Royal Aeronautical Society

The Royal Aeronautical Society, also known as the RAeS, is a British multi-disciplinary professional institution dedicated to the global aerospace community. Founded in 1866, it is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Fellows and Companions of the society can use the post-nominal letters FRAeS or CRAeS, respectively.
Function.
The objectives of The Royal Aeronautical Society include: to support and maintain high professional standards in aerospace disciplines; to provide a unique source of specialist information and a local forum for the exchange of ideas; and to exert influence in the interests of aerospace in the public and industrial arenas.
The Royal Aeronautical Society is a worldwide society with an international network of 67 branches. Many practitioners of aerospace disciplines use the Society's designatory post-nominals such as FRAeS, CRAeS, MRAeS, AMRAeS, and ARAeS (incorporating the former graduate grade, GradRAeS).
The RAeS headquarters is located in the United Kingdom. The staff of the Royal Aeronautical Society are based at the Society's headquarters at No. 4 Hamilton Place, London, W1J 7BQ. The headquarters is on the north-east edge of Hyde Park Corner, with the nearest access being Hyde Park Corner tube station. In addition to offices for its staff the building is used for Royal Aeronautical Society conferences and events and parts of the building are available on a private hire basis for events.
Branches and divisions.
Branches are the regional embodiment of the Society. They deliver membership benefits and provide a global platform for the dissemination of aerospace information. As of September 2013, branches located in the United Kingdom include: Belfast, Birmingham, Boscombe Down, Bristol, Brough, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chester, Christchurch, Coventry, Cranfield, Cranwell, Derby, FAA Yeovilton, Farnborough, Gatwick, Gloucester & Cheltenham, Hatfield, Heathrow, Highland, Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, Loughborough, Manchester, Marham, Medway, Oxford, Preston, Prestwick, Sheffield, Solent, Southend, Stevenage, Swindon, Weybridge, and Yeovil.
The RAeS international branch network includes: Adelaide, Auckland, Blenheim, Brisbane, Brussels, Canberra, Canterbury, Cyprus, Dublin, Hamburg, Hamilton, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Melbourne, Montreal, Munich, Palmerston North, Paris, Perth, Seattle, Singapore, Sydney, Toulouse, and the UAE.
Divisions of the Society have been formed in countries and regions that can sustain a number of Branches. Divisions operate with a large degree of autonomy, being responsible for their own branch network, membership recruitment, subscription levels, conference and lecture programmes.
Specialist Groups covering all facets of the aerospace industry exist under the overall umbrella of the Society, with the aim of serving the interests of both enthusiasts and industry professionals.
The Groups' remit is to consider significant developments in their field, and they attempt to achieve this through their conferences and lectures, with the intention of stimulating debate and facilitating action on key industry issues in order to reflect and respond to the constant innovation and progress in aviation. The Groups also act as focal points for all enquiries to the Society concerning their specialist subject matter, forming a crucial interface between the Society and the world in general.
As of September 2013, the Specialist Group committees are as follows: Aerodynamics, Aerospace Medicine, Air Power, Air Law, Air Transport, Airworthiness & Maintenance, Avionics & Systems, Environment, Flight Operations, Flight Simulation, Flight Test, General Aviation, Greener by Design, Historical, Human Factors, Human Powered Flight, Propulsion, Rotorcraft, Space, Structures & Materials, UAS, Weapons Systems & Technologies, and Women in Aviation & Aerospace.
In 2009, the Royal Aeronautical Society formed a group of experts to document how to better simulate aircraft upset conditions, and thus improve training programs.
History.
The Society was founded in January 1866 with the name "The Aeronautical Society of Great Britain" and is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. Early or founding members included James Glaisher, Francis Wenham, the Duke of Argyll, and Frederick Brearey. In the first year, there were 65 members, at the end of the second year, 91 members, and in the third year, 106 members. Annual reports were produced in the first decades. In 1868 the Society held a major exhibition at London's Crystal Palace with 78 entries. John Stringfellow's steam engine was shown there. The Society sponsored the first wind tunnel in 1870-71, designed by Wenham and Browning.
In 1918, the organization's name was changed to the Royal Aeronautical Society.
In 1923 its principal journal was renamed from "The Aeronautical Journal" to "The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society" and in 1927 the "Institution of Aeronautical Engineers Journal" was merged into it.
In 1940, the RAeS responded to the wartime need to expand the aircraft industry. The Society established a Technical Department to bring together the best available knowledge and present it in an authoritative and accessible form – a working tool for engineers who might come from other industries and lack the specialised knowledge required for aircraft design. This technical department became known as the Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU) and eventually became a separate entity in the 1980s.
In 1987 the 'Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers and Technologists', previously called the 'Society of Licensed Aircraft Engineers' was incorporated into the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Presidents.
The following have served as President of the Royal Aeronautical Society:
Medals and awards.
In addition to the award of Fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS), the Society awards several other medals and prizes. These include its Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. The very first gold medal was awarded in 1909 to the Wright Brothers. Although it is unusual for more than one medal (in each of the three grades) to be awarded annually, since 2004 the Society has also periodically awarded team medals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) for exceptional or groundbreaking teamwork in aeronautical research and development. Others awarded have included the R. P. Alston Memorial Prize for developments in flight-testing, the Edward Busk prize for applied aerodynamics, the Wakefield Medal for advances in aviation safety, and an Orville Wright Prize. Honorary Fellowships and Honorary Companionships are awarded as well.
The Sir Robert Hardingham Sword The Sir Robert Hardingham Sword is awarded in recognition of outstanding service to the RAeS by a member of the Society. Nominally an annual award, in practice the award is only made about one year in two.
Notable Medal recipients.
Notable Gold Medal recipients include:
Named Lectures.
Henson & Stringfellow Lecture and Dinner.
The annual Henson & Stringfellow Lecture and Dinner is hosted yearly by the Yeovil Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society, held at Westland Leisure Complex, and is a key social and networking event of the Yeovil lecture season. It is a black tie event attracting over 200 guests drawn from all sectors of the aerospace community.
John Stringfellow created, alongside William Samuel Henson, the first powered flight aircraft, developed in Chard, Somerset, which flew unmanned in 1848, 63 years prior to brothers Wilbur & Orville Wrights' flight.
Wilbur & Orville Wright Named Lecture.
The Wilbur & Orville Wright Named Lecture was established in 1911 to honour the Wright brothers, the successful and experienced mechanical engineers who completed the first successful controlled powered flight on 17 December 1903. The Wilbur & Orville Wright Lecture is the principal event in the Society’s year, given by distinguished members of the US and UK aerospace communities.
The 99th Lecture was given by Piers Sellers, astronaut, on 9 December 2010 at the Society's Headquarters in London.
The 100th Lecture was given by Suzanna Darcy-Henneman, Chief Pilot & Director of Training, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, on 8 December 2011.
The 101st Lecture was given by Tony Parasida, corporate vice president, The Boeing Company, on 20 December 2012.
The 102nd Lecture was given by Thomas Enders, CEO of EADS, on 12 December 2013.
The 103rd Lecture was given by Patrick M Dewar, executive vice president, Lockheed Martin International in December 2014.
The 104th Lecture was given by Nigel Whitehead, Group Managing Director – Programmes and Support, BAE Systems plc in December 2015.
The 105th Lecture was given by ACM Sir Stephen Hillier, Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force on 6 December 2016.
The 106th Lecture was given by Martin Rolfe, chief executive officer, NATS on 5 December 2017.
The 107th Lecture was given by Leanne Caret, Vice President, The Boeing Company and President & CEO, Boeing Defense, Space & Security on 4 December 2018.
The 108th Lecture was given by David Mackay FRAeS, Chief Pilot, Virgin Galactic on 10 December 2019.
Amy Johnson Named Lecture.
The Amy Johnson Named Lecture was inaugurated in 2011 by the Royal Aeronautical Society's Women in Aviation and Aerospace Committee to celebrate a century of women in flight and to honour Britain's most famous woman aviator. The Lecture is held on or close to 6 July every year to mark the date in 1929 when Amy Johnson was awarded her pilot’s licence. The Lecture is intended to tackle serious issues of interest to a wide audience, not just women. High-profile women from industry are asked to lecture on a topic that speaks of future challenges of interest to everyone.
Carolyn McCall, chief executive of EasyJet, delivered the Inaugural Lecture on 6 July 2011 at the Society's Headquarters in London.
The second Amy Johnson Named Lecture was delivered by Marion C. Blakey, president and chief executive of Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), on 5 July 2012.
The third Lecture was delivered by Gretchen Haskins, former Group Director of the Safety Regulation Group of the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), on 8 July 2013.
In 2017, Katherine Bennett OBE FRAeS, Senior Vice President Public Affairs, Airbus gave the Amy Johnson Lecture and in 2018 Air Vice-Marshal Sue Gray, CB, OBE from the Royal Air Force gave the Amy Johnson Lecture in honour of the 100th anniversary of the RAF.
Sopwith Named Lecture.
The Sopwith Lecture was established in 1990 to honour Sir Thomas Sopwith CBE, Hon FRAeS. In the years prior to World War I, Sopwith became England’s premier aviator and established the first authoritative test pilot school in the world. He also founded England’s first major flight school. Between 1912 and 1920 Sopwith’s Company produced over 16,000 aircraft of 60 types.
In 2017 the lecture was delivered by Tony Wood, chief operating officer of Meggitt PLC.
In 2018 the lecture was delivered by Group Captain Ian Townsend ADC MA RAF, Station Commander, RAF Marham.
In 2019 the lecture was delivered by Billie Flynn, F-35 Lightning II Test Pilot, Lockheed Martin.
In 2020 the lecture was delivered online by Dirk Hoke, CEO, Airbus Defence & Space.


6593d Test Squadron

The 6593d Test Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 6594th Test Group, stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 July 1972.
Mission.
The 6953d Test Squadron's mission was to develop and maintain a capability of effect the aerial recovery of a capsule ejected from an orbiting satellite.
The work performed by the squadron was classified until 1995, as its primary mission was directed at recovering film imaged by the Corona strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The Corona satellites were the first operational United States photographic reconnaissance satellites used for intelligence purposes.
History.
The Discoverer/Corona reconnaissance satellite was a revolutionary breakthrough in intelligence gathering and altered the course of the Cold War. From 1960 to 1972, the recovery of the Corona space capsules was among the highest priorities of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community.
The 6593d Test Squadron (Special) conducted one of the most important Air Force missions of the Cold War. The 6593d was one of the first Air Force organizations to combine air and space as integral parts of its mission. The classified status of the Corona program did not permit the details of Corona or its aerial recovery to be released until the declassification of Corona in 1995.
Initially flying modified C-119J Flying Boxcars, equipped with rope winches and large hooks that were extended in the air behind the plane to "snag" the parachute of the payload. Later, the Flying Boxcars were replaced by larger C-130B Hercules aircraft, designated JC-130B. The squadron would fly out to a target recovery area, spacing its airplanes within the "box" for maximum coverage. A telemetry signal from the payload would send out a signal that could be triangulated on to locate where the location of the satellite, and the plane that was in the best location would proceed to recover it.
On 19 August 1960, the squadron successfully recovered the Discoverer 14 payload, containing film of the first pictures of the earth's surface made from space. It was also the first recovery of an object placed in earth orbit.
The squadron wanted to recover the payloads in midair while parachuting to the earth, although occasionally they were recovered from the Pacific Ocean. When recoveries from the ocean were necessary, the squadron was equipped with helicopters and also had operational control of two Navy ships to retrieve it from the ocean. Ocean recoveries, however, could damage the payload as when it hit the water, it could go under the water surface, and salt water getting inside could damage the film and other components of the payload.
Throughout the 1960s as Corona Satellites were launched, their invaluable film payloads were retrieved by the squadron. It was stated by one of the units senior NCOs, that satellite payload retrieval became almost a routine mission for the well-practiced unit. Many of the squadron members served extended tours with the unit, their experience in recovery of the capsules being invaluable to its success. The unit was inactivated in 1972 and its mission turned over to the 6594th Test Group.
Lineage.
Ships.
The squadron had operational control of the following United States Navy Ships for satellite recovery operations:


Boulengeromyrus


Twister roller coaster

A twister roller coaster is the generic name given to any roller coaster layout which tends to twist or interweave its track within itself several times. It is essentially the opposite of an Out and Back roller coaster, which is often a much more simplistic layout. Twister roller coasters often have the illusion of having small or tight clearances due to the track usually travelling through several support structures. This is known as a head chopper effect.
Twister roller coasters were unheard of before the 1920s. John Miller is credited with inventing upstop wheels and secure lap bar restraints, both which led roller coaster designers to create wilder and twistier layouts.
A good example of the difference between an out and back design and twister design is layouts of Apollo's Chariot and Raging Bull, two Bolliger & Mabillard designed hypercoaster roller coasters that debuted in 1999. Apollo's Chariot uses a traditional out and back layout while Raging Bull is a twister.


Combo organ

A combo organ, so-named and classified by popular culture due to its original intended use by small, touring jazz, pop and dance groups known as "combo bands", as well as some models having "Combo" as part of their brand or model names, is an electronic organ of the frequency divider type, generally produced between the early 1960s and the late 1970s. This type of organ predated, and contributed largely to, the development of modern synthesizers. The combo organ concept, at least in the context of mass-production, is thought to have arisen from popular demand, when smaller home organs were seen in music stores. Combo organs were probably originally developed in the United Kingdom, based on the Univox polyphonic version of the Clavioline, and some models included the inner-workings of Italian-made transistor accordions. They were the brainchild of necessity for portable organs of simple design, mainly for use in these small groups. Combo organs ended up having a major impact on the music scene of the mid- and late 1960s, particularly on rock and roll of that era.
-- A combo organ could best be defined as "a portable electric organ designed to be used by a musical combo".
Details.
A combo organ is an electronic portable organ, usually transistorized (although some older designs used tubes; and later models, integrated circuits), that was designed for use on stage, usually in the context of a band or group. A combo organ is usually supported on a removable or folding stand or legs; these originally would have been supplied as part of the instrument. Combo organs were best known for their bright, reedy sound; their portability; surprising versatility; and relatively low cost. Most such instruments have no built-in amplification.
A typical combo organ has one manual (keyboard), covering four or five octaves, though a few models had two manuals of three or four octaves. A number of different pitches and tone-colours ("voices") were featured, often using rocker-switches, tabs or drawbars to function as "stops" to select them. Although the sounds may bear such names as "flute", "string" or "horn", they are not intended to sound like their orchestral namesakes - the nomenclature is borrowed from pipe organ tradition. Some instruments allow the keyboard to be split, the lowest octave or two producing a pedal-like bass tone. Most combo organs offer vibrato as a special effect; a few feature more unusual effects such as "repeat percussion" (tremolo), "slalom" (pitch bend) or wah-wah. A volume pedal is normally used to vary the volume while playing. Less frequently an optional set of bass pedals could be attached.
Soundwise, combo organs are very similar to each other, although there are definite discernible tonal characteristics that differ between models that might be considered "default" for each model. For instance, the Vox Continental tends toward having somewhat of a Hammond-like, or "sine wave"-like sound (only thinner); while the Farfisa Combo Compact has an aggressive, raspy quality to some of its boosted tones, and the Gibson G-101 has a cleaner, contoured, more "sawtooth wave"-like tone, with harpsichord-like, percussive sound capabilities and a slight "after-jingle", with Sustain selected, on some voice settings.
To collectors, players and enthusiasts, the visual aesthetic is often as important as the sound. Originally, the instruments were often available in bright and unusual colors (orange, blue, bright red, green) with showy chrome legs, multi-colored stop-tabs, and reverse-colored or gray-and-white keys. Towards the mid-1970s, combo organs began to take on a more muted appearance, with woodgrain or black covering and conventional keyboard colors. Many combo organs were produced in such countries as Italy or Japan, yet some more common models used by major acts were manufactured in the United Kingdom or the United States. Organs that are intended to emulate the sound and characteristics of a Hammond organ are not generally regarded as combo organs; see clonewheel organ.
-- They have been sold to the public from 1946 to present, beginning in Germany with Jorgensen Electronics then gradually spreading worldwide by the 1960s. Kinds of tone generation have included tube or transistor analog oscillators & dividers, mechanoelectrical sources such as a few Hammond tonewheel combo models in 1969 & a Noble amplified reed combo organ in 1966, with fully digital beginning in 1974 and since becoming the predominant type. They have been made with one to three keyboards. Sounds, styles, and features vary greatly.
Models.
Well-known combo organs include:
Popularity.
The combo organ's greatest popularity was during the 1960s, when it was featured on hits by The Doors, The Animals, Iron Butterfly, Manfred Mann, Them, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and many others and it was the main instrument of Pink Floyd's Richard Wright, from 1966 to 1973. Although the instrument fell from favor during the 1970s there was a resurgence about 1977 when new wave artists such as Blondie, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads and XTC used them. More recently, vintage combo organs have been used by The Horrors, Stereolab, Pulp, Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys.


OmniTouch

 OmniTouch is a wearable computer, depth-sensing camera and projection system that enables interactive multitouch interfaces on everyday surface. Beyond the shoulder-worn system, there is no instrumentation of the user or the environment. For example, the present shoulder-worn implementation allows users to manipulate interfaces projected onto the environment (e.g., walls, tables), held objects (e.g., notepads, books), and their own bodies (e.g., hands, lap). On such surfaces - without any calibration - OmniTouch provides capabilities similar to that of a touchscreen: X and Y location in 2D interfaces and whether fingers are “clicked” or hovering. This enables a wide variety of applications, similar to what one might find on a modern smartphone. A user study assessing pointing accuracy of the system (user and system inaccuracies combined) suggested buttons needed to be in diameter to achieve reliable operation on the hand, on walls. This is approaching the accuracy of capacitive touchscreens, like those found in smart phones, but on arbitrary surfaces.
OmniTouch was developed by researchers Chris Harrison, Hrvoje Benko and Andy Wilson at Microsoft Research in 2011. The work was accepted to and presented at the 2011 ACM User Interface and Software Technology conference. Many major news outlets and online tech blogs covered the technology.

It is conceptually similar to efforts such as Skinput and SixthSense. A central contribution of the work was a novel depth-driven, fuzzy template matching approach to finger tracking and click registration. The system also finds and tracks surfaces suitable for projection, on which interactive applications can be projected.


List of organ symphonies

An organ symphony is a piece for solo pipe organ in various movements. It is a symphonic genre, not so much in musical form (in which it is more similar to the organ sonata or suite), but in imitating orchestral tone color, texture, and symphonic process.
Though the very first organ symphony was written by German composer Wilhelm Valentin Volckmar in 1867, the genre is mainly associated with French romanticism. César Franck wrote what is considered to be the first French organ symphony in his "Grande Pièce Symphonique", and the composers Charles-Marie Widor, who wrote ten organ symphonies, and his pupil Louis Vierne, who wrote six, continued to cultivate the genre. Modern composers such as Jean Guillou have written organ symphonies as well. The genre is considered to have been brought to fruition in the second organ symphony of André Fleury.
The term "organ symphony" is also used occasionally to refer to refer to orchestral symphonies with a prominent solo role for an organ (as distinct from an Organ Concerto). The best known examples of such pieces are Saint-Saens' Symphony No. 3 and the Symphony for Organ and Orchestra by Aaron Copland, though strictly speaking such pieces are closer in form to orchestral symphonies than to the solo organ works described above.
This page lists the best known symphonies for solo pipe organ and symphonies for orchestra and organ. Organ concertos (such as those by George Frideric Handel, Francis Poulenc, and David Briggs) are not listed here; neither are orchestral symphonies featuring calling for organ where the organ does not have a prominent solo part (such as those by Gustav Mahler or Arnold Bax).


Columbia (collapsed paddle steamer)

The Columbia, sometimes called the Steamer "Columbia", was a paddle steamer excursion boat on which 87 people died, on the Illinois River on July 5, 1918, across from Creve Coeur, between Peoria and Pekin, Illinois.
Pre-disaster.
The "Columbia" was built at Clinton, Iowa in 1897. Originally a packet boat, it was converted to an excursion boat in 1905.
In 1912, a well-respected captain, Herman F. Mehl of Peoria, formed the Herman F. Mehl Excursion Company, and bought the "Columbia" from Captain Walter Blair of Davenport, Iowa. In autumn 1917, the ship was rebuilt at the Howard Ship Company's Mound City yards, in time for the 1918 excursion season. Mehl spent almost $18,000 on renovations to meet safety standards, after which the federal inspectors called the "Columbia" "the safest boat on western waters".
Last voyage.
The "Columbia" excursion of July 5, 1918 was hosted by Pekin's South Side Social Club. The club sold 563 tickets at the price of 50 cents, or 25 cents for children. One hundred of the passengers were picked up at Kingston Mines, the boat leaving at 7:30 p.m.; the rest were picked up in Pekin. The boat left Pekin at 8:15 p.m.
The "Columbia" docked at Al Fresco Park along the river in Richwoods Township (and now Peoria Heights) for 30 minutes. A couple, who had survived the sinking of the sternwheeler Fannie M. Folsom in 1892, and vowed to never set foot on another steamboat, boarded. The Columbia then returned downstream.
Just after passing under the Peoria and Pekin Union Railway bridge, just upstream from Wesley City (now Creve Coeur), the boat encountered dense fog, which a passenger described as "like going from sunshine into darkness". The pilot lost control of the vessel, which then drifted towards the Peoria County, Illinois side of the river.
Captain Mehl told pilot Tom Williams to make for the shore, unaware of a large hole torn in the ship's side, by an unknown object, possibly a submerged log. Williams attempted to cross from the overgrown Peoria County side to the Tazewell County side, where there were populated shacks and a possible landing. However, the ship's decks quickly collapsed on top of each other.The couple that boarded at Al Fresco Park, the ones who had vowed to never sail on a steamboat again, after surviving the Fannie Folsom, broke their promise, at the cost of their lives. It was determined that the boat sank at 12:05 a.m. on July 6. This was ascertained by the recovery of victim's watches that had stopped at that moment.
Aftermath.
The same inspectors who had declared the boat safe were the ones who conducted the federal investigation. Mehl and Williams both lost their licenses. The coroner implicated Mehl, Williams, and the purser of the "Columbia", but the case never went to trial.
The disaster ended the bulk of the riverboat excursion business on the Illinois River.
Legacy.
In July of 1992, a memorial park to the disaster was dedicated in Creve Couer by the Wesley City Historical Society. An additional historical marker, serving as a memorial to the tragedy, was dedicated in Pekin by the Tazewell County Historical Places Society and the Illinois State Historical Society on July 5, 2003.


R80XL

The Bussink Design R80XL is a type of giant Ferris wheel. It was designed by Bussink Design founder and CEO Ronald Bussink, and is manufactured under licence from Bussink Design GmbH of Switzerland by Maurer German Wheels and Chance American Wheels.
Described by Bussink Design as an observation wheel, it is offered in transportable (SP) and fixed (SV) versions, both with a height of approximately . The R80XL SP is the world's tallest-ever transportable giant observation wheel.
The first commercial R80XL installation was La Estrella de Puebla, or Star of Puebla, which opened in Mexico on 22 July 2013.
Versions.
The R80XL SP is fully transportable and intended for operation at multiple locations. Transportation requires approximately 60 specially adapted standard ISO containers.
The R80XL SV is intended for permanent (fixed) or long-term installations, and is described as the "stationary semi-transportable" version.
Specifications.
According to the Technical Details pages of the r80xl.com website, both the transportable and fixed versions of the R80XL have an overall height of "± 78 m", a diameter of "± 74 m", and a main axle height of "± 40 m".
Other sources have reported the height of the R80XL as being "250 ft (78 m)"[sic], "over 250 ft (78 m)"[sic], "approximately 80 m", and "80 m".
The 27-spoke wheel can rotate at speeds from 2 revolutions per hour up to 4 revolutions per hour.
The R80XL can be specified either with 27 passenger capsules, each able to carry up to 16 persons, or with 54 capsules, each able to carry up to 8 passengers. The smaller capsules are available in back-to-back, face-to-face, cocktail, or dinner layouts. A six-seat VIP capsule is also offered. All capsule variants are designed and manufactured by CWA Constructions of Switzerland.
Manufacturers.
Maurer German Wheels, a subsidiary of Maurer Söhne, holds an exclusive license to manufacture the R80XL in Europe. Maurer produced the first example of the R80XL at its factory in Munich, and erected it there late in 2012 prior to its delivery to a customer in Mexico. On Friday January 11, 2013, members of the press and media were invited by Maurer German Wheels and Bussink Design to experience the R80XL first hand. Various team members, including Ronald Bussink, were present.
Chance American Wheels, a subsidiary of Chance Rides of Wichita, Kansas, holds an exclusive license to manufacture and sell the R80XL SV in North America. The first wheel is expected to be ready for delivery by the beginning of 2014.
Breman Mega Wheels, a subsidiary of Breman Machinery is based in Genemuiden in the center of the Netherlands and is an Official Licensed Manufacturer of R80XL. Breman Mega Wheels is capable of fabricating to the highest standards in the industry and is known for being a reliable partner.


Robert Elton Brooker

Robert Elton Brooker (July 18, 1905 - May 17, 2001) was an American business executive at Sears, Roebuck & Co., Whirlpool Corporation, and Montgomery Ward, and recipient of the 1972 Henry Laurence Gantt Medal.
Brooker was born in Cleveland to Robert E Brooker and Isadora Brooker. He obtained his university degree at the University of Southern California. He started his career in industry at Southern California Edison Co. from 1928 to 1934, and from 1934 to 1944 he worked at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. In 1944 he started at Sears, Roebuck & Co., where he became vice-president.
From 1958 to 1961 he was president of the Whirlpool Corporation. In 1961 he joined Montgomery Ward as president until 1966. He served another four years as chair, and from 1970 to at least 1974 he was Chair of the Executive Committee. In 1972 he received the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal.
Personal life.
Robert Elton Brooker was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Robert E Brooker and Isadora Brooker. His father was a Cleveland baker. He earned his B.A. in civil engineering from the University of Southern California in 1927. After college Brooker spent six years working for the power company Southern California Edison. At the age of 95, Brooker died in Longwood, Florida on May 17, 2001 survived by his wife Sarah Burton Harrison Brooker and two children.
Whirlpool Corporation.
Leaving Southern California Edison, Brooker worked for ten years at Firestone Tire and Rubber Company running all the Firestone Stores in the western states. Moving from Firestone to Sears in 1944, Brooker rose through the ranks becoming head of manufacturing, a member of Sears Board of Directors, and President of the newly-formed Whirlpool Corporation in 1958.
At the 1959 American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park Moscow, Brooker presided over the Whirlpool kitchen; the whirlpool kitchen inspired the Kitchen Debate between then Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
At Whirlpool Brooker applied the systems of General Wood – developing long-term relationships with suppliers, and treating people fairly. Brooker was president of the Whirlpool Corporation from 1958 to 1961.
Montgomery Ward.
In 1961 then president John Barr hired Robert Brooker to lead Montgomery Ward as president in its turnaround. Brooker brought with him a number of key new management people, including Edward Donnell, former manager of Sears' Los Angeles stores.
Wards new management team achieved the turnaround reducing the number of suppliers from 15,000 to 7,000 and the number of brands being carried dropped from 168 to 16. Ward's private brands were given 95 percent of the volume compared with 40 percent in 1960. The results of these changes were lower handling costs and higher quality standards. Buying was centralized but store operations were decentralized, under a new territory system modeled after Sears.
In 1966, Ed Donnell was named President of Montgomery Ward. Brooker continued as Chairmen and Chief Executive Officer until the mid 1970s. In 1968 as Brooker helped engineer a friendly merger with the Container Corporation of America; the new company was named MARCOR. In 1974, Mobile Oil bought MARCOR.
Bettering Communities.
Under Brooker's leadership at Montgomery Ward the Ward's store managers became more involved in their community's affairs. Brooker realized he had to apply the methods he used in business leadership to getting people who represented Montgomery Ward to be more involved in their own communities. Brooker once said, "It's sound economic sense to preserve an environment in which we all do our fair share for our community. It's the greatest product in the world to sell."
When Montgomery Ward's headquarters needed new space, the company needed to decide if it would move to a safer location, as Sears had already announced, or to stay put. Brooker decided the company would remain and work with its neighborhood to better the environment. Brooker making the commitment to invest in its neighborhood helped clear up one of the more explosive areas in Chicago.
Honors.
In 1972 Robert Elton Brooker received the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal for distinguished achievement in management and service to the community.


Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part E

The Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part E: Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers research on the design and operation of process equipment. The journal was established in 1989 and is published by Sage Publications on behalf of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Abstracting and indexing.
The "Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering" is abstracted and indexed in Scopus and the Science Citation Index. According to the "Journal Citation Reports", the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 1.606, ranking it 92nd out of 126 journals in the category "Engineering, Mechanical".


Launched roller coaster

The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest rollercoasters in the world.
Launched coasters mainly feature improved speed and acceleration when compared to traditional chain or cable lift coasters. They can be less reliable, however, and require increased maintenance.
Electromagnetic.
LIM / LSM.
Linear induction motor (LIM) and linear synchronous motor (LSM) coasters use propulsion via electromagnets, which utilize large amounts of electricity to propel the coaster train along its track into the ride elements (e.g. inversions, twists, turns and short drops). Ten design companies managing these types of rides are Vekoma, Intamin, Gerstlauer, Premier Rides, Maurer, Zierer, Mack Rides, Bolliger & Mabillard, Rocky Mountain Construction and S&S Worldwide. Both Rocky Mountain Construction and Bolliger & Mabillard established their first LSM launched coasters recently with the RMC Topper Track Coaster, Lightning Rod, at Dollywood, and B&M's wingrider, Thunderbird, at HolidayWorld.
An example of an LSM launched roller coaster is Maverick at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.
These launch systems transfer electricity through a motor on the roller coaster's track so that it controls the speed at which it will urge the cars and train either forward or backward on a segment. LIMs are mainly used in Premier Rides roller coasters and Intamin impulse and blitz coasters. However, LIMs can also be used for general transport, such as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover in Magic Kingdom or monorail and maglev trains.
Fluid pressure.
Hydraulic Fluid.
Hydraulic-launched roller coasters give the riders high acceleration, yet with improved smoothness, over the electromagnetic and catapult launch mechanisms. The Swiss manufacturer Intamin pioneered this new style.
The heart of the system is several (usually eight) powerful hydraulic pumps, each capable of producing around 500 horsepower (373 kW). Hydraulic fluid is pumped into several different hydraulic accumulators (energy storing devices) containing two compartments separated by a piston. As the incompressible hydraulic fluid is pumped into one compartment, nitrogen in the other compartment is compressed.
At launch, the fluid under pressure from the accumulators is used to drive a number (typically 16 or 32) of hydraulic motors, which spin a large winch drum that rewinds a cable attached to a catch-car under the train in a matter of seconds. The catch-car moves in a groove in the center of the launch track with the motor at one end, and the waiting train at the other.
While the train inches forward, the pusher moves back from the motor towards the train. Once the pusher connects, the anti-rollback braking system drops beneath the track, giving the train the green light to be launched. In the "Kingda Ka" roller coaster, the system as a whole can produce a peak power of up to 20,800 hp (15.5 MW) for each launch.
These launches are considered capable of giving a far greater and smoother acceleration than the LIM/LSM styles. The acceleration from a LIM/LSM launch is greatest at the beginning and dies off rapidly towards the end of the launch, but the acceleration from a hydraulic launch remains nearly constant throughout the launch.
The first hydraulic launch coaster was "Xcelerator" reaching in 2.3 seconds. The world's current tallest and 2nd fastest coaster "Kingda Ka" at Six Flags Great Adventure, which opened in the spring of 2005 is capable of reaching 128 mph (206 km/h) in 3.5 seconds. The fastest roller coaster in the world Formula Rossa, which reaches in 4 seconds, is also launched using this method.
Hydraulic launched rides usually have a tower after the launch, with differing layouts afterwards depending on the park's financial resources. "Top Thrill Dragster" brakes after the tower and "Kingda Ka" features a single hill after the tower, while "Storm Runner" at Hersheypark offers a series of overbanked turns and inversions after its 180 foot (55 m) tower drop. "Rita" at Alton Towers does not have a tower, only airtime hills and banked turns. "Stealth" at Thorpe Park has a large tower that travels to the left over the top hat, and then slows on an airtime hill with magnetic brakes. "Xcelerator" at Knotts Berry Farm offers two overbanked turns after the tower. Along with the height and speed, these coasters, named "Rocket Coasters" in the industry, are considered more comfortable because of a smoother launch than LIM-style launches.
A recent newcomer to the hydraulic launch industry is Vekoma, who opened a coaster in 2004 called "Booster Bike" at Toverland in the Netherlands, said to give riders a sensation of racing on high performance motorcycles over a low twisted layout, at speeds up to 47 mph (75 km/h). The cars imitate real motorcycles, and the riders sit in the same posture as real bikers.
Pneumatic (Compressed Air).
Using the same type of system as a Hydraulic launch, a pneumatic launch uses compressed air to launch the vehicle. The technology was developed by S&S as the "Thrust Air 2000" model. The first coaster of this type was the "Hypersonic XLC", opened at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, USA in 2001. This coaster closed in 2007. Another incarnation, the Ring Racer was open for only 4 days. Compressed air launches are able to provide more acceleration than traditional pneumatic launches, with Do-Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan holding the acceleration record since it opened as Dodonpa in 2001, launching passengers from 0 to 112 mph (180 km/h) in 1.56 seconds.
Other styles.
Eddy current launcher (LEM).
Magnets are placed under the cars and a series of flywheels coupled to aluminum discs is in the launch zone: there is no contact between the two. The system can be used also for speed up intermediate launchers, and for braking, with static aluminum blades, at the end of the ride. Thanks to the energy stored in the flywheels, the power demand for launching is flat. Two operating examples of this technique are the "Drifter" at Sochi Park in the Sochi Olimpic Park and at FunWorks, Abu Dhabi (manufacturer I.E.Park)
Catapult.
In the catapult launch, a dropped weight winds a cable to pull the train until it accelerates to its full speed. Dropped weights were used in early installations of Shuttle Loop.
These rides are often not very tall, and usually achieve speeds of 60 mph (96 km/h).
Flywheel.
Flywheel launches are used on some Anton Schwarzkopf designed shuttle loop coasters and Zamperla Motocoasters. A large flywheel is spun at high speeds and is attached to a cable that propels the train forward.
Electric motor and spring tension.
Arrow Dynamics' Launched Loop coasters, which were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, use a powerful electric motor and tensioned springs to propel a launch car forward. The launch car pushes the train outward to a drop, and then returns to its position. After the train reaches the opposite platform, another catch car works the same way. An example of this is Irn Bru Revolution.
Friction wheels.
Another type of launch is by friction wheels. The launch track consists of a series of horizontal tires that pinch the brake fins on the underside of the train. One example of this is the "Incredible Hulk Coaster" at Universal's Islands of Adventure.


6555th Aerospace Test Group

The 6555th Aerospace Test Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Eastern Space and Missile Center and stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1990.
Prior to the activation of the Air Force Space Command, the unit was responsible for the development of USAF missiles, both tactical surface-to-surface; CIM-10 Bomarc Interceptor Missile; SM-62 Snark Intercontinental Cruise Missile; Intercontinental ballistic missile and heavy launch rockets used for military for satellite deployment. The unit played a key role in the civilian NASA Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Project Apollo manned space programs along with military Space Shuttle flights.
The mission of the unit today is performed by the 45th Space Wing (no direct lineage).
History.
Activated in December 1950, replacing 550th Guided Missiles Wing. the 6555th had a distinguished career launching and/or managing ballistic missiles, space launch vehicles and payloads for the Ballistic Systems Division, the Space Systems Division and the Space & Missile Systems Organization. As a Wing or a Group, the 6555th earned ten Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards between 21 December 1959 and October 1990.
In the 1950s, the unit had several designation changes and organizational realignments. As launches of winged missiles continued, the Wing gained two new units the 1st and 69th Pilotless Bomber Squadrons in October 1951 and January 1952. Thereafter, the 6555th focused most of its efforts on assembling, testing and launching B-61 Matador missiles so the 1st and 69th Pilotless Bomber Squadrons would be prepared for operations in Europe. The 6555th Guided Missile Wing became the 6555th Guided Missile Group on 1 March 1953, and the 1st and 69th Pilotless Bomber Squadrons were reassigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC) on 15 January 1954. Since TAC agreed to train all other B-61 Matador squadrons at TAC's own school at Orlando AFB, Florida, the 6555th Guided Missile Group was little more than a squadron when the 69th completed its field training in the summer of 1954.
The 6555th Guided Missile Group was discontinued on 7 September 1954. The 6555th Guided Missile Squadron was allowed to survive as a B-61 Matador research and development testing unit, and it was reassigned to AFMTC Headquarters on 7 September 1954. The 6555th Guided Missiles Squadron became the 6555th Guided Missile Group (Test and Evaluation) on 15 August 1959, and it was reassigned to the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division (without any change of station) on 21 December 1959. Concurrent with its reassignment, the Group picked up the resources of the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's Assistant Commander for Missile Tests.
At the beginning of 1971, the 6555th Aerospace Test Group consisted of a commander's office and three divisions (e.g., Support, Atlas Systems and Titan III Systems). Though the Test Group's launch operations revolved around the Atlas and Titan III systems divisions in the early 1970s, the Group established its Space Transportation System (STS) Division on 1 July 1974 to ensure the Defense Department's Shuttle requirements were factored into future Shuttle operations at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
On 1 November 1975, the Test Group reorganized its Atlas and Titan III launch vehicle agencies under a new division, the Space Launch Vehicle Systems Division. On the same date, the Atlas Satellite Launch Systems Branch and the Titan III Space Satellite Systems Launch Operations Branch were consolidated under the newly created Satellite Systems Division. The changes were directed by the 6595th Aerospace Test Wing Commander to combine booster operations under one division chief and payload operations under another division chief. In the same vein, the IUS Operations Branch was placed under the Space Launch Vehicle Systems Division when that branch was formed on 1 July 1977. Following the final Atlas-Agena launch on 6 April 1978, the Space Launch Vehicle Systems Division and the Satellite Systems Division shifted their respective attentions from Atlas-Agena operations on Complex 13 to Atlas-Centaur boosters and payloads designated for Defense Department missions on Complex 36.
On 1 October 1979, the Group was transferred to the 45th Space Wing's immediate predecessor, the Eastern Space and Missile Center (ESMC). The unit was inactivated on 1 October 1990 when Air Force Space Command inactivated the provisional unit and merged the organization with ESMC. Most of the 6555th's resources were reorganized as the 1st Space Launch Squadron under ESMC and two Combined Task Forces (CTFs) serving AFSPC and Air Force Systems Command.
Ultimately, the last vestiges of the 6555th were inactivated on 1 July 1992 as Air Force Systems Command and Air Force Logistics Command merged to form Air Force Materiel Command. Today, the mission of the unit is performed by the 45th Operations Group and the 45th Launch Group components of the 45th Space Wing.
Weapons and missile development.
Postwar era.
Between 1946 and 1950, the Group's predecessor units, the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group and 550th Guided Missiles Wing, tested a variety of glided bombs and tactical missiles. They also developed QB-17 drone aircraft for use in atomic bomb testing, and later as targets for anti-aircraft missiles. The 550th GMW also launched the first rockets from the Joint Long Range Proving Ground at Cape Canaveral, Florida in 1950.
Aerodynamic missiles.
Aerodynamic or "winged" missile testing dominated the activities of the 6555th for most of the 1950s. The decade witnessed the introduction of the B-61 Matador, SM-62 Snark, IM-99 Bomarc, XSM-64 Navaho and TM-76 Mace aerodynamic missiles, among which the Matador, with over 280 launches to its credit, stood out as the most-launched missile of its era. The Matador was also the 6555th's first full-fledged weapon system program and its initial deployment overseas included military launch crews trained at Cape Canaveral AFS.
Ballistic missiles.
The Air Force ballistic missile program had its origins in studies and projects initiated by the Army Air Corps immediately after World War II. Faced with growing evidence of the Soviet Union's development of thermonuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology in 1953, the Air Force established the Western Development Division (WDD) in Los Angeles to carry out that task.
The 6555th's role in ballistic missile development ended with the Minuteman III flight test program in 1970, but Minuteman and Titan missile tests continued under SAC and the 6595th Aerospace Test Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Space launch operations.
The Air Force's interest in artificial satellites—and hence, space operations—was sparked by discussions with the Navy shortly after the end of World War II. At Major General Curtis E. LeMay's request, the Douglas Aircraft Company's RAND group provided The Pentagon with a 321-page study in May 1946 on the feasibility of satellites for military reconnaissance, weather surveillance, communications and missile navigation.
The Soviets' successful launch of Sputnik I on 4 October 1957 came as a shock to the American public, but the military implications of that capability came into even sharper focus as much heavier payloads were orbited from the Soviet Union in the months and years that followed. Galvanized into action by the Soviet Union's achievements, the U.S. Department of Defense set high priorities on the development of military satellite systems. It also created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) on 7 February 1958 to supervise all U.S. military space efforts. The Air Force drew up a manned military space system development plan in April 1958, and it also volunteered to carry out the U.S. man-in-space mission. Though much of the plan was incorporated in later manned space efforts (e.g., Project Mercury, Project Gemini and Project Apollo), President Dwight Eisenhower rejected the Air Force's offer to lead the effort. Instead, he called on Congress to establish a civilian space agency, and the National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed by Congress in July 1958.
Since the Air Research and Development Command was destined to serve the Air Force and two non-Air Force clients in space (i.e., ARPA and NASA), effective coordination among the agencies was crucial to the early success of the space mission. Before the 6555th absorbed the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's resources at the Cape in December 1959, most of the Air Force's participation in the Cape's space launch operations was managed by the WS-315A (THOR) Project Division under the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division's Assistant Commander for Missile Tests. The WS-315A Project Division was redesignated the Space Project Division on 16 November 1959, and it became the Space Projects Division under the 6555th Test Wing on 15 February 1960.
Following the establishment of Air Force Systems Command, the 6555th's Test Directorate and Operations Directorate were transformed into the Space Programs Office and the Ballistic Missiles Office on 17 April 1961. Under that reorganization, the old Atlas Project Office's resources were divided roughly in half to create an Atlas Booster Branch and an Atlas Weapons Branch. The Atlas Booster Branch was placed under the Space Programs Office. The old Atlas Operations Division became the new Atlas Weapons Branch's Operations Section, and the new Atlas Weapons Branch was placed under the Ballistic Missiles Office. The Space Projects Division became the Space Projects Branch under the Space Programs Office on 17 April, and its Thor Booster Branch (created on 17 March 1961) was removed and set up as a separate branch under the Space Programs Office.
Thor-Able (1958–1961).
The division had jurisdiction over Complex 17 and three missile assembly buildings (e.g. hangars M, L and AA). It supported a total of 10 Air Force-sponsored Thor-Able, Thor-Able I and Thor-Able II space launches from Pad 17A before the end of 1959. The division also supported NASA's Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 2 missions, which were launched by Douglas from Pad 17A on 11 October and 8 November 1958, and NASA's Explorer 6 mission, which was launched by Douglas from Pad 17A on 7 August 1959. Under the 6555th Test Wing (Development), the Space Projects Division managed five Thor-Able-Star missions for the Army, the Navy and ARPA in 1960. It also monitored Douglas' preparation and launch of two Thor-Able boosters for NASA's Pioneer 5 deep space mission to Venus in March 1960 and its TIROS-1 weather satellite mission in April 1960.
Atlas (Atlas-Agena, Atlas-Centaur, Atlas-Project Mercury) (1959–1965).
1961 proved to be a very busy year for the 6555th and its space launch contractors. Following its first two unmanned Project Mercury capsule launches for NASA in September 1959 (Big Joe 1) and July 1960 (Mercury-Atlas 1), Convair launched Atlas-D boosters on three successful (and one unsuccessful) Project Mercury flights from Complex 14 in 1961 (Mercury-Atlas 2, Mercury-Atlas 3, Mercury-Atlas 4). The Douglas Aircraft Company launched three Transit navigation satellite missions from Pad 17B for the U.S. Navy, and it provided booster support for two Project Explorer missions and one TIROS mission (TIROS-3) that were launched from Pad 17A in 1961. Aeroneutronic and the Blue Scout Branch's Operations Section launched a total of six space vehicles from pads 18A and 18B in 1961. NASA Associate Administrator Robert C. Seamans, Jr. signed a joint NASA/ARDC agreement on 30 January 1961 concerning the Air Force's participation in the RM-81 Agena B Launch Vehicle Program, and the 6555th's participation in the Centaur program was settled with NASA under a joint memorandum of agreement in April 1961.
The Air Force Ballistic Missile Division procured the ATLAS boosters required by the program, and it provided operational, administrative and technical support for those launch vehicles. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Goddard Space Flight Center provided the spacecraft. The Launch Operations Directorate's Test Support Office acted as NASA's formal point of contact for all agencies involved in the Agena B program on the Eastern Test Range, but the 6555th was responsible for supervising the Air Force contractors who provided the boosters for the Agena B. While many tests were observed jointly by NASA and Air Force representatives, NASA was responsible for the spacecraft, Lockheed was responsible for the Agena B, Convair was responsible for the Atlas-D booster, and the 6555th was responsible for the readiness of the entire launch vehicle. Ultimately, NASA's Operations and Test Director had overall responsibility for the countdown, but he received direct inputs from the 6555th's Test Controller concerning the vehicle's status on launch day.
The 6555th was also allowed to assign Air Force supervisors to Convair's processing teams while they were working on Atlas-D boosters for the Atlas-Centaur R&D test flights. In instances where NASA's Launch Operations Directorate wanted procedures added to Convair's Atlas-D checklists, the 6555th integrated those items. NASA also agreed to coordinate Centaur test documentation with the 6555th. To avoid duplication of effort, NASA and the Air Force agreed to share "a large number of facilities" (e. g., Complex 36 and hangars H, J and K) for the Centaur, Agena-B and Project Mercury efforts. Since NASA planned to use the Centaur's facilities first, the Air Force secured a promise from NASA to coordinate its Centaur facility and equipment modifications with the 6555th before the changes were made. The 6555th agreed to make an officer available as a consultant to NASA's Launch Director during Atlas-Centaur launch operations.
In 1962, Air Force contractors and the Atlas Space Branch supported three Ranger program and two Mariner program missions from Complex 12, and they supported the first three manned orbital Mercury-Atlas missions, which were launched from Complex 14. All those NASA missions were launched by contractors, but the Air Force implemented plans in the last half of 1962 to establish an Atlas-Agena B USAF launch capability. The division's Project Mercury support mission ended following the last Mercury flight in May 1963 (Mercury-Atlas 9), but the unit still supported DOD operations on Complex 13. It picked up Atlas-Agena B Target Vehicle operations for Project Gemini shortly thereafter.
Titan II (Thor-Titan, Titan-Project Gemini)(1961–1966).
Thor-Titan Branch formed in 1961 by re-designation of Thor Booster Branch. On 10 September 1962, the Wing established the SLV-V Division to handle the Titan III program separately, and it transferred Titan III personnel from the Thor/Titan Branch to the new division before renaming it the SLV-V/X-20 Division on 1 October 1962. The Thor/Titan Branch became the SLV II/IV Division on 1 October 1962, but it was split up to form two new divisions—the SLV II Division (for Thor) and the Project Gemini Launch Vehicle Division for Titan II) – on 20 May 1963.
Though Complex 17 supported seven other NASA missions in 1964 and 1965, the two-part ASSET (Aerothermodynamic/Elastic Structural Systems Environmental Tests) program quickly became the SLV-II Division's principal interest after the first Project ASSET launch on 18 September 1963. Under one part of the ASSET flight test program at the Cape, the second, third, and sixth hypervelocity vehicles were launched from Pad 17B on 24 March 1964, 22 July 1964 and 23 February 1965. Those flights were designed to gather data on the ability of materials and structures to handle the pressures and temperatures of atmospheric reentry. Though the flight on 24 March failed to meet its test objectives due to a malfunction in the Thor rocket's upper stage, the other two flights were successful, and the vehicle launched on 22 July was recovered. Under the other part of the ASSET flight testing, two nonrecoverable delta wing glide vehicles were launched from Pad 17B on 27 October and 8 December 1964. Both missions were designed to obtain data on "panel flutter" under high heating conditions and information of the vehicles' "unsteady aerodynamics" over a broad range of hypersonic speeds. Both flights were successful, and the final ASSET flight on 23 February 1965 completed the ASSET program.
The Air Force had no further use for Thor rocket facilities at Cape Canaveral after the ASSET program was completed, so the Space Systems Division directed the 6555th to turn over its SLV-II facilities to NASA for the civilian agency's Thor-Delta (DM-19) program. In accordance with Air Force Eastern Test Range procedures, the 6555th returned the facilities to the Range in April 1965, and the Air Force Eastern Test Range transferred them to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in May 1965.
The 6555th's Titan-Gemini Division lasted considerably longer than its SLV-II Division. The division exercised technical test control over the Titan II GLV launch vehicle, but the Martin Company launched the booster. Martin launched the first unmanned Gemini-Titan GLV mission from Complex 19 on 8 April 1964, and the flight succeeded in placing an unmanned 7,000-pound Gemini 1 capsule into low earth orbit on that date. The first manned Gemini mission (Gemini 3) was launched from Complex 19 on 23 March 1965, and it met all of its test objectives. (Astronauts Virgil I. Grissom and John W. Young were recovered with their capsule in the primary recovery area after three orbits on March 23d.) Nine more pairs of astronauts were boosted into orbit aboard Gemini-Titan GLV launch vehicles in 1965 and 1966, and seven Atlas-Agena target vehicles were launched from Complex 14 in support of six Project Gemini missions. Following the last highly successful Gemini-Titan GLV flight in November 1966, the Gemini Launch Vehicle Division completed its mission and began transferring personnel to other Air Force bases or to other agencies under the 6555th Aerospace Test Wing. As overall manager for Project Gemini, NASA was understandably proud of its role in the highly successful effort, but the Air Force and its contractors planned, built and launched all the Titan II GLV space boosters associated with Project Gemini.
Titan IIIA/C (1961–1982).
NASA's plans for the Saturn heavy-lift rocket program were already underway in 1961, and the agency saw no need for a military heavyweight space booster for low earth orbit, geosynchronous orbit or deep space missions. Consequently, NASA resisted the Air Force's first attempts to secure funding for the Titan III initiative, and the Air Force had to work long and hard to prepare its case for the Titan III.
It was decided that the Titan III would be developed exclusively for Department of Defense heavy-lift orbital missions after 1965. Following that concession, initial funding for the Titan III contractual effort was granted on 11 December 1961, and Space Systems Division's new 624A Systems Program Office began managing the Titan III program four days later. Initially the Titan III was planned for use in the X-20 Dyna Soar manned space glider which could be boosted into orbit, maneuvered, and piloted back to earth. Plans for the program called for two unmanned and eight manned Titan IIIC space flights with manned glider landings at Edwards Air Force Base. At Secretary McNamara's request, it was stopped by president Lyndon B. Johnson in December 1963 before any space flights were flown.
Though Titan III Complex 41 extended across the Cape Canaveral boundary into NASA's territory on Merritt Island, all property within Complex 41's security fence and along the access road to the site was considered part of the Air Force's Titan III program. Put simply, NASA had jurisdiction over the Merritt Island Launch Area, the Saturn rocket program and Saturn rocket facilities on Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral. The Air Force had jurisdiction over Cape Canaveral, the Titan III program and all Titan III facilities, including Complex 41. Though the Air Force Eastern Test Range and its contractors continued to provide range support for all of NASA's launch vehicle programs on Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral, the Saturn rocket and Titan III rocket programs were pursued as distinctly separate NASA and Air Force launch efforts.
Martin launched the first Titan IIIA from Complex 20 on 1 September 1964, and three more TITAN IIIA flights were completed before the first TITAN IIIC was launched from Complex 40 on a successful mission on 18 June 1965. Following the fourth and final TITAN IIIA launch on 6 May 1965, Complex 20 was deactivated and returned to the Air Force Eastern Test Range in September 1965. Complex 41 was turned over to the Titan III Division's Operations Branch for beneficial occupancy on 18 June 1965, and the facility was accepted by the Air Force in December 1965. The first Titan IIIC lifted off Pad 41 on 21 December. The flight met most of its test objectives, including the successful release of the LES-3 and LES-4 communications satellites and the OSCAR IV amateur radio satellite. Two more Titan IIIC missions were launched from Complex 41 on 16 June and 26 August 1966. The first of those flights included the successful release of seven Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program (IDCSP) satellites and one gravity gradient satellite, but the second flight ended after the Titan IIIC's payload fairing broke up approximately 79 seconds after launch. (Eight IDCSP satellites were destroyed in the mishap.)
Another Titan IIIC was launched from Complex 40 on 3 November 1966, and it boosted a modified Gemini 2 spacecraft and three secondary satellites into orbit during a largely successful experimental mission on that date. Since the Air Force intended to use Complex 40 for its Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) flights. The MOL was cancelled in June 1969.
Complex 41 eventually supported all the Titan IIIC missions launched from the Cape between the beginning of 1967 and the end of the decade. It was used by Titan IIIC rockets for a Project Viking simulator mission and a Project Helios solar mission in 1974, two NASA Project Viking (Viking 1, Viking 2) missions to Mars in 1975, another Project Helios mission in 1976, and two NASA Voyager program (Voyager 1, Voyager 2) missions to the outer planets in 1977.
A Defense Support Program (DSP) mission had just been launched from Complex 40 on 6 November 1970, but the payload failed to achieve proper orbit. (The spacecraft's operational potential was reduced as a result.) The next Titan IIIC vehicle and its DSP payload were assembled and checked out for a launch on 5 May 1971. The launch on 5 May was successful, and the payload was placed in a synchronous earth orbit as planned. That flight marked the 16th Titan IIIC mission in the 6555th Test Group's history.
On 2 November 1971, the Air Force and its contractors launched the first two Phase II Defense Satellite Communications Program (DSCP) satellites into near synchronous equatorial orbits from Complex 40. That Titan IIIC mission was successful, and it marked the first in a series of classified flights destined to replace Phase I DSCP satellites that had been launched from the Cape between 16 June 1966 and 14 June 1968. On 1 March 1972, a Titan IIIC carrying a 1,800-pound DSP satellite was launched successfully from Complex 40. Eight days later, a Titan IIIC core vehicle (C-24) arrived via C-5A Galaxy aircraft, and it was erected at the VIB on 16 March 1972. It was launched successfully on 12 June 1973.
Titan IIIC launches continued throughout the 1970s when Launch Vehicle C-37 and a twin-DSCS payload. The Launch CST was run on 12 November 1979. Regarding the launch itself, there was one unscheduled five-minute hold during C-37's launch countdown on 20 November. The countdown resumed without further incident, and the Titan IIIC lifted off Complex 40 on the 20th at 2110:00 Eastern Standard Time. Both Phase II DSCS communications satellites were placed in their proper near synchronous orbits, and the mission was a complete success. The last vehicle launched under the Titan IIIC program was Launch Vehicle C-38. It arrived at the Cape on 24 October 1979, and it was the last of 36 Titan IIICs launched from the Cape between 18 June 1965 and the evening of 6 March 1982. After two years of testing, storage and retesting, C-38 was launched on a classified mission on 6 March 1982 at 1425:00 Eastern Standard Time. The flight marked the end of an era at the Cape.
Complex 41 was refurbished for the Titan IV program during the last half of the 1980s, but its first Titan IV launch did not take place until 14 June 1989—almost 12 years after it was used to launch the Voyager program missions to the outer planets.
Titan 34D (1980–1989).
As the last Titan IIIC thundered skyward, Martin Marietta and the Test Group were completing their second year of preparations for the Titan 34D's first launch. The effort began in earnest when the first Titan 34D core vehicle (D-01) arrived at the Cape in March 1980. Baseline CSTs were completed in September 1980, and, apart from a brief roundtrip ride to the SMAB on 11 November, the core vehicle remained in storage at the VIB until 18 May 1981.
The core vehicle was accepted in August 1981, and it was moved to the SMAB on 18 January 1982. The Titan 34D's operational IUS (IUS-2) arrived at the Cape on 22 December 1981. It was taken to the SMAB, and its assembly was completed there on 8 June 1982. Though the IUS' preplanned acceptance testing was completed on 19 August, its formal acceptance was delayed pending additional tests required by Space Division. The IUS was mated to the launch vehicle on 1 September 1982, and it was mated to the vehicle's DSCS II/III payload on 29 September. Acceptance testing was completed on 2 October, and the vehicle was prepared for launch.
Launch Vehicle D-01's first Launch CST was aborted on 20 October 1982, but its second Launch CST was completed successfully on 21 October. The countdown was picked up smoothly on 29 October at 2055Z (Greenwich Mean Time), and the first TITAN 34D lifted off Complex 40 at 0405:01Z on 30 October 1982. The Titan's flight was virtually flawless, and the IUS placed both DSCS satellites into near-perfect equatorial orbits. With the completion of this first highly successful launch operation, the Cape moved solidly into the Titan 34D era.
All Titan 34D launch operations at Vandenberg and the Cape were suspended following the Titan 34D-9 launch failure in April 1986, but it would be wrong to conclude that the suspension allowed the 6555th Aerospace Test Group and the Air Force's Titan contractors to lapse into a period of inactivity. On the contrary, the space launch recovery effort and TITAN IV program initiatives kept the Test Group's agenda full. The Test Group supervised the initial recovery effort at the Cape. As part of that program, a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) X-Ray facility was constructed in the ITL Area for the purpose of inspecting Titan solid rockets for flaws in propellant, restrictors, insulation and podding compounds. Construction of the NDT facility began on 1 October 1986, and solid rocket motor testing was conducted there as part of the Titan 34D recovery effort from 23 December 1986 through 12 June 1987.
The last Titan 34D launched from the Cape had an extensive processing history between the time it first arrived at the Cape (e.g., 19 August 1981) and the time it was erected for the final time on Transporter No. 3 in Cell No. 1 on 13 December 1988. The transtage was erected on the core vehicle on 28 March 1989. The Acceptance CST was completed successfully on 23 June 1989. Core Vehicle D-2 was moved to the SMAB for solid rocket mating on 2 July, and Launch Vehicle D-2 was moved out to Complex 40 on 5 July 1989. The vehicle was mated to a classified payload and prepared for launch. Though the first Launch CST failed on 21 August, the Launch CST on 27 August was completely successful. A balky Mobile Service Tower delayed pre-launch activities on 4 September, but a 22-minute-long user hold brought operations up to speed at T minus 30 minutes. After the countdown resumed at 0524Z, it proceeded without incident to vehicle lift-off at 0554:01Z on 4 September 1989.
Titan IV (1988–1990).
As TITAN 34D launch operations continued, the first Titan IV liquid rocket engines were installed on the Titan IV "pathfinder" vehicle at the end of January 1988, shortly before the core vehicle was erected in the VIB. Four Titan IV solid rocket motor segments were received at the SMAB by the middle of February 1988, and two electrical functional tests were conducted in early March. As "bugs" were worked out of various systems, the core vehicle had its first successful CST on 11 May 1988. The vehicle was moved to the SMAB around the middle of May. Following a successful mate with two five-segment stacks of solid rocket motor segments, the pathfinder vehicle was moved out to Complex 41 on Saturday, 21 May. The first Titan IV vehicle supported a classified mission. Its launch had been scheduled for 7 June 1989, but the lift-off was pushed to 14 June due to a range timing generator problem and a computer malfunction. The countdown was picked up at 0254Z on 14 June. Two unscheduled holds were called to let the launch team catch up on checklist items that were behind schedule, and another hold was called for a high temperature reading on the vehicle's S-Band transmitter. Following the last unscheduled hold, the countdown proceeded uneventfully, and the Titan IV lifted off Complex 41 at 1318:01Z on 14 June 1989.
Navstar Global Positioning System and development of the Delta II (1978–1990).
The Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) program opened up a whole new field for space support operations at the Cape in the 1980s: the launching of satellites to provide highly accurate three-dimensional ground, sea and air navigation. The U.S. Navy and Air Force began the effort in the early 1960s with a series of studies and experiments dealing with the feasibility of using satellite-generated radio signals to improve the effectiveness of military navigation. After ten years of extensive research, the services concluded that Defense Department requirements would be best served by a single, highly precise, satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS). In December 1973, the Defense Navigation Satellite System (later known as Navstar GPS) entered its concept validation phase.
The technology necessary to field the GPS was confirmed during that phase, and four advanced development model Block I Navstar satellites were launched on converted SM-65F Atlas boosters from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 3 (East) between 22 February and 11 December 1978. Two more Block I satellites (Navstar 5 and Navstar 6) were launched on converted SM-65F Atlas boosters from Vandenberg Complex 3 (East) on 9 February and 26 April 1980. By the end of 1980, the Navstar GPS constellation was arranged in two orbital planes of three satellites each, orbiting Earth at an altitude of approximately 10,900 nautical miles. Following the GPS development phase in the early 1980s, the Air Force planned to procure and deploy a constellation of 24 Block II GPS satellites via Space Shuttle launches by the end of 1987. Funding cuts in 1980 and 1981 reduced the planned constellation to 18 Block II satellites and added a year to their deployment, but the program continued to move ahead.
A Block I replenishment satellite was launched on a converted SM-65E Atlas booster from Vandenberg Complex 3 (East) on 18 December 1981. Unfortunately, a hot gas generator on one of the Atlas booster's main engines failed shortly after lift-off, and the vehicle crashed about 150 yards from the pad. The next replenishment satellite launch was postponed while Atlas engines were refurbished and test-fired in 1982, but the mission was finally launched successfully from Vandenberg Complex 3 (West) on 14 July 1983. The satellite (Navstar 8) replaced Navstar I in the 240-degree orbital plane of the GPS constellation. The last three Block I satellite missions (Navstars 9, 10 and 11) were launched on converted SM-65E Atlas boosters from Complex 3 (West) on 13 June 1984, 8 September 1984 and 8 October 1985. All three launches were successful, and the satellites performed as planned. Testing of the first Block II satellite was well underway in 1985, but the Navstar II satellite program was already markedly behind schedule. By the fall of 1985, the first Block II mission had to be rescheduled from October 1986 to January 1987.
Following the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986, the GPS Program Office replanned the first eight Block II satellites for flights on the new Delta II expendable Medium Launch Vehicle in lieu of the Space Shuttle. Space Division awarded the Medium Launch Vehicle (MLV) contract to McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics Company on 21 January 1987. However, unlike earlier commercial arrangements, the company would no longer be under contract to NASA. Under the new Commercial Expendable Launch Vehicle program encouraged by president Ronald Reagan since 1983, McDonnell-Douglas would be responsible for producing, marketing and launching its commercial Delta IIs. The Air Force would be responsible for ensuring safety and environmental standards for commercial as well as military launches, but McDonnell-Douglas would have greater responsibility in meeting those standards (including quality control). Both launch pads (17A and 17B) would be equipped to handle commercial and Defense Department missions. McDonnell-Douglas and its subcontractors were soon hard at work preparing the pads for the new Delta II vehicles.
Like the Titan and Atlas lines of launch vehicles, the Delta II line was built on major components supplied by several different contractors. McDonnell-Douglas built the basic core vehicle and supplied fairing materials at its plant in Huntington Beach, California, but it shipped them to another plant in Pueblo, Colorado for further assembly and/or match ups with other contractors' components. Rocketdyne provided the Delta's main engine, and Aerojet supplied the vehicle's second stage engine. Delco supplied the inertial guidance system, and Morton Thiokol built the strap-on solid rocket motors used for the basic Model 6925 Delta II vehicle. The first and second stages were transported to the Horizontal Processing Facility (HPF) in Area 55 for destruct system installation. Following processing at the HPF, both stages were moved to Complex 17 and erected. At Complex 17, the entire process came together to create a complete Delta II launch vehicle.
Unfortunately, trouble loomed from a different quarter in July 1988: McDonnell-Douglas ran into trouble getting some fiber optic equipment it ordered for Pad 17A, and the first Delta II launch was rescheduled from 13 October 1988 to 8 December 1988. Following additional delays and pre-launch tests, the countdown was begun on 12 February 1989, but it was scrubbed at 1827Z due to excessive high altitude winds. The countdown was picked up again on 14 February, and lift-off was recorded at 1829:59.988Z on 14 February 1989. The first Delta II placed the first Navstar II GPS payload into the proper transfer orbit. The mission was a success.
Following the first Navstar II GPS mission on 14 February 1989, the GPS Program Office hoped to have five Navstar II satellites in orbit by the end of September, but only three of those spacecraft had been launched by that time. Since twelve Block II satellites would be needed to give the GPS constellation its first worldwide two-dimensional navigation capability, planners estimated that capability could not be achieved before the spring of 1991. In point of fact, six more Navstar II satellites were launched over the next year.
Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 provided additional incentive for McDonnell-Douglas and the Air Force to rise to the challenge. Navstar II-9 (the last of the six Navstars mentioned) lifted off on 1 October 1990, and it was placed in orbit over the Middle East. The satellite's on-orbit testing program was completed in record time, and Navstar II-9 was turned over to Air Force Space Command on 24 October 1990. Navstar II-10 was launched successfully on 26 November 1990. With II-10 in operation, the GPS network provided two-dimensional coordinates with an average accuracy of 4.5 meters during Operation Desert Storm. The Navstar system's three-dimensional accuracy averaged 8.3 meters during the war. The GPS Program Office hoped to launch five Block IIA Navstar spacecraft by October 1991, but component problems associated with the new design caused lengthy delays. Only two Block IIA missions were launched by October 1991, but five more Block IIA launches were completed by the end of 1992. The constellation was well on its way to full operational status by the beginning of 1993.
Space Shuttle military missions.
The 6555th Aerospace Test Group established its Space Transportation System (STS) Division on 1 July 1974. The division was created to ensure that Defense Department requirements were included in plans for future Space Shuttle operations at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
As two of its earliest accomplishments, the division got NASA to agree to the Defense Department's requirement for vertical payload installations at the Shuttle launch pad and a secure conference area in the Firing Room of the Shuttle Launch Control Center (LCC). The division continued to serve as an intermediary between KSC and the Defense Department payload community. The division not only gave the payload community a better understanding of schedule and contractual constraints affecting KSC ground operations, it also gathered a more detailed set of requirements from military payload programs to help NASA support those programs.
The division also helped the 6595th Space Test Group develop requirements for a Shuttle Launch Processing System at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The division also provided selection criteria and background information to help the Space and Missile Systems Organization select its Shuttle payload integration contractor. Martin Marietta was awarded the Shuttle payload integration contract on 15 September 1977.
As preparations for military space shuttle operations continued, the STS Division identified and analyzed many problems associated with "factory-to-pad" processing of military payloads. The division's findings helped justify the need for an off-line Shuttle Payload Integration Facility (SPIF), and they convinced the AFSC Commander to approve the SMAB's west bay as the site for the SPIF in January 1979. As work on the SPIF got underway, the 6555th Aerospace Test Group formed the STS/IUS Site Activation Team in September 1981 to address problems associated with the first IUS processed aboard the Shuttle. The STS Division and the Satellite Systems Division were consolidated to form the Spacecraft Division on 1 November 1983.
The first military Space Shuttle mission, STS-4, was launched from Pad 39A at 1500Z on 27 June 1982. Military space missions also accounted for part or all of 14 out of 37 Shuttle flights launched from the Cape between August 1984 and July 1992. While many details of those missions are not releasable, some features of Shuttle payload ground processing operations and range support requirements can be summarized for what might be termed a "typical" military space mission.
One process common to many military Shuttle missions was the preparation of the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS). Though the ultimate destination of the IUS was mission-specific, the IUS was processed in one of two basic assembly/checkout flows (i.e., one for military payloads and the other for NASA spacecraft). Before either process began, the Inertial Upper Stage's structural assemblies, avionics and flight batteries were received at hangars E and H and placed in various storage areas at the Cape. At the appropriate time, all vehicle elements were transferred to the SMAB, where they were assembled and checked out. Following power up checks and functional testing, the military IUS was cleaned and transferred to the SPIF. For civilian missions, IUSs entered a different assembly/checkout flow at this point in the process. They were sent directly to NASA's Vertical Processing Facility on Merritt Island.


Ruger Bearcat

The Ruger Bearcat is a single-action, .22 caliber revolver manufactured by Sturm, Ruger & Co., introduced in 1958. It is based on the classic Remington single-action revolvers of the mid-19th century. Because of its compact size and frame, it is advertised as being ideal for hikers or campers in need of a .22 LR revolver, or "kit gun".
Design.
In 1974 Ruger patented a transfer bar safety system for their single-action revolvers and discontinued the production of the Bearcat, which was not readily adaptable to the new transfer bar design. In 1993, Ruger brought back the Bearcat as the New Bearcat, now incorporating the transfer bar system.
Some time in the early 1980s, Bill Ruger gave an interview to a writer with the Ruger
Collector's Association (RCA) and talked about the Bearcat. He said that the Bearcat was the first revolver for which the Ruger engineers
developed the transfer bar and that they could easily have made it that way in 1974. They dropped it, Bill said, because of a mistake
by the marketing department. When that department sent out the 1974 catalog and order forms to the distributors, they forgot to include
the Bearcat. When the orders came back without orders for the Bearcat, they assumed that there was no demand and the dropped it. Today,
only old members of the Ruger Collector's Association are aware of the true story of what really happened to the original Bearcat, since that story was published in the Ruger Collectors Journal and is a part of their history.
Variants.
Bearcat 1 issue.
The original Bearcat featured a fixed Patridge front sight and a square notched rear. It was made with an alloy solid frame and an uncheckered plastic grips that were later replaced with walnut grip. It also features music wire coil springs and a non-fluted engraved cylinder.
Bearcat 2 issue.
The Bearcat 2 issue was marketed in 1971 as an improved version of the original Bearcat, and renamed the Super Bearcat; it featured an all-steel frame rather than an alloy frame.
Bearcat 3 issue.
The Bearcat 3 issue, also known as the New Bearcat, is Ruger's reintroduced model which came out in 1993. It features smooth rosewood grips with a Ruger medallion embedded. The New Bearcat also incorporated Ruger's new transfer bar safety system. It was offered with an additional .22 WMR cylinder, which was recalled by Ruger in April 1994 due to a concern the cylinders were improperly timed.
In 2002, Ruger began offering the Bearcat in stainless steel.
In 2008, a 50th Anniversary edition was released with gold-filled script and special engravings, with 2,539 units produced.
In 2015, Ruger introduced a variant of the Bearcat with adjustable sights, addressing a longstanding criticism of the limitations of the fixed sights.


Arnold Tustin

Arnold Tustin, (16 July 1899 – 9 January 1994), was a British engineer, and Professor of Engineering at the University of Birmingham and at Imperial College London, who made important contributions to the development of control engineering and its application to electrical machines.
Biography.
Tustin started working in 1914 at the age of 16 as an apprentice to the C. A. Parsons and Company, of Newcastle upon Tyne. He entered Armstrong College, later part of Newcastle University, in 1916, served in the Royal Engineers in World War I, and eventually received his Master degree in science in 1922.
In 1922 he joined Metropolitan-Vickers (Metro-Vick) as a graduate trainee. In the early 1930s he worked for Metro-Vick in Russia for two years, advising and selling equipment to the government companies. Here, he wrote his first book on the design of electric motors, which was also translated into Russian. In the late 1930s and during World War II Tustin was working on the Metadyne constant-current DC generator for gun control. He also developed new methods for gyroscopic stabilisation and further applied servo-mechanisms to tanks and naval guns.
After the war, in 1947, he was appointed Professor of Engineering and head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Birmingham, a post in which he remained until 1955. In 1953-54 he had been Visiting Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and from 1955 to 1964 he was Professor of Engineering at Imperial College London. Tustin was married to Frances Tustin, a pioneering psychotherapist and authority on autism.
Tustin's primary concern has been in the field of electrical machines, but his interests extended into the fields of systems thinking, control systems, and even economics and biology.
Publications.
Tustin was the author of several books and many published papers on electrical machines, a selection.


Common torpedo

The common torpedo ("Torpedo torpedo"), also known as ocellate torpedo or eyed electric ray, is a species of electric ray in the family Torpedinidae. It is found in the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the Bay of Biscay to Angola, and is a benthic fish typically encountered over soft substrates in fairly shallow, coastal waters. Growing to long, this species has a nearly circular pectoral fin disc and a short, thick tail with two dorsal fins of nearly equal size and a large caudal fin. It can be identified by the prominent blue spots on its back, which usually number five but may vary from zero to nine, as well as by the small knobs on the rims of its spiracles.
For attack and defense, the common torpedo can deliver a strong electric shock of up to 200 volts. It is a solitary, nocturnal ambush predator that feeds mainly on bony fishes and crustaceans. This species is aplacental viviparous, with the developing embryos nourished by yolk and histotroph ("uterine milk") produced by the mother. Females produce litters of up to 28 young every year in late summer or autumn, after a gestation period of 4–8 months; the specifics vary between geographical regions. The common torpedo's shock is painful but otherwise of little danger to humans. Its electrogenic properties led it to be used in medicine by the ancient Greeks and Romans. In modern times, it has no economic value and is mostly discarded when caught as bycatch in fisheries. The impact of fishing on its population is uncertain, and pending more data the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed it as Data Deficient.
Taxonomy.
The common torpedo and other electric rays were familiar to the peoples of classical antiquity. "Torpedo" was the Roman name for electric rays, derived from Latin meaning 'to be numb'. Carl Linnaeus, known as the "father of taxonomy", scientifically described the common torpedo as "Raja torpedo" in the 1758 tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae". However, the common torpedo also appeared in at least 52 pre-Linnaean sources under various names such as "Torpedo", "Raja tota lævis", "Torpedo maculosa", and "Torpedo Sinûs Persici". These early accounts, including Linnaeus's, confounded the common torpedo with other electric ray species. As Linnaeus did not indicate any type specimens, the designation of a lectotype or neotype is warranted in the interest of taxonomic stability. This measure has yet to be taken.
André Marie Constant Duméril was the first author to refer to "Torpedo" as a genus, in his 1806 "Zoologie analytique, ou méthode naturelle de classification des animaux". Duméril did not name any "Torpedo" species; the first author to do so was probably Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who assigned Linnaeus's "Raja torpedo" to the genus "Torpedo" in 1838. Since at the time "T. torpedo" was the only member of the genus, it became the type species. Within the genus "Torpedo", the common torpedo is placed within the subgenus "Torpedo", which differs from the other subgenus "Tetronarce" in having spiracles with papillate rims and ornate dorsal coloration. This species may also be referred colloquially to as crampfish, cramp ray, or torpedo ray.
Distribution and habitat.
Native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the common torpedo occurs from the Bay of Biscay to Angola, including all around the Mediterranean Sea. A single record from Belgian waters was most likely erroneous. In European waters, it is encountered less frequently than other electric ray species. This species prefers warmer temperatures. It is rare north of the Mediterranean, and within the Mediterranean it is more common off North Africa than off southern Europe. The common torpedo is a bottom-dweller usually found close to shore at depths of , though it has occasionally been reported from as deep as . It inhabits soft-bottomed habitats such as sandy flats and seagrass beds.
Description.
The pectoral fin disc of the common torpedo is almost circular in shape and about 1.3–1.4 times wider than long. The front margin of the disc is nearly straight. The two large, kidney-shaped electric organs are visible beneath the skin on either side of the head. The eyes are small and followed by spiracles of comparable size. The lateral and posterior rims of the spiracles bear small, low knobs, which diminish in size with age and may be indiscernible in larger individuals. On the "nape" behind the spiracles, there is a pair of prominent mucous pores. There is a wide, quadrangular flap of skin between the nostrils that almost reaches the mouth. The teeth are small and arranged in a dense quincunx pattern; each tooth has a single sharp cusp. There are around 22–24 and 20–22 tooth rows in the upper and lower jaws respectively. The five pairs of gill slits are placed on the underside of the disc.
The pelvic fins are distinct from the disc and have rounded outer margins. The short and thick tail bears skin folds along either side and two dorsal fins on top. The first dorsal fin is slightly larger than the second. The well-developed caudal fin is triangular with blunt corners, and is approximately as long as the space between it and first dorsal fin. The skin is smooth and soft, entirely lacking dermal denticles. The dorsal coloration of the common torpedo is rusty orange to reddish brown, with distinctive large spots ("ocellae") on the disc; each ocellus is blue and encircled by darker and lighter rings. Typically there are five ocellae arranged symmetrically in a row of three and another of two; rays with 0–4 ocellae are less common, and those with more than five are rarer still. An unusual male with eight ocellae was caught off Tunisia, and another with nine off southern France. When present, the sixth ocellus is similarly sized to the first five and positioned at their center; any additional ocellae tend to be smaller than the first six and placed asymmetrically towards the snout. The underside is cream-colored, with dark disc margins. An adult albino female was captured off Tunisia. Males and females typically measure long respectively; the largest individual on record was long. Rays from off West Africa grow larger than those from the Mediterranean.
Biology and ecology.
As with other members of its family, the common torpedo can subdue prey and deter threats with strong electric shocks generated from a pair of large electric organs. Derived from muscle tissue, each organ is made up of 400–500 columns, each column constituting a stack of around 400 jelly-filled disks ("electroplaques"). The columns together essentially act as batteries connected in parallel. The discharge of the electric organs can reach 200 volts, and may occur singly or in bursts ("trains"). Experiments "in vitro" have found that the nerves innervating the electric organ essentially stop functioning at temperatures below . Winter water temperatures regularly drop below this threshold in the wild, suggesting the ray may not use its electric organs for part of the year, or has a yet-unknown physiological mechanism to adapt electric organ function to colder conditions.
Solitary and nocturnal, the common torpedo spends much time resting on the sea floor, often buried in sediment. It is an ambush predator that pounces onto prey and stuns them with electricity, the process taking only a fraction of a second. Once the prey is immobilized, it is manipulated to the mouth with motions of the disc, and swallowed whole. Adults feed almost entirely on small benthic bony fishes, including soles, herring, mullet, gobies, goatfishes, porgies, dragonets, and jack mackerels. Large decapod crustaceans are a minor secondary food source, while very rarely skates may be consumed. Juveniles are less exclusively piscivorous than the adults and feed on a variety of invertebrates as well. The most significant prey species differ between seasons and geographic regions. For example, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, juvenile common sole ("Solea solea") are by far the most important prey item in autumn and winter, but in spring and summer they become less available and other fishes figure more prominently in the ray's diet. Known parasites of this species include the tapeworm "Phyllobothrium lactuca", and the monogeneans "Amphibdella paronaperugiae" and "Amphibdelloides benhassinae".
Life history.
The common torpedo is aplacental viviparous, in which the embryos are sustained by yolk, supplemented by histotroph ("uterine milk") secreted by the mother. However, the organic content of the histotroph in this species is only 1.2%, much lower than in stingrays, and the embryo loses mass over the course of development as its initial yolk supply is expended for metabolic processes. Adult females have two functional ovaries and two functional uteruses, though the reproductive tract on the right side is more developed and consequently tends to carry more embryos. It has an annual reproductive cycle with well-defined seasonality, though the details differ between geographic regions. In the Mediterranean, mating occurs from December to February and birthing from late August to early September after a gestation period of 4–6 months; litter sizes range up to 19 and the newborns measure long. By contrast, off West Africa the gestation period lasts 6–8 months and birthing occurs from September to October; litter sizes range up to 28 and the newborns measure long. The litter size increases with female size.
Sexual segregation occurs during the breeding season as pregnant females move into shallow coastal waters. The common torpedo is unusual among sharks and rays in that birthing has been documented both at higher and at lower salinities than seawater, in estuaries and lagoons. Immediately after birth, this species is capable of producing electric shocks of up to four volts. Newborns grow rapidly, with a commensurate increase in electrogenic capacity: after four months, they almost double in weight and can generate 26 volts. Males and females mature sexually at similar lengths: respectively in the Tyrrhenian Sea, respectively off Egypt, for both off Tunisia, and respectively off Senegal.
Human interactions.
The electric shock of the common torpedo can be severe, but is not life-threatening. In classical antiquity, the electrogenic properties of this species led it (and other strongly electric fishes) to be used in medicine for the treatment of pain and diseases such as gout. For example, the Roman physician Scribonius Largus, in his "Compositiones medicae" ("c". 50 AD), recommended that chronic headaches be treated by the application of a live torpedo to the affected area. The common torpedo is edible, but is little-valued by commercial or artisanal fisheries and is mostly discarded when caught. Because of its shallow-water habits, it may survive being captured and discarded relatively well. It is susceptible to several types of demersal fishing gear, including bottom trawls and trammel nets; fishing activity is heavy within its range but no specific data regarding this species are available. As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed it under Data Deficient. The common torpedo has been kept in aquariums, but requires live fish for food.