 | H.A.F. AB-205 ''358 Phaethon'' http://www.aviationlive.org Online Aviation Pics,Videos and Forum Hellenic Air Force AB-205 In the section of Search and Rescue (SAR), HAF currently has 2 helicopter squadrons, 358 SAR Squadron (with AB-205 and AB-212 helicopters) and 384 SAR Squadron (with Super Puma helicopters).During SAR missions, which are coordinated in conjunction with the Ministry of Commercial Shipping, a Navy diver is among the rescue crew. It is a single-engine, single-rotor, medium-transport capability, multiple-role helicopter . It is used as a supply and personnel carrier, and for Search and Rescue operations. They are based at 112CW in Elefsis, in 358 "Phaethon" squadron. Specifications: * Crew: 3 (Pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer) * Length: 16,50 m * Weight: 2.495 kg (empty), 4.309 kg (operational) * Rotor diameter: 14,71 m * Max speed : 222 Km/h |
 | English Electric Lighning http://www.aviationlive.org Online Aviation Pics,Videos and Forum The English Electric Lightning was a British supersonic fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, remembered for its great speed and natural metal exterior. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. Renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor, RAF pilots described it as "being saddled to a skyrocket".[1] English Electric was later incorporated into the British Aircraft Corporation, later marks being developed and produced as the BAC Lightning. The Lightning was used throughout much of its service life by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Saudi Air Force. The aircraft was a regular performer at airshows and was the first aircraft capable of supercruise. The Lightning was also one of the highest performance planes ever used in formation aerobatics. In July 2006, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was officially named "Lightning II" in honour of both the English Electric Lightning and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The prototypes, known as English Electric P.1s, were built to a Ministry of Supply requirement (Specification ER.103) for a transonic research aircraft. The first of the two P.1s WG760 flew for the first time from RAF Boscombe Down on 4 August 1954. It was soon realised that the aircraft should be regarded as a prototype fighter to satisfy the British Air Ministry's 1947 specification F23/49 rather than being research aircraft. This specification followed the cancellation of the Air Ministry's 1942 E.24/43 supersonic research aircraft specification which had resulted in the Miles M.52.[citation needed] The Lightning shared a number of innovations first planned for the Miles M.52 including the shock cone and all-moving tailplane, the latter described by Chuck Yeager as the single most significant contribution to the final success of supersonic flight. The P.1's designer was W.E.W. Petter, formerly chief designer at Westland Aircraft. The design was controversial and the Short SB5 was built to test wing sweep and tailplane combinations. The original combination was proved correct. The forerunner of the Lightning series was the P.1A and P.1B flying "proof-of-concept" aircraft. Looking very much like the production series, the prototypes were distinguished by the rounded-triangular intakes, short fins and lack of radar or operational equipment.[1] On 25 November 1958, the P.1B became the first British aircraft to fly at Mach 2.[1] The Lightning was specifically designed as a point defence interceptor - essentially a guided missile-armed, air superiority fighter optimised to defend mainland Britain against bomber attacks. In order to reduce cross sectional area of the fuselage and improve performance, the fuel capacity was highly restricted. It was armed with two 30 mm ADEN cannons and two air-to-air missiles, at first the de Havilland Firestreak and later the Hawker Siddeley Red Top. |
 | Fuerza Aerea Argentina http://www.aviationlive.org Online Aviation Pics,Videos and Forum The Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aérea Argentina or FAA) is the national aviation branch of the armed forces of Argentina. The Argentine Air Force's history begins with the establishment of the Escuela de Aviación Militar (Military Aviation School) on 10 August 1912. Several military officers were amongst the pioneers of Argentine aviation, including Jorge Newbery, a retired Argentine Navy officer. The School began to turn out several military pilots who participated in milestone events in Argentine aviation, such as the crossing of the Andes mountains. In 1927 the Dirección General de Aeronáutica (General Directorate of Aeronautics) was created to coordinate the country's military aviation. In that same year, the Fábrica Militar de Aviones (Military Aircraft Factory, FMA) was founded in Córdoba, which would become the heart of the country's aviation industry. By the 1940s there were several air units in the Army and the Navy, and the first step towards an independent force came on 11 February 1944 with the establishment of the Aeronautical Command, which would go on to become the Argentine Air Force on 4 January 1945, an independent force on par with the Army and the Navy. Immediately after the end of World War II, the Air Force began a process of modernization, incorporating aircraft such as the Gloster Meteor jet fighter, thus becoming the first air force in Latin America equipped with jet-propelled aircraft. In addition, a number of Avro Lincoln and Avro Lancaster bombers were acquired, creating a powerful strategic force in the region. The Air Force, in collaboration with German technicians, also began to develop its own aircraft, such as the Pulqui I and Pulqui II, making Argentina the first country in Latin America and the sixth in the world to develop jet fighter technology on its own. In 1952, the Air Force began flights to supply the early Antarctic scientific bases, expanding its activities in the Antarctic continent and establishing Marambio Base on 25 September 1969. During the 1970s, the Air Force reequipped itself with modern aircraft for the period, including the Mirage III interceptors, IAI Dagger multi-role fighters (Israeli derivatives of the Mirage V), A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft and C-130 Hercules cargo planes. Also, a counter-insurgency airplane, the Pucará, was used in substantial numbers. The Falklands War, termed by the Argentines Guerra de las Malvinas / Guerra del Atlántico Sur, took a great toll on the Air Force, which lost 60 aircraft. Due to the deteriorating economic situation, international opposition and political distrust upon the military, the Air Force was denied the resources needed to replace the war losses. This, coupled with diminishing budgets, led to a period of reduced activity and growing materiel obsolescence. In the 1990s, the British embargo was officially eliminated and after economic and political failure attempts of getting surplus IAI Kfirs or F-16As, the United States sold 36 refurbished A-4M Skyhawk (known as A-4AR Fightinghawks.) Since their reception, the A-4AR demonstrated being a worthy replacement of the Bravos and Charlies that fought during the war. The FAA has been greatly involved in United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world. They sent a Boeing 707 to the 1991 Gulf War. Since 1994, the UN Air contingent (UNFLIGHT) in Cyprus under UNFICYP mandate is provided by the FAA, achieving 10,000 flight hours (as of 2003) without any accidents . The FAA has also since 2005 deployed Bell 212 helicopters to Haiti under MINUSTAH mandate. In early 2005, the top seventeen brigadiers of the Air Force, including the Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Carlos Rohde, were sacked by President Néstor Kirchner following a drug traffic scandal through Ezeiza International Airport. Kirchner cited failures in the security systems of Argentine airports (which were overseen by the National Aeronautic Police, a branch of the Air Force) and cover-ups of the scandal, even though it later became known that many government agencies, among them the Interior Ministry, the Customs Administration and the Secretariat of State Intelligence knew about the drug traffic operations. The primary concerns of the Air Force nowadays are the establishment of a radar network for control of the country's airspace, the replacement of its older combat aircraft (Mirage III, Mirage V) and the incorporation of new technologies. The possibility of purchasing surplus French Air Force Mirage 2000C fighters, like the option chosen by the Brazilian Air Force, has been considered. Since the last decade, the FAA had established good relations with neighbours Brazilian Air Force and Chilean Air Force. They annually meet, on a rotation basis, in the join exercises Cruzex in Brazil, Ceibo in Argentina and Salitre in Chile. |
 | Norco Introduction About NORCO NORCO, founded in 1991, is the top leading high-tech manufacturer of IPC (industrial PC) in China. With 17 years' development, NORCO has become a leading edge company incorporated with R&D, manufacturing, sales and service network in this industry. NORCO products cover a wide range of SBC(picmg1.0/1.3, full size CPU card/half size CPU card), embedded industrial motherboard(EPIC, PC104/+, Mini-ITX,ETX), industrial chassis, passive backplane, industrial power supply, PPC, workstation, firewall, storage array(digital lib) , industrial computer accessories and IO adapters. These products are used widely in the crucial applications such as: military, telecom, mining, industrial automation, energy, traffic, aviation, health care, network, material, AI (artificial intelligence), security, vehicle, banking, entertainment etc. NORCO attributes her success to the sustainable R&D ability adhering to the most-up-to-date computer technology. With a forerunner's R&D of industrial computers, NORCO is enjoying a good popularity in China. Here, NORCO serves a vertical market with over 30 branches in mainland China. NORCO is providing an on-site seamless service to our customers across the nation. On overseas market, NORCO also has affiliated companies in EU, US, Canada and Singapore. After joining Intel ICA in 2004, NORCO has become the top hardware supplier in the communication industry. With this leap, NORCO has achieved 60% annual sales increase in the past 4 years. The overall sales turnover and sales coverage rate has become the top 3 in China, and the export rate has become the highest in China. "Customer oriented, application oriented and product oriented"------with these three principles, NORCO also provides the turnkey custom solutions which are tailored to the applications. Having the future in view, NORCO will adhere to her core value of "make the most reliable IPC in China", and provide the better products and better service to return to the society. Milestones - 2007: Listed in the fifth edition SHENZHEN TOP BRAND; Joined the Shenzhen Federation of Industrial Economics (CFIE); Be selected as the trustee organization of Shenzhen Association For Quality; Obtain the 2008 China Trustworthy Brands of Information Security; FW series network security barebone awarded with "2008 China Information Security Technology Innovation Prize"; Be selected as SHENZHEN Open R&D Base; NORCO is recognized as the preeminent enterprise of Intellectual Property by Shenzhen Baoan Bureau of Science Technology&Information; Listed in the billboard of 2007 Trustworthy Customers of Small to Medium Size Companies - 2006: The construction of new HuiZhou DaYaWan Manufacturing Base, which covers about 16.5 acres, launched. The new base will be accomplished in 4Q of 2008. The new base will accommodate all our current 4 production lines, R&D center, warehouse, 2 strategy sales offices and the headquarters; NORCO is recommended as the fist choice by The Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China. - In 2006, supported by Intel, NORCO has introduced the PICMG1.3 mother board to the industry based on Intel945 chipset; - In 2005, supported by Intel, NORCO is the first company that produces CORE Duo CPU card based on Intel852GM chipset in APAC; - In 2004, NORCO announced her P4 industrial motherboard, and become a member of ICA (Intel COMMUNICATION ALLIANCE). NORCO becomes the first Chinese domestic company who designs the reference board for Intel CEG. Intel introduces the incorporated solution to her world wide customers as concept: Digital Home; - In 2002, NORCO becomes the first company which is certificated by ISO9001:2000 in the EIP (embedded intelligence platform) industry; - In 2001, NORCO adopted Pentium III to the embedded computing platform, and successfully introduced this product to USA; - In 2000, NORCO has announced her socket370 CPU card: NORCO-630 and this board is the first socket370 motherboard in Asia. This product is so popular that it almost becomes the standard for industrial applications afterward; - From 1993 to 1999, NORCO built her own brand: NORCO; - From 1991 to 1993, NORCO incorporated, and setup 10 subsidiaries in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenyang etc; |
 | Westland Lysander in Action The Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft used in the Second World War. It achieved fame through its ability to operate from short stretches of unprepared airstrip and its clandestine missions to plant or retrieve agents from behind enemy lines, particularly in Nazi-occupied France. Like other British army air co-operation aeroplanes, it was given the name of a military leader, in this case, the Spartan Lysander. In 1934, the Air Ministry issued the Specification A.39/34 for an army co-operation aircraft to replace the Hawker Hector. Initially, Hawker Aircraft, Avro and Bristol were invited to submit designs, but after some debate within the Ministry, a submission from Westland was invited as well. The Westland design, internally designated P.8, was the work of Arthur Davenport under the direction of "Teddy" Petter. It was Petter's second aircraft design and he spent considerable time interviewing RAF pilots to find out what they wanted from such an aircraft, suggesting that field of view, low-speed handling characteristics and STOL performance were the most important factors. Davenport and Petter worked to design an aircraft around the requested features: the result was highly unconventional and looked, by its 15 June 1936 maiden flight, rather antiquated. The Lysander featured a Bristol Mercury radial engine, high gull wings and a fixed taildragger landing gear inside huge spats. The spats had mountings for small, removable stub wings that could be used to carry bombs or supply canisters. In appearance it was not dissimilar to the Polish LWS-3 Mewa. It was equipped with automatic wing slats and slotted flaps, which were novel features for the era. The combination of these wing enhancements gave the Lysander a stalling speed of 65 mph. It also featured the largest Elektron alloy extrusion made at the time: a single piece inside the spats supporting the landing gear wheels. The Air Ministry requested two prototypes of the P.8 and the competing Bristol Type 148, quickly selecting the Westland aircraft for production, issuing a contract in September 1936. The first Lysanders entered service in June 1938 equipping squadrons for "Army Co-operation" and were initially used for message-dropping and artillery spotting. When war broke out in Europe, the earlier Mk Is had been largely replaced by Mk IIs, the older machines heading for the Middle East. Four regular squadrons equipped with Lysanders accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France. These were put into action as spotters and light bombers. In spite of occasional victories against German aircraft, they made very easy targets for the Luftwaffe unless escorted by Hurricanes. Almost half the Lysanders operating in and over France were lost and, with the fall of France, the type was quickly withdrawn from its army co-operation role. Back in England some went to work operating air-sea rescue for RAF pilots in the English Channel. Fourteen squadrons and flights were formed for this work during 1940/1941, dropping dinghies to downed pilots. Specifications (Lysander Mk III) General characteristics Crew: One, pilot Capacity: 1 passenger (or observer) Length: 30 ft 6 in (9.29 m) Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m) Height: 11 ft 6 in (3.50 m) Wing area: 260 ft² (24.2 m²) Empty weight: 4,044 lb (1,834 kg) Loaded weight: 5,833 lb (2,645 kg) Max takeoff weight: 6,305 lb (2,866 kg) Powerplant: 1× Bristol Mercury XX radial engine, 870 hp (649 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 212 mph (341 km/h) Range: 600 miles (966 km) Service ceiling: 21,500 ft (6,550 m) Rate of climb: 1,410 ft/min (7.2 m/s) Wing loading: 22 lb/ft² (109 kg/m²) Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (250 W/kg) |
 | ROLLS ROYCE merlins raf aircraft In 1936, the Air Ministry had a requirement for a new fighter aircraft with airspeeds that would eventually have to be over 300 mph (480 km/h). Fortunately, two designs had been developed entirely as private venture exercises: the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. Both were designed around the PV-12 instead of the Kestrel, and were the only British modern fighters to have been so developed. Production contracts for both aircraft were let in 1936. The PV-12 was instantly catapulted to the top of the supply chain and became the Merlin. Early Merlins were considered to be rather unreliable, but Rolls soon introduced a superb reliability-improvement programme to improve matters. This consisted of taking random engines from the end of assembly line and running them continuously at full power until they failed. Each was then dismantled to find out which part had failed, and that part was redesigned to be stronger. After two years of this, the Merlin had matured into one of the most reliable aero engines in the world, and could be run at full power for eight-hour bombing missions with no problems. As it turned out, the Peregrine saw use in only two aircraft, the Westland Whirlwind and the Gloster F9/37. Although the Peregrine appeared to be a satisfactory design, it was never allowed to mature; Rolls-Royce's priority was troubleshooting the Merlin. The Vulture was fitted to the Hawker Tornado and Avro Manchester, but proved unreliable owing to big-end failures caused by lubrication problems. With the Merlin itself soon pushing into the 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) range, the Peregrine and Vulture were both cancelled in 1943. upgrades to the Merlin were the result of ever-increasing octane ratings in the aviation fuel available from the US, and ever more efficient supercharger designs. At the start of the war the engine ran on the then-standard 87 octane aviation spirit and The next major version was the XX which ran on 100 octane fuel. This allowed it to be run at higher manifold pressures, which were achieved by increasing the "boost" from the centrifugal type supercharger. The result was that the otherwise similar engine delivered 1,300 hp (970 kW). The process continued, with later versions running on further-increased octane ratings, delivering higher and higher power ratings. By the end of the war the "little" engine was delivering over 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) in common versions, and as much as 2,070 hp (1,544 kW) in the Merlin 130/131 versions used on the de Havilland Hornet. The Merlin was running on 150 Octane fuel by the time it was used in the Lancaster bomber. This high octane rating was achieved by large quantities of lead anti-knocking agent, so much in fact, that the engine cowlings around the exhaust outlets were usually heavily stained with it. It had to be regularly removed for aerodynamic, not to mention weight, reasons. The Merlin's lack of direct fuel injection meant that both Spitfires and Hurricanes were, unlike the contemporary Bf-109E, unable to nose down into a deep dive. This meant the Luftwaffe fighters could 'bunt' into a high-power dive to escape attack, leaving the Spitfire spluttering behind as its fuel was forced by negative 'g' out of the carburettor. RAF fighter pilots soon learned to 'half-roll' their aircraft before diving to pursue their opponents. The use of uninjected carburettors was calculated to give a higher specific power output, due to the lower temperature, and hence the greater density, of the fuel/air mixture, compared to injected systems. "Miss Shilling's orifice" (invented in March 1941 by a female engineer named Shilling), a holed diaphragm fitted across the float chambers, went some way towards curing the fuel starvation in a dive. Further improvements were introduced throughout the Merlins, with injection introduced in 1943. |
 | de Havilland Moth The de Havilland Company, headed by Captain Geoffrey de Havilland, was a leader in the development of a light plane for sale to the English public. In 1923 the company entered the D.H. 53 Hummingbird in the Lympne trials, which was organized by the Air Ministry to encourage light plane development. However, the provisions of the trials called for the use of very small engines, and the Hummingbird lacked performance because it was underpowered. To remedy this, de Havilland introduced a more powerful plane, the D.H. 60, nicknamed the Moth, which was powered by a four-cylinder engine derived from a Renault V-8 produced during World War I. Introduced in 1925, the D.H. 60 became so successful that the entire supply of Renault engine parts was soon used up. Accordingly, de Havilland and engineer Frank Halford designed a new engine producing more horsepower but weighing only 14 pounds more than the D.H. 60's engine. This new engine was known as the Gipsy, and when it was installed in a de Havilland biplane in 1928, the plane was called the Gipsy Moth. By 1930 the Gipsy Moth had become England's most popular light plane for private flying. Inexpensive and easy to fly, the biplane made private flying possible for thousands of Britons. To meet the demand for this dependable aircraft, the de Havilland Company had to increase production from less than one aircraft per week to more than three per day. It wasn't long before 85 out of every 100 private planes in England were Moths produced by de Havilland. Not only did this aircraft popularize private flying but it also accounted for a number of flight records. In 1930 Francis Chichester, after only 100 hours of flying time, piloted a Gipsy Moth solo from England to Australia, and Amy Johnson matched his feat, becoming the first woman to make the flight. Throughout the 1930s, the Moth was produced in several different versions. Finally, prior to World War II, it was modified for use as a military training plane and renamed the Tiger Moth. Most of the Royal Air Force pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain received their flight training in the Tiger Moth. General characteristics Crew: one, pilot Length: 23 ft 11 in (7.29 m) Wingspan: 30 ft (9.14 m) Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.66 m) Wing area: 243 ft² (22.57 m²) Empty weight: 920 lb (417 kg) Max takeoff weight: 1,650 lb (748 kg) Powerplant: 1× de Havilland Gipsy , 100 hp (74.6 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 89 knots (102 mph, 164 km/h) Range: 278 nm (320 mi, 515 km) Service ceiling: 14,500 ft (4,420 m) Rate of climb: 500 ft/min (152 m/min) |
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