No, I haven’t read Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow.” But a while back I saw a copy at a book store with this cover:
It occured to me that I recognized that illustration. And as it turns out, I do:
It’s actually Space Drawing 14, Wasserfall Zeichnung SKW 970 B, dated January 23, 1945. And yes you too can own your own copy. And for blisteringly cheap… $5.50.
Ex-soldier faces jail for handing in gun
Part One:
Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday …
The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year’s imprisonment …
This right here is bad enough. The British Nanny State – and of course several of the more blighted and corrupt cities in the US – make it a crime to simply posess a weapon. But it gets better. Lots better.
Part Two:
The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.
In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.
“I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.
“At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.”
Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.
Wow.
As if it’s not bad enough that the Brits have these evil laws, the cops actually enforced them. And worse still, a British jury actually convicted him. This is *exactly* what “jury nullification” is for.
Just by having the gun in his possession he was guilty of the charge, and has no defence in law against it, he added.
Brits: it’s really well past time for y’all to have a revolution. You live in a police state.
At long overdue last, Justo Miranda’s “Unknown!” volume 3 is now available for download. This issue includes: 26 pages of English text, 34 pages of technical illustrations with 148 1/72 scale drawings and two pages of colour illustrations.The Unknown! series is at the bottom of this page:
http://www.up-ship.com/blog/drawndoc/rd/rd.htm
Unknown! #3 covers:
*Horten X series, Horten Ho X “Volksjäger”, Horten Ho X-A research airplane, Horten Ho X-B transonic fighter, Horten Ho X-C supersonic fighter
*Handley Page 115, British research airplane
*Gluhareff “Dart” American project for ojival delta fighter in 1941
*Evolution of Morane French fighters between 1937 and 1943 (19 variants)
*Renard R-42, high altitude Belgian fighter
*Hawker P.1009 “Sea Phoon”, extended wings naval version of “Typhoon”
*”Panzerschreck” series of antitank German unguided rockets, including: “Panzerschreck” I, II, III and IV, “Fliegerschreck”, “Panzerblitz 2”, “Panzerblitz 3” and the launch systems used by the Focke Wulf 190 F-8.
*Jet Thunderbolt. A graphic study on the different projects to install a turbojet engine on the P-47 fighter.
*Caproni Ca 183 bis, Italian high-altitude Campini interceptor
*Evolution of the Ohka suicide bombers and their different launch systems. It covers Model 11, 21, 22, 33, 43A (Otsu), 43B (Kon), 53, submarine hangar, underground storage & rocket catapult, “Tenga” jet bomber, “Ginga” Mod. 33 with extended fuselage. Hypothetical reconstruction of the Model 11 “floatplane” used in Singapore as suicide boat towed by a Shinyo Type 5 motorboat and a story by John Baxter on the attack to the Panama Canal, made by 12 “Ohka” 43s launched from submarines.
Unknown #3 can be purchased for download for $16.
On display in the dimly-lit National Air and Space Museum – Udvar-Havy facility is an example of the Light Exo-Atmospheric Projectile Kinetic Kill Vehicle (LEAP KKV). The LEAP is, in essence, a telescope hooked up to a computer and a solid rocket motor. The rocket did not exhaust out through a single nozzle in the tail, but instead through a multitude of nozzles around the midsection. Each nozzle was equipped with a valve, allowing the nozzle to be either On or Off. The purpose of this was that it would allow the LEAP to move sideways, rather than forward. Forward motion was assured by virtue of the vehicle being at the tip of a Navy Standard Missile (SM-3), which would use a three-stage rocket to chuck the LEAP to very high speeds and above the sensible atmosphere. The LEAP would use its ability to jink aroung the sky in order to put itself on an impact trajectory with an incoming enemy missile. No explosive warhead was carried; simply being smacked by a chunk of metal more than a foot long travelling at several kilometers per second is typically enough to trash even the toughest rocket or warhead.
It looks like a real enough desktop/display model… but it also looks like something that was designed while drunk. Anybody have a clue? There’s not only the issue with the wierd U-shaped supports up front (or whatever they are), there’s also the bulbous tail with what looks like a multitude of little ports.
On display at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles in Lexington, Nebraska, is an M-113 with a difference. It packs a total of 8 Hellfire laser-designated fire-and-forget missiles. Never entered service, and it looks like one good hit up top by enemy fire could really ruin the crews day, but it’s still a serious nasty looking piece of equipment.
Back in August I posted a few posts about the guns on display at the Rock Island Arsenal Museum. A week or so ago I got back there, this time with a better camera and a determination to get at least a decent photo of most every modern-ish firearm, as well as much of the documentation (such as it is).
If you like this sort stuff I post, you can support the cause by Buying My Stuff, which includes aerospace drawings and documents, as well as the journal of unbuilt aircraft and spacecraft projects, Aerospace Projects Review. Or you could just Donate.
In June, 1959, Boeing presented to the Air Force a concept for an orbital bombardment system based on work then being done on the Dyna Soar program. The bomber itself was a Dyna Soar derivative, with bombs that were each contained in lifting re-entry vehicles also based on Dyna Soar work. The bomber would carry one of the winged bombs under each of the bombers wings, and six more around the conical adapter behind the bomber.
The bombs would have a crossrange capability of up to 3000 miles. Coupled with a 30-degree inclination orbit, this would put essentially the entire Soviet Union within range of the system.
The Orbital Bomber would remain in a 125-nautical mile circular orbit with its three-man crew for up to two weeks. At the end of that time, assuming the Soviets hadn’t earned a dose of nuclear whoopass, the bomber would release its bombs. The bombs and the bomber would re-enter separately, gliding to a runway landing for refurbishment and relaunch.
<> Sixty-three bombers would be needed to wipe out 300 selected targets. An impressive 1683 launches would be required every year (five and a quarter per day). In order to cost effectively launch this force, a two-stage booster with a winged, turbojet-equipped flyback first stage would be used.
Five launches of a reusable manned launch vehicle per day. NASA has a hard time pulling off that many launches per year.
Oh, sure, it’s not really a ban, but it’s certainly outrageous. Imagien if you needed to jump through the same unConstitutional hoops to, say, buy a newspaper or go into a church. Or even *vote.*
| To: Cabela’s California Customers From: Cabela’s Communications Subject: California Assembly Bill 962 Date: Sept. 22, 2009 We are writing to inform you of pending legislation that will restrict purchases of handgun ammunition in California and will terminate our ability to service your needs for certain products. On Friday, Sept. 11, the California Assembly passed Assembly Bill 962, by a 44-31 vote. Among other regulations, AB 962 would: |
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| • Ban all mail-order and Internet sales of handgun ammunition. • Prohibit the retail sale, the offer for sale or the display of handgun ammunition in a manner that allows ammunition to be accessible to a purchaser without assistance of a vendor or employee. • Require that the delivery or transfer of ownership of handgun ammunition occur in a face-to-face transaction, with the deliverer or transferor being provided bona fide evidence of identity of the purchaser or other transferee. |
| That evidence of identity, which must be legibly recorded at the time of delivery, includes: |
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| • The right thumbprint of the purchaser or transferee. • The date of the sale or other transaction. • The purchaser’s or transferee’s driver’s license or other identification number and the state in which it was issued. • The brand, type and amount of ammunition sold or otherwise transferred. • The purchaser’s or transferee’s signature. • The name of the salesperson who processed the sale or other transaction. • The purchaser’s or transferee’s full residential address and telephone number. • The purchaser’s or transferee’s date of birth. |
| The bill is on the desk of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, where it awaits his consideration. He will have until Oct. 11 to sign or veto the bill. If he does not veto the bill, it will become law.
If you wish to comment on AB 962, you may contact Gov. Schwarzenegger by phone at (916) 445-2841, or via fax at (916) 558-3160. To e-mail Gov. Schwarzenegger, visit We encourage all Cabela’s customers who participate in the shooting sports to contact Gov. Schwarzenegger to voice their opposition to this initiative, which will limit your opportunities to shop with Cabela’s, and will restrict the sale of handgun ammunition everywhere in California. |
Now available is a Boeing digram for a 1/20-scale BOMARC display model. This shows the missile in good detail, giving dimensions and cross-sections. Perfect for anyone wanting to scratchbuild a BOMARC either static model or flying model rocket. Or for the truly adventurous, a flying RC model… preferable with a solid rocket booster in the fuselage and two turbine units in the “ramjet” pods. The drawing is in grayscale and is 11031X7184 pixels, and comes with a half-size version for easier viewing and printing.
The BOMARC drawing can be downloaded for $5.50.
