F-35 Lightning II

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The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation, single-seat, single-engine, stealth multirole fighter, that can perform close air support, tactical bombing, and air defense missions. The F-35 has three different models; one is the conventional takeoff and landing variant, the second is short takeoff and vertical-landing variant, and the third is a carrier-based variant.



The F-35 is descended from the X-35, the product of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program. Its development is being principally funded by the United States, with the United Kingdom and other partner governments providing additional funding. It is being designed and built by an aerospace industry team led by Lockheed Martin with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems as major partners. Demonstrator aircraft flew in 2000, with the first flight on 15 December 2006.
The Joint Strike Fighter evolved out of several requirements for a common fighter to replace existing types. The actual JSF development contract was signed on 16 November 1996.



The contract for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) was awarded on 26 October 2001 to Lockheed Martin, whose X-35 beat the Boeing X-32. According to Department of Defense officials and British Minister of Defence Procurement Lord Bach, the X-35 consistently outperformed the X-32, although both met or exceeded requirements. The designation of the fighter as "F-35" came as a surprise to Lockheed, which had been referring to the aircraft in-house by the designation "F-24".



The F-35 appears to be a smaller, slightly more conventional, single-engine sibling of the sleeker, twin-engine F-22 Raptor, and indeed drew elements from it. The exhaust duct design was inspired by the General Dynamics Model 200 design, which was proposed for a 1972 supersonic VTOL fighter requirement for the Sea Control Ship. For specialized development of the F-35B STOVL variant, Lockheed consulted with the Yakovlev Design Bureau, purchasing design data from their development of the Yakovlev Yak-141 "Freestyle". Although several experimental designs have been built and tested since the 1960s including the Navy's unsuccessful Rockwell XFV-12, the F-35B is to be the first operational supersonic STOVL fighter.
The F-35 is designed to be America's "premier surface-to-air missile killer and is uniquely equipped for this mission with cutting edge processing power, synthetic aperture radar integration techniques, and advanced target recognition."



Some improvements over current-generation fighter aircraft are:

* Durable, low-maintenance stealth technology;
* Integrated avionics and sensor fusion that combine information from off- and onboard sensors to increase the pilot's situational awareness and improve target identification and weapon delivery, and to relay information quickly to other command and control (C2) nodes;
* High speed data networking including IEEE 1394b and Fibre Channel.
* The Autonomic Logistics Global Sustainment (ALGS), Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) and Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) help ensure aircraft uptime with minimal maintenance manpower.



The Teen Series of fighters (F-15, F-16, F/A-18) were notable for always carrying large external fuel tanks, but as a stealth aircraft the F-35 must fly most missions on internal fuel. Unlike the F-16 and F/A-18, the F-35 lacks leading edge extensions (LEX) and instead uses stealth-friendly chines for vortex lift in the same fashion as the SR-71 Blackbird. The small bumps just forward of the engine air intakes form part of the diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) which is a simpler, lighter and stealthier means to ensure high-quality airflow to the engine over a wide range of conditions.



The F-35's main engine is the Pratt & Whitney F135. The General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 is being developed as an alternate engine. The STOVL versions of both powerplants use the Rolls-Royce LiftSystem, patented by Lockheed Martin and built by Rolls-Royce. This system is more like the Russian Yak-141 and German VJ 101D/E than the preceding generation of STOVL designs, such as the Harrier Jump Jet in which all of the lifting air went through the main fan of the Rolls-Royce Pegasus engine.




The LiftSystem is composed of a lift fan, drive shaft, two roll posts and a "Three Bearing Swivel Module" (3BSM). The 3BSM is a thrust vectoring nozzle which allows the main engine exhaust to be deflected downward at the tail of the aircraft. The lift fan near the front of the aircraft provides a counter-balancing thrust. Somewhat like a vertically mounted turboprop within the forward fuselage, the lift fan is powered by the engine's low-pressure (LP) turbine via a drive shaft and gearbox. Roll control during slow flight is achieved by diverting pressurized air from the LP turbine through wing mounted thrust nozzles called Roll Posts.



The F-35B lift fan achieves the same 'flow multiplier' effect as the Harrier's huge, but supersonically impractical, main fan. Like lift engines, this added machinery is just deadweight during horizontal flight but provides a net increase in payload capacity during vertical flight. The cool exhaust of the fan also reduces the amount of hot, high-velocity air that is projected downward during vertical takeoff (which can damage runways and aircraft carrier decks). Though complicated and risky, the lift system has been made to work to the satisfaction of DOD officials.
To date, F-136 funding has come at the expense of other parts of the program, reducing the number of aircraft built and increasing their costs. However, the F-136 team has claimed that their engine has a greater temperature margin which may prove critical for VTOL operations in hot, high altitude conditions.
The F-35 includes a GAU-22/A four-barrel 25mm cannon. The cannon will be mounted internally with 180 rounds in the F-35A and fitted as an external pod with 220 rounds in the F-35B and F-35C. The gun pod for the B and C variants will have stealth features. This pod could be used for different equipment in the future, such as EW, reconnaissance equipment, or possibly a rearward facing radar.



Internally (current planned weapons for integration), up to two air-to-air missiles and two air-to-air or air-to-ground weapons (up to two 2,000 lb bombs in A and C models (BRU-68); two 1,000 lb bombs in the B model (BRU-67)) can be carried in the bomb bays. These could be AIM-120 AMRAAM, AIM-132 ASRAAM, the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) – up to 2,000 lb (910 kg), the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), Small Diameter Bombs (SDB) – a maximum of four in each bay (Three per bay in F-35B), the Brimstone anti-armor missiles, and Cluster Munitions (WCMD). The MBDA Meteor air-to-air missile is currently being adapted to fit internally in the missile spots and may be integrated into the F-35. The UK had originally planned to put up to four AIM-132 ASRAAM internally but this has been changed to carry 2 internal and 2 external ASRAAMs. It has also been stated by a Lockheed executive that the internal bay will eventually be modified to accept up to 6 AMRAAMs.



At the expense of being more detectable by radar, many more missiles, bombs and fuel tanks can be attached on four wing pylons and two near wingtip positions. The two wingtip locations can only carry AIM-9X Sidewinder. The other pylons can carry the AIM-120 AMRAAM, Storm Shadow, AGM-158 Joint Air to Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) cruise missiles, guided bombs, 480-gallon and 600-gallon fuel tanks. An air-to-air load of eight AIM-120s and two AIM-9s is conceivable using internal and external weapons stations, as well as a configuration of six 2,000 lb bombs, two AIM-120s and two AIM-9s. With its payload capability, the F-35 can carry more air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons than legacy fighters it is to replace as well as the F-22 Raptor. Solid-state lasers were being developed as optional weapons for the F-35 as of 2002.


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David Brown

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Sir David Brown (10 May 1904 - 3 September 1993) was an English entrepreneur, managing director of his family firm David Brown Limited and one time owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thornycroft.
Brown was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. After attending Rossall School he started work as an apprentice in the family business, David Brown Gear Company Ltd. He became managing director in 1931, on his uncle Percy's death. In 1934 the company built a new factory on a site at Meltham, on the south side of Huddersfield. Brown, who also owned a farm, started building tractors with Harry Ferguson there in 1939, but they disagreed over design details, which led David Brown to design his own version.

During the Second World War his new heavier tractor, called the David Brown VAK1, was produced, with over 7,700 units eventually sold, making Brown into a wealthy man. Harry Ferguson went to America and did a deal with Henry Ford to incorporate his system in the Fordson N series, before setting up Ferguson tractors. In 1972, the David Brown tractor interests were sold to Tenneco International (Inc.), and were rebadged as Case.



In 1947, Brown saw a classified advertisement in The Times, offering for sale a High Class Motor Business. Brown acquired Aston Martin for £20,500 and, in the following year, Lagonda for £52,500, followed by the coachbuilder Tickford in 1955. He subsequently concentrated all the Aston Martin manufacturing at the Tickford premises in Newport Pagnell.



The legendary 'DB' series of Aston Martin cars, including the Atom, the DB2, the DB3, the DB4, the DB5 (famously driven by fictional character James Bond), the DB6, and the DB7 - Aston's most successful model yet - were named after Brown using his initials. Ironically, while at the helm of Aston Martin, he actually used a rival product, a Jaguar XJ Series I, as personal transport. Aston Martin was sold off in the 1970s when the company was in financial difficulties.



He was a natural adventurer who owned race horses, played polo, raced cars and motorcycles, and was a qualified pilot. He was knighted in 1968.



He married three times, to Daisy Muriel Firth in 1926, Marjorie Deans (his secretary) in 1955 and to Paula Benton Stone in 1980. He had two children, David and Angela, both of whom entered the family business. Angela married George Abecassis the racing driver. Sir David Brown died in September 1993 in Monte Carlo, 8 years before David Brown Ltd was acquired by Textron Inc.


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William Fife

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William Fife III OBE (1857-1944), also known as Wm. Fife, Jr., was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders.
Fife was born in the small village of Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde. His father and grandfather (both also named William and often referred to as Fife I and Fife II) had also been designers and boatbuilders in Fairlie. The family business operated from a yard on the beach in the village. Fife began building yachts in 1890 and soon surpassed the achievements of his father and grandfather and became known as one of the premier yacht designers of the day.

Fife designed two America's Cup yachts for grocery and tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton who challenged for the cup a total of five times. The Fife-designed challenger Shamrock I (1899) lost to Columbia (Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, 1899) and Shamrock III (1903) lost to Reliance. After the establishment of the first International Rule in 1906, Fife became a prolific designer of meter boats, designing and building several very successful 15mR and 19mR yachts in the years leading up to the Great War.




Éric Tabarly, the famous French sailor, two time winner of the OSTAR and owner of the Fife design Pen Duick (formerly Yum, 1898), writing on the designs produced by Fife during the first few decades of the century noted that: "the great designers of the period were Herreshoff, George Lennox Watson, Nicholson and William Fife. Amongst these, Fife has acquired a particular reputation thanks to the sheer artistry and balance of his designs. Furthermore, those of his designs which took shape in his yard were of unmatched construction."



While Fife established a leading reputation on the yacht racing circuit, his work also included a number of fine cruising vessels. Dr. William Collier of Fairlie Restorations in Hamble, UK, writing on Fife's work in the 1920s, noted that during this period, ”[Fife] designed and built not only smaller Metre boats but also a series of fine cruisers. This combination typified the inter-war era of the Fairlie yard. Like the schooner Altair (1931), many of the cruisers echo his turn of the century designs such as Cicely (1902) or Suzanne (1906); similarly there were few fundamental differences in his ketch designs spanning this era. Perceived by some as anachronistic, these yachts were considered by many to represent some of the greatest refinements of the auxiliary cruising yacht ever achieved.” Id.
The Fife yard also had a reputation for the extremely high quality of the craftsmanship of the yachts built at the yard. Today, it is thought that there are somewhat less than 100 Fife designs still in existence. Of these, there are around fifty still sailing. Of the larger vessels, the schooner Altair (1931) and the keel cutters Cambria (1928), Hallowe'en (1926), The Lady Anne (1912), Moonbeam of Fife (1903), Moonbeam IV (1920), Mariquita (1911) and Tuiga (1909) grace the classic yacht circuit in Europe. In North America, the ketchs Adventuress (1924), Belle Aventure (1929) and Sumurun (1914) are located in New England waters.



Fife once said that the secret of a great yacht was that it should be both "fast and bonnie".

Fife was awarded an OBE for his work. In 2004, he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame.

Shamrock & Reliance

Fife died in 1944, never having married and without an heir. He is buried in Largs. The yard was continued for some years after his death by his nephew, but never achieved the renown known under Fife's ownership.


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Oscar's Honey December 09

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Meagan Monique Good (born August 8, 1981) is an American film and television actress, and occasional film producer. Beginning her career at the age of four, Good has appeared in numerous commercials, television shows, feature films, and music videos.

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WL 45 Harley Davidson

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Via the Southsiders-mc



Nico is a pragmatic guy, why have two bikes when can do anything with one?.

His passion: The WL 45Harley Davidson, is used for the track as much as for the road. For this, he asked Alain Servie Flatheads specialist to prepare a reliable engine based on the WR specifications. The engine takes 6,000 rpm and more, the internal lubrication has been improved. The electronic ignition take place in the original ignition bell, the old dual Venturi Linkert carburetor has been replaced by a much more efficient modern Dell'Orto which allows especially in the sequences of fast corners quickly gain a few miles per hour.
These few changes do not radically change the nature of the machine, but make it easier to use.

The Street Bobber version

The original chassis which can be transformed into Racer or street Bobber within hours, with lights, fenders, speedometer, saddle and especially the wheels with 18 " alloy rims, dual cams front brake (500SR) and soft tires for the track
or originals 16" wheels with Steel hubs and rims and 500X16 Avon mk2 type tires for the street bobber version.

Nico is a perfectionist in his preparation and work constantly on optimizing the gas flow and particularly with the Supertrapp exhaust also final gear ratios which are adapted according to the layout of the circuit.
Over the years, the small group of fanatics has grown, they are today about twenty in France to run on this type of motorcycles rather rare here because we have been deprived of U.S. military bases after war.

The Racer version

Nico takes care of his group trying to participate in a maximum of events ranging from
of old machines meetings , or U.S. customs show and straight runs.

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The 47th Samurai

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In The 47th Samurai, Bob Lee Swagger, the gritty hero of Stephen Hunter's bestselling novels Point of Impact and Time to Hunt, returns in Hunter's most intense and exotic thriller to date...




Bob Lee Swagger and Philip Yano are bound together by a single moment at Iwo Jima, 1945, when their fathers, two brave fighters on opposite sides, met in the bloody and chaotic battle for the island. Only Earl Swagger survived.

More than sixty years later, Yano comes to America to honor the legacy of his heroic father by recovering the sword he used in the battle. His search has led him to Crazy Horse, Idaho, where Bob Lee, ex-marine and Vietnam veteran, has settled into a restless retirement and immediately pledges himself to Yano's quest.

Stephen Hunter (born March 25, 1946) is an American novelist, essayist, and Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic. He currently resides in Columbia, Maryland.

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The Sunday Movie

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