 as far as the foss and stood there shouting encouragement as they passed him. Wave after wave of these fresh, magnificent and stoutly armoured men rushed up to the stockade, to tear at the barrels of earth that surmounted it, to hack at the beams that supported it, and to place their ladders against it where it could not be brought down, each wave making way without panic for its successor. The Christians were exhausted. They had fought with only a few minutes’ respite for more than four hours; but they fought with desperation, knowing that if they gave way it would be the end. Behind them in the city the church bells were clanging again, and a great murmur of prayer rose to heaven.
The fighting along the stockade was hand-to-hand now. For an hour or so the Janissaries could make no headway. The Christians began to think that the onslaught was weakening a little. But fate was against them. At the corner of the Blachernae wall, just before it joined the double Theodosian wall, there was, half-hidden by a tower, a small sally-port known as the Kerkoporta. It had been closed up many years earlier; but the old men remembered it. Just before the siege began it had been reopened, to allow sorties into the enemy’s flank. During the fighting the Bocchiardis and their men had made effective use of it against Karadja Pasha’s troops. But now someone returning from a sortie forgot to bar the little gate after him. Some Turks noticed the opening and rushed through it into the courtyard behind it and began to climb up a stairway leading to the top of the wall. The Christians who were just outside the gate saw what was happening and crowded back to retake control of it and to prevent other Turks from following. In the confusion some fifty Turks were left inside the wall, where they could have been surrounded and eliminated if at that moment a worse disaster had not occurred.
It was just before sunrise that a shot fired at close range from a culverin struck Giustiniani and pierced his breastplate. Bleeding copiously and obviously in great pain, he begged his men to take him off the battle-field. One of them went to the Emperor who was fighting near by to ask for the key of a little gate that led through the inner wall. Constantine hurried to his side to plead with him not to desert his post. But Giustiniani’s nerve was broken; he insisted on flight. The gate was opened, and his bodyguard carried him into the city, through the streets down to the harbour where they placed him on a Genoese ship. His troops noticed his going. Some of them may have thought that he had retreated to defend the inner wall; but most of them concluded that the battle was lost. Someone shouted out in terror that the Turks had crossed the wall. Before the little gate could be shut again the Genoese streamed headlong through it. The Emperor and his Greeks were left on the field alone.
While he was pleading with Giustiniani the Emperor had been told of the Turks’ entry through the Kerkoporta. He rode there at once, but he came too late. Panic had spread to some of the Genoese there. In the confusion it was impossible to close the gate. The Turks came pouring through; and the Bocchiardis’ men were too few now to push them back. Constantine turned his horse and galloped back to the Lycus valley and the breaches in the stockade. With him was the gallant Spaniard who claimed to be his cousin, Don Francisco of Toledo, and his own cousin Theophilus Paleologus and a faithful comrade-at-arms, John Dalmata. Together they tried to rally the Greeks, in vain; the slaughter had been too great. They dismounted and for a few minutes the four of them held the approach to the gate through which Giustiniani had been carried. But the defense was broken now. The gate was jammed with Christian soldiers trying to make their escape, as more and more Janissaries fell on them. Theophilus shouted that he would rather die than live and disappeared into the oncoming hordes. Constantine himself knew now that the Empire was lost, and he had no wish to survive it. He flung off his imperial insignia and, with Don Francisco and John Dalmata still at his side, he followed Theophilus. He was never seen again.
The Mid-East will become a theatre of a war in which the Russians will take part. Much blood will be spilled. The sign that this event is approaching will be the destruction of the Mosque of Omar, for its destruction will mark the beginning of work by the Jews to rebuild the Temple of Solomon, which was built on the same spot. There will be a great war between Russians and Europeans, and much blood will be spilled.
- Ayios Paisios Ayioreitis.
Here is the story of a more recent loss of a Russian Orthodox parish in the USA. It's bank accounts were seized and it was summarily closed in spite of years of promises from the Diocese that it would not happen.
# Cesaroni Grain Spacers: Game Changers?

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#### deandome

##### Well-Known Member
Wildman had some of these at our weekend launch, now there's news @ RP: https://www.rocketryplanet.com/content/view/3009/30/

These spacers add 2 grains of flexibility to any case you buy; a 6-grain case can now utilize 4, 5 or 6-grain reloads. 3-grain case = 1,2 or 3 grain loads, etc.

This is pretty huge! Less $spent on casings = more reloads you can buy! This, and the fact their high-speed V-max loads have motor ejection capabilities (as opposed to AT's Warp-9) seems to be pushing me further into the CTI camp. #### CoyoteNumber2 ##### Original San Diego High Power Rocketry Any idea if these will work with the Pro54 6GXL casing? What does the XL mean anyway? Half a grain? #### Jeroen_at_CTI ##### Well-Known Member Any idea if these will work with the Pro54 6GXL casing? What does the XL mean anyway? Half a grain? The 6GXL cases use the same amount of grains as the 6G cases: 6 grains. In the XL case they are just longer than the standard grains (stretched). At this moment we don't have Pro54 spacers available yet, but they are certainly next on the list of spacers. Since the XL cases are not a regular extra grain longer, one can not use a regular spacer to turn a 6GXL casing into a 6G casing. For this a XL-spacer is needed. These are not yet available, but are on the list and will be released when approved. Some examples: to turn a 6GXL casing into a 6G casing you would need an XL spacer. To turn a 6GXL casing into a 5G casing you would need an XL spacer and a regular spacer. Etc. Note that there is one exemption to this: the Pro29-6GXL is one regular grain longer than the 6G motor. So here one type of spacers will do. (This was one of the reasons for making it exactly one grain longer.) Attached is a.pdf that explains the Pro75 spacer. Pro98 spacers are similar to those of the Pro75 motors. Jeroen View attachment Pro75_Case_Spacer.pdf #### Jeroen_at_CTI ##### Well-Known Member Note: This message was also posted on RP. Since not everyone has an account there and is able to see the photos, I'm also posting it here. Another usage of the Pro38 case spacer: motor retention. See the photo below. This examples uses Giant Leap's hardpoint anchor (https://giantleaprocketry.com/products_recovery.asp#hardpoint). First the outer ring was removed. The remaining spokes were then press-fit into the Pro38 case spacer. There are many more ways to do this. Jeroen #### patelldp ##### Well-Known Member Note: This message was also posted on RP. Since not everyone has an account there and is able to see the photos, I'm also posting it here. Another usage of the Pro38 case spacer: motor retention. See the photo below. This examples uses Giant Leap's hardpoint anchor (https://giantleaprocketry.com/products_recovery.asp#hardpoint). First the outer ring was removed. The remaining spokes were then press-fit into the Pro38 case spacer. There are many more ways to do this. Jeroen I am really happy with what I see coming out of CTI. While I won't necessarily buy any more commercial motors, it's great to see some innovation on your part. I had considered doing something similar for my snap ring EX cases many years back, but never figured I'd see it develop into a commercial application. Keep up the good work, Cesaroni! Thinking outside the box is the quick way to good business. #### Handeman ##### Well-Known Member TRF Supporter I already have 29 and 38mm cases. Here's 10,000,000 votes you come out with the 54 mm spacers next! #### Jeroen_at_CTI ##### Well-Known Member I already have 29 and 38mm cases.