virginia Valli. He then switched to Paramount where he reached fame with his part in Honeymoon Hate (Luther Reed, 1927) with Florence Vidor. He also acted in the Pola Negri vehicle Three Sinners (Rowland V. Lee, 1928). With the advent of sound cinema, Carminati moved to New York and joined the company of Basil Rathbone. Critics liked his elegance, openness and sobriety, while audiences loved his foreign accent and Latin lover image. His American stage career was confirmed with Strictly Dishonorable by Preston Sturges, which ran for two years in 1930-1931 in some 725 shows. The continuous success of this play reopened the doors of Hollywood for Carminati. Until 1940, he continued to play in various films, like Gallant Lady (Gregory LaCava, 1933), Moulin Rouge (Sydney Lanfield, 1934) with Constance Bennett, and One Night of Love (Victor Schertzinger, 1934) with Grace Moore. In Europe he played the male lead in the Franco-Italian production Marcia nuziale/The Wedding March (Mario Bonnard, 1935), starring Kiki Palmer. After another Broadway show, he acted in the romantic comedies Let’s Live Tonight (Victor Schertzinger, 1934) with Lilian Harvey, and Paris in Spring (Lewis Milestone, 1935) with Mary Ellis, establishing him as the mature Don Giovanni. In 1936 he acted in two British films by Herbert Wilcox: London Melody (1936) and The Three Maxims (1936), both starring Anna Neagle. In 1938, after a stay in Italy, he played again on Broadway in By Candle Light, and in 1939 in the comedy Stephen Jumel. In 1940 he played in Hollywood in Sunset in Vienna (Norman Walker, 1940), with Lilli Palmer, and in Safari (Edward H. Griffith, 1940), with Douglas Fairbanks jr. and Madeleine Carroll. In December 1941, a few days after the US declared war to Italy, Carminati was imprisoned. He was sent back to Italy in May 1942, because of anti-American activities. In the following year he made his Italian cinema come-back in La via torna/The Street Turns (Pier Luigi Faraldo, 1943) and he joined the company of Elsa de Giorgi and Elena Zareschi, performing in various plays before and after the liberation there. In 1946 he joined the company Morelli-Stoppa, for which he played in Antigone (Jean Anouilh), directed by Luchino Visconti. In 1953, after a stage absence of several years, Carminati returned in such plays as Il Ferro (The Iron) by Gabriele D’Annunzio. From the late 1940s until 1963, Carminati acted in various films in Italy, Spain, France and the US. Memorable titles are La Chartreuse de Parme/The Charterhouse of Parme (Christian Jaque, 1948) starring Gérard Philipe, La madonnina d’oro/The Golden Madonna (Ladislao Vajda, 1949) with Phyllis Calvert, La Beauté du diable/Beauty and the Devil (René Clair, 1950), the box office hit Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953) with Audrey Hepburn, Giovanna d’Arco al rogo/Joan of Arc at the Stake (Roberto Rossellini, 1954) with Ingrid Bergman, War and Peace (King Vidor, 1956), the epic El Cid (Anthony Mann, 1961) featuring Charlton Heston. His final film was The Cardinal (Otto Preminger, 1963). Tullio Carminati died in 1971 in Rome because of a brain haemorrhage. He was 78.
Sources: Roberta Ascarelli (Italian - Treccani), Vittorio Martinelli (Italian - Il cinema muto italiano), Wikipedia (Italian and English), and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Student Workload:
With the pressure of Global Warming, the everchanging Earth, advancing technologies and higher education.. what else are the next generations in for?
In Ontario Canada high school education, the Academic grade 13 came to an end on June of 2003.
Like other jurisdictions across North America, Ontario decided to abolish the grade13 level. Ontario's last grade 13 class graduated along with an almost equal number of grade 12 students and students, since then, have had an increase workload on their shoulders.
The rising value of the Canadian against the American dollar will help open the doors for Canadian students wishing to enroll in any of several accredited American University online programs.
Several Canadian Universities, including a few in Ontario, are also beginning to offer online accredited degree programs. The University of Athabasca in Alberta and Royal Roads University in British Columbia offer exclusively online degree programs.
However, Ontario government officials may initiate policy action to discourage Ontario's Colleges and Universities from accepting online "home schooled" students from Ontario, even discouraging them from proctoring outside examinations for such students, increasing the pressures they will face in the real World.
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I've attempted to reproduce the typical load of bandsaw blades which made up the bulk of the truck's daily workload.
The crate-like container at the headboard carried smaller items such as circular sawblades, chainsaws and other cutting tools. Again, a bespoke container for its load.
40 hours later, The Forge is finally finished! So, what is The Forge? The Forge is a mobile asteroid mining and processing facility. It uses six tugs to collect asteroids and bring them to one of the six mining platforms near the front of the ship. The asteroids are then put through grinding drums that break them into smaller pieces. Next, any desired ore, minerals, etc. are removed from the fragments and the waste is jettisoned from the ship. The ore, minerals, etc. are sorted into seperate containers. Eight huge reinforced plates protect the shipping containers from rogue asteroids and open to allow a transport to collect them.
The two bridges share the workload of the ship. The rear bridge is in charge of piloting, navigation and shipping. The forward bridge handles the mining and processing operations.
Alright, time for some tech specs!
The forge measures in at a whopping 156 studs in length (The biggest SHIP I've ever built). She's 62 studs at the widest (26 at the thinnest) and 38 studs tall. I did have two big landing gears built into it but it got WAY too heavy for them, thus the stand. It also has motor-driven grinding drums in the mining platforms and the big grey button in the middle of the ship opens and closes the armored plates. The plates where also supposed to be motor-driven but I could get them working for the life of me. Oh well!
I hope you all enjoyed watching this beast going together as I had building it (even if I did shout some horrific profanities from time to time)! Thanks for watching and for all the support!
Knottingley TMD, pictured on 17th August 1991, containing the lines of class 56s which were its staple motive power of that era.
I believe the depot is still in existence, nevertheless its workload never recovered from the controversial 1992-93 pit closure programme.
Porsche 917-001
Chassis 001, assembled in early March 1969, was the first of the twenty-five 917s completed for homologation. This chassis was used for a multitude of events, though never raced. Its workload consisted of testing at the Nürburgring and display duty in places such as the Geneva Motor Show in 1969 or Frankfurt International Auto Show in 1970.
By October 1970, 917-001 was part of the Press Department of Porsche and painted in the now famous Salzburg paint scheme of the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.
Festival Automobile International 2017, Paris
Dr Alia Crum arrived in the soft brightness that comes after a storm. The air outside Stanford’s Psychology Building was cool and clear, the kind of light that makes everything feel freshly washed. She settled into a comfortable chair in her office with an easy calm, as if the morning’s weather had cleared a little space around her too.
Crum is a psychologist who studies something deceptively simple. She examines how beliefs shape physiology. Not in the loose mystical way that phrase sometimes gets tossed around. Her work cuts closer to the bone. The body is not a passive machine. It responds to expectation. It listens to mindset. She has built a career showing that what we think about stress, food, exercise, illness and treatment can tilt the body’s response in measurable ways.
Her early work came out of a moment most of us would ignore. While studying stress at Yale she realized that stress itself was not always the enemy. The fear of stress could be worse. The belief that stress is damaging primes the body to show more harmful patterns. The belief that stress can sharpen performance nudges the system toward resilience. Not wishful thinking. Observable biology. Shifts in cortisol. Changes in blood vessel constriction. A different hormonal conversation between mind and body.
One of her most famous studies grew from that instinct to question the obvious. The milkshake experiment has been told and retold because of how blunt and beautiful it is. Crum and her team gave participants a milkshake. Same ingredients. Same calories. Same everything. But the label was switched. For one group it was described as a rich decadent indulgence. For the other it appeared as a restrained sensible shake. People drank it while their hunger hormones were measured. Ghrelin the hormone that pushes hunger up or down behaved as if the labels were real. The decadent shake triggered a steep drop in ghrelin as though the body believed satisfaction had arrived. The restrained shake left ghrelin high as though the body had been shortchanged. The stomach listened not just to what was swallowed but to the story around it.
Crum leans into these contradictions. The world is overflowing with advice about how to treat your body. She keeps asking how the body treats belief. Her research at the Mind and Body Lab explores placebos, treatment expectations, the power of framing and how subtle shifts in context can rewrite physiology. People heal faster when they think a treatment is potent even if the medication is identical. Housekeepers who were told their daily work counted as exercise showed improvements in weight and blood pressure without any change in actual workload. Mindset became part of the treatment itself.
Talking with her you sense someone who has not grown cynical despite years of studying human perception. She seems fascinated by how easily the mind can box itself in and how quickly it can step out again with the right nudge. During the shoot she often rested her hand on a notebook the way some people hold a compass. These experiments begin as questions scribbled on a page before they grow into protocols, measurements and data sets that surprise the field again and again.
There is a warmth to the way she listens. She gives every idea a moment to breathe before responding. It makes sense. Her whole scientific life is built on the idea that thoughts matter. Beliefs matter. Not in a magical way. In a biological way. You walk out of her lab with the unsettling and oddly hopeful sense that the stories we tell ourselves are not just background noise. They seep inward. They shape the body. They set the terms for how we cope with stress, how we move through illness and how we meet our own expectations.
Photographing her on that quiet afternoon at Stanford felt like brushing up against the edge of a much larger truth. The mind is not sealed off from the body. Crum has spent her career proving it. And she is only getting started.
American Forces designation is F/A-18 Hornet.
Canadian Forces designation is CF-188B Hornet.
Also known as McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet.
In the 1970s, the Air Force decided that a single multi-role fighter type would replace its CF-101 Voodoos , CF-104 Starfighters and CF-116 Freedom Fighters. The resulting New Fighter Aircraft competition culminated in the selection of the McDonnell-Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. Canada became the first export customer for the type in a contract worth $2.34 (Cdn) billion. A number of Canadian-unique modifications were incorporated into the aircraft design. These included changes for Canadian unique weapons, a 600,000 candle power searchlight in the starboard nose for night intercepts, a modified survival kit and a land based ILS system replacing the USN automatic carrier landing system. Deployed to Canadian air defence (NORAD) and NATO squadrons, the CF-18 Hornet has lived up to all expectations. The multi-role capability of the Hornet has been repeatedly proven in CF use and the aircraft have been operationally employed in the Gulf War and more recently, in the NATO campaign over Kosovo. In the Gulf War, the aircraft were employed in both CAP and conventional strikes. Flying from Aviano, Italy, in the skies over Kosovo and Serbia, the aircraft was primarily employed in the attack role dropping both conventional and precision guided munitions.
The need to upgrade the CF-18 was demonstrated during the Gulf War I deployment and during the 1998 Kosovo conflict as advances in technology had rendered some of the avionics on board the CF-18 obsolete and incompatible with NATO allies. In 2000, CF-18 upgrades became possible when the government increased the defence budget.
In 2001 the Incremental Modernization Project (IMP) was initiated. The project was broken into two phases over a period of eight years and was designed to improve air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities, upgrade sensors and the defensive suite, and replace the datalinks and communications systems on board the CF-18 from the old F/A-18A and F/A-18B standard to the current F/A-18C and D standard. Boeing and L-3 Communications, was issued a contract for the modernization project starting in 2002. A total of 80 CF-18s, consisting of 62 single-seat and 18 dual-seat models were selected from the fleet for the upgrade program. The project along with the IMP II will extend the life of the CF-18 until around 2017 to 2020 when they are to be replaced by the F-35 Lightning II JSF.
Aircraft Specifications
CDN Reg: CF-188
US/NATO Reg.: F/A-18A
Manufacturer: McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Corporation.
Crew / Passengers: 1 pilot (CF-18A) or 2 pilots (CF-18B).
Power Plant(s): 2 x General Electric F404-GE-400 low-bypass turbofans @ 16,000 lb (7,258 kg) thrust.
Performance: Max Speed: Mach 1.8 Service Ceiling: 49,000 ft (15,000 m) Unrefuelled Range: 2,300 mi (3,704 km) *(retractable air-to-air refueling probe fitted).
Weights: Empty: 23,400 lb (10,614 kg) Gross: 37,000 lb (16,783 kg) Maximum Take-off: 49,355 lb (22,387 kg).
Dimensions: Unfolded Span: 40 ft 5 in (12.32 m) (with missiles) Folded Span: 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) Length: 56 ft 0 in (17.07 m) Height: 15 ft 3 in (4.66 m) Wing Area: 400 sq ft (37.16 sq m)
Armament: Internally mounted M61A1 20mm cannon & provisions for AIM9 Sidewinder and AIM7 Sparrow air-to-air missiles, Maverick air-to-ground missiles, conventional bombs and precision-guided bombs, unguided CRV7 rockets, fuel tanks etc.
Two CF-18 fighter squadrons are assigned the air defence role in North America. They maintain limited air-to-surface capability to provide support to maritime operations, as well as support to land operations in defence of Canada. They are also available for contingency operations anywhere in the world.
CFB Cold Lake - Cold lake, Alberta, Canada
■410 Cougar Tactical Fighter (Operational Training) Squadron
■409 Nighthawk Tactical Fighter Squadron*
CFB Bagotville - Bagotville, Quebec, Canada
■425 Alouétte Tactical Fighter Squadron**
*Detachment at CFB Comox, British Columbia, Canada
** Detachment at CFB Goosebay, Labrador, Canada
Note: Current operational aircraft strength is 60 aircraft with the additional 60 aircraft undergoing upgrading and rotation.
www.canadianwings.com/Aircraft/aircraftDetail.php?HORNET-37
www.aviation.technomuses.ca/collections/artifacts/aircraf...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_Douglas_CF-18_Hornet
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Dassault Falcon 50EX.
Dassault Aviation was the first to create a private jet with intercontinental range: the Falcon 50. Seventeen years later, they re-created it, keeping the features that made it such a success, while modifying others with more advanced technology. The result is a private jet that looks and feels like its predecessor, but easily supersedes it. The Falcon 50EX cruises faster at high altitudes; flies further; burns less fuel; and generally outperforms the Falcon 50 in every respect.
The cabin of the Falcon 50EX is perhaps the part of the jet that has changed the least. It still has a height and width of 5.9 and 6.1 feet, respectively. At 23.5 feet in length the Falcon 50EX features a total cabin volume of 700 cubic feet. 115 cubic feet of baggage storage is available in internal compartments. Three closets in the cabin provide space for coats, suits, and briefcases. All baggage compartments are fully pressurized. A total of 2,205 pounds of bags can be stored.
The nine-passenger seating configuration is generally laid out in one four-seat club arrangement, and a separate section of two facing seats and a three-seat divan. Work tables fold out between facing seats so work can be completed in-flight. Power plugs are available for laptops and office equipment. Temperature control is separate for the cockpit and the cabin, so both parties are comfortable in-flight. Space and equipment for hot and cold food preparation come standard, including an oven, ice chest, and coffee maker.
The Falcon 50EX uses three Honeywell TFE731-40 turbofan engines, the second generation of the TFE731 series. They provide more thrust at cruise speeds and burn less fuel than the Falcon 50’s TFE731-3-1C engines. Providing the same amount of thrust for a sea level takeoff as the -3-1C engines, the -40s have an increased ambient temperature, meaning that they perform nearly the same at high altitudes and temperatures as they do at sea level. At an elevation of 5,000 feet and a temperature of 77°F, the -40 engines produce 3,440 pounds of thrust – 93% of the thrust produced at standard sea level conditions.
Furthermore, the -40 engines are equipped with FADEC (Full Authority N1-reference Digital Electronic Engine Control) systems, which automatically start and restart the engines on the ground, reducing pilot workload and optimizing fuel burn and performance. The engine manufacturing process used on the -40 engines is more precise, resulting in higher tolerances and reduced leakage.
The Falcon 50EX, like the Falcon 50, has great runway performance. It can take off in 4,935 feet at sea level and in 7,247 at an elevation of 5,000 feet and a temperature of 77°F. Its maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) has increased from 38,800 pounds to 39,700 pounds – a 900 pound increase. The Falcon 50EX can climb directly to an altitude of 37,000 feet in 17 minutes (13 minutes more quickly than the Falcon 50). It can cruise at 417 knots at an altitude of 43,000 feet for long range trips, or at 481 knots and an altitude of 39,000 feet for optimum speed. The maximum flight ceiling for the Falcon 50 is 49,000 feet.
The Falcon 50EX was designed using computer-molded fluid dynamics software and lightweight materials. Its primary structures are made of aluminum monocoque, while composites are used for some secondary structures. The aerodynamic design and materials slightly decrease the sound produced by the Falcon 50EX on takeoff to 83.8 EPNdB.
The three fuel tanks for the Falcon 50EX are regulated by electrical transfer pumps. These pumps can be used as emergency backup systems if both of the hydraulic systems that power the avionics fail. As unlikely as it would be to have all three systems fail, a fourth option is still available – all flight controls can be operated manually.
The avionics suite of the Falcon 50EX is based on the Collins Pro Line 4 suite. Four 7.25×7.25 inch screens display flight information. Flight controls are located close to the corresponding displays in an intuitive cockpit layout. The cockpit comes standard with a dual Pro Line II radio system, dual digital air-computers, a TWR-850 Doppler turbulence detection radar, an AlliedSignal dual Global GNS-XMS Flight Management System, and several other flight control and environmental awareness systems.
The Falcon 50 was a successful and high-performing private jet, but the Falcon 50EX outdoes it in every way. Everything from its cabin to its engines has been improved, resulting in a decidedly better private jet.
Pasted from Wikipedia: Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey
• • • • •
The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey is a multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL), and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capability. It is designed to combine the functionality of a conventional helicopter with the long-range, high-speed cruise performance of a turboprop aircraft.
The V-22 originated from the U.S. Department of Defense Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) aircraft program started in 1981. It was developed jointly by the Bell Helicopter, and Boeing Helicopters team, known as Bell Boeing, which produce the aircraft.[4] The V-22 first flew in 1989, and began years of flight testing and design alterations.
The United States Marine Corps began crew training for the Osprey in 2000, and fielded it in 2007. The Osprey's other operator, the U.S. Air Force fielded their version of the tiltrotor in 2009. Since entering service with the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force, the Osprey has been deployed for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Contents
•• 1.2 Flight testing and design changes
• 2 Design
• 8 Notable appearances in media
Development
Early development
The failure of the Iran hostage rescue mission in 1980 demonstrated to the United States military a need[5] for "a new type of aircraft, that could not only take off and land vertically but also could carry combat troops, and do so at speed."[6] The U.S. Department of Defense began the Joint-service Vertical take-off/landing Experimental (JVX) aircraft program in 1981, under U.S. Army leadership. Later the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps took the lead.[7][8] The JVX combined requirements from the Marine Corps, Air Force, Army and Navy.[9][10] A request for proposals (RFP) was issued in December 1982 for JVX preliminary design work. Interest in the program was expressed by Aérospatiale, Bell Helicopter, Boeing Vertol, Grumman, Lockheed, and Westland. The DoD pushed for contractors to form teams. Bell partnered with Boeing Vertol. The Bell Boeing team submitted a proposal for a enlarged version of the Bell XV-15 prototype on 17 February 1983. This was the only proposal received and a preliminary design contract was awarded on 26 April 1983.[11][12]
The JVX aircraft was designated V-22 Osprey on 15 January 1985; by March that same year the first six prototypes were being produced, and Boeing Vertol was expanded to deal with the project workload.[13][14] Work has been split evenly between Bell and Boeing. Bell Helicopter manufactures and integrates the wing, nacelles, rotors, drive system, tail surfaces, and aft ramp, as well as integrates the Rolls-Royce engines and performs final assembly. Boeing Helicopters manufactures and integrates the fuselage, cockpit, avionics, and flight controls.[4][15] The USMC variant of the Osprey received the MV-22 designation and the Air Force variant received CV-22; reversed from normal procedure to prevent Marine Ospreys from having a conflicting designation with aircraft carriers (CV).[16] Full-scale development of the V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft began in 1986.[2] On 3 May 1986 the Bell-Boeing partnership was awarded a $1.714 billion contract for V-22 aircraft by the Navy, thus at this point the project had acquisition plans with all four arms of the U.S. military.[17]
The first V-22 was rolled out with significant media attention in May 1988.[18][19] However the project suffered several political blows. Firstly in the same year, the Army left the program, citing a need to focus its budget on more immediate aviation programs.[20] The project also faced considerable dialogue in the Senate, surviving two votes that both could have resulted in cancellation.[21][22] Despite the Senate's decision, the Department of Defense instructed the Navy not to spend more money on the Osprey.[23] At the same time, the Bush administration sought the cancellation of the project.[23]
Flight testing and design changes
The first of six MV-22 prototypes first flew on 19 March 1989 in the helicopter mode,[24] and on 14 September 1989 as a fixed-wing plane.[25] The third and fourth prototypes successfully completed the Osprey's first Sea Trials on the USS Wasp in December 1990.[26] However, the fourth and fifth prototypes crashed in 1991-92.[27] Flight tests were resumed in August 1993 after changes were incorporated in the prototypes.[2] From October 1992 until April 1993, Bell and Boeing redesigned the V-22 to reduce empty weight, simplify manufacture and reduce production costs. This redesigned version became the B-model.[28]
Flight testing of four full-scale development V-22s began in early 1997 when the first pre-production V-22 was delivered to the Naval Air Warfare Test Center, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. The first EMD flight took place on 5 February 1997. The first of four low rate initial production aircraft, ordered on 28 April 1997, was delivered on 27 May 1999. Osprey number 10 completed the program's second Sea Trials, this time from the USS Saipan in January 1999.[2] During external load testing in April 1999, Boeing used a V-22 to lift and transport the M777 howitzer.[29] In 2000, Boeing announced that the V-22 would be fitted with a nose-mounted GAU-19 Gatling gun,[30] but the GAU-19 gun was later canceled.[31]
In 2000, there were two further fatal crashes, killing a total of 19 Marines, and the production was again halted while the cause of these crashes was investigated and various parts were redesigned.[32] The V-22 completed its final operational evaluation in June 2005. The evaluation was deemed successful; events included long range deployments, high altitude, desert and shipboard operations. The problems identified in various accidents had been addressed.[33]
Controversy
The V-22's development process has been long and controversial, partly due to its large cost increases.[34] When the development budget, first planned for $2.5 billion in 1986, increased to a projected $30 billion in 1988, then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney tried to zero out its funding. He was eventually overruled by Congress.[32] As of 2008, $27 billion have been spent on the Osprey program and another $27.2 billion will be required to complete planned production numbers by the end of the program.[2]
The V-22 squadron's former commander at Marine Corps Air Station New River, Lt. Colonel Odin Lieberman, was relieved of duty in 2001 after allegations that he instructed his unit that they needed to falsify maintenance records to make the plane appear more reliable.[2][35] Three officers were later implicated in the falsification scandal.[34]
The aircraft is incapable of autorotation, and is therefore unable to land safely in helicopter mode if both engines fail. A director of the Pentagon's testing office in 2005 said that if the Osprey loses power while flying like a helicopter below 1,600 feet (490 m), emergency landings "are not likely to be survivable". But Captain Justin (Moon) McKinney, a V-22 pilot, says that this will not be a problem, "We can turn it into a plane and glide it down, just like a C-130".[31] A complete loss of power would require the failure of both engines, as a drive shaft connects the nacelles through the wing; one engine can power both proprotors.[36] While vortex ring state (VRS) contributed to a deadly V-22 accident, the aircraft is less susceptible to the condition than conventional helicopters and recovers more quickly.[5] The Marines now train new pilots in the recognition of and recovery from VRS and have instituted operational envelope limits and instrumentation to help pilots avoid VRS conditions.[32][37]
It was planned in 2000 to equip all V-22s with a nose-mounted Gatling gun, to provide "the V-22 with a strong defensive firepower capability to greatly increase the aircraft's survivability in hostile actions."[30] The nose gun project was canceled however, leading to criticism by retired Marine Corps Commandant General James L. Jones, who is not satisfied with the current V-22 armament.[31] A belly-mounted turret was later installed on some of the first V-22s sent to the War in Afghanistan in 2009.[38]
With the first combat deployment of the MV-22 in October 2007, Time Magazine ran an article condemning the aircraft as unsafe, overpriced, and completely inadequate.[31] The Marine Corps, however, responded with the assertion that much of the article's data were dated, obsolete, inaccurate, and reflected expectations that ran too high for any new field of aircraft.[39]
Recent development
On 28 September 2005, the Pentagon formally approved full-rate production for the V-22.[40] The plan is to boost production from 11 a year to between 24 and 48 a year by 2012. Of the 458 total planned, 360 are for the Marine Corps, 48 for the Navy, and 50 for the Air Force at an average cost of $110 million per aircraft, including development costs.[2] The V-22 had an incremental flyaway cost of $70 million per aircraft in 2007,[3] but the Navy hopes to shave about $10 million off that cost after a five-year production contract starts in 2008.[41]
The Bell-Boeing Joint Project Office in Amarillo, Texas will design a new integrated avionics processor to resolve electronics obsolescence issues and add new network capabilities.[42]
Design
The Osprey is the world's first production tiltrotor aircraft, with one three-bladed proprotor, turboprop engine, and transmission nacelle mounted on each wingtip. It is classified as a powered lift aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration.[43] For takeoff and landing, it typically operates as a helicopter with the nacelles vertical (rotors horizontal). Once airborne, the nacelles rotate forward 90° in as little as 12 seconds for horizontal flight, converting the V-22 to a more fuel-efficient, higher-speed turboprop airplane. STOL rolling-takeoff and landing capability is achieved by having the nacelles tilted forward up to 45°. For compact storage and transport, the V-22's wing rotates to align, front-to-back, with the fuselage. The proprotors can also fold in a sequence taking 90 seconds.[44]
Most Osprey missions will use fixed wing flight 75 percent or more of the time, reducing wear and tear on the aircraft and reducing operational costs.[45] This fixed wing flight is higher than typical helicopter missions allowing longer range line-of-sight communications and so improved command and control.[2] Boeing has stated the V-22 design loses 10% of its vertical lift over a Tiltwing design when operating in helicopter mode because of airflow resistance due to the wings, but that the Tiltrotor design has better short takeoff and landing performance.[46]
The V-22 is equipped with a glass cockpit, which incorporates four Multi-function displays (MFDs) and one shared Central Display Unit (CDU), allowing the pilots to display a variety of images including: digimaps centered or decentered on current position, FLIR imagery, primary flight instruments, navigation (TACAN, VOR, ILS, GPS, INS), and system status. The flight director panel of the Cockpit Management System (CMS) allows for fully-coupled (aka: autopilot) functions which will take the aircraft from forward flight into a 50-foot hover with no pilot interaction other than programming the system.[47] The glass cockpit of the canceled CH-46X was derived from the V-22.[48]
The V-22 is a fly-by-wire aircraft with triple-redundant flight control systems.[49] With the nacelles pointing straight up in conversion mode at 90° the flight computers command the aircraft to fly like a helicopter, with cyclic forces being applied to a conventional swashplate at the rotor hub. With the nacelles in airplane mode (0°) the flaperons, rudder, and elevator fly the aircraft like an airplane. This is a gradual transition and occurs over the rotation range of the nacelles. The lower the nacelles, the greater effect of the airplane-mode control surfaces.[50] The nacelles can rotate past vertical to 97.5° for rearward flight.[51][52]
The Osprey can be armed with one M240 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 in caliber) or M2 .50 in caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun on the loading ramp, that can be fired rearward when the ramp is lowered. A GAU-19 three-barrel .50 in gatling gun mounted below the V-22's nose has also been studied for future upgrade.[31][53] BAE Systems developed a remotely operated turreted weapons system for the V-22,[54] which was installed on half of the first V-22s deployed to Afghanistan in 2009.[38] The 7.62 mm belly gun turret is remotely operated by a gunner inside the aircraft, who acquires targets with a separate pod using color television and forward looking infrared imagery.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command is working on upgrades to increase the maximum speed from 250 knots (460 km/h; 290 mph) to 270 knots (500 km/h; 310 mph), increase helicopter mode altitude limit from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) to 12,000 feet (3,700 m) or 14,000 feet (4,300 m), and increase lift performance.[55]
Operational history
US Marine Corps
Marine Corps crew training on the Osprey has been conducted by VMMT-204 since March 2000. On 3 June 2005, the Marine Corps helicopter squadron Marine Medium Helicopter 263 (HMM-263), stood down to begin the process of transitioning to the MV-22 Osprey.[56] On 8 December 2005, Lieutenant General Amos, commander of the II MEF, accepted the delivery of the first fleet of MV-22s, delivered to HMM-263. The unit reactivated on 3 March 2006 as the first MV-22 squadron and was redesignated VMM-263. On 31 August 2006, VMM-162 (the former HMM-162) followed suit. On 23 March 2007, HMM-266 became Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 (VMM-266) at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina.[57]
The Osprey has been replacing existing CH-46 Sea Knight squadrons.[58] The MV-22 reached initial operational capability (IOC) with the U.S. Marine Corps on 13 June 2007.[1] On 10 July 2007 an MV-22 Osprey landed aboard the Royal Navy aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious in the Atlantic Ocean. This marked the first time a V-22 had landed on any non-U.S. vessel.[59]
On 13 April 2007, the U.S. Marine Corps announced that it would be sending ten V-22 aircraft to Iraq, the Osprey's first combat deployment. Marine Corps Commandant, General James Conway, indicated that over 150 Marines would accompany the Osprey set for September deployment to Al-Asad Airfield.[60][61] On 17 September 2007, ten MV-22Bs of VMM-263 left for Iraq aboard the USS Wasp. The decision to use a ship rather than use the Osprey's self-deployment capability was made because of concerns over icing during the North Atlantic portion of the trip, lack of available KC-130s for mid-air refueling, and the availability of the USS Wasp.[62]
The Osprey has provided support in Iraq, racking up some 2,000 flight hours over three months with a mission capable availability rate of 68.1% as of late-January 2008.[63] They are primarily used in Iraq's western Anbar province for routine cargo and troop movements, and also for riskier "aero-scout" missions. General David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, used one to fly around Iraq on Christmas Day 2007 to visit troops.[64] Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama also flew in Ospreys during his high profile 2008 tour of Iraq.[65]
The only major problem has been obtaining the necessary spare parts to maintain the aircraft.[66] The V-22 had flown 3,000 sorties totaling 5,200 hours in Iraq as of July 2008.[67] USMC leadership expect to deploy MV-22s to Afghanistan in 2009.[66][68] General George J. Trautman, III praised the increased range of the V-22 over the legacy helicopters in Iraq and said that "it turned his battle space from the size of Texas into the size of Rhode Island."[69]
Naval Air Systems Command has devised a temporary fix for sailors to place portable heat shields under Osprey engines to prevent damage to the decks of some of the Navy's smaller amphibious ships, but they determined that a long term solution to the problem would require these decks be redesigned with heat resistant deck coatings, passive thermal barriers and changes in ship structure in order to operate V-22s and F-35Bs.[70]
A Government Accountability Office study reported that by January 2009 the Marines had 12 MV-22s operating in Iraq and they managed to successfully complete all assigned missions. The same report found that the V-22 deployments had mission capable rates averaging 57% to 68% and an overall full mission capable rate of only 6%. It also stated that the aircraft had shown weakness in situational awareness, maintenance, shipboard operations and the ability to transport troops and external cargo.[71] That study also concluded that the "deployments confirmed that the V-22’s enhanced speed and range enable personnel and internal cargo to be transported faster and farther than is possible with the legacy helicopters it is replacing".[71]
The MV-22 saw its first offensive combat mission, Operation Cobra's Anger on 4 December 2009. Ospreys assisted in inserting 1,000 Marines and 150 Afghan troops into the Now Zad Valley of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan to disrupt communication and supply lines of the Taliban.[38] In January 2010 the MV-22 Osprey is being sent to Haiti as part of Operation Unified Response relief efforts after the earthquake there. This will be the first use the Marine V-22 in a humanitarian mission.[72]
US Air Force
The Air Force's first operational CV-22 Osprey was delivered to the 58th Special Operations Wing (58th SOW) at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico on 20 March 2006. This and subsequent aircraft will become part of the 58th SOW's fleet of aircraft used for training pilots and crew members for special operations use.[73] On 16 November 2006, the Air Force officially accepted the CV-22 in a ceremony conducted at Hurlburt Field, Florida.[74]
The US Air Force's first operational deployment of the Osprey sent four CV-22s to Mali in November 2008 in support of Exercise Flintlock. The CV-22s flew nonstop from Hurlburt Field, Florida with in-flight refueling.[5] AFSOC declared that the 8th Special Operations Squadron reached Initial Operational Capability on 16 March 2009, with six of its planned nine CV-22s operational.[75]
In June 2009, CV-22s of the 8th Special Operations Squadron delivered 43,000 pounds (20,000 kg) of humanitarian supplies to remote villages in Honduras that were not accessible by conventional vehicles.[76] In November 2009, the 8th SO Squadron and its six CV-22s returned from a three-month deployment in Iraq.[77]
The first possible combat loss of an Osprey occurred on 9 April, 2010, as a CV-22 went down near Qalat, Zabul Province, Afghanistan, killing four.[78][79]
Potential operators
In 1999 the V-22 was studied for use in the United Kingdom's Royal Navy,[80] it has been raised several times as a candidate for the role of Maritime Airborne Surveillance and Control (MASC).[81]
Israel had shown interest in the purchase of MV-22s, but no order was placed.[82][83] Flightglobal reported in late 2009 that Israel has decided to wait for the CH-53K instead.[84]
The V-22 Osprey is a candidate for the Norwegian All Weather Search and Rescue Helicopter (NAWSARH) that is planned to replace the Westland Sea King Mk.43B of the Royal Norwegian Air Force in 2015.[85] The other candidates for the NAWSARH contract of 10-12 helicopters are AgustaWestland AW101 Merlin, Eurocopter EC225, NHIndustries NH90 and Sikorsky S-92.[86]
Bell Boeing has made an unsolicited offer of the V-22 for US Army medical evacuation needs.[87] However the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency issued a report that said that a common helicopter design would be needed for both combat recovery and medical evacuation and that the V-22 would not be suitable for recovery missions because of the difficulty of hoist operations and lack of self-defense capabilities.[88]
The US Navy remains a potential user of the V-22, but its role and mission with the Navy remains unclear. The latest proposal is to replace the C-2 Greyhound with the V-22 in the fleet logistics role. The V-22 would have the advantage of being able to land on and support non-carriers with rapid delivery of supplies and people between the ships of a taskforce or to ships on patrol beyond helicopter range.[89] Loren B. Thompson of the Lexington Institute has suggested V-22s for use in combat search and rescue and Marine One VIP transport, which also need replacement aircraft.[90]
Variants
• V-22A
•• Pre-production full-scale development aircraft used for flight testing. These are unofficially considered A-variants after 1993 redesign.[91]
• HV-22
•• The U.S. Navy considered an HV-22 to provide combat search and rescue, delivery and retrieval of special warfare teams along with fleet logistic support transport. However, it chose the MH-60S for this role in 1992.[92]
• SV-22
•• The proposed anti-submarine warfare Navy variant. The Navy studied the SV-22 in the 1980s to replace S-3 and SH-2 aircraft.[93]
• MV-22B
•• Basic U.S. Marine Corps transport; original requirement for 552 (now 360). The Marine Corps is the lead service in the development of the V-22 Osprey. The Marine Corps variant, the MV-22B, is an assault transport for troops, equipment and supplies, capable of operating from ships or from expeditionary airfields ashore. It is replacing the Marine Corps' CH-46E[57] and CH-53D.[94]
• CV-22B
•• Air Force variant for the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). It will conduct long-range, special operations missions, and is equipped with extra fuel tanks and terrain-following radar.[95][96]
Operators
•• 8th Special Operations Squadron (8 SOS) at Hurlburt Field, Florida
•• 71st Special Operations Squadron (71 SOS) at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
•• 20th Special Operations Squadron (20 SOS) at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico
•• VMM-161
•• VMM-162
•• VMM-261
•• VMM-263
•• VMM-264
•• VMM-266
•• VMM-365
•• VMMT-204 - Training squadron
•• VMX-22 - Marine Tiltrotor Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron
Notable accidents
Main article: Accidents and incidents involving the V-22 Osprey
From 1991 to 2000 there were four significant crashes, and a total of 30 fatalities, during testing.[32] Since becoming operational in 2007, the V-22 has had one possible combat loss due to an unknown cause, no losses due to accidents, and seven other notable, but minor, incidents.
• On 11 June 1991, a mis-wired flight control system led to two minor injuries when the left nacelle struck the ground while the aircraft was hovering 15 feet (4.6 m) in the air, causing it to bounce and catch fire.[97]
• On 20 July 1992, a leaking gearbox led to a fire in the right nacelle, causing the aircraft to drop into the Potomac River in front of an audience of Congressmen and other government officials at Quantico, killing all seven on board and grounding the aircraft for 11 months.[98]
• On 8 April 2000, a V-22 loaded with Marines to simulate a rescue, attempted to land at Marana Northwest Regional Airport in Arizona, stalled when its right rotor entered vortex ring state, rolled over, crashed, and exploded, killing all 19 on board.[37]
• On 11 December 2000, after a catastrophic hydraulic leak and subsequent software instrument failure, a V-22 fell 1,600 feet (490 m) into a forest in Jacksonville, North Carolina, killing all four aboard. This caused the Marine Corps to ground their fleet of eight V-22s, the second grounding that year.[99][100]
Specifications (MV-22B)
Data from Boeing Integrated Defense Systems,[101] Naval Air Systems Command,[102] US Air Force CV-22 fact sheet,[95] Norton,[103] and Bell[104]
General characteristics
• Crew: Four (pilot, copilot and two flight engineers)
• Capacity: 24 troops (seated), 32 troops (floor loaded) or up to 15,000 lb (6,800 kg) of cargo (dual hook)
• Length: 57 ft 4 in (17.5 m)
• Rotor diameter: 38 ft 0 in (11.6 m)
• Wingspan: 45 ft 10 in (14 m)
• Width with rotors: 84 ft 7 in (25.8 m)
• Height: 22 ft 1 in/6.73 m; overall with nacelles vertical (17 ft 11 in/5.5 m; at top of tailfins)
• Disc area: 2,268 ft² (212 m²)
• Wing area: 301.4 ft² (28 m²)
• Empty weight: 33,140 lb (15,032 kg)
• Loaded weight: 47,500 lb (21,500 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 60,500 lb (27,400 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Allison T406/AE 1107C-Liberty turboshafts, 6,150 hp (4,590 kW) each
Performance
• Maximum speed: 250 knots (460 km/h, 290 mph) at sea level / 305 kn (565 km/h; 351 mph) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)[105]
• Cruise speed: 241 knots (277 mph, 446 km/h) at sea level
• Range: 879 nmi (1,011 mi, 1,627 km)
• Combat radius: 370 nmi (426 mi, 685 km)
• Ferry range: 1,940 nmi (with auxiliary internal fuel tanks)
• Service ceiling: 26,000 ft (7,925 m)
• Rate of climb: 2,320 ft/min (11.8 m/s)
• Disc loading: 20.9 lb/ft² at 47,500 lb GW (102.23 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.259 hp/lb (427 W/kg)
Armament
• 1× M240 machine gun on ramp, optional
Notable appearances in media
Main article: Aircraft in fiction#V-22 Osprey
See also
• Elizabeth A. Okoreeh-Baah, USMC - first female to pilot a V-22 Osprey
Related development
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
• List of military aircraft of the United States
References
Bibliography
• Markman, Steve and Bill Holder. "Bell/Boeing V-22 Osprey Tilt-Engine VTOL Transport (U.S.A.)". Straight Up: A History of Vertical Flight. Schiffer Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7643-1204-9.
• Norton, Bill. Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, Tiltrotor Tactical Transport. Midland Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-85780-165-2.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: V-22 Osprey
• V-22 Osprey web, and www.history.navy.mil/planes/v-22.html
• CV-22 fact sheet on USAF site
• www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/v-22.htm
• www.airforce-technology.com/projects/osprey/
• "Flight of the Osprey", US Navy video of V-22 operations
This one is for Grandpops Woodlice At your request Philip.
I set the camera up for my wife and she did the rest.
This was my first real shot at using a snow blower. We had almost 20 centimeters of snow fall during the night and this baby cut down the workload considerably but I am not fond of the gasoline fumes or the noise that it makes.
Thank you for all of your comments and support, always appreciated.
1,000 views on 19th October 2013
These photographs depict the Special Constabulary of the Burgh of Inverness, parading through the streets of the town centre during the Second World War era.
During both wars, the phenomenal build up in military activity, the guarding of strategic locations and structures, the resultant influx of military personnel in the area and their natural aspiration to come into the town of Inverness for “rest and recuperation” placed a huge extra workload upon the local police. Add to that the necessity to control and restrict movement in and into the area, the need for Air Raid Precautions and the loss of serving officers to the armed forces and other war duties, meant the police forces of the Highland, and Inverness Burgh in particular, simply were unable to cope without major increase in staffing. As a result, many men in reserved occupations or too old for military service were recruited to the Special Constabulary, for part-time or full-time service performing a variety of patrol, communications or security duties which freed up trained regular officers for their primary purposes of crime prevention and detection , public order and Civil Defence.
In Scotland a Special Constable – an unpaid volunteer officer – has the same powers and privileges as a regular police officer, and is under the control and direction of the Chief Constable of the area, who appoints each Special Constable.
It is likely that this parade took place towards the end of the war, or even after the cessation of hostilities when they were being demobilised on completion of their term of duty. Indeed, it possible that immediately after this parade the men marched up to the Castle to have their "official" group photograph taken - see www.flickr.com/photos/91779914@N00/3968606563/ - although Special Sergeant Alexander MacNiven who features in the Parade photos does not appear in the group shot.
(Photo 1)The Parade had mustered in the then waste ground in Castle Street Inverness which had been levelled following the landslip on Castle Brae in the 1940s. A number of houses had had to be demolished and that area was shored up, requiring the building of a retaining wall. The area is now Castle Street car park, and is directly behind Inverness Town Hall.
(photo 2) The parade then marched down Castle Street down the side of the Town Hall, over the cobbled roadway and past all the shops. The upper part of the street (right of centre, rear) can still be identified in the photograph as the buildings are today much the same in general appearance - but the portion left of centre has since been completely rebuilt. Alexander MacNiven is the young-looking Sergeant in the centre of the first rank.
(photo 3) At the foot of Castle Street, the parade wheeled left along the front of the Town House where the Provost, Magistrates and Senior Military officers took the salute alongside the Forbes Fountain. Sadly that beautiful structure had to be removed in the late 1950s pursuant to road widening in respect of the approaches to the "new" Ness Bridge. That course of action also saw the loss of many fine structures in Bridge Street. The fountain was dismantled for storage but apparently the ornate and beautiful upper (roofed) portion was irretrievably damaged as a result. The base part, in lovely pink marble, has since been re-erected on the banks of the River Ness at the Bellfield approach to Ness Islands.
I am grateful to the family of S/Sgt MacNiven for (many years ago) allowing me to make copies of these photographs.
Though I can see how one might get that impression. I took some time off work for BrickCon, and ever since I got back my workload at my day job has just been crushing. By the time I get home in the evening, I'm mentally drained and have almost no creative energy--nor the wherewithal to sort or clean up my work area, which is always a complete disaster after the building crunch that leads up to BrickCon. Hell, I still haven't even unpacked all of my MOCs.
To make matters worse, this is video game "sweeps" season, and I'm a gamer. Picked up MW3, beat the SP campaign in one night, then moved on to multiplayer. Love the new Kill Confirmed game mode--it fixes half of what was annoying or cheap in TDM. The SP campaign has some seriously jaw-dropping moments of "wow". Other than that... well, it's more Modern Warfare. If you liked MW2, you'll like MW3. If you didn't, you won't.
Then Skyrim came out. And MW3, much as I enjoy the MP, got dropped like a hot potato, though I'll likely pick it back up when I want to scratch that itch. The verdict on Skyrim? It's epic, it's massive, and it's a lot of fun when I'm not fuming over the Worst User Interface in PC Gaming History, or the idiotic changes to gameplay and character progression made because Bethesda is apparently under the impression console gamers are too stupid to keep track of complicated stats like Strength and Intelligence. I'm seriously conflicted about the game--I want to love it, and I've clocked close to 100 hours in it, but I have a hard time recommending it to anyone who isn't a hardcore Elder Scrolls fan (ESPECIALLY if you're on a PC--the interface was designed for a gamepad, not mouse and keyboard, and doesn't even do that well), and if this is the direction they're taking the series I will probably not be buying the next one. I'll probably finish the MQ and then not pick it up again until DarN comes out with a UI replacement and modders have had a chance to fix all the utterly asinine bad design choices.
I could fill a space ten times the length of this screed ranting about all the horrible examples of bad design and console-tard stupidity that plague Skyrim, and a space almost as long with the great things that nearly redeem the game despite all that awfulness. If I sound bitter, it's because it really is a fantastic game other than the things that suck, it's a series that I love, and Bethesda is RUINING IT by pandering to the technical limitations of game consoles and the short attention spans of modern gamers. This is a growing trend in gaming and it is really, really pissing me off.
And now that I've gotten that out of my system, on to what I'm now playing whenever the rest of the household isn't using the TV, which is Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
First of all: fuck Gamestop. Seriously, fuck them left right and sideways, and don't give them your money. Jess and I have shared finances and a checking account for years, so it's rare that one of us has the opportunity to get the other a gift--if one of us wants something, we tend to get it for ourselves long before a birthday or anniversary comes around. The release of AC:R gave her that rare opportunity: she pre-ordered the Ultimate Bundle of AC:R, which I never would've justified doing for myself; I tend to not do pre-orders or buy the expensive special editions of games, mainly because I don't care about multiplayer skins or gimmicky crap like that. This one comes with a 7" Ezio action figure and a playable replica of da Vinci's glider in the same scale.
So what happened? Gamestop fucked it up, that's what. The person who took the order didn't bother to tell her that the Ultimate Bundle could only be ordered online, and even though she repeatedly stressed that she wanted the version with the toys in it, they pre-ordered the Signature Edition--which is basically Ultimate without the toys. We spent two weeks trying to get it fixed, and in the end all they could do is come up with a copy of the Collector's Edition game guide at half off, a discount on the game itself, and a promise to try and order the glider. The figure, which was the one extra I was most looking forward to? Not getting it. They claim don't have any. Which is bullshit and everyone knows it's bullshit, but there's nothing we can do.
This, needless to say, is the last time I ever give Gamestop my money or trust them with a pre-order.
That said, I finally got to play the game this last weekend, and am loving it. It supports stereoscopic 3D, and I tried it in that mode, but turned it off after a few minutes. For 3D I vastly prefer playing Uncharted 3 (amazing game, BTW--recommended without reservation!)--they really got it right, and it looks amazing and doesn't hurt the eyes. In AC:R, not so much.
Setting aside 3D (which is still by and large in the "gimmick" stage of technology anyway) It's a great game that continues to strongly build on the foundations of the first three, and I'll be sad to have to move on from Ezio's story--the whole family loves him. My only real complaint is that it seems a bit buggy--it's locked up my PS3 three or four times, and I've run into odd glitches here and there, like a "target" marker that's permanently bugged onto my map and HUD and won't go away. They aren't game-breaking, and the game autosaves so frequently that I haven't lost much progress from the freezes, but they stand out in contrast to the rest of the series, which is usually very solid and well-designed. Such things can be patched though, so as long as they *are* fixed I won't really hold it against an otherwise excellent game.
Oh yeah, Lego. Right. Er, well, I've finally got my workspace to a state where I can walk in it. That's something. I've started parting out some sets and WIPs that are just taking up space. Maybe in a week or two I'll actually be able to build again, and have the creative energy to do so--but I'm still swamped at work and that's not likely to change until mid-December, when a change freeze goes into effect and we start winding down the year's projects in preparation for the holidays. I'm taking the last few weeks of the year off like I usually do, and with any luck I'll regain the time and inspiration to build then.
Cheers. Thanks to everyone who entered the Blacklight contest; sorry it took so long to get the prizes out.
Some Background:
The Space Defense Robot-04-Mk. XIV Destroid Nimrod was an anti-air/heavy artillery mecha, and intended as a replacement for the SDR-04-Mk. XII Phalanx, a Destroid specifically designed for space operations to defend the SDF-1 Macross, along with its sister unit, the cannon-armed ADR-04-Mk. X Destroid Defender.
The Phalanx had been developed in a hurry under the pressure of the raging war against the Zentraedi and suffered, as a consequence, from several disadvantages. For instance, its combat operation capability decreased substantially once the missile ordnance (a total of forty-four 430mm caliber missiles, half of them ready to fire and the rest held in reserve in internal magazines) had been exhausted. To counter this, a few models were modified in the field, e.g. with additional light Gatling guns mounted within the head unit, as well as other variations, but most Phalanx’ remained basically bipedal heavy missile launchers. A sub-variant with improved sensors and missile guidance systems, as well as the ability to deploy the new reflex missiles, the Phalanx Mk. XIII, was also built, but only in small numbers, and it could not overcome the flaws of the original design.
The Nimrod was the attempt to mend these shortcomings after initial combat experience with the type. The so-called SDR-04-Mk. XIV utilized the proven MBR-04 ambulatory system and shared a common hip and leg structure with a wide range of other Destroids. Like the Phalanx, the Nimrod’s newly designed upper body was a simple core structure that neglected any silliness for a weapon composition consisting of missiles, radar, and propulsion system, all mounted on the main rotating body which could be detached from the lower torso for maintenance of in case of emergency.
The Nimrod filled the same tactical niche as the Phalanx but was a more sophisticated design with improved capabilities and a – though limited – secondary close-range combat capability. The radar and sensor suites for target acquisition as well as missile guidance were improved, so that the Nimrod became even suited for air space surveillance and as a guidance/coordination unit for other Destroids. Due to this additional workload, the Nimrod’s crew was expanded by a WSO to two in a tandem cockpit.
The armament remained tailored to medium and long range, but there were some improvements. On the Nimrod, the Phalanx’ bulbous drum-shaped missile magazines gave way to more streamlined 540 mm caliber reflex missile containers, which were carried in staggered clusters of four twin-pods on each shoulder, holding a total of 48 missiles with sixteen of them ready to fire and the rest in reserve. This modification reduced weight and frontal area, and in a case of emergency the missile containers could be jettisoned.
In order to improve the Nimrod’s tactical value after its missiles had been deployed, it was furthermore provided with a secondary close-range combat capability in the form of a pair of particle beam guns. These were integrated into the arms, protected by the missile containers, and these reliable weapons could be effectively used against both air as well as ground targets. Thermal smoke dischargers completed the Nimrod’s defensive measures.
Like the Phalanx and other Destroids, the Nimrod was capable of limited space operations due to its vernier thrusters all over the hull. This allowed for units that were stationed on the deck of the SDF-1 to propel themselves back to the battle fortress if they were knocked off.
The Nimrod was, like the Phalanx, first deployed on the SDF-1 and was used to augment the ship's own weapon system to protect the vessel from Zentraedi attacks, even though the type came relatively late and was only used in the final phase of the war and only in limited numbers. After the conflict, production was throttled down (only a total of fifty SDR-04-Mk. XIVs were eventually built), and the surviving Nimrods from the SDF-1 were stationed at airbases in New Macross City and in nearby cities, such as Monument City.
Specifications:
Designation: SDR-04-Mk XIV
Mecha Class: Destroid
Crew: 2 (Pilot, WSO)
Weight: 21.8 tons (dry)
45.5 tons (loaded)
Height: 12.36 m (hull only, incl. radome)
13,50 m (with raised arms)
Breadth: 9,32 m
Depth: 5.0m
Max. walking speed: 72 kph loaded
Armament:
2x weapon clusters in shoulder locations, each with:
- Eight launch tubes for 540mm caliber mid-/long-range missiles (typically with anti-air capacity, artillery
rockets as alternative), with eight missiles ready and another sixteen as reserve (for a total of 48)
- One Mauler PBG-06 liquid-cooled electrically-charged twin particle beam gun
- Three thermal smoke dischargers
The kit and its assembly:
This is a fictional Macross Destroid, with a highly modified Imai Phalanx kit at its core. It depicts a potential successor for the missile-only-armed Phalanx, but it has been totally made up. Inspiration came when I recently procured a bunch of Kotobukiya’s MSG sets for mecha conversions – one of these sets included the quadruple missile launchers that now make up the Nimrod’s new “arms”. I was torn between using a Defender or a Phalanx as conversion basis, but due to the weapon pods’ bulkiness I went for the more massive Phalanx.
Beyond the MSG parts and the replacement of the Phalanx “missile drums”, there was initially no real plan for the conversion – things evolved gradually, depending on the donor parts at hand. However, several fundamental changes were made. The most important improvement measure that works for all Destroid kits with the “04” chassis is the integration of a completely now hip joint arrangement. OOB, the model's posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet facing straight forward. The model is just supposed to stand upright, and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the Imai kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits, without vinyl caps and just relying on a very tight joint fit for hold.
My proven solution: the implantation of a new hip “bone” made from plastic-coated steel wire, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts. Inside of the pelvis, the W-shaped wire was attached with the help of sprue material and styrene profiles, a thorough fixation is necessary because a lot of load has to be held in place in a very small space.
In order to attach the legs to the wire, there’s a convenient trick: the receptor holes in the thighs were simply filled with small vinyl rings, standard material from other mecha kits (e.g. from Arii’s 1:100 VF-1 Battroids or the Gunze Sangyo/Aoshima Dorvack PAs), the rings’ outer AND inner diameter fit perfectly into the new arrangement. With this trick, a much more dynamic and "natural" leg position could be achieved, also thanks to the large feet and their joints of the “04” Destroid chassis. This tuning measure improves the model considerably. The legs were otherwise taken OOB, just some small styrene bits were added to the lower legs’ front sides (improving another small detail flaw of the model), and some openings on the lower legs’ rear side were filled with putty and styrene sheet. Furthermore, the open insides of the “heels” were filled with putty, too.
In order to integrate the new missile bins, suitable adapters for the shoulder had to be found. Being somewhat lazy and trying to use as many parts from the Phalanx kit as possible, I decided to integrate a styrene tube all through the upper body, so that I got better attachment points. This tube was extended so far that I could re-use the Phalanx’ blast exhausts from the original missile bins as shoulder joint covers. This looks very natural and these re-dedicated parts fit well over the implanted central styrene tube channel as well as into the channel that runs along the MSG missile containers’ inner side. In order to attach the new arms/containers, a smaller diameter styrene tube was glued into these channels, so that the new pods could be moved vertically.
As a weapon improvement over the Phalanx, a pair of particle beam guns was added to the new missile containers – they come originally from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit, but they were tailored considerably in order to fit into their new position. They also help to hide the new shoulder joint, which was covered from above with parts from the Phalanx kit (the boxed that are normally attached to the upper legs) and the space between them with paper tissue, drenched with white glue. The result is a good visual transition.
The central hull was changed in order to move the look away from the Phalanx base. The rear side uses OOB parts, but these were modified and attached to the hull in a different way, so that the back is not as deep as on the Phalanx. The front received a vertical pair of searchlights (formerly return rollers from a 1:35 tank…), set into the breast plate. The cockpit bulge between the shoulders as well as the head unit are completely new. The cockpit cover is a leftover hull piece from a Kotobukiya helicopter drone, and it was moved forward, so that a crew of two is more plausible. The head unit on the elongated spine behind and above it consists primarily of a donor from a wrecked VT-61 “Tulcas” mecha (Dorvack), plus a small dish antenna for a tracking radar on the right (left over from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit) and a round radome for target acquisition – scratched from main wheels of a Matchbox PB2Y and set upon a mount made from styrene profiles. Looks strange, esp. with that flat, square head unit underneath, but I wanted a unique and different look that sets the Nimrod apart from other canonical Destroid designs. And this certainly worked.
A final word concerning the Phalanx kit itself: like all other Destroids models, this is basically a simple affair and the model goes together well – but expect some PSR on every seam, and there are some improvements possible that IMHO raise the model’s quality. The lack of vinyl caps makes later movement a tricky affair, though, and it is interesting to see that while the “04” chassis Destroids (Phalanx, Tomahawk and Defender) share the same lower body, all three kits are different! As a positive trait concerning the finish, the Phalanx is also the only kit of this trio that comes with decals for the typical white trim on the lower legs of these Destroids.
Painting and markings:
Once more I wanted to stay true to the original look of a typical Macross Destroid from the “04” series. These tend to carry a uniform livery in murky/dull tones of green, brown and ochre: unpretentious "mud movers". Anything else is rare (I am aware of dark blue Phalanx’ on board of the SDF-1), and complex camouflage patterns are AFAIK not seen (probably a tribute to the TV series’ cel production). In consequence, I gave the Nimrod an overall livery in a rather unidentifiable brownish tone, namely RAL 7008 (Khakigrau), a tone that was carried by German WWII Afrikakorps tanks and very similar to the tone IDF vehicles like the Merkava typically carry nowadays. Since I only had this tone in a rattle can available, the model and its components were painted accordingly, with an additional hushed spray over the upper surfaces with a slightly lighter tone as a shading measure. After this basic painting, the parts received a washing with thinned black ink.
Decals mostly come from the OOB sheet, plus some extra stencils, including the "nose art" painted on the left leg (from a P-38); many Destroids and also Armored Valkyries seem to bear such markings. Gives the mecha a personal touch, though.
Finally, before everything was assembled, the kit received a dry-brushing treatment with light grey and an overall coat with matt acrylic varnish. As a final step, mineral pigments were dusted over the model, esp. around the feet and the lower areas of the mecha.
A rather straightforward conversion project that gradually evolved – but with a postive outcome, after some twists and turns. The fictional Destroid Nimrod turned out more believable than expected, thanks to the good donor parts that went into it, and the simple livery also adds to the design’s “realism” within the Macross universe. Even though the thing still looks odd – but not worse than the other canonical Destroids from the original TV series!
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.
Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.
In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.
The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.
The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.
Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.
The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.
After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.
The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.
Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.
However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.
Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.
On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.
45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.
The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.
Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.
Specifications:
Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)
Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)
Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)
Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)
Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs
Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)
Climbing capability: 30°
Fuel capacity: 400 l
Armor:
9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel
Performance:
Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road
Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road
Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t
Engine:
Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output
Transmission:
Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering
Armament:
1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds
1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:
www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...
The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.
Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.
Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.
In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.
Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.
Painting and markings:
This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?
I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.
Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.
The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.
After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.
An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.
British postcard by Heroes Publishing Ltd., London, no. SPC 3491.
Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (1969) was typecast as the token pretty girl in British films, and therefore relocated to Los Angeles. She established herself in Hollywood with sexy action roles in The Mask of Zorro (1998), Entrapment (1999) and the black comedy Intolerable Cruelty (2003).
Catherine Zeta-Jones was born in Swansea in 1969. Herr parents were David Jones, the owner of a candy factory, and his wife Patricia (née Fair), a seamstress. In the 1980s, her parents won £100.000 at the game of Bingo and moved to St. Andrews Drive in Mayals, uptown Swansea. Because Zeta-Jones was a hyperactive child, her mother sent her to the Hazel Johnson School of Dance when she was four years old. Zeta-Jones participated in school stage shows from a young age and gained local media attention when her rendition of a Shirley Bassey song won a Junior Star Trail talent competition. As a child, she played roles in the West End productions of the musicals Annie and Bugsy Malone. When she was 15, Zeta-Jones dropped out of school and decided to live in London to pursue a full-time acting career. She studied musical theatre at the Arts Educational Schools, London. When she was 17 years old, she made her stage breakthrough with a leading role in a 1987 production of 42nd Street. Her next stage appearance was with the English National Opera at the London Coliseum in 1989 where she played Mae Jones in Kurt Weill's Street Scene. Her screen debut came in the unsuccessful French-Italian film 1001 Nights (Philippe de Broca, 1990), as Sheherezade opposite Thierry Lhermitte. She had greater success as a regular in the British television series The Darling Buds of May (1991–1993). Following a brief appearance as Beatriz Enríquez de Arana in the unsuccessful adventure film Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (John Glen, 1992), Zeta-Jones featured as a belly dancer in disguise in an episode of George Lucas' television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992). She next took on the part of an aspiring duchess in the farcical period drama Splitting Heirs (Robert Young, 1993), about two children (Eric Idle and Rick Moranis) who are separated at birth. She then starred as the pragmatic girlfriend of Sean Pertwee's character in the surf film Blue Juice (Carl Prechezer, 1995). Dismayed at being typecast as the token pretty girl in British films, Zeta-Jones relocated to Los Angeles.
Catherine Zeta-Jones initially established herself in Hollywood with roles that highlighted her sex appeal such as in the action film The Mask of Zorro (Martin Campbell, 1998) opposite Antonio Banderas, and the heist film Entrapment (Jon Amiel, 1999), in which she starred opposite Sean Connery as a seductive insurance agent on the lookout for an art thief. Critics praised her portrayal of a vengeful pregnant woman in Traffic (Steven Soderbergh, 2000) and a murderous singer in the musical Chicago (Rob Marshall, 2002). For the first she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. The latter won her Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Supporting Actress, among other accolades. In 2003, Zeta-Jones played alongside George Clooney in the Coen Brothers' black comedy Intolerable Cruelty. It was a commercial success. She starred in high-profile films for much of the decade, including the heist film Ocean's Twelve (Steven Soderbergh, 2004), the comedy The Terminal (Steven Spielberg, 2004), and the romantic comedy No Reservations (Scott Hicks, 2007). Parts in smaller-scale features were followed by a decrease in workload, during which she returned to stage and portrayed an ageing actress in A Little Night Music (2009), winning a Tony Award. Zeta-Jones continued to work intermittently in the 2010s, starring in the psychological thriller Side Effects (Steven Soderbergh, 2013) and the action film Red 2 (Dean Parisot, 2013). Zeta-Jones is the recipient of several accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award and a Tony Award, and in 2010 she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her film and humanitarian endeavours. She supports various charities and causes, and is a prominent celebrity endorser of brands. Her struggle with depression and bipolar II disorder has been well documented by the media. She was married to American actor Michael Douglas with whom she has two children. Catherine Zeta-Jones was last seen in the cinemas with Toby Jones and Michael Gambon in the British comedy Dad's Army (Oliver Parker, 2016), based on the legendary TV series.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
These are the faces of the real Los Angeles, the people you don't often see in our mass-entertainment media show that privileges young adults who are mostly white, thin and conventionally beautiful.
News flash: there is good mass transit in Los Angeles! On arriving at LAX, we hopped on a waiting bus to Union Station, paying only $7.50 for the 20 minute ride. Cool!
I took this photo where the Patsaouras Transit Plaza joins the Los Angeles Union Station. The Patsaouras Transit Plaza is an impressive site. No expense was spared in the choice of materials (stone and metal) or the design. Of course, situated as it is next to the iconic Union Station, it had to be so.
We recently flew to Los Angles, boarded Amtrak's Southwest Chief bound for Chicago, crossed the Western US in comfort, and spent a couple of days with our daughter and her family mostly on Chicago's posh North Shore.
On our way to Chicago, we heard a rumor the Southwest Chief may be axed next year, so if you're contemplating traveling cross-country on this route to experience trains as they were 60 years ago, you'd better do some research and book soon.
More photos when I get my school workload under control.
From the diary entry written January 2010, last year.
Since my last entry a lot has happened with regards to my mother which has kept my focus on her and leaving my work aside for a bit.
When being prepped for surgery we got the unfortunate news that my mum was unable to have the operation that day due to blood sugar levels being too low. We left the ward and since she has been unable to eat since the night before we nipped to the café to grab some food. Not long after this the doctor informed my mother that they had made a mistake and that my mum could’ve gone through with the operation as her sugar levels were low but not too low, but having now eaten she was unable to have it.
So this was an agonizing time primarily for my mother who had worked herself up into getting into this room and having to stay there for 24hours.
A new appointment was made to re-do the treatment, so this was another 3 days where I travelled up from stoke to give my support to both my parents.
Seeing my mother psyche herself up once more for what lay ahead was hard to watch, but then was even harder when my father and I were called back from the café to be informed that my mother was unable to have the final surgery and treatment again due to scarring from a previous removal of abnormal cells.
So now we are back at the sessions of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy for another two weeks. This has upset us all as it is a very draining treatment to undergo and this operation was always classed by us as the last zap of treatment and the final push.
This yo-yo of events has however meant my balance of personal and university life may have wobbled and now I find myself under a mound of books drowning in the workload I had created for myself…with the knowledge of my mother’s treatment and looming MRI scan, how can I concentrate?
This was an initial attempt, it was inspired by Rosie Hardy's 'That Sinking Feeling' Portrait, and would like to thank her for allowing me permission to put my own spin of her water production work.
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Porsche 917-001
Chassis 001, assembled in early March 1969, was the first of the twenty-five 917s completed for homologation. This chassis was used for a multitude of events, though never raced. Its workload consisted of testing at the Nürburgring and display duty in places such as the Geneva Motor Show in 1969 or Frankfurt International Auto Show in 1970.
By October 1970, 917-001 was part of the Press Department of Porsche and painted in the now famous Salzburg paint scheme of the 1970 24 Hours of Le Mans winner.
Festival Automobile International 2017, Paris
Some Background:
The Space Defense Robot-04-Mk. XIV Destroid Nimrod was an anti-air/heavy artillery mecha, and intended as a replacement for the SDR-04-Mk. XII Phalanx, a Destroid specifically designed for space operations to defend the SDF-1 Macross, along with its sister unit, the cannon-armed ADR-04-Mk. X Destroid Defender.
The Phalanx had been developed in a hurry under the pressure of the raging war against the Zentraedi and suffered, as a consequence, from several disadvantages. For instance, its combat operation capability decreased substantially once the missile ordnance (a total of forty-four 430mm caliber missiles, half of them ready to fire and the rest held in reserve in internal magazines) had been exhausted. To counter this, a few models were modified in the field, e.g. with additional light Gatling guns mounted within the head unit, as well as other variations, but most Phalanx’ remained basically bipedal heavy missile launchers. A sub-variant with improved sensors and missile guidance systems, as well as the ability to deploy the new reflex missiles, the Phalanx Mk. XIII, was also built, but only in small numbers, and it could not overcome the flaws of the original design.
The Nimrod was the attempt to mend these shortcomings after initial combat experience with the type. The so-called SDR-04-Mk. XIV utilized the proven MBR-04 ambulatory system and shared a common hip and leg structure with a wide range of other Destroids. Like the Phalanx, the Nimrod’s newly designed upper body was a simple core structure that neglected any silliness for a weapon composition consisting of missiles, radar, and propulsion system, all mounted on the main rotating body which could be detached from the lower torso for maintenance of in case of emergency.
The Nimrod filled the same tactical niche as the Phalanx but was a more sophisticated design with improved capabilities and a – though limited – secondary close-range combat capability. The radar and sensor suites for target acquisition as well as missile guidance were improved, so that the Nimrod became even suited for air space surveillance and as a guidance/coordination unit for other Destroids. Due to this additional workload, the Nimrod’s crew was expanded by a WSO to two in a tandem cockpit.
The armament remained tailored to medium and long range, but there were some improvements. On the Nimrod, the Phalanx’ bulbous drum-shaped missile magazines gave way to more streamlined 540 mm caliber reflex missile containers, which were carried in staggered clusters of four twin-pods on each shoulder, holding a total of 48 missiles with sixteen of them ready to fire and the rest in reserve. This modification reduced weight and frontal area, and in a case of emergency the missile containers could be jettisoned.
In order to improve the Nimrod’s tactical value after its missiles had been deployed, it was furthermore provided with a secondary close-range combat capability in the form of a pair of particle beam guns. These were integrated into the arms, protected by the missile containers, and these reliable weapons could be effectively used against both air as well as ground targets. Thermal smoke dischargers completed the Nimrod’s defensive measures.
Like the Phalanx and other Destroids, the Nimrod was capable of limited space operations due to its vernier thrusters all over the hull. This allowed for units that were stationed on the deck of the SDF-1 to propel themselves back to the battle fortress if they were knocked off.
The Nimrod was, like the Phalanx, first deployed on the SDF-1 and was used to augment the ship's own weapon system to protect the vessel from Zentraedi attacks, even though the type came relatively late and was only used in the final phase of the war and only in limited numbers. After the conflict, production was throttled down (only a total of fifty SDR-04-Mk. XIVs were eventually built), and the surviving Nimrods from the SDF-1 were stationed at airbases in New Macross City and in nearby cities, such as Monument City.
Specifications:
Designation: SDR-04-Mk XIV
Mecha Class: Destroid
Crew: 2 (Pilot, WSO)
Weight: 21.8 tons (dry)
45.5 tons (loaded)
Height: 12.36 m (hull only, incl. radome)
13,50 m (with raised arms)
Breadth: 9,32 m
Depth: 5.0m
Max. walking speed: 72 kph loaded
Armament:
2x weapon clusters in shoulder locations, each with:
- Eight launch tubes for 540mm caliber mid-/long-range missiles (typically with anti-air capacity, artillery
rockets as alternative), with eight missiles ready and another sixteen as reserve (for a total of 48)
- One Mauler PBG-06 liquid-cooled electrically-charged twin particle beam gun
- Three thermal smoke dischargers
The kit and its assembly:
This is a fictional Macross Destroid, with a highly modified Imai Phalanx kit at its core. It depicts a potential successor for the missile-only-armed Phalanx, but it has been totally made up. Inspiration came when I recently procured a bunch of Kotobukiya’s MSG sets for mecha conversions – one of these sets included the quadruple missile launchers that now make up the Nimrod’s new “arms”. I was torn between using a Defender or a Phalanx as conversion basis, but due to the weapon pods’ bulkiness I went for the more massive Phalanx.
Beyond the MSG parts and the replacement of the Phalanx “missile drums”, there was initially no real plan for the conversion – things evolved gradually, depending on the donor parts at hand. However, several fundamental changes were made. The most important improvement measure that works for all Destroid kits with the “04” chassis is the integration of a completely now hip joint arrangement. OOB, the model's posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet facing straight forward. The model is just supposed to stand upright, and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the Imai kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits, without vinyl caps and just relying on a very tight joint fit for hold.
My proven solution: the implantation of a new hip “bone” made from plastic-coated steel wire, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts. Inside of the pelvis, the W-shaped wire was attached with the help of sprue material and styrene profiles, a thorough fixation is necessary because a lot of load has to be held in place in a very small space.
In order to attach the legs to the wire, there’s a convenient trick: the receptor holes in the thighs were simply filled with small vinyl rings, standard material from other mecha kits (e.g. from Arii’s 1:100 VF-1 Battroids or the Gunze Sangyo/Aoshima Dorvack PAs), the rings’ outer AND inner diameter fit perfectly into the new arrangement. With this trick, a much more dynamic and "natural" leg position could be achieved, also thanks to the large feet and their joints of the “04” Destroid chassis. This tuning measure improves the model considerably. The legs were otherwise taken OOB, just some small styrene bits were added to the lower legs’ front sides (improving another small detail flaw of the model), and some openings on the lower legs’ rear side were filled with putty and styrene sheet. Furthermore, the open insides of the “heels” were filled with putty, too.
In order to integrate the new missile bins, suitable adapters for the shoulder had to be found. Being somewhat lazy and trying to use as many parts from the Phalanx kit as possible, I decided to integrate a styrene tube all through the upper body, so that I got better attachment points. This tube was extended so far that I could re-use the Phalanx’ blast exhausts from the original missile bins as shoulder joint covers. This looks very natural and these re-dedicated parts fit well over the implanted central styrene tube channel as well as into the channel that runs along the MSG missile containers’ inner side. In order to attach the new arms/containers, a smaller diameter styrene tube was glued into these channels, so that the new pods could be moved vertically.
As a weapon improvement over the Phalanx, a pair of particle beam guns was added to the new missile containers – they come originally from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit, but they were tailored considerably in order to fit into their new position. They also help to hide the new shoulder joint, which was covered from above with parts from the Phalanx kit (the boxed that are normally attached to the upper legs) and the space between them with paper tissue, drenched with white glue. The result is a good visual transition.
The central hull was changed in order to move the look away from the Phalanx base. The rear side uses OOB parts, but these were modified and attached to the hull in a different way, so that the back is not as deep as on the Phalanx. The front received a vertical pair of searchlights (formerly return rollers from a 1:35 tank…), set into the breast plate. The cockpit bulge between the shoulders as well as the head unit are completely new. The cockpit cover is a leftover hull piece from a Kotobukiya helicopter drone, and it was moved forward, so that a crew of two is more plausible. The head unit on the elongated spine behind and above it consists primarily of a donor from a wrecked VT-61 “Tulcas” mecha (Dorvack), plus a small dish antenna for a tracking radar on the right (left over from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit) and a round radome for target acquisition – scratched from main wheels of a Matchbox PB2Y and set upon a mount made from styrene profiles. Looks strange, esp. with that flat, square head unit underneath, but I wanted a unique and different look that sets the Nimrod apart from other canonical Destroid designs. And this certainly worked.
A final word concerning the Phalanx kit itself: like all other Destroids models, this is basically a simple affair and the model goes together well – but expect some PSR on every seam, and there are some improvements possible that IMHO raise the model’s quality. The lack of vinyl caps makes later movement a tricky affair, though, and it is interesting to see that while the “04” chassis Destroids (Phalanx, Tomahawk and Defender) share the same lower body, all three kits are different! As a positive trait concerning the finish, the Phalanx is also the only kit of this trio that comes with decals for the typical white trim on the lower legs of these Destroids.
Painting and markings:
Once more I wanted to stay true to the original look of a typical Macross Destroid from the “04” series. These tend to carry a uniform livery in murky/dull tones of green, brown and ochre: unpretentious "mud movers". Anything else is rare (I am aware of dark blue Phalanx’ on board of the SDF-1), and complex camouflage patterns are AFAIK not seen (probably a tribute to the TV series’ cel production). In consequence, I gave the Nimrod an overall livery in a rather unidentifiable brownish tone, namely RAL 7008 (Khakigrau), a tone that was carried by German WWII Afrikakorps tanks and very similar to the tone IDF vehicles like the Merkava typically carry nowadays. Since I only had this tone in a rattle can available, the model and its components were painted accordingly, with an additional hushed spray over the upper surfaces with a slightly lighter tone as a shading measure. After this basic painting, the parts received a washing with thinned black ink.
Decals mostly come from the OOB sheet, plus some extra stencils, including the "nose art" painted on the left leg (from a P-38); many Destroids and also Armored Valkyries seem to bear such markings. Gives the mecha a personal touch, though.
Finally, before everything was assembled, the kit received a dry-brushing treatment with light grey and an overall coat with matt acrylic varnish. As a final step, mineral pigments were dusted over the model, esp. around the feet and the lower areas of the mecha.
A rather straightforward conversion project that gradually evolved – but with a postive outcome, after some twists and turns. The fictional Destroid Nimrod turned out more believable than expected, thanks to the good donor parts that went into it, and the simple livery also adds to the design’s “realism” within the Macross universe. Even though the thing still looks odd – but not worse than the other canonical Destroids from the original TV series!
Some Background:
The Space Defense Robot-04-Mk. XIV Destroid Nimrod was an anti-air/heavy artillery mecha, and intended as a replacement for the SDR-04-Mk. XII Phalanx, a Destroid specifically designed for space operations to defend the SDF-1 Macross, along with its sister unit, the cannon-armed ADR-04-Mk. X Destroid Defender.
The Phalanx had been developed in a hurry under the pressure of the raging war against the Zentraedi and suffered, as a consequence, from several disadvantages. For instance, its combat operation capability decreased substantially once the missile ordnance (a total of forty-four 430mm caliber missiles, half of them ready to fire and the rest held in reserve in internal magazines) had been exhausted. To counter this, a few models were modified in the field, e.g. with additional light Gatling guns mounted within the head unit, as well as other variations, but most Phalanx’ remained basically bipedal heavy missile launchers. A sub-variant with improved sensors and missile guidance systems, as well as the ability to deploy the new reflex missiles, the Phalanx Mk. XIII, was also built, but only in small numbers, and it could not overcome the flaws of the original design.
The Nimrod was the attempt to mend these shortcomings after initial combat experience with the type. The so-called SDR-04-Mk. XIV utilized the proven MBR-04 ambulatory system and shared a common hip and leg structure with a wide range of other Destroids. Like the Phalanx, the Nimrod’s newly designed upper body was a simple core structure that neglected any silliness for a weapon composition consisting of missiles, radar, and propulsion system, all mounted on the main rotating body which could be detached from the lower torso for maintenance of in case of emergency.
The Nimrod filled the same tactical niche as the Phalanx but was a more sophisticated design with improved capabilities and a – though limited – secondary close-range combat capability. The radar and sensor suites for target acquisition as well as missile guidance were improved, so that the Nimrod became even suited for air space surveillance and as a guidance/coordination unit for other Destroids. Due to this additional workload, the Nimrod’s crew was expanded by a WSO to two in a tandem cockpit.
The armament remained tailored to medium and long range, but there were some improvements. On the Nimrod, the Phalanx’ bulbous drum-shaped missile magazines gave way to more streamlined 540 mm caliber reflex missile containers, which were carried in staggered clusters of four twin-pods on each shoulder, holding a total of 48 missiles with sixteen of them ready to fire and the rest in reserve. This modification reduced weight and frontal area, and in a case of emergency the missile containers could be jettisoned.
In order to improve the Nimrod’s tactical value after its missiles had been deployed, it was furthermore provided with a secondary close-range combat capability in the form of a pair of particle beam guns. These were integrated into the arms, protected by the missile containers, and these reliable weapons could be effectively used against both air as well as ground targets. Thermal smoke dischargers completed the Nimrod’s defensive measures.
Like the Phalanx and other Destroids, the Nimrod was capable of limited space operations due to its vernier thrusters all over the hull. This allowed for units that were stationed on the deck of the SDF-1 to propel themselves back to the battle fortress if they were knocked off.
The Nimrod was, like the Phalanx, first deployed on the SDF-1 and was used to augment the ship's own weapon system to protect the vessel from Zentraedi attacks, even though the type came relatively late and was only used in the final phase of the war and only in limited numbers. After the conflict, production was throttled down (only a total of fifty SDR-04-Mk. XIVs were eventually built), and the surviving Nimrods from the SDF-1 were stationed at airbases in New Macross City and in nearby cities, such as Monument City.
Specifications:
Designation: SDR-04-Mk XIV
Mecha Class: Destroid
Crew: 2 (Pilot, WSO)
Weight: 21.8 tons (dry)
45.5 tons (loaded)
Height: 12.36 m (hull only, incl. radome)
13,50 m (with raised arms)
Breadth: 9,32 m
Depth: 5.0m
Max. walking speed: 72 kph loaded
Armament:
2x weapon clusters in shoulder locations, each with:
- Eight launch tubes for 540mm caliber mid-/long-range missiles (typically with anti-air capacity, artillery
rockets as alternative), with eight missiles ready and another sixteen as reserve (for a total of 48)
- One Mauler PBG-06 liquid-cooled electrically-charged twin particle beam gun
- Three thermal smoke dischargers
The kit and its assembly:
This is a fictional Macross Destroid, with a highly modified Imai Phalanx kit at its core. It depicts a potential successor for the missile-only-armed Phalanx, but it has been totally made up. Inspiration came when I recently procured a bunch of Kotobukiya’s MSG sets for mecha conversions – one of these sets included the quadruple missile launchers that now make up the Nimrod’s new “arms”. I was torn between using a Defender or a Phalanx as conversion basis, but due to the weapon pods’ bulkiness I went for the more massive Phalanx.
Beyond the MSG parts and the replacement of the Phalanx “missile drums”, there was initially no real plan for the conversion – things evolved gradually, depending on the donor parts at hand. However, several fundamental changes were made. The most important improvement measure that works for all Destroid kits with the “04” chassis is the integration of a completely now hip joint arrangement. OOB, the model's posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet facing straight forward. The model is just supposed to stand upright, and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the Imai kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits, without vinyl caps and just relying on a very tight joint fit for hold.
My proven solution: the implantation of a new hip “bone” made from plastic-coated steel wire, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts. Inside of the pelvis, the W-shaped wire was attached with the help of sprue material and styrene profiles, a thorough fixation is necessary because a lot of load has to be held in place in a very small space.
In order to attach the legs to the wire, there’s a convenient trick: the receptor holes in the thighs were simply filled with small vinyl rings, standard material from other mecha kits (e.g. from Arii’s 1:100 VF-1 Battroids or the Gunze Sangyo/Aoshima Dorvack PAs), the rings’ outer AND inner diameter fit perfectly into the new arrangement. With this trick, a much more dynamic and "natural" leg position could be achieved, also thanks to the large feet and their joints of the “04” Destroid chassis. This tuning measure improves the model considerably. The legs were otherwise taken OOB, just some small styrene bits were added to the lower legs’ front sides (improving another small detail flaw of the model), and some openings on the lower legs’ rear side were filled with putty and styrene sheet. Furthermore, the open insides of the “heels” were filled with putty, too.
In order to integrate the new missile bins, suitable adapters for the shoulder had to be found. Being somewhat lazy and trying to use as many parts from the Phalanx kit as possible, I decided to integrate a styrene tube all through the upper body, so that I got better attachment points. This tube was extended so far that I could re-use the Phalanx’ blast exhausts from the original missile bins as shoulder joint covers. This looks very natural and these re-dedicated parts fit well over the implanted central styrene tube channel as well as into the channel that runs along the MSG missile containers’ inner side. In order to attach the new arms/containers, a smaller diameter styrene tube was glued into these channels, so that the new pods could be moved vertically.
As a weapon improvement over the Phalanx, a pair of particle beam guns was added to the new missile containers – they come originally from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit, but they were tailored considerably in order to fit into their new position. They also help to hide the new shoulder joint, which was covered from above with parts from the Phalanx kit (the boxed that are normally attached to the upper legs) and the space between them with paper tissue, drenched with white glue. The result is a good visual transition.
The central hull was changed in order to move the look away from the Phalanx base. The rear side uses OOB parts, but these were modified and attached to the hull in a different way, so that the back is not as deep as on the Phalanx. The front received a vertical pair of searchlights (formerly return rollers from a 1:35 tank…), set into the breast plate. The cockpit bulge between the shoulders as well as the head unit are completely new. The cockpit cover is a leftover hull piece from a Kotobukiya helicopter drone, and it was moved forward, so that a crew of two is more plausible. The head unit on the elongated spine behind and above it consists primarily of a donor from a wrecked VT-61 “Tulcas” mecha (Dorvack), plus a small dish antenna for a tracking radar on the right (left over from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit) and a round radome for target acquisition – scratched from main wheels of a Matchbox PB2Y and set upon a mount made from styrene profiles. Looks strange, esp. with that flat, square head unit underneath, but I wanted a unique and different look that sets the Nimrod apart from other canonical Destroid designs. And this certainly worked.
A final word concerning the Phalanx kit itself: like all other Destroids models, this is basically a simple affair and the model goes together well – but expect some PSR on every seam, and there are some improvements possible that IMHO raise the model’s quality. The lack of vinyl caps makes later movement a tricky affair, though, and it is interesting to see that while the “04” chassis Destroids (Phalanx, Tomahawk and Defender) share the same lower body, all three kits are different! As a positive trait concerning the finish, the Phalanx is also the only kit of this trio that comes with decals for the typical white trim on the lower legs of these Destroids.
Painting and markings:
Once more I wanted to stay true to the original look of a typical Macross Destroid from the “04” series. These tend to carry a uniform livery in murky/dull tones of green, brown and ochre: unpretentious "mud movers". Anything else is rare (I am aware of dark blue Phalanx’ on board of the SDF-1), and complex camouflage patterns are AFAIK not seen (probably a tribute to the TV series’ cel production). In consequence, I gave the Nimrod an overall livery in a rather unidentifiable brownish tone, namely RAL 7008 (Khakigrau), a tone that was carried by German WWII Afrikakorps tanks and very similar to the tone IDF vehicles like the Merkava typically carry nowadays. Since I only had this tone in a rattle can available, the model and its components were painted accordingly, with an additional hushed spray over the upper surfaces with a slightly lighter tone as a shading measure. After this basic painting, the parts received a washing with thinned black ink.
Decals mostly come from the OOB sheet, plus some extra stencils, including the "nose art" painted on the left leg (from a P-38); many Destroids and also Armored Valkyries seem to bear such markings. Gives the mecha a personal touch, though.
Finally, before everything was assembled, the kit received a dry-brushing treatment with light grey and an overall coat with matt acrylic varnish. As a final step, mineral pigments were dusted over the model, esp. around the feet and the lower areas of the mecha.
A rather straightforward conversion project that gradually evolved – but with a postive outcome, after some twists and turns. The fictional Destroid Nimrod turned out more believable than expected, thanks to the good donor parts that went into it, and the simple livery also adds to the design’s “realism” within the Macross universe. Even though the thing still looks odd – but not worse than the other canonical Destroids from the original TV series!
Some Background:
The Space Defense Robot-04-Mk. XIV Destroid Nimrod was an anti-air/heavy artillery mecha, and intended as a replacement for the SDR-04-Mk. XII Phalanx, a Destroid specifically designed for space operations to defend the SDF-1 Macross, along with its sister unit, the cannon-armed ADR-04-Mk. X Destroid Defender.
The Phalanx had been developed in a hurry under the pressure of the raging war against the Zentraedi and suffered, as a consequence, from several disadvantages. For instance, its combat operation capability decreased substantially once the missile ordnance (a total of forty-four 430mm caliber missiles, half of them ready to fire and the rest held in reserve in internal magazines) had been exhausted. To counter this, a few models were modified in the field, e.g. with additional light Gatling guns mounted within the head unit, as well as other variations, but most Phalanx’ remained basically bipedal heavy missile launchers. A sub-variant with improved sensors and missile guidance systems, as well as the ability to deploy the new reflex missiles, the Phalanx Mk. XIII, was also built, but only in small numbers, and it could not overcome the flaws of the original design.
The Nimrod was the attempt to mend these shortcomings after initial combat experience with the type. The so-called SDR-04-Mk. XIV utilized the proven MBR-04 ambulatory system and shared a common hip and leg structure with a wide range of other Destroids. Like the Phalanx, the Nimrod’s newly designed upper body was a simple core structure that neglected any silliness for a weapon composition consisting of missiles, radar, and propulsion system, all mounted on the main rotating body which could be detached from the lower torso for maintenance of in case of emergency.
The Nimrod filled the same tactical niche as the Phalanx but was a more sophisticated design with improved capabilities and a – though limited – secondary close-range combat capability. The radar and sensor suites for target acquisition as well as missile guidance were improved, so that the Nimrod became even suited for air space surveillance and as a guidance/coordination unit for other Destroids. Due to this additional workload, the Nimrod’s crew was expanded by a WSO to two in a tandem cockpit.
The armament remained tailored to medium and long range, but there were some improvements. On the Nimrod, the Phalanx’ bulbous drum-shaped missile magazines gave way to more streamlined 540 mm caliber reflex missile containers, which were carried in staggered clusters of four twin-pods on each shoulder, holding a total of 48 missiles with sixteen of them ready to fire and the rest in reserve. This modification reduced weight and frontal area, and in a case of emergency the missile containers could be jettisoned.
In order to improve the Nimrod’s tactical value after its missiles had been deployed, it was furthermore provided with a secondary close-range combat capability in the form of a pair of particle beam guns. These were integrated into the arms, protected by the missile containers, and these reliable weapons could be effectively used against both air as well as ground targets. Thermal smoke dischargers completed the Nimrod’s defensive measures.
Like the Phalanx and other Destroids, the Nimrod was capable of limited space operations due to its vernier thrusters all over the hull. This allowed for units that were stationed on the deck of the SDF-1 to propel themselves back to the battle fortress if they were knocked off.
The Nimrod was, like the Phalanx, first deployed on the SDF-1 and was used to augment the ship's own weapon system to protect the vessel from Zentraedi attacks, even though the type came relatively late and was only used in the final phase of the war and only in limited numbers. After the conflict, production was throttled down (only a total of fifty SDR-04-Mk. XIVs were eventually built), and the surviving Nimrods from the SDF-1 were stationed at airbases in New Macross City and in nearby cities, such as Monument City.
Specifications:
Designation: SDR-04-Mk XIV
Mecha Class: Destroid
Crew: 2 (Pilot, WSO)
Weight: 21.8 tons (dry)
45.5 tons (loaded)
Height: 12.36 m (hull only, incl. radome)
13,50 m (with raised arms)
Breadth: 9,32 m
Depth: 5.0m
Max. walking speed: 72 kph loaded
Armament:
2x weapon clusters in shoulder locations, each with:
- Eight launch tubes for 540mm caliber mid-/long-range missiles (typically with anti-air capacity, artillery
rockets as alternative), with eight missiles ready and another sixteen as reserve (for a total of 48)
- One Mauler PBG-06 liquid-cooled electrically-charged twin particle beam gun
- Three thermal smoke dischargers
The kit and its assembly:
This is a fictional Macross Destroid, with a highly modified Imai Phalanx kit at its core. It depicts a potential successor for the missile-only-armed Phalanx, but it has been totally made up. Inspiration came when I recently procured a bunch of Kotobukiya’s MSG sets for mecha conversions – one of these sets included the quadruple missile launchers that now make up the Nimrod’s new “arms”. I was torn between using a Defender or a Phalanx as conversion basis, but due to the weapon pods’ bulkiness I went for the more massive Phalanx.
Beyond the MSG parts and the replacement of the Phalanx “missile drums”, there was initially no real plan for the conversion – things evolved gradually, depending on the donor parts at hand. However, several fundamental changes were made. The most important improvement measure that works for all Destroid kits with the “04” chassis is the integration of a completely now hip joint arrangement. OOB, the model's posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet facing straight forward. The model is just supposed to stand upright, and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the Imai kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits, without vinyl caps and just relying on a very tight joint fit for hold.
My proven solution: the implantation of a new hip “bone” made from plastic-coated steel wire, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts. Inside of the pelvis, the W-shaped wire was attached with the help of sprue material and styrene profiles, a thorough fixation is necessary because a lot of load has to be held in place in a very small space.
In order to attach the legs to the wire, there’s a convenient trick: the receptor holes in the thighs were simply filled with small vinyl rings, standard material from other mecha kits (e.g. from Arii’s 1:100 VF-1 Battroids or the Gunze Sangyo/Aoshima Dorvack PAs), the rings’ outer AND inner diameter fit perfectly into the new arrangement. With this trick, a much more dynamic and "natural" leg position could be achieved, also thanks to the large feet and their joints of the “04” Destroid chassis. This tuning measure improves the model considerably. The legs were otherwise taken OOB, just some small styrene bits were added to the lower legs’ front sides (improving another small detail flaw of the model), and some openings on the lower legs’ rear side were filled with putty and styrene sheet. Furthermore, the open insides of the “heels” were filled with putty, too.
In order to integrate the new missile bins, suitable adapters for the shoulder had to be found. Being somewhat lazy and trying to use as many parts from the Phalanx kit as possible, I decided to integrate a styrene tube all through the upper body, so that I got better attachment points. This tube was extended so far that I could re-use the Phalanx’ blast exhausts from the original missile bins as shoulder joint covers. This looks very natural and these re-dedicated parts fit well over the implanted central styrene tube channel as well as into the channel that runs along the MSG missile containers’ inner side. In order to attach the new arms/containers, a smaller diameter styrene tube was glued into these channels, so that the new pods could be moved vertically.
As a weapon improvement over the Phalanx, a pair of particle beam guns was added to the new missile containers – they come originally from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit, but they were tailored considerably in order to fit into their new position. They also help to hide the new shoulder joint, which was covered from above with parts from the Phalanx kit (the boxed that are normally attached to the upper legs) and the space between them with paper tissue, drenched with white glue. The result is a good visual transition.
The central hull was changed in order to move the look away from the Phalanx base. The rear side uses OOB parts, but these were modified and attached to the hull in a different way, so that the back is not as deep as on the Phalanx. The front received a vertical pair of searchlights (formerly return rollers from a 1:35 tank…), set into the breast plate. The cockpit bulge between the shoulders as well as the head unit are completely new. The cockpit cover is a leftover hull piece from a Kotobukiya helicopter drone, and it was moved forward, so that a crew of two is more plausible. The head unit on the elongated spine behind and above it consists primarily of a donor from a wrecked VT-61 “Tulcas” mecha (Dorvack), plus a small dish antenna for a tracking radar on the right (left over from a Dorvack PA-36K “Berlon” kit) and a round radome for target acquisition – scratched from main wheels of a Matchbox PB2Y and set upon a mount made from styrene profiles. Looks strange, esp. with that flat, square head unit underneath, but I wanted a unique and different look that sets the Nimrod apart from other canonical Destroid designs. And this certainly worked.
A final word concerning the Phalanx kit itself: like all other Destroids models, this is basically a simple affair and the model goes together well – but expect some PSR on every seam, and there are some improvements possible that IMHO raise the model’s quality. The lack of vinyl caps makes later movement a tricky affair, though, and it is interesting to see that while the “04” chassis Destroids (Phalanx, Tomahawk and Defender) share the same lower body, all three kits are different! As a positive trait concerning the finish, the Phalanx is also the only kit of this trio that comes with decals for the typical white trim on the lower legs of these Destroids.
Painting and markings:
Once more I wanted to stay true to the original look of a typical Macross Destroid from the “04” series. These tend to carry a uniform livery in murky/dull tones of green, brown and ochre: unpretentious "mud movers". Anything else is rare (I am aware of dark blue Phalanx’ on board of the SDF-1), and complex camouflage patterns are AFAIK not seen (probably a tribute to the TV series’ cel production). In consequence, I gave the Nimrod an overall livery in a rather unidentifiable brownish tone, namely RAL 7008 (Khakigrau), a tone that was carried by German WWII Afrikakorps tanks and very similar to the tone IDF vehicles like the Merkava typically carry nowadays. Since I only had this tone in a rattle can available, the model and its components were painted accordingly, with an additional hushed spray over the upper surfaces with a slightly lighter tone as a shading measure. After this basic painting, the parts received a washing with thinned black ink.
Decals mostly come from the OOB sheet, plus some extra stencils, including the "nose art" painted on the left leg (from a P-38); many Destroids and also Armored Valkyries seem to bear such markings. Gives the mecha a personal touch, though.
Finally, before everything was assembled, the kit received a dry-brushing treatment with light grey and an overall coat with matt acrylic varnish. As a final step, mineral pigments were dusted over the model, esp. around the feet and the lower areas of the mecha.
A rather straightforward conversion project that gradually evolved – but with a postive outcome, after some twists and turns. The fictional Destroid Nimrod turned out more believable than expected, thanks to the good donor parts that went into it, and the simple livery also adds to the design’s “realism” within the Macross universe. Even though the thing still looks odd – but not worse than the other canonical Destroids from the original TV series!
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 "Huey". By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam.
The U.S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, too, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, and also wanted a more potent turret-mounted weapon. At first, the Department of Defense had balked at providing the Marines with a twin-engine version of the Cobra, in the belief that commonality with Army AH-1Gs outweighed the advantages of a different engine fit. However, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure the U.S. Army passed on thirty-eight AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969. The AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret with a three-barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon based on the six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon.
During the 1990s, the US forces gradually phased out its Cobra fleet. The withdrawn AH-1s were typically offered to other potential operators, usually NATO allies. Some were also given to the USDA's Forest Service for fire surveillance, and a handful AH-1s went into private hands, including the NASA. Among these airframes were some USMC AH-1Js, which had in part been mothballed in the Mojave Desert since their replacement through more powerful and modern AH-1 variants and the AH-64.
About twenty airframes were, after having been de-militarized, bought by the Kaman Corporation in 2003, in a bold move to quickly respond to more than 20 inquiries for the company’s K-1200 ‘K-Max’ crane synchropter since the type’s end of production in 2001 from firefighting, logging and industry transport requirements. While not such a dedicated medium lift helicopter as the K-1200, which had from the outset been optimized for external cargo load operations, the twin-engine AH-1J promised to be a very effective alternative and a powerful basis for a conversion into a crane helicopter.
The result of this conversion program was the Kaman K-1300, also known as the “K-Cobra” or “Crane Cobra”. While the basic airframe of the AH-1J was retained, extensive detail modifications were made. To reduce weight and compensate for the extensive hardware changes, the SeaCobra lost its armor, the chin turret, and the stub wings. Beyond that, many invisible changes were made; the internal structure between the engine mounts was beefed up with an additional cage structure and a cargo hook was installed under the fuselage in the helicopter’s center of lift.
To further optimize the K-Cobra’s performance, the dynamic components were modified and improved, too. While the engine remained the same, its oil cooler was enlarged and the original output limit to 1.500 shp was removed and the gearbox was strengthened to fully exploit the twin-engine’s available power of 1,800 shp (1,342 kW). The rotor system was also modified and optimized for the transport of underslung loads: the original UH-1 dual-blade rotors were replaced with new four-blade rotors. The new main rotor with rugged heavy-duty blades offered more lift at less rotor speed, and the blades’ lift sections were moved away from the hub so that downwash and turbulences directly under the helicopter’s CoG and man hook were reduced to keep the cargo load more stable. Due to the main rotor’s slightly bigger diameter the tail rotor was changed into a slightly smaller four-blade rotor, too. This new arrangement made the K-1300 more stable while hovering or during slow speed maneuvers and more responsive to steering input.
The Cobra’s crew of two was retained, but the cockpit was re-arranged and split into two compartments: the pilot retained the original rear position in the tandem cockpit under the original glazing, but the gunner’s station in front of him, together with the secondary dashboard, was omitted and replaced by a new, fully glazed cabin under the former gunner position. This cabin occupied the former gun station and its ammunition supply and contained a rearward-facing workstation for a second pilot with full controls. It was accessible via a separate door or a ladder from above, through a trap door in the former gunner’s station floor, where a simple foldable bench was available for a third person. This arrangement was chosen due to almost complete lack of oversight of the slung load from the normal cockpit position, despite a CCTV (closed circuit television) system with two cameras intended for observation of slung loads. The second pilot would control the helicopter during delicate load-handling maneuvers, while the primary pilot “above” would fly the helicopter during transfer flights, both sharing the workload.
To accommodate the cabin under the fuselage and improve ground handling, the AH-1J’s skids were replaced by a stalky, fixed four-wheel landing gear that considerably increased ground clearance (almost 7 feet), making the attachment of loads on the ground to the main ventral hook easier, as the K-1300 could be “rolled over” the cargo on the ground and did not have to hover above it to connect. However, an external ladder had to be added so that the pilot could reach his/her workstation almost 10 feet above the ground.
The bulky ventral cabin, the draggy landing gear and the new lift-optimized rotor system reduced the CraneCobra’s top speed by a third to just 124 mph (200 km/h), but the helicopter’s load-carrying capacity became 35% higher and the Cobra’s performance under “hot & high” conditions was markedly improved, too.
For transfer flights, a pair of external auxiliary tanks could be mounted to the lower fuselage flanks, which could also be replaced with cargo boxes of similar size and shape.
K-1300 buyers primarily came from the United States and Canada, but there were foreign operators, too. A major operator in Europe became Heliswiss, the oldest helicopter company in Switzerland. The company was founded as „Heliswiss Schweizerische Helikopter AG“, with headquarters in Berne-Belp on April 17, 1953, what also marked the beginning of commercial helicopter flying in Switzerland. During the following years Heliswiss expanded in Switzerland and formed a network with bases in Belp BE, Samedan GR, Domat Ems GR, Locarno TI, Erstfeld UR, Gampel VS, Gstaad BE and Gruyères FR. During the build-up of the rescue-company Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht (REGA) as an independent network, Heliswiss carried out rescue missions on their behalf.
Heliswiss carried out operations all over the world, e. g. in Greenland, Suriname, North Africa and South America. The first helicopter was a Bell 47 G-1, registered as HB-XAG on September 23, 1953. From 1963 Heliswiss started to expand and began to operate with medium helicopters like the Agusta Bell 204B with a turbine power of 1050 HP and an external load of up to 1500 kg. From 1979 Heliswiss operated a Bell 214 (external load up to 2.8 t).
Since 1991 Heliswiss operated a Russian Kamov 32A12 (a civil crane version of the Ka-27 “Helix”), which was joined by two K-1300s in 2004. They were frequently used for construction of transmission towers for overhead power lines and pylons for railway catenary lines, for selective logging and also as fire bombers with underslung water bags, the latter managed by the German Helog company, operating out of Ainring and Küssnacht in Germany and Switzerland until 2008, when Helog changed its business focus into a helicopter flight training academy in Liberia with the support of Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
A second Kamov 32A12 joined the fleet in 2015, which replaced one of the K-1300s, and Heliswiss’ last K-1300 was retired in early 2022.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2, plus space for a passenger
Length: 54 ft 3 in (16,56 m) including rotors
44 ft 5 in (13.5 m) fuselage only
Main rotor diameter: 46 ft 2¾ in (14,11 m)
Main rotor area: 1,677.64 sq ft (156,37 m2)
Width (over landing gear): 12 ft 6 in (3.85 m)
Height: 17 ft 8¼ in (5,40 m)
Empty weight: 5,810 lb (2,635 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg) without slung load
13,515 lb (6,145 kg) with slung load
Powerplant:
1× P&W Canada T400-CP-400 (PT6T-3 Twin-Pac) turboshaft engine, 1,800 shp (1,342 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h, 110 kn)
Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 270 mi (430 km, 230 nmi) with internal fuel only,
360 mi (570 km 310 nmi) with external auxiliary tanks
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
Hovering ceiling out of ground effect: 3,000 m (9,840 ft)
Rate of climb: 2,500 ft/min (13 m/s) at Sea Level with flat-rated torque
External load capacity (at ISA +15 °C (59.0 °F):
6,000 lb (2,722 kg) at sea level
5,663 lb (2,569 kg) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
5,163 lb (2,342 kg) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
5,013 lb (2,274 kg) at 12,100 ft (3,688 m)
4,313 lb (1,956 kg) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This is/was the second contribution to the late 2022 “Logistics” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, a welcome occasion and motivation to tackle a what-if project that had been on my list for a long while. This crane helicopter conversion of a HueyCobra was inspired by the Mil Mi-10K helicopter – I had built a 1:100 VEB Plasticart kit MANY years ago and still remembered the helicopter’s unique ventral cabin under the nose with a rearward-facing second pilot. I always thought that the AH-1 might be a good crane helicopter, too, esp. the USMC’s twin-engine variant. And why not combine everything in a fictional model?
With this plan the basis became a Fujimi 1:72 AH-1J and lots of donor parts to modify the basic hull into “something else”. Things started with the removal of the chin turret and part of the lower front hull to make space for the ventral glass cabin. The openings for the stub wings were faired over and a different stabilizer (taken from a Revell EC 135, including the end plates) was implanted. The attachment points for the skids were filled and a styrene tube was inserted into the rotor mast opening to later hold the new four-blade rotor. Another styrene tube with bigger diameter was inserted into the lower fuselage as a display holder adapter for later flight scene pictures. Lead beads filled the nose section to make sure the CraneCobra would stand well on its new legs, with the nose down. The cockpit was basically taken OOB, just the front seat and the respective gunner dashboard was omitted.
One of the big challenges of this build followed next: the ventral cabin. Over the course of several months, I was not able to find a suitable donor, so I was forced to scratch the cabin from acrylic and styrene sheet. Size benchmark became the gunner’s seat from the Cobra kit, with one of the OOB pilots seated. Cabin width was less dictated through the fuselage, the rest of the cabin’s design became a rather simple, boxy thing – not pretty, but I think a real-life retrofitted cabin would not look much different? Some PSR was done to hide the edges of the rather thick all-clear walls and create a 3D frame - a delicate task. Attaching the completed thing with the second pilot and a dashboard under the roof to the Cobra’s lower hull and making it look more or less natural without major accidents was also a tricky and lengthy affair, because I ignored the Cobra’s narrowing nose above the former chin turret.
With the cabin defining the ground helicopter’s clearance, it was time for the next donors: the landing gear from an Airfix 1:72 Kamow Ka-25, which had to be modified further to achieve a proper stance. The long main struts were fixed to the hull, their supporting struts had to be scratched, in this case from steel wire. The front wheels were directly attached to the ventral cabin (which might contain in real life a rigid steel cage that not only protects the second crew member but could also take the front wheels’ loads?). Looks pretty stalky!
Under the hull, a massive hook and a fairing for the oil cooler were added. A PE brass ladder was mounted on the right side of the hull under the pilot’s cockpit, while a rear-view mirror was mounted for the ventral pilot on the left side.
The rotor system was created in parallel, I wanted “something different” from the UH-1 dual-blade rotors. The main rotor hub was taken from a Mistercraft 1:72 Westland Lynx (AFAIK a re-boxed ZTS Plastyk kit), which included the arms up to the blades. The hub was put onto a metal axis, with a spacer to make it sit well in the new styrene tube adapter inside of the hull, and some donor parts from the Revell EC 135. Deeper, tailored blades were glued to the Lynx hub, actually leftover parts from the aforementioned wrecked VEB Plasticart 1:100 Mi-10, even though their length had to be halved (what makes you aware how large a Mi-6/10 is compared with an AH-1!). The tail rotor was taken wholesale from the Lynx and stuck to the Cobra’s tail with a steel pin.
Painting and markings:
Another pushing factor for this build was the fact that I had a 1:72 Begemot aftermarket decal sheet for the Kamow Ka-27/32 in The Stash™, which features, among many military helicopters, (the) two civil Heliswiss machines – a perfect match!
Using the Swiss Helix’ as design benchmark I adapted their red-over-white paint scheme to the slender AH-1 and eventually ended up with a simple livery with a white belly (acrylic white from the rattle can, after extensive masking of the clear parts with Maskol/latex milk) and a red (Humbrol 19) upper section, with decorative counter-colored cheatlines along the medium waterline. A black anti-glare panel was added in front of the windscreen. The auxiliary tanks were painted white, too, but they were processed separately and mounted just before the final coat of varnish was applied. The PE ladder as well as the rotors were handled similarly.
The cockpit and rotor opening interior were painted in a very dark grey (tar black, Revell 06), while the interior of the air intakes was painted bright white (Revell 301). The rotor blades became light grey (Revell 75) with darker leading edges (Humbrol 140), dark grey (Humbrol 164) hubs and yellow tips.
For the “HELOG/Heliswiss” tagline the lower white section had to be raised to a medium position on the fuselage, so that they could be placed on the lower flanks under the cockpit. The white civil registration code could not be placed on the tail and ended up on the engine cowling, on red, but this does not look bad or wrong at all.
The cheatlines are also decals from the Ka-32 Begemot sheet, even though they had to be trimmed considerably to fit onto the Cobra’s fuselage – and unfortunately the turned out to be poorly printed and rather brittle, so that I had to improvise and correct the flaws with generic red and white decal lines from TL Modellbau. The white cross on the tail and most stencils came from the Begemot sheet, too. Black, engine soot-hiding areas on the Cobra’s tail were created with generic decal sheet material, too.
The rotor blades and the wheels received a black ink treatment to emphasize their details, but this was not done on the hull to avoid a dirty or worn look. After some final details like position lights the model was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish, while the rotors became matt.
A weird-looking what-if model, but somehow a crane-copter variant of the AH-1 looks quite natural – even more so in its attractive red-and-white civil livery. The stalky landing gear is odd, though, necessitated by the ventral cabin for the second pilot. I was skeptical, but scratching the latter was more successful than expected, and the cabin blend quite well into the AH-1 hull, despite its boxy shape.
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Canon EOS 400d
Canon EF-S 300mm f/2.8 L
L'aquila reale riveste un ruolo molto importante nella storia della simbologia europea. Per i greci era un simbolo di Zeus, colei che ne rispecchiava i valori fondamentali. Il fatto che simboleggiasse il padre degli dei fece sì che i romani la scegliessero come emblema fin dai tempi della repubblica. Con la divisione dell'Impero in due parti decretata dall'imperatore romano Teodosio per i suoi figli, Arcadio che ebbe l'Oriente e Onorio l'Occidente, l'aquila romana da quel momento fu raffigurata unico corpo(impero romano) a due teste(oriente e occidente) , come anche ora si può vedere in stemmi che si rifanno all'impero romano. L'aquila verrà poi spesso ripresa da tutte le nazioni che vorranno emulare l'immagine di Roma e questo comportò quindi che essa venisse utilizzata da Carlo Magno, Napoleone, gli stati dell'Europa dell'est, Hitler, Mussolini e infine dagli USA.
La valorizzazione dell'aquila venne portata avanti in seguito dalla Chiesa cattolica, che prese a sua volta spunto dal fatto che essa è simbolo di spiritualità (l'aquila è simbolo dell'evangelista Giovanni il più spirituale dei quattro). Dante la riporta nel sesto canto del paradiso e ne innalza i valori. La sua strumentalizzazione nel corso della storia l'ha portata paradossalmente ad essere vista da alcuni come un'immagine negativa, in quanto utilizzata come simbolo dagli stati totalitari che devastarono l'Europa nel '900. Oggi, tuttavia, è usata comunque in molte aziende, società e paesi come simbolo di fierezza, nobiltà, divinità e orgoglio (oltre ad essere usata dagli allevatori per cacciar le volpi quando si avvicinano ai pollai). È inoltre simbolo dell'Arma Aeronautica Militare Italiana e di molti altri paesi. Ultimo tra gli stati in cui l'aquila compare nella bandiera nazionale è il Kazakistan, mentre l'Albania è detta appunto "Paese delle Aquile" e ne ha una stilizzata sulla bandiera.
Ha una lunghezza di 74 - 87 cm; la coda misura dai 26 ai 33 cm, con un'apertura alare di 203-220 cm.
Il suo peso varia dai 2,9 kg, ai 6,6 kg; la femmina è del 20% circa più grande del maschio.
Le sue parti superiori sono di color bruno castano, con penne e piume copritrici più pallide, le parti inferiori sono di color castano scuro, la testa invece è di color castano dorato. A questa caratteristica si riferisce il secondo nome "chrysaetos",che in greco vuol dire "aquila d'oro".
Il colorito varia a seconda dell'età e l'abito adulto viene completato a 5 anni di vita. Il giovane appena involato possiede un piumaggio bruno nerastro con evidenti macchie bianche a semiluna al centro delle ali e coda bianca bordata di nero; la livrea dell'adulto è bruna con spalle e nuca dorate (da cui il nome inglese "Golden Eagle", Aquila dorata). Il pulcino è ricoperto da un fitto piumino biancastro.
In volo ha ali sollevate e spinte leggermente in avanti. L'Aquila reale è uno dei più potenti uccelli rapaci del mondo; la robusta struttura le consente di attaccare con successo prede spesso più pesanti di lei e nonostante la mole imponente possiede un volo assai agile.
Il piede ha le caratteristiche tipiche dei rapaci che si nutrono di mammiferi, con dita brevi e grandi artigli in grado di ferire le prede.
Il forte becco le consente non solo di uccidere animali di taglia medio-piccola, ma anche di aprire carcasse di grandi animali già morti.
Un tempo l'aquila reale viveva nelle zone temperate dell'Europa, nella parte nord dell'Asia, nel nord America, nord Africa e Giappone. In molte di queste regioni l'aquila è oggi presente solamente sui rilievi montuosi, ma nei secoli precedenti nidificava anche nelle pianure e nelle foreste. È assente in Islanda e Irlanda dove è in corso un tentativo di ripopolamento con 35 uccelli rilasciati dal 2001. In Italia è presente sulla dorsale appenninica e sull'arco alpino, in rilievi della Sardegna e della Sicilia. Il limite nord dell'areale dell'aquila sono le Isole Svalbard (81°N).
Frequenta una vasta gamma di ambienti aperti o semi-alberati e la sua plasticità dal punto di vista delle esigenze ecologiche le ha consentito di colonizzare un ampio areale sia in Eurasia, sia in Nordamerica; in Italia è presente su tutte le più importanti catene montuose (Alpi, Appennino, monti sardi e siciliani). La Valle d'Aosta nello specifico offre all'Aquila reale vastissimi territori idonei; soltanto le aree più antropizzate ed i deserti nivali possono essere considerati inutilizzabili dalla specie, mentre le foreste, anche se troppo fitte per consentirle azioni di caccia, rappresentano fondamentali serbatoi di specie preda. Ogni vallata della regione ospita almeno una coppia nidificante ed in totale i territori stabilmente occupati sono almeno 35, con un massimo ipotizzabile di 40. La densità delle coppie (territori ampi in media meno di 80 km²) e la distanza media che separa i settori di nidificazione (inferiore a 7 km) sono definibili come ottimali a livello alpino ed attualmente non è ipotizzabile un ulteriore significativo incremento della specie.
La regolazione della densità dei rapaci avviene infatti con meccanismi naturali complessi e molto efficienti, che riescono a stabilizzare le specie intorno ai livelli compatibili con le risorse localmente fruibili (siti di nidificazione, abbondanza delle prede, competizione con altri carnivori); un'utile indicazione a questo proposito è data dal successo della riproduzione, elevato nelle popolazioni al di sotto delle capacità ambientali potenziali e decisamente ridotto nelle popolazioni più floride: in Valle d'Aosta negli ultimi anni il numero medio di giovani allevati dalle coppie controllate è risultato in effetti molto basso, come già verificato in altri settori delle Alpi.
Un territorio frequentato da una coppia di Aquile reali è solitamente composto da un sito di nidificazione con pareti rocciose ospitanti i nidi e da una serie di territori di caccia poco o per nulla boscati, localizzati di norma in posizione periferica rispetto al settore con i nidi. Questi ultimi sono collocati al di sotto dei territori di caccia estivi per agevolare il trasporto di pesanti prede ai giovani; i nidi non vanno quindi cercati in prossimità delle vette, ove spesso li vorrebbe la tradizione popolare, ma soprattutto intorno ai 1700-2200 m. Altitudini record di 2500-2700 m, segnalate per il passato in Valle d'Aosta, sono probabilmente conseguenti a ripetute persecuzioni ai danni di nidi situati in località più accessibili.
L'aquila ha a disposizione due modi per cacciare: all'agguato e in volo, solitamente cerca di sorprendere le prede. Di solito cacciano in due: un'aquila vola bassa per mettere paura alla preda e l'altra dall'alto cerca di catturarla.
Durante il giorno l'aquila sta molto tranquilla, tranne nella parte centrale della giornata.
Molte aquile hanno una tendenza a spostarsi verso le zone più calde.
Tra i mammiferi preferisce i roditori, lepri, marmotte, conigli selvatici e scoiattoli.
Invece tra gli uccelli, si nutre soprattutto di galliformi e anche di carogne in inverno. Tra i rettili preda serpenti, tartarughe (che cattura e sfracella sulle rocce) e talvolta, se non trova di più, ramarri e altri sauri. Spesso i due partner cacciano insieme e giocano con la preda. I giovani devono consumare molto cibo, ma spesso solo un piccolo, il primo nato, sopravvive poiché si accaparra tutto il cibo.
L'aquila può sollevare 18 kg di preda, quasi tre volte il suo peso massimo (volpe, giovani ungulati) ed integra regolarmente la sua dieta con resti di animali rinvenuti morti (soprattutto ungulati vittime dei rigori invernali).
Fedeli per la vita, il maschio e la femmina di Aquila reale, una volta formata la coppia e conquistato un territorio, rimangono stanziali per molti anni costruendo nei dintorni, sulle pareti a picco dei dirupi o, più raramente, fra i rami degli alberi più alti, anche una decina di nidi scegliendo, di anno in anno, quello che sembra il più adatto. Sempre, però, i nidi sono costruiti più in basso rispetto all'altitudine di caccia, per evitare faticose risalite con la preda tra gli artigli.
Il controllo del territorio, che varia da 40 a 180 km quadrati, viene effettuato equamente tra maschio e femmina e, il più delle volte, si limita a manifestazioni aeree (voli a festoni, volteggi) lungo il confine del territorio stesso per segnalare alle altre aquile quali siano gli effettivi confini.
Affascinante, invece, il volo del rituale di accoppiamento che avviene in marzo: la cosiddetta danza del cielo, che prosegue per vari giorni, vede impegnati entrambi gli individui in spettacolari evoluzioni che spesso la femmina compie in volo rovesciato mentre il maschio sembra piombarle sopra, o con scambi di preda in volo o giri della morte.
All'accoppiamento, che avviene sempre a terra, segue la deposizione delle uova (gennaio nelle zone più calde e maggio in quelle più fredde) solitamente due a distanza di 2 - 5 giorni l'una dall'altra. In questo periodo il maschio è poco presente, per ricomparire immediatamente alla schiusa (dopo 43 - 45 giorni di cova) per portare cibo sia alla madre che ai due piccoli dei quali, solitamente, solo uno sopravvive.
Dopo due mesi i pulcini diventano aquilotti ed iniziano ad esercitarsi nel volo sul bordo del nido. Spiccano il primo volo a 75 giorni e dopo 160 - 170 dalla nascita diventano indipendenti: in questo periodo vengono portati dai genitori fuori dai confini del territorio natale e diventano nomadi fino a quanto, verso i 3 - 6 anni, ormai in grado di procreare, costituiranno un nuovo nucleo famigliare.
L'aquila è in diminuzione in molte aree a causa di persecuzione; dov'è protetta è in aumento. È specie protetta ai sensi della legge 157/92.
È presente in maggior parte, nelle Alpi (200 coppie di nidificati), negli Appennini (50 coppie), in Sicilia (10 coppie) e Sardegna (30 coppie).
La popolazione è in lento aumento in Italia, Bulgaria, Turchia, Africa settentrionale, Penisola arabica, Cina, Ucraina e Scozia. La popolazione statunitense, canadese, giapponese, greca e scandinava ha registrato un maggiore incremento. In decremento sono le aquile di Spagna e Corea, mentre in Uzbekistan sembra prossima alla scomparsa. I principali fattori che colpiscono questa specie sono: il disboscamento, il bracconaggio e la cattura dei nidiacei.
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)
The Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas. Despite being locally[specify] extinct or uncommon, the species is still fairly ubiquitous, being present in Eurasia, North America and parts of Africa. The highest density of nesting Golden Eagles in the world lies in southern Alameda County, California.
These birds are dark brown, with lighter golden-brown plumage on their heads and necks. Their wingspan averages over 2 m (7 ft) and their length 1 m (3 ft).
Golden Eagles use their speed and sharp talons to snatch up rabbits, marmots, and ground squirrels. They also eat carrion, reptiles, birds, fish, and smaller fare such as large insects. They have even been known to attack fully grown deer.
Golden Eagle pairs maintain territories that may be as large as 155 square kilometres (60 square miles). They are monogamous and may remain together for several years or possibly for life. Golden Eagles nest in high places including cliffs, trees, or human structures such as telephone poles. They build huge nests to which they may return for several breeding years. Females lay from one to four eggs, and both parents incubate them for 40 to 45 days. Typically, one or two young survive to fledge in about three months.
Adult Golden Eagles range considerably in size, though some are among the largest eagles of the genus Aquila. Most subspecies of Golden Eagle vary in the range from 65 to 100 cm (26–40 in) in length, wingspan can range from 150 to 240 cm (60–96 in), and weight is from 2.5 to 7 kg (5.5–15.5 lb). The smallest-bodied subspecies is A. c. japonica while A. c. daphanea is the largest on average. However, wild specimens from Northwestern North America (A. c. canadensis) can exceed normal dimensions, as the largest recorded weighed 9 kg (20 lbs) and had a body length of 102 cm (40.1 in). As with many Accipitriformes, females are considerably larger than males; in the case of the Golden Eagle they weigh one-quarter to one-third more than male birds.
The plumage colour ranges from black-brown to dark brown, with a striking golden-buff crown and nape, which give the bird its name. The upper wings also have an irregular lighter area. Immature birds resemble adults, but have a duller more mottled appearance. Also they have a white-banded tail and a white patch at the carpal joint, that gradually disappear with every moult until full adult plumage is reached in the fifth year. Contour feathers may be moulted in a short time span.
Golden eagle predominant prey is leporids (hares and rabbits) and sciurids (ground squirrels, prairie dogs and marmots), the two groups normally comprising 50% to 94% of the diet of nesting eagles. Additional mammals regularly taken include mice, martens, foxes, young deer and mountain goats. The secondary important prey group for eagles are other birds. Various gallinaceous birds (largely phasianids, ptarmigans and grouse) are the most significant avian prey. However, virtually any bird, from a jay to a swan, is potential prey. During winter months when prey is scarce, Golden Eagles scavenge on carrion to supplement their diet. Sometimes when no carrion is available golden eagles will hunt down large prey, such as goat-antelopes and caribou. There is one confirmed report of a Golden Eagle snatching the cub of a Brown Bear, and several other unverified attacks. Golden eagles are avian apex predators, meaning a healthy adult is not preyed upon. There are records of golden eagles killing and eating large raptors such as Eurasian Eagle Owls, Gyrfalcons, Northern Goshawks and Buteo hawks, whether adults, nestlings or eggs. Falcons, jaegers and Buteos like Rough-legged Hawks, which are normally competitors, have worked together to group-mob Golden Eagles that have passed their adjacent nesting areas. In one instance, a golden eagle flying in towards a peregrine falcon nest was struck and killed by a swooping parent falcon. More commonly, Golden Eagles kleptoparasitize, or steal prey, from other raptors. Despite being often smaller in size, they are capable of displacing large vultures, of both unrelated families, from carrion. However, the Bald Eagle and White-tailed Eagle can displace Golden Eagles in competition over food and vice versa. Golden Eagles have very good eyesight and can spot prey from a long distance. The Golden Eagle has a resolution power eight times more powerful than a human.[citation needed] The talons are used for killing and carrying the prey, the beak is used only for eating. They often have a division of labour while hunting, one bird driving the prey towards its waiting partner. On the other hand, the size difference between males and females allows more unpaired birds to live off the land, which is helpful to maintain a sufficiently large population for this large and slowly-maturing bird.
Golden Eagles usually mate for life. They build several eyries within their territory and use them alternately for several years. These nests consist of heavy tree branches, upholstered with grass when in use. Old eyries may be 2 metres (6.6 ft) in diameter and 1 metre (3.3 ft) in height, as the eagles repair their nests whenever necessary and enlarge them during each use. If the eyrie is situated on a tree, supporting tree branches may break because of the weight of the nest. Certain other animals – birds and mammals too small to be of interest to the huge raptor – often use the nest as shelter. Their predators are just the right size for Golden eagle prey, and therefore avoid active eyries.
The female lays one to four (usually two) eggs between January and September (depending on the locality). The eggs vary from all white to white with cinnamon or brown spots and blotches. They start incubation immediately after the first egg is laid, and after 40 to 45 days the young hatch. They are covered in fluffy white down and are fed for fifty days before they are able to make their first flight attempts and eat on their own. In most cases only the older chick survives, while the younger one dies without leaving the eyrie. This is due to the older chick having a few days' advantage in growth and consequently winning most squabbles for food. This strategy is useful for the species because it makes the parents' workload manageable even when food is scarce, while providing a reserve chick in case the first-born dies soon after hatching. Golden eagles invest much time and effort in bringing up their young; once able to hunt on their own, most golden eagles survive many years, but mortality even among first-born nestlings is much higher, in particular in the first weeks after hatching.
As with many raptors, golden eagles congregate once a year. In Eurasia and North America, this congregation usually occurs in the Autumn (while congregations of bald eagles is a late-winter / early-spring phenomenon). The largest known congregation, in number of birds present, of the golden eagle is in the state of Montana in October. The congregation site is the east slope of the Bridger Mountains and adjacent Bridger Canyon. The mountain range is on the edge of the Rocky Mountain chain, where it borders parts of the Great Plains and several island ranges. Golden eagles from all over North America congregate here before migrating for the winter.
At one time, the Golden Eagle lived in temperate Europe, North Asia, North America, North Africa and Japan. In most areas this bird is now a mountain-dweller, but in former centuries it also bred in the plains and the forests. In recent years it has started to breed in lowland areas again e.g. in Sweden and Denmark.
There was a great decline in Central Europe where they are now essentially restricted to the Apennine, Alps and Carpathian Mountains. In Britain, the last comprehensive survey of Golden Eagles took place in 2003, and found 442 occupied territories. A less thorough survey in 2007 showed that in addition to large numbers of territories in the Scottish Highlands and the Inner and Outer Hebrides, there were a handful of birds in southern Scotland and northern England. Between 1969 and 2003 they nested in the Lake District, Cumbria.
In Ireland, where it had been extinct due to hunting since 1912, efforts are being made to re-introduce the species. Forty-six birds were released into the wild in Glenveagh National Park, County Donegal, from 2001 to 2006, with at least three known female fatalities since then. It is intended to release a total of sixty birds, to ensure a viable population. In April 2007, a pair of Golden Eagles produced the first chick to be hatched in the Republic of Ireland in nearly a century. The previous attempt to help the birds breed at the Glenveagh National Park had failed.
In North America the situation is not as dramatic, but there has still been a noticeable decline. The main threat is habitat destruction which by the late 19th century already had driven Golden Eagles from some regions they used to inhabit. In the 20th century, organochloride and heavy metal poisonings were also commonplace, but these have declined thanks to tighter regulations on pollution. Within the United States, the Golden Eagle is legally protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.
Available habitat and food are the main limiting factor nowadays. Collisions with power lines have become an increasingly significant cause of mortality since the early 20th century. On a global scale, the Golden Eagle is not considered threatened by the IUCN mainly thanks to the large Asian and American populations.
The Golden Eagle is the national bird of five nations, Albania, Germany and Austria in continuation of the Holy Roman Empire, and Mexico and Kazakhstan, the most of any species. The eagle is very much connected to the Saladin Golden Eagle, currently used as the coat of arms of Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine, it was also previously used by Libya, and Yemen.
The Golden Eagle was model for the aquila, the standard of the Roman legions. It is featured in the national coats of arms of Germany, Albania, Austria, Egypt, Mexico, Romania and many other countries.
from Wikipedia
Refurbished 4CEPs were more often seen working main line services on the main lines of the SR's South Eastern Division in 1981. Here is 411516 in Tankerton cutting on 14th February working the 11.40 Victoria - Ramsgate. The use of 6-figure unit numbers would soon be discontinued on this stock at the insistence of the Maintenance Control Engineer who was concerned that this increased the workload of his control room staff!
This is not my domain. I'd leave this to the Housekeeper. But we had to let her go after that little incident…
Once again, Cook stepped up! She's a treasure. Her volunteering to fill the void wasn't quite as fulsome as one might prefer. One is now wondering what will come of all this! Of course the Housekeeper is was in charge of the housekeeping budget, the indoors staff, laundry, victualling, that sort of thing. What Cook meant by her stepping up was to take an inventory of what was left in the larder when the Housekeeper was let go, and make a shopping list. The way she looked at me as she passed it over, I knew not to argue. Her reasonings are irresistible, and usually framed around whether I would prefer her to do this or that, or was my preference to eat?
I got a don't look at me glance from the Butler. His keys to the wine cellar went missing about the same time as the incident… My Gardener simply showed me the dirt under his nails, his muddy boots and his plans for the Spring sowings. Besides, that girl he had down in the shed as help didn't really work out. Cook had taken one look at her and asked if she'd been interviewed for the position with a tape measure. She wasn't far wrong. But the real reason for her unavailability was something to do with what she had started growing. The gardener wouldn't say any more; just complained about his workload.
We'd had a driver. He's gone now too. I'd never navigated anywhere in my youth. It simply wasn't needed; he knew this county like the back of his hand. Mine was a careless youth. Now that's all changed. It seems I've been left in charge…
Enough musing! Nobody has spoofed my GPS, not yet, so I have found my destination according to Cook's instructions. She said it's not hard: they have trolleys, or trundlers — giggling like a school girl, she said that's what her New Zealand cousin on her mother's side had called them — and signs at the ends of the aisles. I'm feeling terribly disoriented: Asian groceries up there, toiletries, smallgoods, whatever they are, canned fish, how common, snacks, health foods…
I've been stopped in my tracks by a familiar word in an alien context! With the Housekeeper gone, who's taking care of the mail?
Oriental Escorts are the finest adult directory to find the most sensuous lady for some hours to get relax and free from all kinds of stress and workloads. Contact us now! www.gorgeouslilytantricmassage.net/
The Soyuz TMA-03M capsule with astronauts Don Pettit, Oleg Kononenko and ESA astronaut André Kuipers touchdown on Sunday 1 July 2012 at 08:14 GMT.
They landed in the steppes of Kazakhstan after 193 days in space. During André's six-month PromISSe mission on the International Space Station, he conducted many scientific experiments in the world’s only permanent microgravity laboratory.
In addition to his scientific workload, André carried out maintenance and operational tasks. Highlights included receiving ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle Edoardo Amaldi cargo ferry and docking the first commercial spacecraft, Dragon.
For further information, please visit: www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZAO1VW3H_index_0.html
Credits: ESA–S. Corvaja, 2012
The Di and Db classes did the workload across the light line on the section between Apata and Paeroa (South), I understand that this loco headed the last NZR train heading westwards on Sept 12 1978
Decided to redo my collage for my face up thread on DoA.
Sculpts are as follows:
Top Row:
Resinsoul Ai, Fairyland MNF Mirwen, Doll Chateau Jakov, Luts Delf JuHee, Doll Chateau Snow Nymph.
Bottom Row:
Fairyland RLF Haru, Iplehouse SID Lee, Fairyland RLF Mari, Luts SDF 2016 Summer Event Head, Fairyland MNF Rendia.
Places to find me for commission:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/IzasFaceUps/
Tumblr: izasfaceups.tumblr.com/
Website: www.izasfaceups.com/
I've been a face up artist for over 4 years, and can work on dolls of all sizes and themes! I can do anything from natural to fantastical work. I will do face ups, body blushes, fantasy parts, glued on piercings, and non-permanent scar mods. I will also do some minor mod work such as eye opening/closing, and elf ears and some neck mods!
My turn around rate is roughly 3-4 weeks depending on the size of the job and my workload.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.
Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.
In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.
The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.
The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.
Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.
The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.
After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.
The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.
Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.
However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.
Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.
On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.
45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.
The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.
Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.
Specifications:
Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)
Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)
Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)
Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)
Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs
Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)
Climbing capability: 30°
Fuel capacity: 400 l
Armor:
9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel
Performance:
Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road
Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road
Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t
Engine:
Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output
Transmission:
Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering
Armament:
1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds
1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:
www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...
The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.
Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.
Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.
In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.
Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.
Painting and markings:
This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?
I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.
Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.
The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.
After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.
An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.
copyright © Mim Eisenberg/mimbrava studio. All rights reserved.
These are among the gorgeous flowers that greeted me upon my return from vacation, part of which I happily spent, with Trish and Jude, visiting Jude's sister Lucy (ms.lume). Today is Lucy's birthday, and I hope you'll go visit her lovely photostream and send her best wishes.
Thank you for visiting. I'll do my best to return the favor today, but a ridiculous workload is still calling me away from Flickr again. I hope you don't give up on me.
See my shots on flickriver:
www.flickrriver.com/photos/mimbrava/
Please join us on Super Eco and enter our May photo contest, “Macro May”. The contest ends May 31st.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Latil was a French automaker specializing in heavy duty vehicles, such as trucks, tractors and buses. Beyond the design and production of vehicles for civil use, Latil also built after World War I a number of military vehicles. For instance, in 1911, Latil designed and built its first four-wheel drive vehicle. This type of vehicle interested the French Army in 1913 for its ability to tow heavy artillery on every field and the TAR (Tracteur d'Artillerie Roulante) was built.
Beyond a number of field tractors, Latil also designed and built an armed combat vehicle for the French Army, the armored AMD-37 scout car. The origins of this design can be traced back until December 1931, when the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armored fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte (AMD), a specialized long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed again on 18 November 1932 and finally approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometers (250 mi), a road speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 meters (39 ft), 5–8 mm armor, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.
In 1933, several competing companies responded (including Latil, Renault, Panhard and Berliet) with their proposals. Being rooted in rather heavy machinery, Latil proposed two designs: one was a 4x4 vehicle which would meet the required specification profile, but it was eventually rejected due to poor off-road performance in favor of the Panhard design, which would become the highly successful Panhard 178.
The other proposal fell outside of the specification limits. It was a bigger and much heavier 8x8 design, certainly influenced by the German SdKfz. 232 heavy scout car family. However, despite falling outside of the requirements, the Commission de Vincennes was impressed enough to order a prototype of this vehicle.
The Latil prototype had basically a conservative layout and was ready in October 1933. It was presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1934 (AMD-34). The AMD-34 was, despite its 8x8 chassis and tank-like silhouette, based on modified Latil truck elements. Onto the ladder frame chassis, a hull made of screwed cast armor elements with a maximum thickness of 25 mm was mounted. The leaf spring suspension as well as the all-wheel drive were based on components of Latil’s heavy duty trucks. The eight large and steerable wheels were spaced apart as far as possible, with almost no overhang at the front and at the rear for a very good off-road performance and climbing capability. The crew consisted of three men: a driver and a radio operator, who both sat in the front of the hull, plus the commander, who, beyond directing the vehicle, also had to operate the weapons. The radio operator also had to support the commander as loader in the event of combat.
Power came from a water-cooled V8 petrol engine, an uprated version of Latil’s own V3 truck engine from 1933, with an output of 180 hp (132 kW). The engine was in the rear of the hull, separated from the fighting compartment at the front by a firewall bulkhead, and flanked side-by-side with two self-sealing fuel tanks with the large capacity of 80 and 320 liters capacity (the smaller tank fueled the engine and was constantly replenished from the bigger tank). A novel feature was an automatic fire extinguishing system, which used several tanks placed at critical spots of the vehicle, containing methyl bromide. The vehicle’s armament was mounted in a standardized, cast APX-R turret (which was also used on several light tanks like the Renault R-35) and consisted of a short-barreled Puteaux 37mm/L21 SA 18 gun as well as a coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun. 42 armor-piercing and 58 high explosive rounds were typically carried, plus 2.500 rounds for the machine gun.
The hexagonal turret had a 30 mm thick, domed rotatable cupola with vertical vision slits. It had to be either hand cranked or moved about by the weight of the commander. The rear of the turret had a hatch that hinged down which could be used as a seat to improve observation. Driver and radio operator (who had an ER 54 radio set available) had no hatches on their own. They entered the vehicle through a relatively large door on the vehicle’s left side.
After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 and comparison with the lighter 4 ton types, the AMR-34 was, despite its weight of almost 10 tons, accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. In the autumn, the improved prototype was tested by the Cavalry and in late 1934 the type was accepted under the name Latil Automitrailleuse de Découverte, Modèle 1935, better known under its handle “AMD-35”. Production started on a small scale in 1935 and by the end of the year the first AMD-35’s reached the Cavalry units. After complaints about reliability, such as cracking gun sights, and overheating, between 29 June and 2 December 1936 a new test program took place, resulting in many more detail modifications, including the fitting of a silencer, a ventilator on the turret and in the main cabin and a small, round hatch for the driver which allowed a better field of view when the crew did not have to work under armor cover.
The main weapon was also changed into a SA 38 37mm cannon with a longer (L33) barrel, since the original Puteaux cannon had only a very poor armor penetration of 12 mm at 500 meters. In this form, the vehicle was re-designated AMD-37. Several older vehicles were updated with this weapon, too, or they received a 25mm (0.98 in) SA35 L47.2 or L52 autocannon.
Overall, the AMD-37 proved to be an effective design. The eight-wheel armored car with all-wheel-drive and all-wheel-steering had a very good performance on- and off-road, even though with certain limits due to the vehicle’s weight and resulting ground pressure. The cabin was relatively spacious and comfortable, so that long range missions of 500 km (319 ml) and more could be endured well by the crews.
However, several inherent flaws persisted. One problem (which the AMD-37 shared with almost every French combat vehicle from the pre-WWII era) was that the commander was overburdened with tasks, especially under stressful combat conditions. The French Cavalry did not see this as a major flaw: A commander was supposed to acquire such a degree of dexterity that his workload did not negate the lack of need to coordinate the actions of two or even three men in a larger turret crew or the advantage of a quicker reaction because of a superior rotation speed. At first, a two-man-turret was required, but when it transpired that this would reduce the armor protection, it was abandoned in favor of thicker steel casts. However, the AMD-37’s armor level was generally relatively low, and hull’s seams offered attackers who knew where to aim several weak points that allowed even light hand weapons to penetrate the armor. Another tactical flaw associated with the turret was the hatchless cupola, forcing the commander to fight buttoned-up or leave the vehicle’s armor protection for a better field of view.
Operationally, though, the AMD-37 suffered from poor mechanical reliability: the suspension units were complicated and, since they were based on existing civil truck elements, too weak for heavy off-road operations under military conditions. The AMD-37’s weight of almost 10 tons (the comparable German SdKfz 231 was bigger but weighed only 8.3 tons) did not help, either. In consequence, the AMD-37 demanded enormous maintenance efforts, especially since the cast armor modules did not allow an easy access to the suspension and engine.
On 10 May 1940, on the eve of the German invasion in mainland France, the AMD-37 was part of 14 Divisions Légères Mécaniques (Mechanized Light Divisions; "light" meaning here "mobile", they were not light in the sense of being lightly equipped) battalions, each fielding dedicated reconnaissance groups with four to ten vehicles, which also comprised light Panhard 178 scout cars.
45 French AMD-37s were in Syria, a mandate territory, and 30 more were based in Morocco. The tanks in Syria would fight during the allied invasion of that mandate territory in 1941 and then partly be taken over by the Free French 1e CCC, those in North Africa during Operation Torch in November 1942.
The majority of AMD-37s in Western Europe fell into German hands, though: 78 were used as “Panzerkampfwagen 37R(f)” and mainly used in second line units for policy and security duties or for driver training. A small number of these German vehicles were sent to Finland, fighting on the Eastern Front, where they were outclassed by Soviet KV-1s and T-34s and quickly destroyed or abandoned.
Plans to augment the AMD-35’s armament with a bigger turret and a more powerful 47mm SA 35 gun (basically the same turret fitted to the SOMUA S-35 medium tank and the heavy Char B1bis) or an additional machine in the front bow for the radio operator were, due to the German invasion, never carried out.
Specifications:
Crew: Three (commander, radio operator/loader, driver)
Weight: 9,600 kg (21,145 lb)
Length: 5.29 m (17 ft 4 in)
Width: 2.52 m (8 ft 3 in)
Height: 2.44 metres (8 ft ½ in)
Suspension: Wheeled (Tires: 270–20, bulletproof), with leaf springs
Wading depth: 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in)
Trench crossing capability: 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Ground clearance: 350 mm (13 3/4 in)
Climbing capability: 30°
Fuel capacity: 400 l
Armor:
9-30 mm (.35-1.18 in) cast steel
Performance:
Maximum speed: 75 km/h (47 mph) on road, 55 km/h (34 mph) off-road
Operational range: 600 km (375 mi) on road
Power/weight: 18,7 PS/t
Engine:
Water-cooled Latil V8 gasoline engine with 7.336 cm³ displacement and 180 hp (132 kW) output
Transmission:
Latil gearbox with 4 forward and 1 reverse gears, eight-wheel drive and steering
Armament:
1× Puteaux 37mm/L33 SA 18 gun with 100 rounds
1× coaxial 7.5 mm MAC31 Reibel machine gun with 2.500 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
This build was inspired by a drawing that I came across at DeviantArt a while ago, created by someone called MedJoe:
www.deviantart.com/medjoe/art/Autoblinde-SOMUA-S35bis-679...
The picture showed a Somua S-35 tank, set on eight wheels that heavily resembled those of the SdKfz. 234/2 “Puma”, in French colors and markings and designated S-35bis. I found the idea weird (since a full-fledged S-35 would certainly have at 20 tons been too heavy for a wheeled chassis), but the overall look of this combo was very convincing to me. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, until I came across a cheap Heller Somua S-35 in 1:72 scale and decided to take the concept to the (model) hardware stage and offer a personal interpretation.
Work started when I was able to acquire a sprue from a Plastic Soldier SdKfz. 231 kit, which provided a total of nine wheels in a suitable size and style, as well as suspension elements.
Building the hull was a straightforward affair: The Heller S-35 was built OOB, just the parts for the tracked suspension were left away. Some details and attachment points in the lower hull sections had to be removed, too. From the SdKfz. 232 I took the leaf spring suspension parts (these came as two frames for four wheels each, rather crude and solid parts) and cut the outer leaf spring packs off, so that their depth was reduced but the attachment points for the wheels were still there. These were simply glued into the space for the former tracks, similar to the drawing. This resulted in a slightly wide track, but narrowing the lower hull for a better look would have been a complicated affair, so I stuck with the simple solution. It does not look bad, though.
In order to make the vehicle’s role as a scout car more plausible and to avoid a head-heavy look, I decided to replace the original S-35 turret with a smaller APX turret from a Renault R-35. I found a suitable resin donor at ModelTrans, which was easily integrated to the S-35 hull. I perfectly fits into the S-35’s rounded cast armor style, which is so typical for many early French WWII tanks. Unfortunately, the resin R-35 turret had an air bubble at the rear, which had to be filled with putty. In order to differentiate the turret a little and modernize it, I added a longer gun barrel – in this case a piece from a hollow steel needle.
Other small mods include a pair of scratched rear-view mirrors for the driver, the spare wheel at the front (certainly not the best position, but the only place that was available and practical, and other armored vehicles of the time like the British Humber scout car also carried a spare wheel at the front) and an antenna at the rear, made from heated black sprue material.
Painting and markings:
This was not easy and it took a while to settle on a design. There were rather gaudy camouflage designs in the French army, but due to the model’s small scale I did not want a too complex design. I eventually decided to apply a rather simple scheme, inspired by the painting suggestions from the Heller kit: a disruptive two-tone scheme in a pale beige tone and a rather bluish dark green, which was confirmed through museum tanks. An odd quirk of the Heller kit is that the instructions and the box art show the same camouflage, but in inverted colors!?
I stuck to Heller’s suggestions and decided to follow the box art camouflage, which uses dark green (Humbrol 30) as basic color with light sand blotches (Humbrol 103) on top, which I found more appropriate for the middle European theatre of operations. I assume that these two tones were in real life separated by very narrow black or dark brown lines for more contrast – but I did not try this stunt on the small 1:72 scale model, it would IMHO have looked rather awkward. And there are French vehicles of the era that show these colors without any additional lines, too.
Markings/decals were mostly puzzled together from the scrap box, since the Heller decals turned out to be rather stiff and lack any adhesion to the model. I only used the “license plates”, which were fixed to the model with acrylic varnish, the rest are spares.
The kit received an overall washing with dark brown and a careful dry-brushing treatment with light grey.
After the final coat of matt varnish had been applied and all parts assembled, I dusted the lower areas with a dull grey-brown mix of artist pigments, simulating dust.
An experimental build, since drawing a whif is easier than actually building it, where parts have to fit somehow and you cannot change the size of them. Even though the resulting 8x8 scout car looks a little weird with its minimal overhang at the front and the rear, I like the result a lot – it looks very plausible to me. I also think that the smaller turret underlines the vehicle’s role as a rather lightly armed reconnaissance vehicle. It lowers the size and the silhouette, and subdues the S-35 origin – but without neglecting the typical French cast armor look. Certainly not a 1:1 copy of the inspiring drawing, but true to the original idea.
www.freemoviescinema.com/science-fiction/video/latest/con... Full Feature
See more photos in set.
Starring Walter Brooke, Eric Fleming, Mickey Shaughnessy, Phil Foster, William Redfield, William Hopper, Benson Fong, Ross Martin, Vito Scotti. Directed by Byron Haskin. Producer George Pal gave us the sci-fi landmark Destination Moon in 1950. He then gave us the timeless classic War of the Worlds in '53. This, his third epic, was a grand effort, but fell shy of his earlier triumphs. On paper, it should have been another mega-classic. The team members from the earlier hits were reassembled. Pal as producer, Haskin directing, Lydon on screenplay, O'Hanlon writing. Conquest was also based on a popular book. Yet, despite all this pedigree, something fell short. Conquest would not go on to be remembered as one of the 50s mega-classics. Some of this obscurity may be due to Conquest being in the "serious" science fiction sub-genre, like Destination Moon and Riders to the Stars which tried to depict a plausible space-traveling future. Audiences were becoming much more entranced with saucers and weird aliens.
In some ways,Conquest is a remake of the basic story line from Destination Moon -- a crew are the first to land on a celestial body. They struggle to survive and yet courageously return. This time, instead of the moon, it's Mars. As a remake goes, however, it's worthy. The Technicolor is rich and the sets well done. This is an A-level production which at its release was the 2001: A Space Odyssey of its day. All the melodrama, however, starts to get in the way of the techno-gee-whiz.
Synopsis
Based aboard a rotating wheel space station, workmen prepare a big flying wing of a rocket ship. A group of potential crewmen train for what they think will be a moon landing mission. As the work nears completion, they find out that the real mission will be a landing on Mars instead. While aboard "The Wheel", we're introduced to the phenomenon of "space sickness" -- a mental breakdown due to workload and confinement for long periods. One of the crew candidates is scrubbed because of one such breakdown. Nonetheless, the multinational crew are chosen and embark for the long journey to Mars. After departure, it's found that General Merritt's old friend, Sergeant Mahoney, stowed away. On the way to Mars, a communications antenna is damaged and must be fixed via spacewalking crewmen. Just as the repairs are completed, the customary meteor arrives, threatening to hit the ship. General Merritt manages to fly the ship out of the way, but one of the crewmen on EVA is hit with micrometeoroids (like bullets) and killed. The General is also starting to show odd behavior, doubting whether their mission is proper or is an affront to God. Their evasive action puts them behind schedule, but they arrive at Mars. While attempting to land on Mars, the General has another bout of delusion and tries to abort the landing. His son, Captain Merritt, manages to take control and brings in the flying-wing lander to a rough but successful landing. The others go out to explore, but the General, now fully delusional, is venting rocket fuel in an attempt to blow up the ship. His son discovers this and the two struggle. The General's pistol discharges, killing him. Mahoney comes on the scene just then and accuses Captain Merritt of murdering the General. The rest explore a bit more, but pronounce Mars a dead planet. Despite this, Imoto discovers that his earth flower seed sprouted in martian soil. Earthquakes cause the escape rocket to shift off of perpendicular. They get it righted and blast off. On the way home, Mahoney and Captain Merritt make up and declare that the dead General was a hero, the man who conquered space. The End.
The color, the sets, models and background paintings are very visually rich. The whole image is a great snapshot of the future as people in the mid-50s imagined it would be. More tidbits in the Notes section below.
There is actually a subtle anti-war tone to the movie. No overt talk of nuclear dangers or menacing enemies. It is notable, however, that among the conspicuously international crew candidates, there is no Russian. Americans would "conquer" space with a few other nationals along for the ride, but NO Russians. There is also a poorly explained urgency to the mission. What's the hurry? Back in the Cold War, it was pretty common that WE had to get something before THEY did.
In 1949, Willy Ley wrote the book "The Conquest of Space," which speculated about how mankind might travel to other planets. This book was illustrated by space artist Chesley Bonestell. This book would become the inspiration for the movie.
From 1952 to 1954, Collier's magazine ran a series of stories about mankind conquering space. These were repeats by Ley and Bonestell of their 1949 book, but this time Collier's added material from "rocket scientist" Werner von Braun. Bonestell's new illustrations were clearly the prototype for the look of Conquest. People felt that mankind was on the verge of taking to the stars. The Collier's series expressed that giddy optimism.
The screenplay for Conquest added weak human interest sub-plots which almost negate the gee-whiz optimism that the visuals convey. The screenwriters were all experienced in their craft, so it's puzzling why such amateurish characterizations are so prominent. The comic relief moments are almost cartoonish. The whole leader-gone-mad sub-plot seems out of place.
A possible "message" to Conquest is that man is a fragile creature who may not be ready for the rigors of space travel. Certainly, people wondered about this, and other movies touched on the theme too, such as Riders to the Stars ('54). Our not being mentally ready yet was cited by the aliens in It Came From Outer Space ('53). General Merritt's dementia was foreshadowed in the breakdown of Roy early in the movie.
One thing that strikes the viewer is how much life aboard the space station is presumed to duplicate life aboard a navy ship. It's not overtly stated that the military should (or will) be the agency which "conquers" space, but from the ranks and uniforms and the navy-life scenes, that message comes through. Space ships will be like earthly ships.
On the surface, it seems like Conquest is blasting Christians as dangerous religious fanatics. This notion, that anyone who believes in God simply MUST be wacko, would be much more popular in later decades, but it was uncommon in the 50s. For that reason, the General's dementia deserves a closer look.
Actually, General Merritt was not the stereotypic religious fanatic. His son comments that he had never seen him carrying around and reading the Bible before. Instead of headaches or paralysis, the General's "space sickness" took a paranoid turn. He had rational misgivings about the Mars mission from the start, pre-dementia. His repressed misgivings are expressed in Bible verses dealing with sinners being punished by God. He once quotes from Psalm 38, then later from Psalm 62.
Throughout all this, God is not mocked. Indeed, only the "religious" man had the courage to go outside and give the dead Fodor a proper burial. The other non-relgious crewmen were at a loss for what to do.
The notion of impudent mankind trying to meddle in God's domain, is treated as a credible issue. In this, the pattern of the Tower of Babel is drawn. Prideful mankind thinks they can build their way into God's realm. God foils that plan. General Merritt's dementia seems motivated by a fear that this divine retribution could be coming again.
The writers of Conquest imagine a multinationalism in space. Most notable are two former enemy nations: Imoto is from Japan and Fodor is a German-accented Austrian, (as a stand-in for Germany). Imoto gets to make a little speech about why Japan went to war (lack of resources). Fodor gets to be seen as the cherished son of a classic "mama". By 1955, it was starting to become okay to look beyond World War 2.
At one point, the crew of The Wheel are watching a movie with many scantily clad dancing girls (much like sailors aboard a ship). The movie is a lavish musical number with many gold bikini clad pseudo-harem girls dancing while Rosemary Clooney sings about love "...in the desert sand." This clip is total non-sequetor to the high-tech space environment. What's interesting, is that it's NOT stock footage recycled. Clooney had not done any such movie. This dance number must have been staged and shot just for this scene in Conquest. Random act of musical. Gotta love 'em.
Bottom line? Conquest is an almost-epic. It's definitely an A-grade sci-fi movie, so it's well worth watching. The human story part gets in the way sometimes, but the visuals more than make up for it.
copyright © Mim Eisenberg/mimbrava studio. All rights reserved.
This rosebush is on its last legs, alas, but it put out two glorious, big blooms. Most hybrid tea roses don't do well in my southern garden, so I'm thinking about replacing the bush with another knock-out rose, which requires virtually no care. But I'd sure miss my 'double delight' roses.
I'm glad to have Picasa for the Mac so I can create mosaics easily again.
Thank you for visiting. I'll do my best to return the favor today, but my ridiculous workload, though I'm making headway is still calling me away from Flickr. This will be the case for at least another month or so. I think that's good.
See my shots on flickriver:
www.flickrriver.com/photos/mimbrava/
Please join us on Super Eco and enter our May photo contest, “Macro May”. The contest ends today.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background (including material from fellow modeler Devilfish at whatifmodelers.com):
The SEPECAT Cheetah was a more sophisticated variable geometry wing derivative of the Anglo-French Jaguar attack aircraft, similar to the Su-7 and later Su-17/2022 evolution.
The Jaguar programme began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement for an advanced supersonic jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat T1 and Hawker Hunter T7, and a French requirement (ECAT or École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique, "Tactical Combat Support Trainer") for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the Fouga Magister, Lockheed T-33 and Dassault Mystère IV.
Cross-channel negotiations led to the formation of SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l'Avion d'École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique – the "European company for the production of a combat trainer and tactical support aircraft") in 1966 as a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation to produce the airframe.
Though based in part on the Breguet Br.121, using the same basic configuration and an innovative French-designed landing gear, the Jaguar as built also incorporated major elements designed by BAC – notably the wing and high lift devices. Production of the aircraft components would be split between Breguet and BAC and these would be assembled on two production lines; one in the UK and one in France.
The first of eight prototypes flew on 8 September 1968, a two-seat design fitted with the first production model Adour engine. The second prototype flew in February 1969; a total of three prototypes appeared in flight at the Paris Air Show that year. The first French "A" prototype flew in March 1969. In October a British "S" conducted its first flight.
A navalized "M" prototype flew in November 1969. The "M" had a strengthened airframe, an arrester hook and different undercarriage: twin nose wheel and single mainwheels. After testing in France it went to RAE at Thurleigh for carrier landing trials from their land based catapult. In July 1970 it made real take offs and landings from the French carrier Clemenceau.
The RAF accepted delivery of the first of 165 single-seat Jaguar GR1s (the service designation of the Jaguar S) in 1974, and it remained in service until 2007. Anyway, the Jaguar's all-weather capacity was limited and the airframe still offered development potential, so that from 1976 on the Anglo-French SEPECAT consortium looked at improved versions with radar, more powerful engines and improved avionics and aerodynamics.
This led in late 1975 to the Cheetah project, which incorporated a variable geometry wing that could be mounted to the Jaguar's airframe without major structural modifications.
The Cheetah was designed as a multirole, twin-engined aircraft designed to excel at low-level penetration of enemy defences, but also for battlefield reconnaissance and maritime patrol duties, and both naval and land-based versions were developed.
The Cheetah’s primary mission envisaged during the Cold War was the delivery of conventional and nuclear ordnance on the invading forces of the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe. Advanced navigation and flight computers, including the then-innovative fly-by-wire system, greatly reduced the workload of the pilot during low-level flight and eased control of the aircraft.
Compared with the Jaguar, the Cheetah’s nose section was widened to carry an Ericsson PS 37 X-band mono pulse radar, which used a mechanically steered parabolic dish housed in a radome. This radar performed several functions, including air-to-ground telemetry, search, track, terrain-avoidance and cartography. Air-to-air telemetry was also provided. This capability was not the system’s functional focus, but allowed the Cheetah to engage in all weather air-to-air combat and to act as a point defense interceptor with short range AAMs (e. g. up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder).
Honeywell provided an automatic digital flight control system for the Cheetah, one of the first such systems in a production aircraft. To assist low altitude flight and navigation, a Honeywell radar altimeter with transmitter and receiver was used, and the aircraft was also fitted with a Decca Type 72 Doppler navigation radar. TILS (Tactical Instrument Landing System), a landing-aid system made by Cutler-Hammer AIL, improved landing accuracy to 30 m.
From this basis, the Cheetah’s airframe was adapted to a naval version first, which featured a more rigid structure, a beefed-up landing gear for carrier operations and other suitable modifications. This evolved into the Cheetah FRS.1 for the Royal Navy. The FRS.1 was a separate development from the Jaguar, and catered to a very different specification. By the late 60's the Royal navy knew that their big carriers were due for scrapping and that plans for the proposed CVA 01 carrier were already being shelved. In a desperate attempt to hold on to naval air power, the Admiralty put forward a plan to buy two ex-US Navy Kittyhawk class supercarriers and refit them with British equipment (mostly salvaged from the outgoing carriers, Ark Royal and Eagle).
Because of the cancellation of TSR.2, the treasury, in a strange turn of events, agreed that air power at sea was definitively needed. They approved the acquisition of at first one, then later a second US carrier. To supplement them, two Centaur class carriers were to be retrofitted to act as tactical carriers to aid in smaller conflicts.
As these were not big enough to carry and deploy the larger American types being used on the supercarriers, a smaller multi-purpose aircraft was needed. With the Cheetah, BAC offered a version of the Jaguar, fitted with the variable geometry wing, then being designed for the MRCA, to aid with slower and shorter take offs and landings. Renamed the Cheetah, the FRS.1 entered service aboard the HMS Hermes in 1978, seeing service during the Falklands conflict in 1982.
The land-based Cheetah differed in many details from the naval version, though, the first prototype flew in early 1977 and the RAF’s GR.2 was primarily designed for the RAF Germany forces, since the continental theatre of operations was regarded as the most critical NATO flank of that time. The RAF Cheetahs were supposed to carry out conventional and nuclear point strikes against targets in the GDR, Poland and Czechoslovakia, and defend coastal lines against fast invasion fleets, esp. in the Baltic Sea.
The biggest visible difference to the FRS.1 was a different variable wing geometry mechanism and a modified wing shape with a dog tooth close to the pivot section and an extended leading edge fairing at the wing roots. The GR.2’s VG mechanism was more compact than the Tornado structure originally used in the FRS.1, but also simpler in order to save as much weight as possible.
The GR.2’s wings could be swept backwards between 16° and 72°, and the horizontal stabilizers were adapted in shape to form a quasi delta wing when the wings were fully swept back, allowing for minimal drag during the critical low-level dash towards a well-prepared enemy. The sweep angle could be altered manually by the pilot, but also automatically. The different VG wings basically improved low altitude aerodynamics and handling of the Cheetah, as well as its STOL capabilities. With its rugged undercarriage, lent from the Jaguar, the Cheetah GR.2 was, more than the bigger and heavier Tornado, suited for tactical front line service from improvised airstrips, together with the RAF’s Harrier fleet.
The Cheetah FRS.1 and the GR.2 carried the Jaguar’s pair of 30mm cannon, but due to the different wing structures the hardpoints for external ordnance differed. The Cheetah was typically equipped with a total of seven hardpoints: three underneath the fuselage, and more under the wings. The FRS.1 had four wing pylons which could, thanks to the Tornado ancestry, be swept together with the wings.
The GR.2’s capacity was more limited, as it carried two large tandem pylons under each wing root, each also carrying a launch rail for defensive AAMs, and a further pair of optional wing-mounted, fixed hardpoints. This facility was rarely used, though, and they were basically reserved for drop tanks for ferry flights, but could also take weapon racks. External ordnance capacity was similar to the original Jaguar, with 10,000 lb (4,500 kg).
The first Cheetah GR.2 entered RAF service in 1980, and replaced basically the RAF Buccaneers as well as an early part of the Jaguar GR.1 fleet (the Jaguars kept in service were later modernized to GR.3 standard).
The RAF Cheetahs served together with the Jaguar Force until 2007, when both types were retired. Following their retirement from flying service, some Cheetahs continue to serve as ground instructional airframes, most notably at RAF Cosford, used in the training of RAF fitters.
General characteristics:
Crew: One
Length: 16.83 m (55 ft 2½ in)
Wingspan: 13.97 m (45 ft 10 in) spread 16°, XXX swept 72°
Height: 4.89 m (16 ft 0½ in)
Wing area: 37.35 m² spread, 34.16 m² swept (402.05 ft² / 367.71 ft²)
Empty weight: 7,848 kg (17,286 lb)
Loaded weight: 12,200 kg (26,872 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 15,700 kg (34,612 lb)
Powerplant:
2 × Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca Adour Mk 105 turbofans
with 24.50 kN (5,508 lbf) dry thrust each and 35.5 kN (7,979 lbf) with afterburner
Performance:
Maximum speed: Mach 1.8 (1,870 km/h, 1,161 mph) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Mach 1.1 (1,350 km/h, 839 mph) at sea level
Combat radius: 908 km (490 nmi, 564 mi) (lo-lo-lo, external fuel)
Ferry range: 3,524 km (1,902 nmi, 2,190 mi)
Service ceiling: 14,000 m (45,900 ft)
Rate of climb: 200 m/s (39,400 ft/min)
Climb to 9,145 m (30,000 ft): 1 min 30 sec
Armament:
2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons in the lower front fuselage, 150 RPG
7 hardpoints; 1× center-line pylon stations Fore & Aft plus a pair of pylons in front of the main landing gear wells; twin inner pylon (Fore & Aft) plus launch rails for AAMs, and single Outer Pylon pair under the wings, non-moveable. Total capacity of 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) for a wide range of guided and unguided ordnance, including:
- Matra rocket pods with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets each (up to seven at once)
- AS.37 Martel anti-radar missiles
- AS-30L laser guided air-to-ground missiles
- Various unguided or laser-guided bombs of up to 2.000 lb (907 kg) caliber
- 2× WE177A nuclear bombs
- 1× AN-52 nuclear bomb
- ECM protection pods
- Reconnaissance pods
- ATLIS laser/electro-optical targeting pod
- External drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
The kit and its assembly:
The final contribution to the “Cold War” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and another realization of a plan from the long agenda – and triggered by a similar build at the board from fellow modeler Devilfish who built a naval VG Jaguar with Tornado wings in 1:48. I took the opportunity and inspiration to build my interpretation of that theme, lending the Cheetah designation from Devilfish’s build, though, and some of the naval version’s background.
Anyway, my conversion plan had been different. I wanted to create an RAF aircraft, true to the Jaguar’s strike/recce role, and the VG mechanism and wings would come from a MiG-23 – inspired by a similar transplant with a Mirage F.1C I saw many moons ago (and a beautiful result, I want to try that stunt, too!).
I also had the donation kits stashed away: a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar A (actually, I had already piled up four kits for this task…) and an Academy MiG-23S.
Wing transplantation went straightforward and with surprisingly little difficulties. The MiG’s wings were cut out together with the spinal section and the lower wing gloves, so that the VG geometry remained unchanged. On the other side, this package went into a shallow gap that I carved out from the Jag’s ventral section. Some putty and body sculpting merged the parts, easier than expected.
The rest saw only minor modifications. A radome was implanted (from an Italeri F-18 Hornet), which needed some body sculpting around the nose and the MiG-23’s stabilizers were used, too, in order to form a clean wing shape. I tailored their trailing edges a bit, so that the shape would not remind too much of the MiG heritage.
An RAF style radar warning receiver, scratched from 1.5mm styrene, was installed into the French version’ fin. Under the wing roots a pair of pylons from a Matchbox F-14 were added, together with Sidewinder launch rails from a Tornado ADV (Italeri). The jet exhausts were drilled open for more depth, and some sensors/pitots added to the nose, made from wire. Cockpit and landing gear were taken OOB, even though I used a different ejection seat and faired the original dashboard over with a piece of styrene.
The BL 755 bombs and their twin racks come OOB from the Heller kit, the Sidewinders from an ESCI kit, IIRC.
Painting and markings:
The RAF was settled as an operator, but for a whiffy twist I applied the all-green scheme that the RAF’s Harrier GR.5 carried in the late Eighties – exclusively, AFAIK. While the all NATO Green upper side appears a bit dull, the Lichen Green underside and the very low waterline look rather psychedelic and unique. Anyway, it works well on the Cheetah, and I can imagine that other RAF aircraft would also look cool in this simple scheme?
The basic colors I used are Humbrol 105 (Army Green) and 120 (Light Green, FS 34227), both are pretty approximates. The basic paintwork was later panel-shaded with lighter mixes of these two tones – actually brightened up with RAF Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78). In fact, the Heller Jaguar is almost totally devoid of any surface detail... A light black ink wash was also used to emphasize edges and deepen the contrast. The wings’ leading edges were painted in a very dark green (Humbrol 91) and the cockpit interior was painted in dark grey (FS 36076 from Model Master). The landing gear struts were painted light grey, while the wells and covers became Zinc Chromate Yellow.
The decals are a mix of the OOB Heller sheet and aftermarket sheets for RAF Jaguars, an Italeri Tornado and a Harrier GR.5. A coat of matt acrylic varnish finally sealed everything and the ordnance was mounted.
An interesting conversion, and the result looks very plausible! I am certain that this thing would make people seriously wonder and think when displayed on a convention. The VG Jag looks very natural – but not much sexier than the original? Anyway, the transplantation does not look out of place, because the Jaguar’s layout is very similar to the Panavia Tornado, so that the VG wing does not appear like the total fake it actually is. ^^
Year of the Rat
China Zodiac Animal - Rat
Rat is the first in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac. The Years of the Rat include 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032...
Though people consider the rat not adorable, and it even makes its way into derogatory languages, it ranks first on the Chinese zodiac signs. It has characteristics of an animal with spirit, wit, alertness, delicacy, flexibility and vitality.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Zi
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Shui (Water)
Yin Yang: Yang
Lucky Signs for People Born in Rat Year:
Lucky Numbers: 2, 3
Lucky Colors: gold, blue, green
Lucky Flowers: lily, African violet, lily of the valley
Lucky Directions: southeast, northeast
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 5, 9Unlucky Colors: yellow, brownUnlucky Direction: west
Personality of the Rat
People born in the Year of the Rat are instinctive, acute and alert in nature which makes them to be brilliant businessmen. They can always react properly before the worst circumstances take place. They are also sophisticated and popular in social interaction. They are sanguine and very adaptable, being popular with others.
Strengths
Adaptable, smart, cautious, acute, alert, positive, flexible, outgoing, cheerful
Weaknesses
Timid, unstable, stubborn, picky, lack of persistence, querulous
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Rat
Best Matches: Ox, Dragon, Monkey
They can get along with Ox, Dragon and Monkey partners, and their relationship will be well maintained as fresh as before. There is no big rise and fall in their life time, but will never be a lack of romance and passion.
Bad Matches: Horse, Rooster
If they get together, there will be endless quarrels. They are all sharp in words, and seldom make compromises. Picky in each other’s faults, they cannot be tolerant, which leads to their final divergence.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: If you're looking for a job, then you need to take education or learn new skill. Your savior will appear to guide you the job opportunity. If you encounter trouble in the career, then people around will be happy to help you. If you look for a promotion opportunity, then you will receive the support from the coworkers.
Job Change: If you want to apply a job in a different company, then you will have good chance to have it. If you accept the job, then new position will make you busy for a while. But you will be happy to take that job.
Wealth: You have opportunity to increase your wealth. House can protect our living. For you, the house is connected to Monkey. Therefore, housing investment in the real estate market is a good choice.
Love: Rat and Monkey have attraction relationship. This is a good time for love relationship. You can ask your mentors, parents or older friends to help you to find potential match. For men, sometimes you can try the relationship with the person older than you.
Social Circle: Your people relationship is pretty good. You can do more social activities. That will help your money luck and career development.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you will receive good support. Hopefully, you can win the reputation.
Health: Monkey will keep you busy. Therefore, you need to rest yourself regularly to avoid overwork and exhaustion. Pay attention on your kidneys, abdominal pain, and the urinary system.
General Fortune: It's a sign of God's blessings. You will often have a carefree and joyous mood with pleasing appearance.
Year of the Ox
China Zodiac Animal - Ox
Ox is the second in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. Years of the Ox include 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033...
Oxen used to be capable farming tools in agricultural society, which attach to the symbol of diligence, persistence and honesty. People born in the Year of Ox are probably tardy in action, but industrious and cautious. Most of them are conservative and hold their faith firmly.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Chou
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Tu (Earth)
Yin Yang: Yin
Lucky Signs for People Born in Ox Year:
Lucky Numbers: 1, 9
Lucky Colors: red, blue, purple
Lucky Flowers: tulip, evergreen, peach blossom
Lucky Directions: southeast, south and north
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 3, 4Unlucky Colors: white, greenUnlucky Direction: northwest
Personality of the Ox
Ranking second in Chinese zodiacal signs, the Ox is huge. People often use it to indicate something big in size or number. People born in the Year of Ox bear persistent, simple, honest, and straightforward characteristics. They are talent leaders with strong faith, and strong devotion to work. They are contemplative before taking actions, not easily affected by the surroundings but just follow their concept and ability. Being conservative with a lack of wit in speaking, they usually look silent and sometimes stubborn in their old ways.
Strengths
honest, industrious, patient, cautious, level-headed, strong-willed, persistent
Weaknesses
obstinate, inarticulate, prudish, distant
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Ox
Best Matches: Rat, Snake, Rooster
They are quite compatible, deeply attracted by each other. They are both responsible, willing to share the family duty. Besides, loyalty and faith are the key factors to their happy marriage.
Bad Matches: Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Sheep
They will stick on their own opinions and ideas, and they both can hardly give in. They don’t get used to forgiveness, and squabbles lead to their relationship reaction.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: It's time to put worries and concerns aside to accept the career challenge. People needs your knowledge and help to build their business opportunities. They provide a good working environment to for you to show your talent.
Job Change: If you want to apply a job in a different company, then that's a good idea to make the change. Your new position should give you better career development.
Wealth: The money opportunity is there. This is because you are building your reputation. But money won't come in to your door directly. You need to earn money using your brain and labor.
Love: Cow needs heat to warm up the cold heart. Monkey doesn't contain Fire and cannot offer love to Cow directly. But Monkey can help Cow to have more social activities. For better love relationship, Cow must reserve a space of love for its partner to build the relationship.
Social Circle: It's a good time to build your people relationship. To join more social networks and meet people to build friendships will help your career.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you will stand on the advantage position at the beginning. But that doesn't mean you will win in the end. The carelessness can fail you.
Health: Just keep exercising and pleasure mood regularly. That will give you better health. Pay attention on your stomach, intestine and the entire digestive system.
General Fortune: As long as you would stand out to prove your ability, the opportunity can bring you to anywhere, just like wind. If you are too conservative, then your achievement will be limited.
The Tiger ranks the third of the animals Year of the Tiger
China Zodiac Animal - Tiger
Tiger is the third in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Tiger include 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034...
Tigers, considered to be brave, cruel, forceful, stately and terrifying, are the symbol of power and lordliness. In ancient times, people usually compared emperors or grandees with the tiger. Court officials often said that 'accompanying the emperor is just like being at the side of a tiger'. There are also many legends about this animal.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Yin
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Mu (Wood)
Yin Yang: Yang
Lucky Signs for people born in Tiger Year:
Lucky Numbers: 1, 3, 4
Lucky Colors: grey, blue, white, orange
Lucky Flowers: cineraria, anthurium
Lucky Directions: south, east, southeast
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 6, 7, 8Unlucky Colors: gold, silver, brown, blackUnlucky Direction: northwest
Personality of the Tiger
In most cases, people with Chinese zodiac sign 'Tiger' are powerful, independent, confident and brave. They have strong sense of errantry, being frank and easy to win others' trust. In their middle age, their fate may be uneven, but after hardships, they will enjoy a bright prospect. While they are also likely to be dogmatic, and like showing off when accomplishing something.
Strengths
Tolerant, loyal, valiant, courageous, trustworthy, intelligent, virtuous
Weaknesses
Arrogant, short-tempered, hasty, traitorous
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Tiger
Best Matches: Dragon, Horse, Pig
They can encourage and help each other, and they can be the best lovers as well as rivals. They are all ambitious and share the same value in life and money. The couple can lead a harmonious life.
Bad Matches: Ox, Tiger, Snake, Monkey
They are both aggressive, and seldom make compromise, so the relationship will be nipped in the bud. If getting married, financial problems would result in their breakup.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: You will face the challenge and trouble in your career. It's required to use your experience, knowledge and wisdom to solve the problems. If you don't have the solution, then you have to ask and learn from someone else.
Job Change: If a company offers you a job, then you shouldn't take it. It's not the time to make change. Otherwise, many unexpected problems in the new position are waiting for you to solve. And you don't have that solutions now.
Wealth: The money luck doesn't look good. People are watching for the money in your pocket. Don't be greedy for big return and risky business. All investments must switch to conservative items.
Love: There is a disagreement sign in the love relationship. You need to calm and play low profile when the argument is there. If you have trouble in the communication with your lover, then ask the elder friend as the mediator or liaison.
Social Circle: You don't have good mood for social events. But you can attend the educational networks. You can learn new knowledge and meet new friends there.
Quarrel: If you have argument or lawsuit with someone, then you need the negotiation to stop the dispute. The sign shows the result of the dispute is unfavorable to you.
Health: You need to pay attention on the accident. Your arms and legs might get hurt. Also, take care of your liver and the nervous system.
General Fortune: Your fortune won't be the same as before. You need to learn new professional skills to increase your career opportunities.
Year of the Rabbit
China Zodiac Animal - Rabbit
Rabbit is the fourth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Rabbit include 1915, 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023...
For Chinese people, the rabbit is a tame creature representing hope for a long time. It is tender and lovely. The moon goddess Chang'e in Chinese legend had a rabbit as her pet, which stimulated the thought that only this creature was amiable enough to match her noble beauty. People born in the Year of the Rabbit are not aggressive but approachable. They have a decent, noble and elegant manner.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Mao
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Mu (Wood)
Yin Yang: Yin
Lucky Signs for People Born in Rabbit Year:
Lucky Numbers: 3, 4, 9
Lucky Colors: red, blue, pink, purple
Lucky Flowers: snapdragon, plantain lily, nerve plant
Lucky Directions: east, southeast, south
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 1, 7, 8 Unlucky Colors: dark brown, dark yellow, white Unlucky Direction: northwest
Personality of the Rabbit
People with Chinese zodiac Rabbit sign usually impress others with an image of tenderness, grace and sensitive. They are romantic in relationship, having a high demand in life quality. They avoid arguing with others, and have a capability of converting an enemy into a friend. They are homebody and hospitable, and like house fitting-up. They can work with speed and efficiency, do not insist and get angry easily. But they also like hesitating, which makes them lose many chances.
Strengths
Gentle, sensitive, compassionate, amiable, modest, and merciful
Weaknesses
Amorous, hesitant, stubborn, timid, conservative
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Rabbit
Best Matches: Sheep, Monkey, Dog, Pig
They are romantic in love and adventurous in life. They know how to make compromises to make their relationship lasting and fresh. Living together, they can become more tolerant and considerate, and life will be sweet and happy.
Bad Matches: Snake, Rooster
Their relationship cannot be everlasting, for they will suffer from a series of disagreement and conflicts. They both feel suppressed in marriage life.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: People will find you and offer the career opportunity or business relationship. You will have very good cooperative experience with the new boss or partner.
Job Change: If a company offers you a new position, then you can consider to take it. Don't miss the career opportunity.
Wealth: Your reputation will help you to create money making opportunity. Fame and wealth will come together. But, the major income still come from the job.
Love: There is a strong love relationship between Rabbit and Monkey. If you are looking for love, then it's a good time to take actions. If you are in love, then you could think about the deeper relationship or marriage. If you have family, then the opposite sex is still attractive to you.
Social Circle: You're the favorite person in your group. You will win good reputation from everybody.
Quarrel: You shouldn't have disputes with others during this period. But you might involve and mingle with relationships of other people, and then an argument or lawsuit occurs from there. In this case, you should make negotiation and peace with the person.
Health: Be careful the accident to injure at face or head, which might leave scar on it. Pay attention on your arms, legs, liver and the nervous system.
General Fortune: Your people relationship is pretty good. Everything will come in your way. The result will be very satisfactory to you.
Year of the Dragon
China Zodiac Animal - Dragon
Dragon is the fifth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Dragon include 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024...
The Dragon enjoys a very high reputation in Chinese culture. Chinese people regard themselves as descendents of the dragon. In ancient China, this imaginary creature was thought to speed across the sky with divine power. It is the token of authority, dignity, honor, success, luck, and capacity. Emperors entitled themselves exclusively as 'dragon'.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Chen
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Tu (Earth)
Yin Yang: Yang
Lucky Signs for People Born in Dragon Year:
Lucky Numbers: 1, 7, 6
Lucky Colors: gold, silver, hoary
Lucky Flowers: bleeding heart vine, larkspur, hyacinth
Lucky Directions: west, north, northwest
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 9, 8, 3Unlucky Colors: red, green, purple, blackUnlucky Direction: southeast
Personality of the Dragon
People with Chinese zodiac Dragon sign are usually a group of people who are lively, intellectual and excitable. They can clearly tell right from wrong. They are upright and frank. However, they are also a bit arrogant and impatient. Female Dragons tend to be overly confident. They hate hypocrisy, gossip and slander. They are not afraid of difficulties but hate to be used or controlled by others.
Strengths
Decisive, inspiring, magnanimous, sensitive, ambitious, romantic
Weaknesses
Eccentric, tactless, fiery, intolerant, unrealistic
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Dragon
Best Matches: Rooster, Rat, Monkey
They are born to be a couple, and they can build a good and happy family. Dragons give a lot of support and guidance to Roosters and Rats, and they get tenderness and care in return. Sharing similar interests and hobbies, they can be best partners in travel.
Bad Matches: Ox, Sheep, Dog
Quarrels and conflicts take turns to show up in their life, and they even become enemy at last. The reason for their split is that they cannot tolerant each other’s flaws and they always put themselves in the first.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: Dragon has good management skill for the organization. It knows how to assign tasks to proper people to share the authority and responsibility. If you encounter the career opportunity or heavy workload, you should ask help from your partners or coworkers to fulfill the career plan.
Job Change: If someone offers you a job in a different company, then you can consider to take it. Your people relationship is good. The opportunity should bring you good friendship and career opportunity.
Wealth: This will be a good fortune year. You will have unexpected income. It's right time to ask the financial advisor to manage your investment. If you own your business, then your reputation will help you to increase your fame, wealth and value.
Love: It's a very good sign for love relationship. If you are single, then you should attend more social activities. Someone might be there waiting for you. If you are in love, then you will receive more caring from your lover. Your lover relationship will be much closer in the winter time. If you are married, you and your spouse will have wonderful and memorable love year.
Social Circle: Dragon and Monkey have attraction relationship. You will meet many friendly people in the Monkey year. This is a good sign for your reputation and love relationship.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you have good odd to win the case because you have strong support. Unless, your opposite party has better luck than you.
Health: You need to pay attention on your diet. Improper food or drink might cause the problem in the cardiovascular system. Then it will cause the difficulty in movement. It's will help doing regular exercise with perseverance.
General Fortune: It's a good sign of endorsement, joyfulness, trouble-free and prosperity.
Year of the Snake
China Zodiac Animal - Snake
Snake is the sixth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Snake include 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037...
Snake carries the meanings of malevolence, cattiness and mystery, as well as acumen and divination. In some places, people believe that a Snake found in their court can bring delight. However, in most cases, this animal is considered evil, which scares people from the bottom of the heart. There are some idioms in China indicating the danger of this animal, for example, once bitten by the Snake twice shy of ten years.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Si
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Huo (Fire)
Yin Yang: Yin
Lucky Signs for People Born in Snake Year:
Lucky Numbers: 2, 8, 9
Lucky Colors: red, light yellow, black
Lucky Flowers: orchid, cactus
Lucky Directions: northeast, southwest, south
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 1, 6, 7Unlucky Colors: white, gold, brownUnlucky Direction: northwest
Personality of the Snake
Usually, people regard Snake as a cunning and sly animal, which likes hanging out in darkness. In fact, this animal is also a symbol of wisdom and wit. Therefore, people with Chinese zodiac sign 'Snake', sensitive and humorous, and most of them are gifted in literature and art, such as Goethe and Picasso. Suspicion is their weakness, which makes them hesitant and a bit paranoid.
Strengths
Soft-spoken, humorous, sympathetic, determined, passionate, smart
Weaknesses
Jealous, suspicious, sly, fickle, nonchalant
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Snake
Best Matches: Dragon, Rooster
Their relationship develops through lasting attraction between each other. Both of them like to cooperate to make life better. They both are good at associating, and enjoy a high reputation in life circus. They can form a cozy and harmonious family.
Bad Matches: Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, Sheep, Pig
They are suspicious and silent. When misunderstanding occurs, they lack effective communication and they stick on the disagreement, which give rise to more conflicts.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: Monkey contains Metal and some Water. You will encounter little trouble in the career. You need to work a little bit harder. It will be worth after all, because you will get a satisfied return.
Job Change: If you have a promotion chance, then you can consider to take it. The sign shows both of your career and money luck are good.
Wealth: Your income and investment will have stable increasing. If you can find good financial adviser to manage your finance, then you might get much more return.
Love: The younger generations are easier to find their matches. If you are a female, then you need to push or encourage the boy to accept the relationship. If you are a male, then you have very good love relationship. A man will have more chances to meet the girls. If you are married or in love, your love relationship will maintain well.
Social Circle: If you can help people, then you should spend time on it. That will help you to expand social networks, and then the money making opportunity will come after.
Quarrel: If you have argument or dispute with someone, then you need to take care the business by yourself. You won't get a perfect result, if you only hire someone to handle the issue.
Health: Try not to over-exercise and then injure the body. Pay attention to arthritis, arms, legs and shoulders.
General Fortune: Monkey will bring a good fortune opportunity to you. Don't miss the opportunity in the year of Monkey.
Year of the Horse
China Zodiac Animal - Horse
Horse is the seventh in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Horse include 1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026...
The Five Elements of Horse is Fire (Huo), which symbolizes enthusiasm and energy. The animal gives people an impression of independence and integrity. Its spirit is recognized to be the Chinese people's ethos - making unremitting efforts to improve themselves with passion and diligence.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Wu
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Huo (Fire)
Yin Yang: Yang
Lucky Signs for People born in Horse Year:
Lucky Numbers: 2, 3, 7
Lucky Colors: brown, yellow, purple
Lucky Flowers: calla lily, jasmine, marigold
Lucky Directions: northeast, southwest and northwest
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 1, 5, 6Unlucky Colors: blue, white, goldUnlucky Direction: southeast
Personality of the Horse
They always impress upon people with dynamic, zealous and generous image. Although endowed with many shinning points, they have to face the weaknesses in their characteristics.
Strengths
Most have nice personalities, such as warm-hearted, upright and easygoing. Hence, they usually have a lot of friends flocking around them. Independence and endurance makes them more powerful, and they do not easily give up when in difficulties. Positive attitude leads to a brighter direction.
Weaknesses
The love of spending seems to be the biggest problem since they must be financially well off to support their social activities and outlook. Besides, their frank attitude at times leads to letting out secret easily. Persistence is what they lack on the path of success.
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Horse
Perfect Matches: Tiger, Sheep, Rabbit
They are born to be a well-matched couple, sharing a lot in common.
Acceptable Matches: Dragon, Dog, Monkey
Their life will be sweet and happy as long as one of them learns to be considerate, tolerant and understanding.
Complementary Match: Pig
They are a complementary couple in characteristic and capability, and good partners in housework / business.
Intimate Friend: Snake
They are not so much couple as intimate friends, enjoying the same value for fashion and art.
Avoid: Rat, Ox, Rooster, Horse
They cannot understand and support each other.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: Your workload and responsibility will increase. That's a good sign for the career development. Your income will grow as much as you make efforts on your job.
Job Change: Your career luck is good. You have the chance of the promotion. Also a different company could offer you a higher position. You should accept the challenge.
Wealth: The money luck is pretty good. You might have a good salary raise from your work. If you have extra money for the investment, you have better to spend time and energy to review your investment portfolio and adjust your financial strategy.
Love: If you are looking for love, then the love opportunity is out there and you need to spend time to find it. If you are a male, you have more chances to meet girls you like to build a new relationship. If you are married or in love, what you need is be more romance with your lover.
Social Circle: The topics of your social networks will focus more in the career and finance. Staying in those circles, you will learn new knowledge and experience from others. Those friendships and connections will help your career development.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you have good chance to win the case. If that's involving the money, then you can get some money back.
Health: Try not to over-exercise and then injure the body. Pay attention on your muscle, tendon and bones. Next, watch the air quality to prevent from the problems out of the respiratory system.
General Fortune: Monkey brings good fortune to you. Fame and wealth are coming to you. Don't miss this opportunity.
Note: Don't be too serious about the above predictions. Since using the only the birth year zodiac sign, the predictions cover only 12.5% of your 2016 fortune. If your Lucky Element is Metal, you will have good luck in the year of the Monkey. See the Chinese Five Element Astrology and the Rise and Fall Chart below.
Year of the Sheep / Goat / Ram
China Zodiac Animal - Sheep
Sheep / Goat is the eighth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac. The Years of the Sheep include 1919, 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039, 2051...
Sheep (goat, or ram) is among the animals that people like most. It is gentle and calm. Since ancient times, people have learned to use its fleece to make writing brushes and fur to keep warm. The white cute creature often reminds people of beautiful things.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Wei
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Tu (Earth)
Yin Yang: Yin
Lucky Signs for People Born in Sheep Year:
Lucky Numbers: 3, 4, 9
Lucky Colors: green, red, purple
Lucky Flowers: carnation, primrose, Alice flower
Lucky Directions: east, southeast, south
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 6, 7, 8Unlucky Colors: gold, brown, blackUnlucky Direction: west
Personality of the Sheep
People born in the Year of the Sheep are tender, polite, filial, clever, and kind-hearted. They have special sensitivity to art and beauty and a special fondness for quiet living. They are wise, gentle and compassionate and can cope with business cautiously and circumspectly. In their daily life, they try to be economical. They are willing to take good care of others, but they should avoid pessimism and hesitation.
Strengths
gentle, softhearted, considerate, attractive, hardworking, persistent, thrift
Weaknesses
indecisive, timid, vain, pessimistic, moody, weak-willed
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Sheep
Best Matches: Horse, Rabbit, Pig
Sheep could make a perfect couple with Horse, Rabbit or Pig. The harmonious bond between them would bring prosperity to both their career and families. The couple will win respect from others.
Bad Matches: Ox, Tiger, Dog
If Goat people get married with Ox, Tiger or Dog people, they may hardly live a happy life. Throughout their life, they might encounter considerable difficulties and setbacks. They might spend life in tough work or even experience the pain of losing family members.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: Don't be too conservative to your career development. It's a right time to encourage yourself to show your knowledge, experience and wisdom to people. Your talent and experience will win peoples respect and bring you good reputation.
Job Change: The career opportunity is coming. If you have the opportunity of the promotion or job relocation, then you can accept the challenge. It must be someone giving you good recommendation. People will help you when you get on the new position.
Wealth: Money won't fall down at your door directly. You still need to work hard to earn the money from your job. To build good people relationship can make it easier for you to bring money home.
Love: If you want a better love relationship, then you need to respect the opinions and feelings of your partner. Both of you need the self-control not to push other to the limitation. If you are a female, you need to watch your language and behavior not hurt the dignity of your lover.
Social Circle: The popularity of a person is always changing. Your people relationship is fair. Currently, you have better chance to build more social connections. You should learn the active spirit of Monkey. You attend more social activities to acquaint new people and maintain the friendships. People relationship is the key to bring you the opportunity of career and wealth.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you will face the trouble of the storm. But the sunny day will come after. The result will be a close call. It's better to negotiate with the opposite party to shorten the period of worry and fear.
Health: You need to watch for the food you have. You should eat more vegetables. Pay attention on your stomach, large intestine and the entire digestive system.
General Fortune: As long as you want to work harder for the coming opportunity, the fame and fortune will come to you.
Year of the Monkey
China Zodiac Animal - Monkey
Monkey is the ninth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac. The Years of the Monkey include 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028...
The monkey is a clever animal. It is usually compared to a smart person. During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC), the dignified Chinese official title of marquis was pronounced 'Hou', the same as the pronunciation of ‘monkey’ in Chinese. The animal was thereby bestowed with an auspicious meaning.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Shen
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Jin (Metal)
Yin Yang: Yang
Lucky Signs for People Born in Monkey Year:
Lucky Numbers: 1, 7, 8
Lucky Colors: white, gold, blue
Lucky Flowers: chrysanthemum, alliums
Lucky Directions: north, northwest, west
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 2, 5, 9Unlucky Colors: red, black, grey, dark coffeeUnlucky Direction: east
Personality of the Monkey
The general image of people born in the Year of the Monkey is of always being smart, clever and intelligent, especially in their career and wealth. They are lively, flexible, quick-witted and versatile. In addition, their gentleness and honesty bring them an everlasting love life. Although they were born with enviable skills, they still have several shortcomings, such as an impetuous temper and a tendency to look down upon others.
Strengths
enthusiastic, self-assured, sociable, innovative
Weaknesses
jealous, suspicious, cunning, selfish, arrogant
See more about Destiny by Birth Month, Destiny by Birth Date
Love Compatibility of the Monkey
Perfect Matches: Ox, Rabbit
They seem like made for each other, having several similarities in personality and life. Both of them can tolerate everything of each other, as long as they have enough space and freedom. Their love lives are full of fun because they have a strong sense of curiosity to get to know each other. Usually, they share common attitudes and opinions about life.
Bad Matches: Tiger, Pig
Holding different values and views, they don’t have many common topics in daily life. It’s difficult for them to communicate with patience and respect. Quarrels and conflicts will bring lots of negative influences to their relationship.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: The sign is that you are working very close with your coworkers for the same project. That means your career is keeping you busy. But, your career status doesn't make any change. There is no sign for promotion. If you are looking for a job, then you might need more time to get one. This is because you have many competitors out there.
Job Change: If you get on a new position because of the promotion or new job offering, then your working status and development won't change too much. If you work for a new company, then you will feel new competition in the new working environment. The humble and polite attitude is very important when you are in unfamiliar territory. There is no sign showing you are outsmarting over people around.
Wealth: In general, you don't have good money luck in the near future. The people around you are all looking for the money making opportunities. If someone asks you for a big return investment, then you had better skip it. If someone gets a loan from you, then you won't get it back soon. The money investment must be conservative during the Monkey years.
Love: You and your lover often have different opinions. People born in the Rabbit year can act a good mediator for you. If you are looking for your love, then you will see strong competitors out there. But you will have better opportunity with people born in Rat, Dragon or Rabbit.
Social Circle: To build better people relationship, you should show courtesy to others, offer favors to people and yield your opportunities to friends. Never intentionally show off your cleverness and wit in public. Being polite and humble, you will become a popular figure in your social networks.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you had better truce for peace. The negotiation is the best approach during this period. Otherwise, both of parties will become losers.
Health: You shouldn't have too serious health issue. But you have watch for unnecessary accident on arms and legs. You should avoid the dangerous sports and activities. Also, pay attention on your Nervous system, liver and gall bladder.
General Fortune: Keep your persistence in benevolence, etiquette and righteousness, the good luck will stay with you.
Note: Don't be too serious about the above predictions. Since using the only the birth year zodiac sign, the predictions cover only 12.5% of your 2016 fortune. If your Lucky Element is Metal, you will have good luck in the year of the Monkey. See the Chinese Five Element Astrology and the Rise and Fall Chart below.
Year of the Rooster
China Zodiac Animal - Rooster
Rooster is the tenth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Rooster include 1921, 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029...
Rooster is almost the epitome of fidelity and punctuality. For ancestors who had no alarm clocks, the crowing was significant, as it could awaken people to get up and start to work. In Chinese culture, another symbolic meaning of chicken carries is exorcising evil spirits.
Earthly Branch: You 酉
Element: Metal (Jin)
Yin Yang: Yin
Season: Autumn
Lucky Signs for People Born in Rooster Year:
Lucky Numbers: 5, 7, 8
Lucky Colors: gold, brown, brownish yellow, yellow
Lucky Flowers: gladiola, impatiens, cockscomb
Lucky Directions: west, southwest, northeast
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 1, 3, 9Unlucky Colors: white, greenUnlucky Directions: east, north
Personality of the Rooster
People born in the Year of Rooster according to Chinese zodiac have many excellent characteristics, such as being honest, bright, communicative and ambitious. Most of them are born pretty or handsome, and prefer to dress up. In daily life, they seldom rely on others. However, they might be enthusiastic about something quickly, but soon be impassive. Thus, they need to have enough faiths and patience to insist on one thing.
Strengths
Independent, capable, warm-hearted, self-respect, quick minded
Weaknesses
Impatient, critical, eccentric, narrow-minded, selfish
See more about Destiny by Birth Month
Love Compatibility of the Rooster
Perfect Matches: Ox, Snake
If combining with people in Ox or Snake signs, most of them will obtain everlasting and harmonious marriage lives. The connection between them can become tight. In addition, couples of these combinations always become enviable ones in other people’s eyes.
Avoid: Rat, Rabbit, Horse, Rooster, Dog
They have a large chance to obtain a tough and unstable love life if they get married with people with the above five signs. During the whole life, they always meet difficulties and troubles. However, they don’t have enough abilities to solve them because of their born different opinions and attitudes with each other. Lots of divergences will damage the relationship finally.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: The career industry is changing. You need to spend more time and energy on your job. You will feel some pressures from the project schedule. But you still can work happily as long as you follow all the instructions of your boss carefully.
Job Change: If you have a job offer from a different company, then you should think twice before accepting the position. The new working environment might have many different opinions in the future business direction. That's a noisy and unstable sign. If you don't like such challenge, then it's not a good time to move.
Wealth: You don't have strong money luck. But your friends or relatives will discuss some investment opportunities to you. They might even push you to involve the investment using the yearlong friendship. The problem is that you cannot manage and control the operation of investment. Monkey is connected to the wind. The money will disappear very quickly on a wrong investment.
Love: Your lover likes to show his or her ability to act as the speaker of your relationship. Your lover likes to take control over the decision making including your activities and schedules. He or she has many reasons to override your opinions. You will feel the pressures from the love relationship.
Social Circle: Basically, your social activities will increase. But some social networks are wasting your time. Some ones out there are talkative, seeking the limelight and publishing nonsense opinions. Therefore, just spend more time with your close friends and family members.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then you had better to negotiate with your opponent. The sign shows you are underdog. A quick truce is a good approach for the current circumstance.
Health: The air quality is very important to your health. Pay attention on your respiratory system - lungs, nose, bronchus and throat.
General Fortune: The potential and unexpected pressure is out there. When you are in a joyous moment, you need to watch your words and behaviors not offending or displease someone. Then your life will be calm and safe.
Note: Don't be too serious about the above predictions. Since using the only the birth year zodiac sign, the predictions cover only 12.5% of your 2016 fortune. If your Lucky Element is Metal, you will have good luck in the year of the Monkey. See the Chinese Five Element Astrology and the Rise and Fall Chart below.
Year of the Dog
Dog is the eleventh in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Dog include 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042...
Dog is man's good friend who can understand the human's spirit and obey its master, whether he is wealthy or not. The Chinese regard it as an auspicious animal. If a dog happens to come to a house, it symbolizes the coming of fortune. The invincible God Erlang in Chinese legend used a loyal wolfhound to help him capture monsters.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Xu
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Tu (Earth)
Yin Yang: Yang
Lucky Signs for People Born in Dog Year:
Lucky Numbers: 3, 4, 9
Lucky Colors: green, red, purple
Lucky Flowers: rose, oncidium, cymbidium orchids
Lucky Directions: east, southeast, south
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 1, 6, 7Unlucky Colors: blue, white, goldenUnlucky Direction: north, west
Personality of the Dog
People born in the Year of the Dog are usually independent, sincere, loyal and decisive according to Chinese zodiac analysis. They are not afraid of difficulties in daily life. These shining characteristics make them have harmonious relationship with people around.
Strengths
Valiant, loyal, responsible, clever, courageous, lively
Weaknesses
Sensitive, conservative, stubborn, emotional
See more about Destiny by Birth Month
Love Compatibility of the Dog
Best Matches: Rabbit
They are born to be a perfect match. Similar personality traits and common hobbies add much fun to their love relationship. They can understand each other and face difficulties with enough patience.
Bad Matches: Dragon, Sheep, Rooster
Different sense of worth cause many conflicts in their daily life. Both of them are not willing to share inner true feelings. The lack of effective communication and trust won't bring a happy and relaxing marriage life.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibility
Career: Your career luck shows quite stable. You will find a good smart, creative partner to assist your career. If you have very tight project schedule, you should assign some tasks to the younger team members to share some workloads.
Job Change: If you receive a promotion or new job offer, then you should accept the challenge. Changing working environment to show people your talent is a good approach for current career development.
Wealth: The money luck is pretty good. Your professional skills can earn money easily. Your social networks will bring you the money opportunity.
Water is money to Dog. Dog is connected to the mountain. When it rains, the mountain can absorb all the water. But it won't rain all the time. Don't lose the opportunity when water is there.
Love: Your personality is complementary to your lover. Both of you will become a good match. However, you need to give more romance moments for your lover. If you're looking for love, it's good time to attend more social activities. You will find and enjoy the easy and relaxing life style there.
Social Circle: It's good time to build people relationship. You should spend more time at social events. You will find people like your advices. You will feel the sense of achievement with them. You can build good friendships there.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then both you and the opposite party will become the losers. You had better negotiate the truce.
Health: Bringing better fortune is required more social or outdoor activities. The dangerous sports should be avoided. The outdoor activities need to carry out with caution. Pay attention on not hurting arms, legs and bones.
General Fortune: Dog and Monkey can be energetic partners. They can generate promising fortune. Your efforts will return you the prosperity and happiness.
Year of the Pig
Pig is the twelfth in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Pig include 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043...
Pig is not thought to be a smart animal in China. It likes sleeping and eating and becomes fat. Thus it usually features laziness and clumsiness. On the positive side, it behaves itself, has no plan to harm others, and can bring affluence to people. Consequently, it has been regarded as wealth.
Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Hai
Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Shui (Water)
Yin Yang: Yin
Lucky Signs for People Born in Pig Year:
Lucky Numbers: 2, 5, 8
Lucky Colors: yellow, grey, brown, gold
Lucky Flowers: hydrangea, pitcher plant, marguerite
Lucky Directions: southeast, northeast
Things Should be Avoided:
Unlucky Numbers: 1, 3, 9Unlucky Colors: red, blue, greenUnlucky Directions: east, west
Personality of the Pig
People with Chinese zodiac Pig sign are considerate, responsible, independent and optimistic. They always show generousness and mercy to endure other people's mistakes, which help them gain harmonious interpersonal relationships. However, sometimes they will behave lazy and lack actions. In addition, pure hearts would let them be cheated easily in daily life.
Strengths
Warm-hearted, good-tempered, loyal, honest, gentle
Weaknesses
Naive, gullible, sluggish, short-tempered
See more about Destiny by Birth Month
Love Compatibility of the Pig
Perfect Matches: Tiger, Rabbit, Sheep
These combinations always have a high possibility to obtain a sweet and everlasting marriage. When meeting difficulties, they can face them together. More patience and enough encouragement are keys to solve problems. They have common goals and similar values, which add more fun in daily life.
Avoid: Snake, Monkey
Totally different personalities may lead to conflicts. They always have completely contrary opinions about one thing, and cannot reach an agreement because of their stubbornness. If getting married, one would always think about his/her own advantages and feelings, which would hurt the other.
See more about Chinese Zodiac Sign Compatibilityd
Career: Basically, your career luck is good. You will realize your job is much easier than before. You will receive the training, education and assistances from others. You have better knowledge to handle your position. But you still need to stay alert. Any negligence on your duty will ruin your reputation and career development.
Job Change: If you have a job opportunity at a different company, then you had better think twice before accepting the offer. A strong wind of Monkey is coming. That's an unstable sign.
Wealth: The money luck is good, if you are humble and play low profile. If you slide into the arrogant and complacent attitude, then you won't get any fortune.
Love: You will find people care about you very much. If you are looking for love, then attend more social activities and you will feel many people are interested on you. If you are in love, you need to plan more romantic moments for your lover.
Social Circle: Your people relationship is great. People care and concern about you. They will give you lots of courage, sponsor and Compliment. That might spoil your personality. You should be humble and never proud of you fortune or achievement. Otherwise, jealous people will give you negative reputation.
Quarrel: If you have argument, dispute or lawsuit with someone, then that will waste your time, energy and money. To negotiate with the opposite party will be the best approach. Otherwise, it might become a big and long event.
Health: Watch out for diabetes, diarrhea, bladder and neuralgic pain.
General Fortune: The good fortune sign is coming. You will be excited. You have good energy and will be eager for actions. But you need to look well before each leap. Thus a promising winner won't become a loser.
Note: Don't be too serious about the above predictions. Since using the only the birth year zodiac sign, the predictions cover only 12.5% of your 2016 fortune. If your Lucky Element is Metal, you will have good luck in the year of the Monkey. See the Chinese Five Element Astrology and the Rise and Fall Chart below.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on authentic facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Latvian Air Force was first founded during the Latvian War of Independence in 1919. In 1939, the Aviation Regiment consisted of three fighter squadrons, armed with 24 Gloster Gladiator and 6 Bristol Bulldog (a fourth squadron was in organization), three reconnaissance squadrons, armed with up to 12 Letov Š-16LS, 2 Hawker Hind and 10 Stampe SV.5, and a naval reconnaissance squadron with 4 Fairey Seal and two other planes. The Soviet occupation in 1940 ended the activities of the Air Force. At that time there were almost 130 aircraft in service.
The post-Soviet Latvian Air Force was formed on 24 February 1992 at Spilve Airport. In August 1994, the air force moved to an ex-soviet Lielvārde Air Base. In the beginning of the new century two new and more heavy Mi-8MTV Hip helicopters were bought for search and rescue equipment duties, but they were also used for transportation of troops, evacuation and support of the Special Forces. In March 2004 Latvia joined NATO and the Ministry of Defense made the decision to improve the small country’s air defense with a dedicated fighter squadron. The country also bought two more Mi-8MTV's at the Russian Ulan Ude helicopter (rework) factory that year, augmenting the SAR fleet.
In 2005, soldiers of the Air Force Air Defense Wing started a training course in order to prepare an upgraded air defense. At the same time, the Latvian Air Force commenced the modernization of the surface air defense capabilities by signing a contract regarding procurement of RBS-70 manpads missiles from Sweden and negotiated the purchase or leasing of 2nd hand Saab JAS 39 Gripen. Coming from a neutral country, the Gripen was the LAF’s wish candidate for the new interceptor aircraft, but eventually Latvia could be convinced (primarily through the USA and with generous financial support thorugh the “Baltic Peace II” program) to buy eight F-5E fighters and two F-5F trainers with relatively low flying hours and in good overall condition from Switzerland. Besides the financial support, the type’s ruggedness and relatively low maintenance costs led to this choice.
The Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II itself was part of a highly successful supersonic light fighter family, initially designed in the late 1950s by Northrop Corporation. Being smaller and simpler than contemporaries such as the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, the F-5 cost less to both procure and operate, making it a popular export aircraft. The F-5 started life as a privately funded light fighter program by Northrop in the 1950s. The design team wrapped a small, highly aerodynamic fighter around two compact and high-thrust General Electric J85 engines, focusing on performance and low cost of maintenance. Though primarily designed for the day air superiority role, the aircraft was also a capable ground-attack platform.
After winning the International Fighter Aircraft competition in 1970, a program aimed at providing effective low-cost fighters to American allies, Northrop introduced the second-generation F-5E Tiger II in 1972. This upgrade included more powerful engines, higher fuel capacity, greater wing area and improved leading edge extensions for a better turn rate, optional air-to-air refueling, and improved avionics including air-to-air radar. A total of 1,400 Tiger IIs were built before production ended in 1987, and the type is still in operational use in many countries round the world.
The Swiss F-5E airframes for Latvia were overhauled and the avionics suite modernized in 2006 and 2007 by SAI in Italy. Elbit Systems from Israel became the sub-contractor responsible for systems integration. Upgrades for the fighters included an Italian FIAR Grifo-F X band multi-mode radar with BVR (beyond-visual-range) missile and Look-down/shoot-down capabilities, making the modernized F-5E capable of deploying AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, which were, together with AIM-9 Sidewinder AAMs, part of the Baltic Peace II support for Latvia. The new radar necessitated an enlarged radome for its scanner antenna, resulting in a duckbill shape. The fighters’ port side M39 20 mm cannon was removed to make way for the additional avionics.
All machines received a revamped cockpit with new MIL-STD-1553R databuses, a GEC/Ferranti 4510 Head-up display/weapons delivery system, two BAE Systems MED-2067 Multi-function displays, Litton LN-93 inertial navigation system and Hands On Throttle-And-Stick controls (HOTAS) to reduce pilot workload. Reportedly, the Elisra SPS2000 radar warning receiver and countermeasure system was also installed.
The modernization process was completed by early 2007 and the machines were re-designated F-5L/M. By late 2007, the Latvian air defense had become operational and worked closely together with its Baltic neighbors and the NATO forces that were frequently deployed to the Baltic NATO countries.
The small Latvian F-5 fleet is expected to remain in service until 2024, even tough, if there is sufficient funding, the machines will certainly be replaced beforehand by more capable models. The Saab Gripen is still a favored candidate, but F-16C/Ds from USAF stocks are a potential option, too.
By end of 2009, the LAF’s Fighter Squadron moved to Lielvārde Air Base, in an attempt to ensure centralization of Air Force units and to establish an efficient command and control system, which will result in a reduction of the Air Force units’ maintenance costs. With the Fighter Squadron the Air Force carries out Latvian airspace surveillance, control and defense and provides air defense support to the Land Forces units.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 47 ft 4¾ in (14.45 m)
Wingspan: 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Height: 13 ft 4½ in (4.08 m)
Wing area: 186 ft² (17.28 m²)
Airfoil: NACA 65A004.8 root, NACA 64A004.8 tip
Empty weight: 9,558 lb (4,349 kg)
Loaded weight: 15,745 lb (7,157 kg)
Max. take-off weight: 24,722 lb (11,214 kg)
Zero-lift drag coefficient: 0.02
Drag area: 3.4 ft² (0.32 m²)
Aspect ratio: 3.82
Internal fuel: 677 U.S. gal (2,563 L)
External fuel: up to 3× 275 U.S. gal (1,040 L) drop tanks
Powerplant:
2× General Electric J85-GE-21B turbojet with 3,500 lbf (15.5 kN) dry thrust
and 5,000 lbf (22.2 kN) thrust with afterburner each
Performance:
Maximum speed: 917 kn (Mach 1.6, 1,060 mph, 1,700 km/h) at altitude
Range: 760 nmi (870 mi, 1,405 km)
Ferry range: 2,010 nmi (2,310 mi, 3,700 km)
Service ceiling: 51,800 ft (15,800 m)
Rate of climb: 34,400 ft/min (175 m/s)
Lift-to-drag ratio: 10.0
Armament:
1× 20 mm (0.787 in) M39A2 Revolver cannon in the nose with 280 rounds
7 hardpoints (2× wing-tip AAM launch rails, 4× under-wing & 1× under-fuselage pylon stations,
only pylon stations 3, 4 and 5 are wet-plumbed) with a capacity of 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg)
The kit and its assembly:
A relatively simple build, originally inspired by a Blue Rider decal sheet for Latvian Air Force aircraft that I had bought some time ago, as part of a vague plan to build a modern what-if aircraft for each of the young and small Baltic states’ air forces. The first one had been a Lithuanian MiG-21, Estonia is still pending (even though there’s a vague idea), and the Lithuanian interceptor was recently spawned when I bought an Italeri F-5E as part of a kit lot, even though it lacked box, decals and instructions and had a slight damage.
The Tiger II was built mostly OOB, the only changes I made are replaced wing tip launch rails (they were damaged beyond repair), I omitted port side cannon and created a modified “shark nose” radome, which was sculpted with putty; in real life, the enlarged radome for the upgraded radar is 33cm deeper than the original F-5E radome, even though the aircraft’s overall length remained the same, as well as the nose profile. In order to make the model look a little less static I slightly lowered the slats and the flaps – easy to realize on this model. The leftover cannon received a better barrel, made from a hollow steel needle. The pair of AIM-120s and their respective launch rails come from a Hasegawa air-to-air weapons set. The ventral drop tank came from the kit.
The Italeri F-5E is a simple affair and goes together well, even though the section ahead of the air intakes called for considerable PSR work – not certain if that’s my fault or an innate flaw of the kit (which comes with an upper and lower fuselage half)? The raised panel lines are another weak point – the kit cannot conceal its age, and there are certainly better options today (e .g. from Hobby Boss).
Painting and markings:
I wanted something that would neither look too Western, nor a typical Soviet-style livery. The resulting paint scheme is purely fictional and was inspired by a grey North Korean MiG-21 and USAF aggressor schemes for F-5Es – both reminiscent of the Soviet “Pumpkin” paint scheme for export MiG-21s. For the choice of colors, the complex “Norm 81” scheme from German Luftwaffe F-4Fs had an influence.
The result became a primarily grey air superiority scheme with uniform light grey undersides (FS 36495, Humbrol 147) and light Ghost Grey (FS 36375, Humbrol 127) fuselage and fin. The wings’ upper surfaces became mostly Dark Gull Grey (FS 36231, Testors 1740) and patches of the same tone were applied to the fuselage and the fin, too. On the wings’ upper surfaces, some patches in a dull, greenish grey (Humbrol 111, Uniform Grey) were finally added in order to break the aircraft’s outlines from above. The result somewhat reminds of German WWII camouflage, even though unintentionally.
The radome was painted in Revell 75 (Light Grey, with a brownish hue) to set it apart from the rest of the aircraft. Humbrol 140 was used for the cockpit interior. The landing gear became classic glossy white, while the air intake interior was painted in Humbrol 127, matching the aircraft’s flanks. Only subtle post-shading and weathering was done.
As mentioned above, the Latvian air force markings came from a Blue Rider decal sheet. The tactical codes and the matching serial number come from a Begemot MiG-21sheet. Other fictional elements are the NATO emblem on the fin and a small squadron emblem on the nose, which is a vintage Polish air force motif.
Most stencils had to be salvaged from secondary sources, since the kit came without a decal sheet. Fortunately, I had a spare F-5E sheet left over from a Hobby Boss kit. As a final step, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
A rather simple project, but re-sculpting the nose was a tedious task. However, I am happy with the outcome and how the fictional paint scheme works. Together with the exotic Latvian roundels, this creates an interesting, if not plausible, look.
Rain has stopped play on a lot of my outdoor-related ideas recently. The first shots we did of Bhavini were in my living room but then we decided to pop out and try something different. I wasn't sure if the traditional sari would really suit a graffiti backdrop but I ended up really liking the vibrancy of the result.
I'm hardly shooting at all at the moment because my workload is so heavy. I also apologies for not keeping up with other's streams - I know I'm missing out on loads of great stuff! Hopefully I'll be back soon
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This Week’s Cover
“We once knew a juvenile Wild East cowpoke who hid behind a lilac bush, lassoed his father, who was galloping by with a lawn mower, and the father toppled into the lawn mower and got nicked. The father should have laughed like an understanding pal and congratulated the lad on his skills, but he didn’t. More humane than the father-roper is Amos Sewell’s small cowboy, for he will injure nobody except maybe himself. If that hardheaded gent under the hat yanks back on the lariat, the two-wheeled bronc may proceed without a rider. Even more sensational experiences might be had if the young rope artist would take after Fido, pretending he is an expendable coyote – or is this a deplorable idea calling for an apology to all good dogs?” – Editor
Amos Sewell (1901-1983) is best known for the covers and illustrations he designed for many magazines, including popular 20th century pulp magazines. He was privately contracted to illustrate for large national advertising accounts, but admitted that he had to give those up to focus on his added workload from “The Saturday Evening Post.” Though Amos and his wife Ruth had no children of their own, the artist idealized childhood, often choosing to depict children at play or unknowingly making mistakes. Today, Amos Sewell is remembered as one of the Post’s best artist-illustrators.
[Note: In this issue of the Post is Ray Bradbury's "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms," the basis for the 1953 film.]
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background (including material from fellow modeler Devilfish at whatifmodelers.com):
The SEPECAT Cheetah was a more sophisticated variable geometry wing derivative of the Anglo-French Jaguar attack aircraft, similar to the Su-7 and later Su-17/2022 evolution.
The Jaguar programme began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement for an advanced supersonic jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat T1 and Hawker Hunter T7, and a French requirement (ECAT or École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique, "Tactical Combat Support Trainer") for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the Fouga Magister, Lockheed T-33 and Dassault Mystère IV.
Cross-channel negotiations led to the formation of SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l'Avion d'École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique – the "European company for the production of a combat trainer and tactical support aircraft") in 1966 as a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation to produce the airframe.
Though based in part on the Breguet Br.121, using the same basic configuration and an innovative French-designed landing gear, the Jaguar as built also incorporated major elements designed by BAC – notably the wing and high lift devices. Production of the aircraft components would be split between Breguet and BAC and these would be assembled on two production lines; one in the UK and one in France.
The first of eight prototypes flew on 8 September 1968, a two-seat design fitted with the first production model Adour engine. The second prototype flew in February 1969; a total of three prototypes appeared in flight at the Paris Air Show that year. The first French "A" prototype flew in March 1969. In October a British "S" conducted its first flight.
A navalized "M" prototype flew in November 1969. The "M" had a strengthened airframe, an arrester hook and different undercarriage: twin nose wheel and single mainwheels. After testing in France it went to RAE at Thurleigh for carrier landing trials from their land based catapult. In July 1970 it made real take offs and landings from the French carrier Clemenceau.
The RAF accepted delivery of the first of 165 single-seat Jaguar GR1s (the service designation of the Jaguar S) in 1974, and it remained in service until 2007. Anyway, the Jaguar's all-weather capacity was limited and the airframe still offered development potential, so that from 1976 on the Anglo-French SEPECAT consortium looked at improved versions with radar, more powerful engines and improved avionics and aerodynamics.
This led in late 1975 to the Cheetah project, which incorporated a variable geometry wing that could be mounted to the Jaguar's airframe without major structural modifications.
The Cheetah was designed as a multirole, twin-engined aircraft designed to excel at low-level penetration of enemy defences, but also for battlefield reconnaissance and maritime patrol duties, and both naval and land-based versions were developed.
The Cheetah’s primary mission envisaged during the Cold War was the delivery of conventional and nuclear ordnance on the invading forces of the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe. Advanced navigation and flight computers, including the then-innovative fly-by-wire system, greatly reduced the workload of the pilot during low-level flight and eased control of the aircraft.
Compared with the Jaguar, the Cheetah’s nose section was widened to carry an Ericsson PS 37 X-band mono pulse radar, which used a mechanically steered parabolic dish housed in a radome. This radar performed several functions, including air-to-ground telemetry, search, track, terrain-avoidance and cartography. Air-to-air telemetry was also provided. This capability was not the system’s functional focus, but allowed the Cheetah to engage in all weather air-to-air combat and to act as a point defense interceptor with short range AAMs (e. g. up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder).
Honeywell provided an automatic digital flight control system for the Cheetah, one of the first such systems in a production aircraft. To assist low altitude flight and navigation, a Honeywell radar altimeter with transmitter and receiver was used, and the aircraft was also fitted with a Decca Type 72 Doppler navigation radar. TILS (Tactical Instrument Landing System), a landing-aid system made by Cutler-Hammer AIL, improved landing accuracy to 30 m.
From this basis, the Cheetah’s airframe was adapted to a naval version first, which featured a more rigid structure, a beefed-up landing gear for carrier operations and other suitable modifications. This evolved into the Cheetah FRS.1 for the Royal Navy. The FRS.1 was a separate development from the Jaguar, and catered to a very different specification. By the late 60's the Royal navy knew that their big carriers were due for scrapping and that plans for the proposed CVA 01 carrier were already being shelved. In a desperate attempt to hold on to naval air power, the Admiralty put forward a plan to buy two ex-US Navy Kittyhawk class supercarriers and refit them with British equipment (mostly salvaged from the outgoing carriers, Ark Royal and Eagle).
Because of the cancellation of TSR.2, the treasury, in a strange turn of events, agreed that air power at sea was definitively needed. They approved the acquisition of at first one, then later a second US carrier. To supplement them, two Centaur class carriers were to be retrofitted to act as tactical carriers to aid in smaller conflicts.
As these were not big enough to carry and deploy the larger American types being used on the supercarriers, a smaller multi-purpose aircraft was needed. With the Cheetah, BAC offered a version of the Jaguar, fitted with the variable geometry wing, then being designed for the MRCA, to aid with slower and shorter take offs and landings. Renamed the Cheetah, the FRS.1 entered service aboard the HMS Hermes in 1978, seeing service during the Falklands conflict in 1982.
The land-based Cheetah differed in many details from the naval version, though, the first prototype flew in early 1977 and the RAF’s GR.2 was primarily designed for the RAF Germany forces, since the continental theatre of operations was regarded as the most critical NATO flank of that time. The RAF Cheetahs were supposed to carry out conventional and nuclear point strikes against targets in the GDR, Poland and Czechoslovakia, and defend coastal lines against fast invasion fleets, esp. in the Baltic Sea.
The biggest visible difference to the FRS.1 was a different variable wing geometry mechanism and a modified wing shape with a dog tooth close to the pivot section and an extended leading edge fairing at the wing roots. The GR.2’s VG mechanism was more compact than the Tornado structure originally used in the FRS.1, but also simpler in order to save as much weight as possible.
The GR.2’s wings could be swept backwards between 16° and 72°, and the horizontal stabilizers were adapted in shape to form a quasi delta wing when the wings were fully swept back, allowing for minimal drag during the critical low-level dash towards a well-prepared enemy. The sweep angle could be altered manually by the pilot, but also automatically. The different VG wings basically improved low altitude aerodynamics and handling of the Cheetah, as well as its STOL capabilities. With its rugged undercarriage, lent from the Jaguar, the Cheetah GR.2 was, more than the bigger and heavier Tornado, suited for tactical front line service from improvised airstrips, together with the RAF’s Harrier fleet.
The Cheetah FRS.1 and the GR.2 carried the Jaguar’s pair of 30mm cannon, but due to the different wing structures the hardpoints for external ordnance differed. The Cheetah was typically equipped with a total of seven hardpoints: three underneath the fuselage, and more under the wings. The FRS.1 had four wing pylons which could, thanks to the Tornado ancestry, be swept together with the wings.
The GR.2’s capacity was more limited, as it carried two large tandem pylons under each wing root, each also carrying a launch rail for defensive AAMs, and a further pair of optional wing-mounted, fixed hardpoints. This facility was rarely used, though, and they were basically reserved for drop tanks for ferry flights, but could also take weapon racks. External ordnance capacity was similar to the original Jaguar, with 10,000 lb (4,500 kg).
The first Cheetah GR.2 entered RAF service in 1980, and replaced basically the RAF Buccaneers as well as an early part of the Jaguar GR.1 fleet (the Jaguars kept in service were later modernized to GR.3 standard).
The RAF Cheetahs served together with the Jaguar Force until 2007, when both types were retired. Following their retirement from flying service, some Cheetahs continue to serve as ground instructional airframes, most notably at RAF Cosford, used in the training of RAF fitters.
General characteristics:
Crew: One
Length: 16.83 m (55 ft 2½ in)
Wingspan: 13.97 m (45 ft 10 in) spread 16°, XXX swept 72°
Height: 4.89 m (16 ft 0½ in)
Wing area: 37.35 m² spread, 34.16 m² swept (402.05 ft² / 367.71 ft²)
Empty weight: 7,848 kg (17,286 lb)
Loaded weight: 12,200 kg (26,872 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 15,700 kg (34,612 lb)
Powerplant:
2 × Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca Adour Mk 105 turbofans
with 24.50 kN (5,508 lbf) dry thrust each and 35.5 kN (7,979 lbf) with afterburner
Performance:
Maximum speed: Mach 1.8 (1,870 km/h, 1,161 mph) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Mach 1.1 (1,350 km/h, 839 mph) at sea level
Combat radius: 908 km (490 nmi, 564 mi) (lo-lo-lo, external fuel)
Ferry range: 3,524 km (1,902 nmi, 2,190 mi)
Service ceiling: 14,000 m (45,900 ft)
Rate of climb: 200 m/s (39,400 ft/min)
Climb to 9,145 m (30,000 ft): 1 min 30 sec
Armament:
2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons in the lower front fuselage, 150 RPG
7 hardpoints; 1× center-line pylon stations Fore & Aft plus a pair of pylons in front of the main landing gear wells; twin inner pylon (Fore & Aft) plus launch rails for AAMs, and single Outer Pylon pair under the wings, non-moveable. Total capacity of 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) for a wide range of guided and unguided ordnance, including:
- Matra rocket pods with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets each (up to seven at once)
- AS.37 Martel anti-radar missiles
- AS-30L laser guided air-to-ground missiles
- Various unguided or laser-guided bombs of up to 2.000 lb (907 kg) caliber
- 2× WE177A nuclear bombs
- 1× AN-52 nuclear bomb
- ECM protection pods
- Reconnaissance pods
- ATLIS laser/electro-optical targeting pod
- External drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
The kit and its assembly:
The final contribution to the “Cold War” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and another realization of a plan from the long agenda – and triggered by a similar build at the board from fellow modeler Devilfish who built a naval VG Jaguar with Tornado wings in 1:48. I took the opportunity and inspiration to build my interpretation of that theme, lending the Cheetah designation from Devilfish’s build, though, and some of the naval version’s background.
Anyway, my conversion plan had been different. I wanted to create an RAF aircraft, true to the Jaguar’s strike/recce role, and the VG mechanism and wings would come from a MiG-23 – inspired by a similar transplant with a Mirage F.1C I saw many moons ago (and a beautiful result, I want to try that stunt, too!).
I also had the donation kits stashed away: a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar A (actually, I had already piled up four kits for this task…) and an Academy MiG-23S.
Wing transplantation went straightforward and with surprisingly little difficulties. The MiG’s wings were cut out together with the spinal section and the lower wing gloves, so that the VG geometry remained unchanged. On the other side, this package went into a shallow gap that I carved out from the Jag’s ventral section. Some putty and body sculpting merged the parts, easier than expected.
The rest saw only minor modifications. A radome was implanted (from an Italeri F-18 Hornet), which needed some body sculpting around the nose and the MiG-23’s stabilizers were used, too, in order to form a clean wing shape. I tailored their trailing edges a bit, so that the shape would not remind too much of the MiG heritage.
An RAF style radar warning receiver, scratched from 1.5mm styrene, was installed into the French version’ fin. Under the wing roots a pair of pylons from a Matchbox F-14 were added, together with Sidewinder launch rails from a Tornado ADV (Italeri). The jet exhausts were drilled open for more depth, and some sensors/pitots added to the nose, made from wire. Cockpit and landing gear were taken OOB, even though I used a different ejection seat and faired the original dashboard over with a piece of styrene.
The BL 755 bombs and their twin racks come OOB from the Heller kit, the Sidewinders from an ESCI kit, IIRC.
Painting and markings:
The RAF was settled as an operator, but for a whiffy twist I applied the all-green scheme that the RAF’s Harrier GR.5 carried in the late Eighties – exclusively, AFAIK. While the all NATO Green upper side appears a bit dull, the Lichen Green underside and the very low waterline look rather psychedelic and unique. Anyway, it works well on the Cheetah, and I can imagine that other RAF aircraft would also look cool in this simple scheme?
The basic colors I used are Humbrol 105 (Army Green) and 120 (Light Green, FS 34227), both are pretty approximates. The basic paintwork was later panel-shaded with lighter mixes of these two tones – actually brightened up with RAF Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78). In fact, the Heller Jaguar is almost totally devoid of any surface detail... A light black ink wash was also used to emphasize edges and deepen the contrast. The wings’ leading edges were painted in a very dark green (Humbrol 91) and the cockpit interior was painted in dark grey (FS 36076 from Model Master). The landing gear struts were painted light grey, while the wells and covers became Zinc Chromate Yellow.
The decals are a mix of the OOB Heller sheet and aftermarket sheets for RAF Jaguars, an Italeri Tornado and a Harrier GR.5. A coat of matt acrylic varnish finally sealed everything and the ordnance was mounted.
An interesting conversion, and the result looks very plausible! I am certain that this thing would make people seriously wonder and think when displayed on a convention. The VG Jag looks very natural – but not much sexier than the original? Anyway, the transplantation does not look out of place, because the Jaguar’s layout is very similar to the Panavia Tornado, so that the VG wing does not appear like the total fake it actually is. ^^
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background (including material from fellow modeler Devilfish at whatifmodelers.com):
The SEPECAT Cheetah was a more sophisticated variable geometry wing derivative of the Anglo-French Jaguar attack aircraft, similar to the Su-7 and later Su-17/2022 evolution.
The Jaguar programme began in the early 1960s, in response to a British requirement for an advanced supersonic jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat T1 and Hawker Hunter T7, and a French requirement (ECAT or École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique, "Tactical Combat Support Trainer") for a cheap, subsonic dual role trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the Fouga Magister, Lockheed T-33 and Dassault Mystère IV.
Cross-channel negotiations led to the formation of SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l'Avion d'École de Combat et d'Appui Tactique – the "European company for the production of a combat trainer and tactical support aircraft") in 1966 as a joint venture between Breguet and the British Aircraft Corporation to produce the airframe.
Though based in part on the Breguet Br.121, using the same basic configuration and an innovative French-designed landing gear, the Jaguar as built also incorporated major elements designed by BAC – notably the wing and high lift devices. Production of the aircraft components would be split between Breguet and BAC and these would be assembled on two production lines; one in the UK and one in France.
The first of eight prototypes flew on 8 September 1968, a two-seat design fitted with the first production model Adour engine. The second prototype flew in February 1969; a total of three prototypes appeared in flight at the Paris Air Show that year. The first French "A" prototype flew in March 1969. In October a British "S" conducted its first flight.
A navalized "M" prototype flew in November 1969. The "M" had a strengthened airframe, an arrester hook and different undercarriage: twin nose wheel and single mainwheels. After testing in France it went to RAE at Thurleigh for carrier landing trials from their land based catapult. In July 1970 it made real take offs and landings from the French carrier Clemenceau.
The RAF accepted delivery of the first of 165 single-seat Jaguar GR1s (the service designation of the Jaguar S) in 1974, and it remained in service until 2007. Anyway, the Jaguar's all-weather capacity was limited and the airframe still offered development potential, so that from 1976 on the Anglo-French SEPECAT consortium looked at improved versions with radar, more powerful engines and improved avionics and aerodynamics.
This led in late 1975 to the Cheetah project, which incorporated a variable geometry wing that could be mounted to the Jaguar's airframe without major structural modifications.
The Cheetah was designed as a multirole, twin-engined aircraft designed to excel at low-level penetration of enemy defences, but also for battlefield reconnaissance and maritime patrol duties, and both naval and land-based versions were developed.
The Cheetah’s primary mission envisaged during the Cold War was the delivery of conventional and nuclear ordnance on the invading forces of the Warsaw Pact countries of Eastern Europe. Advanced navigation and flight computers, including the then-innovative fly-by-wire system, greatly reduced the workload of the pilot during low-level flight and eased control of the aircraft.
Compared with the Jaguar, the Cheetah’s nose section was widened to carry an Ericsson PS 37 X-band mono pulse radar, which used a mechanically steered parabolic dish housed in a radome. This radar performed several functions, including air-to-ground telemetry, search, track, terrain-avoidance and cartography. Air-to-air telemetry was also provided. This capability was not the system’s functional focus, but allowed the Cheetah to engage in all weather air-to-air combat and to act as a point defense interceptor with short range AAMs (e. g. up to six AIM-9 Sidewinder).
Honeywell provided an automatic digital flight control system for the Cheetah, one of the first such systems in a production aircraft. To assist low altitude flight and navigation, a Honeywell radar altimeter with transmitter and receiver was used, and the aircraft was also fitted with a Decca Type 72 Doppler navigation radar. TILS (Tactical Instrument Landing System), a landing-aid system made by Cutler-Hammer AIL, improved landing accuracy to 30 m.
From this basis, the Cheetah’s airframe was adapted to a naval version first, which featured a more rigid structure, a beefed-up landing gear for carrier operations and other suitable modifications. This evolved into the Cheetah FRS.1 for the Royal Navy. The FRS.1 was a separate development from the Jaguar, and catered to a very different specification. By the late 60's the Royal navy knew that their big carriers were due for scrapping and that plans for the proposed CVA 01 carrier were already being shelved. In a desperate attempt to hold on to naval air power, the Admiralty put forward a plan to buy two ex-US Navy Kittyhawk class supercarriers and refit them with British equipment (mostly salvaged from the outgoing carriers, Ark Royal and Eagle).
Because of the cancellation of TSR.2, the treasury, in a strange turn of events, agreed that air power at sea was definitively needed. They approved the acquisition of at first one, then later a second US carrier. To supplement them, two Centaur class carriers were to be retrofitted to act as tactical carriers to aid in smaller conflicts.
As these were not big enough to carry and deploy the larger American types being used on the supercarriers, a smaller multi-purpose aircraft was needed. With the Cheetah, BAC offered a version of the Jaguar, fitted with the variable geometry wing, then being designed for the MRCA, to aid with slower and shorter take offs and landings. Renamed the Cheetah, the FRS.1 entered service aboard the HMS Hermes in 1978, seeing service during the Falklands conflict in 1982.
The land-based Cheetah differed in many details from the naval version, though, the first prototype flew in early 1977 and the RAF’s GR.2 was primarily designed for the RAF Germany forces, since the continental theatre of operations was regarded as the most critical NATO flank of that time. The RAF Cheetahs were supposed to carry out conventional and nuclear point strikes against targets in the GDR, Poland and Czechoslovakia, and defend coastal lines against fast invasion fleets, esp. in the Baltic Sea.
The biggest visible difference to the FRS.1 was a different variable wing geometry mechanism and a modified wing shape with a dog tooth close to the pivot section and an extended leading edge fairing at the wing roots. The GR.2’s VG mechanism was more compact than the Tornado structure originally used in the FRS.1, but also simpler in order to save as much weight as possible.
The GR.2’s wings could be swept backwards between 16° and 72°, and the horizontal stabilizers were adapted in shape to form a quasi delta wing when the wings were fully swept back, allowing for minimal drag during the critical low-level dash towards a well-prepared enemy. The sweep angle could be altered manually by the pilot, but also automatically. The different VG wings basically improved low altitude aerodynamics and handling of the Cheetah, as well as its STOL capabilities. With its rugged undercarriage, lent from the Jaguar, the Cheetah GR.2 was, more than the bigger and heavier Tornado, suited for tactical front line service from improvised airstrips, together with the RAF’s Harrier fleet.
The Cheetah FRS.1 and the GR.2 carried the Jaguar’s pair of 30mm cannon, but due to the different wing structures the hardpoints for external ordnance differed. The Cheetah was typically equipped with a total of seven hardpoints: three underneath the fuselage, and more under the wings. The FRS.1 had four wing pylons which could, thanks to the Tornado ancestry, be swept together with the wings.
The GR.2’s capacity was more limited, as it carried two large tandem pylons under each wing root, each also carrying a launch rail for defensive AAMs, and a further pair of optional wing-mounted, fixed hardpoints. This facility was rarely used, though, and they were basically reserved for drop tanks for ferry flights, but could also take weapon racks. External ordnance capacity was similar to the original Jaguar, with 10,000 lb (4,500 kg).
The first Cheetah GR.2 entered RAF service in 1980, and replaced basically the RAF Buccaneers as well as an early part of the Jaguar GR.1 fleet (the Jaguars kept in service were later modernized to GR.3 standard).
The RAF Cheetahs served together with the Jaguar Force until 2007, when both types were retired. Following their retirement from flying service, some Cheetahs continue to serve as ground instructional airframes, most notably at RAF Cosford, used in the training of RAF fitters.
General characteristics:
Crew: One
Length: 16.83 m (55 ft 2½ in)
Wingspan: 13.97 m (45 ft 10 in) spread 16°, XXX swept 72°
Height: 4.89 m (16 ft 0½ in)
Wing area: 37.35 m² spread, 34.16 m² swept (402.05 ft² / 367.71 ft²)
Empty weight: 7,848 kg (17,286 lb)
Loaded weight: 12,200 kg (26,872 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 15,700 kg (34,612 lb)
Powerplant:
2 × Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca Adour Mk 105 turbofans
with 24.50 kN (5,508 lbf) dry thrust each and 35.5 kN (7,979 lbf) with afterburner
Performance:
Maximum speed: Mach 1.8 (1,870 km/h, 1,161 mph) at 11,000 m (36,000 ft)
Mach 1.1 (1,350 km/h, 839 mph) at sea level
Combat radius: 908 km (490 nmi, 564 mi) (lo-lo-lo, external fuel)
Ferry range: 3,524 km (1,902 nmi, 2,190 mi)
Service ceiling: 14,000 m (45,900 ft)
Rate of climb: 200 m/s (39,400 ft/min)
Climb to 9,145 m (30,000 ft): 1 min 30 sec
Armament:
2× 30 mm (1.18 in) DEFA cannons in the lower front fuselage, 150 RPG
7 hardpoints; 1× center-line pylon stations Fore & Aft plus a pair of pylons in front of the main landing gear wells; twin inner pylon (Fore & Aft) plus launch rails for AAMs, and single Outer Pylon pair under the wings, non-moveable. Total capacity of 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) for a wide range of guided and unguided ordnance, including:
- Matra rocket pods with 18× SNEB 68 mm rockets each (up to seven at once)
- AS.37 Martel anti-radar missiles
- AS-30L laser guided air-to-ground missiles
- Various unguided or laser-guided bombs of up to 2.000 lb (907 kg) caliber
- 2× WE177A nuclear bombs
- 1× AN-52 nuclear bomb
- ECM protection pods
- Reconnaissance pods
- ATLIS laser/electro-optical targeting pod
- External drop tanks for extended range/loitering time
The kit and its assembly:
The final contribution to the “Cold War” Group Build at whatifmodelers.com, and another realization of a plan from the long agenda – and triggered by a similar build at the board from fellow modeler Devilfish who built a naval VG Jaguar with Tornado wings in 1:48. I took the opportunity and inspiration to build my interpretation of that theme, lending the Cheetah designation from Devilfish’s build, though, and some of the naval version’s background.
Anyway, my conversion plan had been different. I wanted to create an RAF aircraft, true to the Jaguar’s strike/recce role, and the VG mechanism and wings would come from a MiG-23 – inspired by a similar transplant with a Mirage F.1C I saw many moons ago (and a beautiful result, I want to try that stunt, too!).
I also had the donation kits stashed away: a Heller SEPECAT Jaguar A (actually, I had already piled up four kits for this task…) and an Academy MiG-23S.
Wing transplantation went straightforward and with surprisingly little difficulties. The MiG’s wings were cut out together with the spinal section and the lower wing gloves, so that the VG geometry remained unchanged. On the other side, this package went into a shallow gap that I carved out from the Jag’s ventral section. Some putty and body sculpting merged the parts, easier than expected.
The rest saw only minor modifications. A radome was implanted (from an Italeri F-18 Hornet), which needed some body sculpting around the nose and the MiG-23’s stabilizers were used, too, in order to form a clean wing shape. I tailored their trailing edges a bit, so that the shape would not remind too much of the MiG heritage.
An RAF style radar warning receiver, scratched from 1.5mm styrene, was installed into the French version’ fin. Under the wing roots a pair of pylons from a Matchbox F-14 were added, together with Sidewinder launch rails from a Tornado ADV (Italeri). The jet exhausts were drilled open for more depth, and some sensors/pitots added to the nose, made from wire. Cockpit and landing gear were taken OOB, even though I used a different ejection seat and faired the original dashboard over with a piece of styrene.
The BL 755 bombs and their twin racks come OOB from the Heller kit, the Sidewinders from an ESCI kit, IIRC.
Painting and markings:
The RAF was settled as an operator, but for a whiffy twist I applied the all-green scheme that the RAF’s Harrier GR.5 carried in the late Eighties – exclusively, AFAIK. While the all NATO Green upper side appears a bit dull, the Lichen Green underside and the very low waterline look rather psychedelic and unique. Anyway, it works well on the Cheetah, and I can imagine that other RAF aircraft would also look cool in this simple scheme?
The basic colors I used are Humbrol 105 (Army Green) and 120 (Light Green, FS 34227), both are pretty approximates. The basic paintwork was later panel-shaded with lighter mixes of these two tones – actually brightened up with RAF Cockpit Green (Humbrol 78). In fact, the Heller Jaguar is almost totally devoid of any surface detail... A light black ink wash was also used to emphasize edges and deepen the contrast. The wings’ leading edges were painted in a very dark green (Humbrol 91) and the cockpit interior was painted in dark grey (FS 36076 from Model Master). The landing gear struts were painted light grey, while the wells and covers became Zinc Chromate Yellow.
The decals are a mix of the OOB Heller sheet and aftermarket sheets for RAF Jaguars, an Italeri Tornado and a Harrier GR.5. A coat of matt acrylic varnish finally sealed everything and the ordnance was mounted.
An interesting conversion, and the result looks very plausible! I am certain that this thing would make people seriously wonder and think when displayed on a convention. The VG Jag looks very natural – but not much sexier than the original? Anyway, the transplantation does not look out of place, because the Jaguar’s layout is very similar to the Panavia Tornado, so that the VG wing does not appear like the total fake it actually is. ^^
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 "Huey". By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam.
The U.S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, too, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, and also wanted a more potent turret-mounted weapon. At first, the Department of Defense had balked at providing the Marines with a twin-engine version of the Cobra, in the belief that commonality with Army AH-1Gs outweighed the advantages of a different engine fit. However, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure the U.S. Army passed on thirty-eight AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969. The AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret with a three-barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon based on the six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon.
During the 1990s, the US forces gradually phased out its Cobra fleet. The withdrawn AH-1s were typically offered to other potential operators, usually NATO allies. Some were also given to the USDA's Forest Service for fire surveillance, and a handful AH-1s went into private hands, including the NASA. Among these airframes were some USMC AH-1Js, which had in part been mothballed in the Mojave Desert since their replacement through more powerful and modern AH-1 variants and the AH-64.
About twenty airframes were, after having been de-militarized, bought by the Kaman Corporation in 2003, in a bold move to quickly respond to more than 20 inquiries for the company’s K-1200 ‘K-Max’ crane synchropter since the type’s end of production in 2001 from firefighting, logging and industry transport requirements. While not such a dedicated medium lift helicopter as the K-1200, which had from the outset been optimized for external cargo load operations, the twin-engine AH-1J promised to be a very effective alternative and a powerful basis for a conversion into a crane helicopter.
The result of this conversion program was the Kaman K-1300, also known as the “K-Cobra” or “Crane Cobra”. While the basic airframe of the AH-1J was retained, extensive detail modifications were made. To reduce weight and compensate for the extensive hardware changes, the SeaCobra lost its armor, the chin turret, and the stub wings. Beyond that, many invisible changes were made; the internal structure between the engine mounts was beefed up with an additional cage structure and a cargo hook was installed under the fuselage in the helicopter’s center of lift.
To further optimize the K-Cobra’s performance, the dynamic components were modified and improved, too. While the engine remained the same, its oil cooler was enlarged and the original output limit to 1.500 shp was removed and the gearbox was strengthened to fully exploit the twin-engine’s available power of 1,800 shp (1,342 kW). The rotor system was also modified and optimized for the transport of underslung loads: the original UH-1 dual-blade rotors were replaced with new four-blade rotors. The new main rotor with rugged heavy-duty blades offered more lift at less rotor speed, and the blades’ lift sections were moved away from the hub so that downwash and turbulences directly under the helicopter’s CoG and man hook were reduced to keep the cargo load more stable. Due to the main rotor’s slightly bigger diameter the tail rotor was changed into a slightly smaller four-blade rotor, too. This new arrangement made the K-1300 more stable while hovering or during slow speed maneuvers and more responsive to steering input.
The Cobra’s crew of two was retained, but the cockpit was re-arranged and split into two compartments: the pilot retained the original rear position in the tandem cockpit under the original glazing, but the gunner’s station in front of him, together with the secondary dashboard, was omitted and replaced by a new, fully glazed cabin under the former gunner position. This cabin occupied the former gun station and its ammunition supply and contained a rearward-facing workstation for a second pilot with full controls. It was accessible via a separate door or a ladder from above, through a trap door in the former gunner’s station floor, where a simple foldable bench was available for a third person. This arrangement was chosen due to almost complete lack of oversight of the slung load from the normal cockpit position, despite a CCTV (closed circuit television) system with two cameras intended for observation of slung loads. The second pilot would control the helicopter during delicate load-handling maneuvers, while the primary pilot “above” would fly the helicopter during transfer flights, both sharing the workload.
To accommodate the cabin under the fuselage and improve ground handling, the AH-1J’s skids were replaced by a stalky, fixed four-wheel landing gear that considerably increased ground clearance (almost 7 feet), making the attachment of loads on the ground to the main ventral hook easier, as the K-1300 could be “rolled over” the cargo on the ground and did not have to hover above it to connect. However, an external ladder had to be added so that the pilot could reach his/her workstation almost 10 feet above the ground.
The bulky ventral cabin, the draggy landing gear and the new lift-optimized rotor system reduced the CraneCobra’s top speed by a third to just 124 mph (200 km/h), but the helicopter’s load-carrying capacity became 35% higher and the Cobra’s performance under “hot & high” conditions was markedly improved, too.
For transfer flights, a pair of external auxiliary tanks could be mounted to the lower fuselage flanks, which could also be replaced with cargo boxes of similar size and shape.
K-1300 buyers primarily came from the United States and Canada, but there were foreign operators, too. A major operator in Europe became Heliswiss, the oldest helicopter company in Switzerland. The company was founded as „Heliswiss Schweizerische Helikopter AG“, with headquarters in Berne-Belp on April 17, 1953, what also marked the beginning of commercial helicopter flying in Switzerland. During the following years Heliswiss expanded in Switzerland and formed a network with bases in Belp BE, Samedan GR, Domat Ems GR, Locarno TI, Erstfeld UR, Gampel VS, Gstaad BE and Gruyères FR. During the build-up of the rescue-company Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht (REGA) as an independent network, Heliswiss carried out rescue missions on their behalf.
Heliswiss carried out operations all over the world, e. g. in Greenland, Suriname, North Africa and South America. The first helicopter was a Bell 47 G-1, registered as HB-XAG on September 23, 1953. From 1963 Heliswiss started to expand and began to operate with medium helicopters like the Agusta Bell 204B with a turbine power of 1050 HP and an external load of up to 1500 kg. From 1979 Heliswiss operated a Bell 214 (external load up to 2.8 t).
Since 1991 Heliswiss operated a Russian Kamov 32A12 (a civil crane version of the Ka-27 “Helix”), which was joined by two K-1300s in 2004. They were frequently used for construction of transmission towers for overhead power lines and pylons for railway catenary lines, for selective logging and also as fire bombers with underslung water bags, the latter managed by the German Helog company, operating out of Ainring and Küssnacht in Germany and Switzerland until 2008, when Helog changed its business focus into a helicopter flight training academy in Liberia with the support of Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
A second Kamov 32A12 joined the fleet in 2015, which replaced one of the K-1300s, and Heliswiss’ last K-1300 was retired in early 2022.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2, plus space for a passenger
Length: 54 ft 3 in (16,56 m) including rotors
44 ft 5 in (13.5 m) fuselage only
Main rotor diameter: 46 ft 2¾ in (14,11 m)
Main rotor area: 1,677.64 sq ft (156,37 m2)
Width (over landing gear): 12 ft 6 in (3.85 m)
Height: 17 ft 8¼ in (5,40 m)
Empty weight: 5,810 lb (2,635 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg) without slung load
13,515 lb (6,145 kg) with slung load
Powerplant:
1× P&W Canada T400-CP-400 (PT6T-3 Twin-Pac) turboshaft engine, 1,800 shp (1,342 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h, 110 kn)
Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 270 mi (430 km, 230 nmi) with internal fuel only,
360 mi (570 km 310 nmi) with external auxiliary tanks
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
Hovering ceiling out of ground effect: 3,000 m (9,840 ft)
Rate of climb: 2,500 ft/min (13 m/s) at Sea Level with flat-rated torque
External load capacity (at ISA +15 °C (59.0 °F):
6,000 lb (2,722 kg) at sea level
5,663 lb (2,569 kg) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
5,163 lb (2,342 kg) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
5,013 lb (2,274 kg) at 12,100 ft (3,688 m)
4,313 lb (1,956 kg) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This is/was the second contribution to the late 2022 “Logistics” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, a welcome occasion and motivation to tackle a what-if project that had been on my list for a long while. This crane helicopter conversion of a HueyCobra was inspired by the Mil Mi-10K helicopter – I had built a 1:100 VEB Plasticart kit MANY years ago and still remembered the helicopter’s unique ventral cabin under the nose with a rearward-facing second pilot. I always thought that the AH-1 might be a good crane helicopter, too, esp. the USMC’s twin-engine variant. And why not combine everything in a fictional model?
With this plan the basis became a Fujimi 1:72 AH-1J and lots of donor parts to modify the basic hull into “something else”. Things started with the removal of the chin turret and part of the lower front hull to make space for the ventral glass cabin. The openings for the stub wings were faired over and a different stabilizer (taken from a Revell EC 135, including the end plates) was implanted. The attachment points for the skids were filled and a styrene tube was inserted into the rotor mast opening to later hold the new four-blade rotor. Another styrene tube with bigger diameter was inserted into the lower fuselage as a display holder adapter for later flight scene pictures. Lead beads filled the nose section to make sure the CraneCobra would stand well on its new legs, with the nose down. The cockpit was basically taken OOB, just the front seat and the respective gunner dashboard was omitted.
One of the big challenges of this build followed next: the ventral cabin. Over the course of several months, I was not able to find a suitable donor, so I was forced to scratch the cabin from acrylic and styrene sheet. Size benchmark became the gunner’s seat from the Cobra kit, with one of the OOB pilots seated. Cabin width was less dictated through the fuselage, the rest of the cabin’s design became a rather simple, boxy thing – not pretty, but I think a real-life retrofitted cabin would not look much different? Some PSR was done to hide the edges of the rather thick all-clear walls and create a 3D frame - a delicate task. Attaching the completed thing with the second pilot and a dashboard under the roof to the Cobra’s lower hull and making it look more or less natural without major accidents was also a tricky and lengthy affair, because I ignored the Cobra’s narrowing nose above the former chin turret.
With the cabin defining the ground helicopter’s clearance, it was time for the next donors: the landing gear from an Airfix 1:72 Kamow Ka-25, which had to be modified further to achieve a proper stance. The long main struts were fixed to the hull, their supporting struts had to be scratched, in this case from steel wire. The front wheels were directly attached to the ventral cabin (which might contain in real life a rigid steel cage that not only protects the second crew member but could also take the front wheels’ loads?). Looks pretty stalky!
Under the hull, a massive hook and a fairing for the oil cooler were added. A PE brass ladder was mounted on the right side of the hull under the pilot’s cockpit, while a rear-view mirror was mounted for the ventral pilot on the left side.
The rotor system was created in parallel, I wanted “something different” from the UH-1 dual-blade rotors. The main rotor hub was taken from a Mistercraft 1:72 Westland Lynx (AFAIK a re-boxed ZTS Plastyk kit), which included the arms up to the blades. The hub was put onto a metal axis, with a spacer to make it sit well in the new styrene tube adapter inside of the hull, and some donor parts from the Revell EC 135. Deeper, tailored blades were glued to the Lynx hub, actually leftover parts from the aforementioned wrecked VEB Plasticart 1:100 Mi-10, even though their length had to be halved (what makes you aware how large a Mi-6/10 is compared with an AH-1!). The tail rotor was taken wholesale from the Lynx and stuck to the Cobra’s tail with a steel pin.
Painting and markings:
Another pushing factor for this build was the fact that I had a 1:72 Begemot aftermarket decal sheet for the Kamow Ka-27/32 in The Stash™, which features, among many military helicopters, (the) two civil Heliswiss machines – a perfect match!
Using the Swiss Helix’ as design benchmark I adapted their red-over-white paint scheme to the slender AH-1 and eventually ended up with a simple livery with a white belly (acrylic white from the rattle can, after extensive masking of the clear parts with Maskol/latex milk) and a red (Humbrol 19) upper section, with decorative counter-colored cheatlines along the medium waterline. A black anti-glare panel was added in front of the windscreen. The auxiliary tanks were painted white, too, but they were processed separately and mounted just before the final coat of varnish was applied. The PE ladder as well as the rotors were handled similarly.
The cockpit and rotor opening interior were painted in a very dark grey (tar black, Revell 06), while the interior of the air intakes was painted bright white (Revell 301). The rotor blades became light grey (Revell 75) with darker leading edges (Humbrol 140), dark grey (Humbrol 164) hubs and yellow tips.
For the “HELOG/Heliswiss” tagline the lower white section had to be raised to a medium position on the fuselage, so that they could be placed on the lower flanks under the cockpit. The white civil registration code could not be placed on the tail and ended up on the engine cowling, on red, but this does not look bad or wrong at all.
The cheatlines are also decals from the Ka-32 Begemot sheet, even though they had to be trimmed considerably to fit onto the Cobra’s fuselage – and unfortunately the turned out to be poorly printed and rather brittle, so that I had to improvise and correct the flaws with generic red and white decal lines from TL Modellbau. The white cross on the tail and most stencils came from the Begemot sheet, too. Black, engine soot-hiding areas on the Cobra’s tail were created with generic decal sheet material, too.
The rotor blades and the wheels received a black ink treatment to emphasize their details, but this was not done on the hull to avoid a dirty or worn look. After some final details like position lights the model was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish, while the rotors became matt.
A weird-looking what-if model, but somehow a crane-copter variant of the AH-1 looks quite natural – even more so in its attractive red-and-white civil livery. The stalky landing gear is odd, though, necessitated by the ventral cabin for the second pilot. I was skeptical, but scratching the latter was more successful than expected, and the cabin blend quite well into the AH-1 hull, despite its boxy shape.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 "Huey". By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam.
The U.S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, too, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, and also wanted a more potent turret-mounted weapon. At first, the Department of Defense had balked at providing the Marines with a twin-engine version of the Cobra, in the belief that commonality with Army AH-1Gs outweighed the advantages of a different engine fit. However, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure the U.S. Army passed on thirty-eight AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969. The AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret with a three-barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon based on the six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon.
During the 1990s, the US forces gradually phased out its Cobra fleet. The withdrawn AH-1s were typically offered to other potential operators, usually NATO allies. Some were also given to the USDA's Forest Service for fire surveillance, and a handful AH-1s went into private hands, including the NASA. Among these airframes were some USMC AH-1Js, which had in part been mothballed in the Mojave Desert since their replacement through more powerful and modern AH-1 variants and the AH-64.
About twenty airframes were, after having been de-militarized, bought by the Kaman Corporation in 2003, in a bold move to quickly respond to more than 20 inquiries for the company’s K-1200 ‘K-Max’ crane synchropter since the type’s end of production in 2001 from firefighting, logging and industry transport requirements. While not such a dedicated medium lift helicopter as the K-1200, which had from the outset been optimized for external cargo load operations, the twin-engine AH-1J promised to be a very effective alternative and a powerful basis for a conversion into a crane helicopter.
The result of this conversion program was the Kaman K-1300, also known as the “K-Cobra” or “Crane Cobra”. While the basic airframe of the AH-1J was retained, extensive detail modifications were made. To reduce weight and compensate for the extensive hardware changes, the SeaCobra lost its armor, the chin turret, and the stub wings. Beyond that, many invisible changes were made; the internal structure between the engine mounts was beefed up with an additional cage structure and a cargo hook was installed under the fuselage in the helicopter’s center of lift.
To further optimize the K-Cobra’s performance, the dynamic components were modified and improved, too. While the engine remained the same, its oil cooler was enlarged and the original output limit to 1.500 shp was removed and the gearbox was strengthened to fully exploit the twin-engine’s available power of 1,800 shp (1,342 kW). The rotor system was also modified and optimized for the transport of underslung loads: the original UH-1 dual-blade rotors were replaced with new four-blade rotors. The new main rotor with rugged heavy-duty blades offered more lift at less rotor speed, and the blades’ lift sections were moved away from the hub so that downwash and turbulences directly under the helicopter’s CoG and man hook were reduced to keep the cargo load more stable. Due to the main rotor’s slightly bigger diameter the tail rotor was changed into a slightly smaller four-blade rotor, too. This new arrangement made the K-1300 more stable while hovering or during slow speed maneuvers and more responsive to steering input.
The Cobra’s crew of two was retained, but the cockpit was re-arranged and split into two compartments: the pilot retained the original rear position in the tandem cockpit under the original glazing, but the gunner’s station in front of him, together with the secondary dashboard, was omitted and replaced by a new, fully glazed cabin under the former gunner position. This cabin occupied the former gun station and its ammunition supply and contained a rearward-facing workstation for a second pilot with full controls. It was accessible via a separate door or a ladder from above, through a trap door in the former gunner’s station floor, where a simple foldable bench was available for a third person. This arrangement was chosen due to almost complete lack of oversight of the slung load from the normal cockpit position, despite a CCTV (closed circuit television) system with two cameras intended for observation of slung loads. The second pilot would control the helicopter during delicate load-handling maneuvers, while the primary pilot “above” would fly the helicopter during transfer flights, both sharing the workload.
To accommodate the cabin under the fuselage and improve ground handling, the AH-1J’s skids were replaced by a stalky, fixed four-wheel landing gear that considerably increased ground clearance (almost 7 feet), making the attachment of loads on the ground to the main ventral hook easier, as the K-1300 could be “rolled over” the cargo on the ground and did not have to hover above it to connect. However, an external ladder had to be added so that the pilot could reach his/her workstation almost 10 feet above the ground.
The bulky ventral cabin, the draggy landing gear and the new lift-optimized rotor system reduced the CraneCobra’s top speed by a third to just 124 mph (200 km/h), but the helicopter’s load-carrying capacity became 35% higher and the Cobra’s performance under “hot & high” conditions was markedly improved, too.
For transfer flights, a pair of external auxiliary tanks could be mounted to the lower fuselage flanks, which could also be replaced with cargo boxes of similar size and shape.
K-1300 buyers primarily came from the United States and Canada, but there were foreign operators, too. A major operator in Europe became Heliswiss, the oldest helicopter company in Switzerland. The company was founded as „Heliswiss Schweizerische Helikopter AG“, with headquarters in Berne-Belp on April 17, 1953, what also marked the beginning of commercial helicopter flying in Switzerland. During the following years Heliswiss expanded in Switzerland and formed a network with bases in Belp BE, Samedan GR, Domat Ems GR, Locarno TI, Erstfeld UR, Gampel VS, Gstaad BE and Gruyères FR. During the build-up of the rescue-company Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht (REGA) as an independent network, Heliswiss carried out rescue missions on their behalf.
Heliswiss carried out operations all over the world, e. g. in Greenland, Suriname, North Africa and South America. The first helicopter was a Bell 47 G-1, registered as HB-XAG on September 23, 1953. From 1963 Heliswiss started to expand and began to operate with medium helicopters like the Agusta Bell 204B with a turbine power of 1050 HP and an external load of up to 1500 kg. From 1979 Heliswiss operated a Bell 214 (external load up to 2.8 t).
Since 1991 Heliswiss operated a Russian Kamov 32A12 (a civil crane version of the Ka-27 “Helix”), which was joined by two K-1300s in 2004. They were frequently used for construction of transmission towers for overhead power lines and pylons for railway catenary lines, for selective logging and also as fire bombers with underslung water bags, the latter managed by the German Helog company, operating out of Ainring and Küssnacht in Germany and Switzerland until 2008, when Helog changed its business focus into a helicopter flight training academy in Liberia with the support of Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
A second Kamov 32A12 joined the fleet in 2015, which replaced one of the K-1300s, and Heliswiss’ last K-1300 was retired in early 2022.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2, plus space for a passenger
Length: 54 ft 3 in (16,56 m) including rotors
44 ft 5 in (13.5 m) fuselage only
Main rotor diameter: 46 ft 2¾ in (14,11 m)
Main rotor area: 1,677.64 sq ft (156,37 m2)
Width (over landing gear): 12 ft 6 in (3.85 m)
Height: 17 ft 8¼ in (5,40 m)
Empty weight: 5,810 lb (2,635 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg) without slung load
13,515 lb (6,145 kg) with slung load
Powerplant:
1× P&W Canada T400-CP-400 (PT6T-3 Twin-Pac) turboshaft engine, 1,800 shp (1,342 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h, 110 kn)
Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 270 mi (430 km, 230 nmi) with internal fuel only,
360 mi (570 km 310 nmi) with external auxiliary tanks
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
Hovering ceiling out of ground effect: 3,000 m (9,840 ft)
Rate of climb: 2,500 ft/min (13 m/s) at Sea Level with flat-rated torque
External load capacity (at ISA +15 °C (59.0 °F):
6,000 lb (2,722 kg) at sea level
5,663 lb (2,569 kg) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
5,163 lb (2,342 kg) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
5,013 lb (2,274 kg) at 12,100 ft (3,688 m)
4,313 lb (1,956 kg) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This is/was the second contribution to the late 2022 “Logistics” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, a welcome occasion and motivation to tackle a what-if project that had been on my list for a long while. This crane helicopter conversion of a HueyCobra was inspired by the Mil Mi-10K helicopter – I had built a 1:100 VEB Plasticart kit MANY years ago and still remembered the helicopter’s unique ventral cabin under the nose with a rearward-facing second pilot. I always thought that the AH-1 might be a good crane helicopter, too, esp. the USMC’s twin-engine variant. And why not combine everything in a fictional model?
With this plan the basis became a Fujimi 1:72 AH-1J and lots of donor parts to modify the basic hull into “something else”. Things started with the removal of the chin turret and part of the lower front hull to make space for the ventral glass cabin. The openings for the stub wings were faired over and a different stabilizer (taken from a Revell EC 135, including the end plates) was implanted. The attachment points for the skids were filled and a styrene tube was inserted into the rotor mast opening to later hold the new four-blade rotor. Another styrene tube with bigger diameter was inserted into the lower fuselage as a display holder adapter for later flight scene pictures. Lead beads filled the nose section to make sure the CraneCobra would stand well on its new legs, with the nose down. The cockpit was basically taken OOB, just the front seat and the respective gunner dashboard was omitted.
One of the big challenges of this build followed next: the ventral cabin. Over the course of several months, I was not able to find a suitable donor, so I was forced to scratch the cabin from acrylic and styrene sheet. Size benchmark became the gunner’s seat from the Cobra kit, with one of the OOB pilots seated. Cabin width was less dictated through the fuselage, the rest of the cabin’s design became a rather simple, boxy thing – not pretty, but I think a real-life retrofitted cabin would not look much different? Some PSR was done to hide the edges of the rather thick all-clear walls and create a 3D frame - a delicate task. Attaching the completed thing with the second pilot and a dashboard under the roof to the Cobra’s lower hull and making it look more or less natural without major accidents was also a tricky and lengthy affair, because I ignored the Cobra’s narrowing nose above the former chin turret.
With the cabin defining the ground helicopter’s clearance, it was time for the next donors: the landing gear from an Airfix 1:72 Kamow Ka-25, which had to be modified further to achieve a proper stance. The long main struts were fixed to the hull, their supporting struts had to be scratched, in this case from steel wire. The front wheels were directly attached to the ventral cabin (which might contain in real life a rigid steel cage that not only protects the second crew member but could also take the front wheels’ loads?). Looks pretty stalky!
Under the hull, a massive hook and a fairing for the oil cooler were added. A PE brass ladder was mounted on the right side of the hull under the pilot’s cockpit, while a rear-view mirror was mounted for the ventral pilot on the left side.
The rotor system was created in parallel, I wanted “something different” from the UH-1 dual-blade rotors. The main rotor hub was taken from a Mistercraft 1:72 Westland Lynx (AFAIK a re-boxed ZTS Plastyk kit), which included the arms up to the blades. The hub was put onto a metal axis, with a spacer to make it sit well in the new styrene tube adapter inside of the hull, and some donor parts from the Revell EC 135. Deeper, tailored blades were glued to the Lynx hub, actually leftover parts from the aforementioned wrecked VEB Plasticart 1:100 Mi-10, even though their length had to be halved (what makes you aware how large a Mi-6/10 is compared with an AH-1!). The tail rotor was taken wholesale from the Lynx and stuck to the Cobra’s tail with a steel pin.
Painting and markings:
Another pushing factor for this build was the fact that I had a 1:72 Begemot aftermarket decal sheet for the Kamow Ka-27/32 in The Stash™, which features, among many military helicopters, (the) two civil Heliswiss machines – a perfect match!
Using the Swiss Helix’ as design benchmark I adapted their red-over-white paint scheme to the slender AH-1 and eventually ended up with a simple livery with a white belly (acrylic white from the rattle can, after extensive masking of the clear parts with Maskol/latex milk) and a red (Humbrol 19) upper section, with decorative counter-colored cheatlines along the medium waterline. A black anti-glare panel was added in front of the windscreen. The auxiliary tanks were painted white, too, but they were processed separately and mounted just before the final coat of varnish was applied. The PE ladder as well as the rotors were handled similarly.
The cockpit and rotor opening interior were painted in a very dark grey (tar black, Revell 06), while the interior of the air intakes was painted bright white (Revell 301). The rotor blades became light grey (Revell 75) with darker leading edges (Humbrol 140), dark grey (Humbrol 164) hubs and yellow tips.
For the “HELOG/Heliswiss” tagline the lower white section had to be raised to a medium position on the fuselage, so that they could be placed on the lower flanks under the cockpit. The white civil registration code could not be placed on the tail and ended up on the engine cowling, on red, but this does not look bad or wrong at all.
The cheatlines are also decals from the Ka-32 Begemot sheet, even though they had to be trimmed considerably to fit onto the Cobra’s fuselage – and unfortunately the turned out to be poorly printed and rather brittle, so that I had to improvise and correct the flaws with generic red and white decal lines from TL Modellbau. The white cross on the tail and most stencils came from the Begemot sheet, too. Black, engine soot-hiding areas on the Cobra’s tail were created with generic decal sheet material, too.
The rotor blades and the wheels received a black ink treatment to emphasize their details, but this was not done on the hull to avoid a dirty or worn look. After some final details like position lights the model was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish, while the rotors became matt.
A weird-looking what-if model, but somehow a crane-copter variant of the AH-1 looks quite natural – even more so in its attractive red-and-white civil livery. The stalky landing gear is odd, though, necessitated by the ventral cabin for the second pilot. I was skeptical, but scratching the latter was more successful than expected, and the cabin blend quite well into the AH-1 hull, despite its boxy shape.
Le HSBC PARIS SEVENS (8 au 10 juin 2018 au Stade Jean-Bouin) a officiellement été lancé aujourd’hui à Paris à la Région Île-de-France.
A cette occasion les 16 capitaines hommes et 12 capitaines femmes des équipes participantes au tournoi ont pris la pose autour du trophée de la compétition dans les jardins du Musée Rodin, Paris (Crédit Photo : I.PICAREL/FFR). Ils ont ensuite rejoint les locaux de la Région Île-de-France, partenaire de cette étape parisienne, situés dans le 7ème arrondissement.
Le HSBC Paris Sevens
Ultime étape du circuit mondial de rugby à 7, le HSBC Paris Sevens se déroulera au stade Jean-Bouin à Paris, du vendredi 8 au dimanche 10 juin 2018. Tournoi mixte pour la première fois de son histoire, le HSBC Paris Sevens 2018 accueille les meilleures équipes masculines et féminines du monde.
Avec 79 matches entre 28 équipes en 3 jours, le spectacle sera non-stop sur la pelouse du Stade Jean-Bouin. Dernier tournoi de la saison, les titres des circuits mondiaux masculin et féminin se joueront donc au HSBC Paris Sevens. Les tribunes et le Village des Supporteurs seront également en ébullition pendant 3 jours, avec de nombreuses animations « CRAZY RUGBY » qui seront proposées à tous les spectateurs !
Le programme :
Vendredi 8 juin de 14h à 21h40 > tournoi Féminin (ouverture des portes au public à 13h30)
Samedi 9 juin de 9h à 23h > tournoi mixte (ouverture des portes au public à 8h30)
Dimanche 10 juin de 8h45 à 19h40 > phases finales féminines et masculines (ouverture des portes au public à 8h15)
Le World Rugby Sevens Series 2017-2018 est la 19e édition de la compétition la plus importante du monde de rugby à sept. Elle se déroule du 1er décembre 2017 au 10 juin 2018. L'Afrique du Sud est tenante du titre et l'Espagne est l'équipe promue de la saison.
Au mois d'avril se déroulent les Jeux du Commonwealth 2018 où dix équipes des World Rugby Sevens Series participent. La compétition enchaine ensuite avec la Coupe du monde de rugby à sept en juillet 2018.
Chaque étape est un tournoi se déroulant sur deux ou trois jours, entre le vendredi et le dimanche. À chaque étape est convié une équipe qui ne possède pas le statut d'équipe permanente, portant le nombre total d'équipes à seize.
En fonction du résultat du tournoi précédent, ou du classement de la saison passée pour le premier tournoi de la saison à Dubaï, les équipes sont réparties en chapeaux avant tirage au sort pour former quatre poules de quatre équipes. Chaque équipe joue les trois autres membres de sa poule et un classement est établi, tout d'abord sur le nombre de points (victoire 3 points, nul 2 points, défaite 1 point) puis sur le goal-average général. Les deux premiers de chaque poule passent en quart de finale de la Cup ou tournoi principal et les deux derniers passent en quart de finale du Challenge Trophy. Les équipes vaincues en quart de finale sont alors reversées en demi-finales de classement, respectivement pour la cinquième et treizième place. Les équipes battues en demi-finales ne disputent pas de petite finale de classement et remportent le même nombre de point, sauf pour les équipes battues en demi finales de Cup qui disputeront un dernier match de classement pour la troisième place.
Chaque rencontre, y compris la finale depuis l'édition 2016-2017, se dispute en deux fois sept minutes.
Créée en 2016, l’étape parisienne de rugby à 7 rassemble, de ce vendredi à dimanche, les meilleures nations mondiales pour décider du vainqueur du circuit mondial. Une belle vitrine pour la discipline dans un pays qui ne jure que par le XV.
Dixième étape de la saison, le Paris Sevens clôture ce week-end le circuit mondial de rugby à 7, réunissant les 16 meilleures nations du monde aux quatre coins de la planète. De vendredi à dimanche, dans l’enceinte du Stade Jean Bouin, les équipes masculines feront le spectacle à travers une discipline méconnue en France mais très appréciée dans de nombreux pays. Et, pour la première fois cette année, les équipes féminines ouvriront les festivités.
Une véritable fête du rugby à 7, discipline olympique depuis 2016 et en plein boom grâce à la vitrine que lui ont offert offert les Jeux de Rio. Chez les hommes, outre les nations majeures de l’Ovale comme la Nouvelle-Zélande, l’Australie, l’Angleterre ou les Fidji, le Kenya, le Canada ou encore l’Espagne font leur trou et voient dans cette discipline une chance de développer un sport mineur dans leur pays. Chez les femmes, la Chine, le Japon ou la Russie figurent dans le top 12.
Le crazy rugby à la fête
Créée en 2016, l’étape parisienne est également l’occasion pour la France de développer la discipline dans un pays qui ne jure que par le XV. «Nous sommes fiers de soutenir financièrement ce tournoi et de permettre qu’il existe», a tenu à rappeler le vice-président de la région Île-de-France, Patrick Karam. Et de poursuivre. «La région est également présente dans la sensibilisation. Vendredi, 360 lycéens pourront découvrir la discipline grâce à de nombreuses animations. Il est important pour nous de tout faire pour développer cette pratique, en vue de Paris 2024», a-t-il poursuivi, alors que la conférence de presse de présentation se tenait dans les locaux de la région, dans le 7e arrondissement parisien.
Dernière étape de la saison, le tournoi parisien représente en tout cas une belle vitrine pour la discipline, dans une ville au rayonnement mondial. «C’est formidable de pouvoir clôturer la saison dans une ville aussi magnifique, chez un hôte comme la France», ajoute de son côté Douglas Langley, directeur du tournoi et membre de World Rugby. «Nous nous réjouissons d’avance de ce week-end de ‘crazy rugby’», conclut-il. Et c’est bien là l’atout majeur de la discipline. Spectaculaire, chaque rencontre offre de nombreux essais et des sprints permanents.
Les Bleues veulent briller
Le public parisien, qui vient en nombre à chaque édition, est adepte de cette discipline. Le Stade Jean Bouin était plein en 2016 et 2017, et l’édition 2018, même s’il reste encore des places à vendre, ne dérogera certainement pas à la règle. Pourtant, ce ne sont pas les résultats des Bleus qui font venir les supporters. Malgré une 3e place en 2016, et une 5e en 2017, l’équipe masculine connaît une saison compliquée. 12e sur 16 au classement, les Bleus n’ont pas fait mieux que 7e cette année lors des neuf précédents tournois du circuit.
«Même si nos chances sont moindres, on rentre dans ce tournoi pour le gagner, et on a la chance d’avoir le soutien du public avec nous», déclare Manoël Dall’igna, capitaine de France 7. «Ces deux dernières années on a eu des supers résultats ici et on compte sur le 8e homme pour faire aussi bien», termine-t-il. Cette période de creux, due en partie à de nombreux départs en retraite en 2016, ne touche pas les féminines. 3e du circuit mondial, les coéquipières de Fanny Horta visent le podium à Paris. «On a reçu beaucoup de messages de soutien de la jeune génération, et on veut vraiment profiter de ce soutien pour garder la dynamique de la saison et faire un nouveau podium», confie la capitaine.
Mises en valeur ce week-end, les Bleues représentent «la véritable locomotive du 7 en France avec une très belle réussite sportive», estime Christophe Reigt, manager des équipes de France à 7. Suffisant pour développer la discipline en France ? Quoiqu’il en soit, avec cette étape parisienne, la Fédération se démène pour populariser le 7 dans l’Hexagone, avec un objectif majeur en ligne de mire : les Jeux olympiques de Paris en 2024.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2018 Awards in Paris brought a fitting end to an enthralling season which saw South Africa and Australia crowned men’s and women’s series champions respectively.
It’s been one of the most competitive seasons on record as both the women’s and men’s series were decided by just two-point differences.
South Africa fought an incredible battle with Fiji in the men’s series to retain their title with victory at the final round in Paris, while Olympic champions Australia won their second overall title ahead of rivals New Zealand on the women’s series after reaching the podium at every one of the five rounds.
The end of season awards provided a chance to celebrate the men’s and women’s sevens players, coaches and teams that are the stars, ambassadors and role models of the sport.
World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said: “It has been another tremendous year for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which continues to go from strength to strength.
“I hugely admire the skill and physicality of rugby sevens and thank the players for their outstanding commitment which makes the series such a success. It is great to see the series capturing the imagination on and off the field with year-on-year increases in attendances, broadcast and fan-engagement figures, and that is a great testament to the players, coaches, host unions and everyone involved with the events.
“Rugby sevens took a quantum leap when it joined the Olympic programme in 2016 and now we look forward to a Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco in just 40 days time in an iconic city and a market with great potential. It promises to be a thrilling and spectacular event.”
the workload. It is a blessing for me to be standing here.”
Rookies of the Year
Eroni Sau is the second Fijian to be named Rookie of the Year for the men’s series after being a clear winner in the fan vote ahead of his compatriot Alosio Naduva and Australia’s Ben O’Donnell. The 28-year-old featured in all 10 rounds in his debut season, using his powerful physique to score 37 tries.
France’s Coralie Bertrand, meanwhile, claimed the women’s accolade, having featured in all five rounds and helped Les Bleues enjoy their best season, reaching a first-ever Cup final in Kitakyushu and semi-finals in Langford and Paris to clinch the series bronze medal.
Fair Play Award
This award, selected by the match officials, recognises the teams who showcase rugby’s values of integrity, passion, solidarity, discipline and respect. Japan were awarded the women’s accolade after an event that saw them lose their core team status on the series, with Kenya the men’s recipients following an exciting season which saw them reach the final in both Vancouver and Hong Kong.
Roche’s kick with the final play of the match against England to snatch the bronze medal for invitational team Ireland at the HSBC London Sevens was a clear winner of the men’s award, beating Fijian Alosio Naduva’s last-gasp winning try against Australia in the Singapore Cup final and Matias Osadczuk’s break and calm head to send Renzo Barbier over for the winning try in Argentina’s Cup semi-final against South Africa in Las Vegas.
Capgemini Coach of the Series
Another inaugural category, selected by the series’ global innovation partner Capgemini, was won by New Zealand women’s coach Alan Bunting after successive victories in the last three rounds of the series in Japan, Canada and France as well as the Commonwealth Games title in April.
South Africa coach Neil Powell, who guided the Blitzboks to retaining their series title, picked up the men’s coach of the series award and paid tribute to his victorious team: “The mental focus and composure they showed was fantastic, all credit to the boys for believing in their success. We had everything to play for and the team did an incredible job, not just today but over the whole season.
“I also want to congratulate Fiji on an amazing season, they were phenomenal.”
DHL Impact Player
The race to be named DHL Impact Player of the Year in both the men’s and women’s series went right down to the final matches. In total 16 players from 12 nations won tournament awards during this season’s series.
New Zealand’s Michaela Blyde was delighted to win the women’s award: “This is pretty special. I’m shocked and truly grateful. I put this down to my teammates who create the opportunities for me and I thank them.”
La Fédération française de rugby organise, du 8 au 10 juin au stade Jean-Bouin, à Paris 16e, un tournoi international de rugby à 7 masculin et féminin, étape du HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
Cette manifestation sportive, soutenue par la Région à hauteur de 170.000€, va rassembler 28 équipes internationales, qui s'affronteront au cours de 45 matchs masculins et 34 matchs féminins.
Le public pourra découvrir à cette occasion, jusque dans sa pratique féminine, une discipline largement méconnue.
Quant au stade Jean-Bouin, qui est l'un des sites retenus pour les JO Paris 2024, il pourra mettre en avant sa capacité d’accueil de 20.000 spectateurs.
Ce tournoi constituant la 10e et dernière étape du circuit mondial, il s'achèvera avec la remise des titres de champion et championne du monde de rugby à 7.
En soutenant l'organisation de tels grands événements sportifs franciliens, la Région Île-de-France renforce chaque fois un peu plus l'attractivité de ses territoires tout en assurant son rayonnement à l'échelle internationale.
Le titre HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series a été décidé de façon spectaculaire après que l'Afrique du Sud a battu l'Angleterre 24-14 en finale du HSBC Paris Sevens pour décrocher la médaille d'or et conserver son titre de série.
Au cours d'une des années les plus compétitives de l'histoire de la série, le titre est allé jusqu'au tout dernier match puisque l'Afrique du Sud avait besoin d'une victoire en tournoi pour dépasser les Fidji dans le classement de la série.
L'Afrique du Sud a terminé la série en tête avec 182 points, suivie des Fidji qui ont remporté l'argent avec 180 points et la Nouvelle-Zélande avec 150 points après avoir remporté la médaille de bronze à Paris avec une victoire de 38-5 contre le Canada dans la troisième place
Les champions de la série de l'année dernière, l'Afrique du Sud, ont devancé l'Espagne 15-10 en quart de finale avec un essai à la cinquième minute de Justin Deguld, après que les pointages aient été 10-10 à la fin du temps réglementaire. Les Blitzboks sud-africains ont ensuite trouvé leur rythme en demi-finale avec une victoire complète de 24-12 contre la Nouvelle-Zélande grâce à deux essais de l'impressionnant Dewald Human, 23 ans, qui a fait ses débuts il y a deux mois à Hong Kong .
Humain était de nouveau en forme de but en finale et était ravi d'être élu Joueur de la Finale: "Ca a été une expérience fantastique ici à Paris, je me suis appuyé sur moi et j'ai apprécié chaque minute sur le terrain. sommes très heureux de la victoire. "
Le capitaine de l'équipe sud-africaine, Philip Snyman, a ajouté: "Nous voulions aller jouer au rugby et nous concentrer sur ce que nous pouvions contrôler: les gars ont joué un rugby phénoménal et ont fait honneur à l'équipe. C'est un sentiment incroyable de représenter un pays si merveilleux et les gens de chez nous n'ont jamais cessé de croire en nous et de nous soutenir. "
Fidjiens ont raté l'occasion de remporter le titre plus tôt dans la journée alors qu'ils ont été vaincus 19-17 par une équipe d'Angleterre pleine d'entrain dans un quart de finale à couper le souffle. Le capitaine de l'équipe d'Angleterre, Tom Mitchell, a complété un mouvement de 26 passes pour marquer dans les dernières secondes du match et mettre un terme à la récente domination des Fidji qui les avait vaincus lors des quatre dernières manches de la série.
Les Fidjiens se sont rétablis pour battre l'Irlande 38-5 et les États-Unis 28-7 pour terminer cinquième à Paris et mettre la pression sur l'Afrique du Sud pour la finale mais finalement ce n'était pas suffisant et les Fidjiens ont été obligés de se contenter des dix tours.
L'Angleterre a produit une autre performance puissante en demi-finale avec une victoire convaincante de 26-12 contre le Canada pour atteindre sa première finale de la série 2017-18, mais ils ont été incapables de faire face aux Blitzboks en finale alors que les hommes d'Afrique du Sud couraient vainqueurs devant une foule parisienne bruyante.
Équipe Invitational L'Irlande a battu 19-5 du quart en quarts de finale, mais après sa médaille de bronze à Londres la semaine dernière, les Irlandais se sont montrés assez prometteurs au cours des deux derniers tours un brillant avenir dans le rugby à sept.
L'Argentine a remporté le Challenge Trophy, décerné à l'équipe terminant en neuvième position, après avoir vaincu le Pays de Galles 33-26.
Toute l'attention se tourne maintenant vers la Coupe du monde de rugby à sept 2018 à San Francisco du 20 au 22 juillet, où 24 équipes masculines et 16 équipes féminines s'affronteront pour devenir championnes du monde au cours de trois journées d'action excitantes. Plus de 72 000 billets ont déjà été vendus et d'autres détails peuvent être obtenus via
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The AH-1 Cobra was developed in the mid-1960s as an interim gunship for the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. The Cobra shared the proven transmission, rotor system, and the T53 turboshaft engine of the UH-1 "Huey". By June 1967, the first AH-1G HueyCobras had been delivered. Bell built 1,116 AH-1Gs for the U.S. Army between 1967 and 1973, and the Cobras chalked up over a million operational hours in Vietnam.
The U.S. Marine Corps was very interested in the AH-1G Cobra, too, but it preferred a twin-engine version for improved safety in over-water operations, and also wanted a more potent turret-mounted weapon. At first, the Department of Defense had balked at providing the Marines with a twin-engine version of the Cobra, in the belief that commonality with Army AH-1Gs outweighed the advantages of a different engine fit. However, the Marines won out and awarded Bell a contract for 49 twin-engine AH-1J SeaCobras in May 1968. As an interim measure the U.S. Army passed on thirty-eight AH-1Gs to the Marines in 1969. The AH-1J also received a more powerful gun turret with a three-barrel 20 mm XM197 cannon based on the six-barrel M61 Vulcan cannon.
During the 1990s, the US forces gradually phased out its Cobra fleet. The withdrawn AH-1s were typically offered to other potential operators, usually NATO allies. Some were also given to the USDA's Forest Service for fire surveillance, and a handful AH-1s went into private hands, including the NASA. Among these airframes were some USMC AH-1Js, which had in part been mothballed in the Mojave Desert since their replacement through more powerful and modern AH-1 variants and the AH-64.
About twenty airframes were, after having been de-militarized, bought by the Kaman Corporation in 2003, in a bold move to quickly respond to more than 20 inquiries for the company’s K-1200 ‘K-Max’ crane synchropter since the type’s end of production in 2001 from firefighting, logging and industry transport requirements. While not such a dedicated medium lift helicopter as the K-1200, which had from the outset been optimized for external cargo load operations, the twin-engine AH-1J promised to be a very effective alternative and a powerful basis for a conversion into a crane helicopter.
The result of this conversion program was the Kaman K-1300, also known as the “K-Cobra” or “Crane Cobra”. While the basic airframe of the AH-1J was retained, extensive detail modifications were made. To reduce weight and compensate for the extensive hardware changes, the SeaCobra lost its armor, the chin turret, and the stub wings. Beyond that, many invisible changes were made; the internal structure between the engine mounts was beefed up with an additional cage structure and a cargo hook was installed under the fuselage in the helicopter’s center of lift.
To further optimize the K-Cobra’s performance, the dynamic components were modified and improved, too. While the engine remained the same, its oil cooler was enlarged and the original output limit to 1.500 shp was removed and the gearbox was strengthened to fully exploit the twin-engine’s available power of 1,800 shp (1,342 kW). The rotor system was also modified and optimized for the transport of underslung loads: the original UH-1 dual-blade rotors were replaced with new four-blade rotors. The new main rotor with rugged heavy-duty blades offered more lift at less rotor speed, and the blades’ lift sections were moved away from the hub so that downwash and turbulences directly under the helicopter’s CoG and man hook were reduced to keep the cargo load more stable. Due to the main rotor’s slightly bigger diameter the tail rotor was changed into a slightly smaller four-blade rotor, too. This new arrangement made the K-1300 more stable while hovering or during slow speed maneuvers and more responsive to steering input.
The Cobra’s crew of two was retained, but the cockpit was re-arranged and split into two compartments: the pilot retained the original rear position in the tandem cockpit under the original glazing, but the gunner’s station in front of him, together with the secondary dashboard, was omitted and replaced by a new, fully glazed cabin under the former gunner position. This cabin occupied the former gun station and its ammunition supply and contained a rearward-facing workstation for a second pilot with full controls. It was accessible via a separate door or a ladder from above, through a trap door in the former gunner’s station floor, where a simple foldable bench was available for a third person. This arrangement was chosen due to almost complete lack of oversight of the slung load from the normal cockpit position, despite a CCTV (closed circuit television) system with two cameras intended for observation of slung loads. The second pilot would control the helicopter during delicate load-handling maneuvers, while the primary pilot “above” would fly the helicopter during transfer flights, both sharing the workload.
To accommodate the cabin under the fuselage and improve ground handling, the AH-1J’s skids were replaced by a stalky, fixed four-wheel landing gear that considerably increased ground clearance (almost 7 feet), making the attachment of loads on the ground to the main ventral hook easier, as the K-1300 could be “rolled over” the cargo on the ground and did not have to hover above it to connect. However, an external ladder had to be added so that the pilot could reach his/her workstation almost 10 feet above the ground.
The bulky ventral cabin, the draggy landing gear and the new lift-optimized rotor system reduced the CraneCobra’s top speed by a third to just 124 mph (200 km/h), but the helicopter’s load-carrying capacity became 35% higher and the Cobra’s performance under “hot & high” conditions was markedly improved, too.
For transfer flights, a pair of external auxiliary tanks could be mounted to the lower fuselage flanks, which could also be replaced with cargo boxes of similar size and shape.
K-1300 buyers primarily came from the United States and Canada, but there were foreign operators, too. A major operator in Europe became Heliswiss, the oldest helicopter company in Switzerland. The company was founded as „Heliswiss Schweizerische Helikopter AG“, with headquarters in Berne-Belp on April 17, 1953, what also marked the beginning of commercial helicopter flying in Switzerland. During the following years Heliswiss expanded in Switzerland and formed a network with bases in Belp BE, Samedan GR, Domat Ems GR, Locarno TI, Erstfeld UR, Gampel VS, Gstaad BE and Gruyères FR. During the build-up of the rescue-company Schweizerische Rettungsflugwacht (REGA) as an independent network, Heliswiss carried out rescue missions on their behalf.
Heliswiss carried out operations all over the world, e. g. in Greenland, Suriname, North Africa and South America. The first helicopter was a Bell 47 G-1, registered as HB-XAG on September 23, 1953. From 1963 Heliswiss started to expand and began to operate with medium helicopters like the Agusta Bell 204B with a turbine power of 1050 HP and an external load of up to 1500 kg. From 1979 Heliswiss operated a Bell 214 (external load up to 2.8 t).
Since 1991 Heliswiss operated a Russian Kamov 32A12 (a civil crane version of the Ka-27 “Helix”), which was joined by two K-1300s in 2004. They were frequently used for construction of transmission towers for overhead power lines and pylons for railway catenary lines, for selective logging and also as fire bombers with underslung water bags, the latter managed by the German Helog company, operating out of Ainring and Küssnacht in Germany and Switzerland until 2008, when Helog changed its business focus into a helicopter flight training academy in Liberia with the support of Germany's Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
A second Kamov 32A12 joined the fleet in 2015, which replaced one of the K-1300s, and Heliswiss’ last K-1300 was retired in early 2022.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2, plus space for a passenger
Length: 54 ft 3 in (16,56 m) including rotors
44 ft 5 in (13.5 m) fuselage only
Main rotor diameter: 46 ft 2¾ in (14,11 m)
Main rotor area: 1,677.64 sq ft (156,37 m2)
Width (over landing gear): 12 ft 6 in (3.85 m)
Height: 17 ft 8¼ in (5,40 m)
Empty weight: 5,810 lb (2,635 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 9,500 lb (4,309 kg) without slung load
13,515 lb (6,145 kg) with slung load
Powerplant:
1× P&W Canada T400-CP-400 (PT6T-3 Twin-Pac) turboshaft engine, 1,800 shp (1,342 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 124 mph (200 km/h, 110 kn)
Cruise speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
Range: 270 mi (430 km, 230 nmi) with internal fuel only,
360 mi (570 km 310 nmi) with external auxiliary tanks
Service ceiling: 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
Hovering ceiling out of ground effect: 3,000 m (9,840 ft)
Rate of climb: 2,500 ft/min (13 m/s) at Sea Level with flat-rated torque
External load capacity (at ISA +15 °C (59.0 °F):
6,000 lb (2,722 kg) at sea level
5,663 lb (2,569 kg) at 5,000 ft (1,524 m)
5,163 lb (2,342 kg) at 10,000 ft (3,048 m)
5,013 lb (2,274 kg) at 12,100 ft (3,688 m)
4,313 lb (1,956 kg) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This is/was the second contribution to the late 2022 “Logistics” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com, a welcome occasion and motivation to tackle a what-if project that had been on my list for a long while. This crane helicopter conversion of a HueyCobra was inspired by the Mil Mi-10K helicopter – I had built a 1:100 VEB Plasticart kit MANY years ago and still remembered the helicopter’s unique ventral cabin under the nose with a rearward-facing second pilot. I always thought that the AH-1 might be a good crane helicopter, too, esp. the USMC’s twin-engine variant. And why not combine everything in a fictional model?
With this plan the basis became a Fujimi 1:72 AH-1J and lots of donor parts to modify the basic hull into “something else”. Things started with the removal of the chin turret and part of the lower front hull to make space for the ventral glass cabin. The openings for the stub wings were faired over and a different stabilizer (taken from a Revell EC 135, including the end plates) was implanted. The attachment points for the skids were filled and a styrene tube was inserted into the rotor mast opening to later hold the new four-blade rotor. Another styrene tube with bigger diameter was inserted into the lower fuselage as a display holder adapter for later flight scene pictures. Lead beads filled the nose section to make sure the CraneCobra would stand well on its new legs, with the nose down. The cockpit was basically taken OOB, just the front seat and the respective gunner dashboard was omitted.
One of the big challenges of this build followed next: the ventral cabin. Over the course of several months, I was not able to find a suitable donor, so I was forced to scratch the cabin from acrylic and styrene sheet. Size benchmark became the gunner’s seat from the Cobra kit, with one of the OOB pilots seated. Cabin width was less dictated through the fuselage, the rest of the cabin’s design became a rather simple, boxy thing – not pretty, but I think a real-life retrofitted cabin would not look much different? Some PSR was done to hide the edges of the rather thick all-clear walls and create a 3D frame - a delicate task. Attaching the completed thing with the second pilot and a dashboard under the roof to the Cobra’s lower hull and making it look more or less natural without major accidents was also a tricky and lengthy affair, because I ignored the Cobra’s narrowing nose above the former chin turret.
With the cabin defining the ground helicopter’s clearance, it was time for the next donors: the landing gear from an Airfix 1:72 Kamow Ka-25, which had to be modified further to achieve a proper stance. The long main struts were fixed to the hull, their supporting struts had to be scratched, in this case from steel wire. The front wheels were directly attached to the ventral cabin (which might contain in real life a rigid steel cage that not only protects the second crew member but could also take the front wheels’ loads?). Looks pretty stalky!
Under the hull, a massive hook and a fairing for the oil cooler were added. A PE brass ladder was mounted on the right side of the hull under the pilot’s cockpit, while a rear-view mirror was mounted for the ventral pilot on the left side.
The rotor system was created in parallel, I wanted “something different” from the UH-1 dual-blade rotors. The main rotor hub was taken from a Mistercraft 1:72 Westland Lynx (AFAIK a re-boxed ZTS Plastyk kit), which included the arms up to the blades. The hub was put onto a metal axis, with a spacer to make it sit well in the new styrene tube adapter inside of the hull, and some donor parts from the Revell EC 135. Deeper, tailored blades were glued to the Lynx hub, actually leftover parts from the aforementioned wrecked VEB Plasticart 1:100 Mi-10, even though their length had to be halved (what makes you aware how large a Mi-6/10 is compared with an AH-1!). The tail rotor was taken wholesale from the Lynx and stuck to the Cobra’s tail with a steel pin.
Painting and markings:
Another pushing factor for this build was the fact that I had a 1:72 Begemot aftermarket decal sheet for the Kamow Ka-27/32 in The Stash™, which features, among many military helicopters, (the) two civil Heliswiss machines – a perfect match!
Using the Swiss Helix’ as design benchmark I adapted their red-over-white paint scheme to the slender AH-1 and eventually ended up with a simple livery with a white belly (acrylic white from the rattle can, after extensive masking of the clear parts with Maskol/latex milk) and a red (Humbrol 19) upper section, with decorative counter-colored cheatlines along the medium waterline. A black anti-glare panel was added in front of the windscreen. The auxiliary tanks were painted white, too, but they were processed separately and mounted just before the final coat of varnish was applied. The PE ladder as well as the rotors were handled similarly.
The cockpit and rotor opening interior were painted in a very dark grey (tar black, Revell 06), while the interior of the air intakes was painted bright white (Revell 301). The rotor blades became light grey (Revell 75) with darker leading edges (Humbrol 140), dark grey (Humbrol 164) hubs and yellow tips.
For the “HELOG/Heliswiss” tagline the lower white section had to be raised to a medium position on the fuselage, so that they could be placed on the lower flanks under the cockpit. The white civil registration code could not be placed on the tail and ended up on the engine cowling, on red, but this does not look bad or wrong at all.
The cheatlines are also decals from the Ka-32 Begemot sheet, even though they had to be trimmed considerably to fit onto the Cobra’s fuselage – and unfortunately the turned out to be poorly printed and rather brittle, so that I had to improvise and correct the flaws with generic red and white decal lines from TL Modellbau. The white cross on the tail and most stencils came from the Begemot sheet, too. Black, engine soot-hiding areas on the Cobra’s tail were created with generic decal sheet material, too.
The rotor blades and the wheels received a black ink treatment to emphasize their details, but this was not done on the hull to avoid a dirty or worn look. After some final details like position lights the model was sealed with semi-matt acrylic varnish, while the rotors became matt.
A weird-looking what-if model, but somehow a crane-copter variant of the AH-1 looks quite natural – even more so in its attractive red-and-white civil livery. The stalky landing gear is odd, though, necessitated by the ventral cabin for the second pilot. I was skeptical, but scratching the latter was more successful than expected, and the cabin blend quite well into the AH-1 hull, despite its boxy shape.
copyright © Mim Eisenberg/mimbrava studio. All rights reserved.
I was out weeding in the garden and taking insect and flower shots with my 60mm macro, and Zoe Bear decided it was time to RUN! I didn't have the right lens or the right exposure settings and didn't even focus. I just aimed and shot, and this is what came out. I love how it gives a sense of her joy at running free in the bright sunlight. (The shadow tells you the sun was overhead.)
Thank you for visiting. I'll do my best to return the favor today, but my ridiculous workload, though I'm making headway is still calling me away from Flickr. This will be the case for at least another month or so. I think that's good.
See my shots on flickriver:
www.flickrriver.com/photos/mimbrava/
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