Koleksi Lebih Lengkap: www.antiknjadul.blogspot.com
Proyektor ini lengkap,… disebelah kanan itu adalah tutup proyektor jika tidak sedang digunakan, sayangnya kabel powernya hilang jadi saya tidak dapat mencoba apakah masih fungsi atau tidak. Saya lepas apa adanya n dengan harga 600.000 saja. SMS saya di 081-5678-73353.
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Kamera Agak Kuno Sih,…. ini pastinya dulu yang make mas whratawan yang canggih, mata kamera ini asli canon yang panjangnya sampe 200mm, biasanya yang ditenteng2 orang cuma 60mm. Saya lepas dengan harga 700.000 saza,…. battery yang depan itu abis gan,… sy ga tau dimana harus beli,…. tidak ada tasnya. Nuhun.
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(Koleksi Lebih Lengkap: www.antiknjadul.blogspot.com)
Jam-jam seperti ini dibuat tahun 75an, suara mesinnya wah,…. mekanik banget,…. tidak menggunakan battery tapi di putar manual,…. ada yang napasnya panjang sampai 24jam ada yang lebih juga. Saya pasti memilih yang masih mulus dan masih bernafas, enaknya memang untuk hiasan aja di ruang tamu untuk nostalgia masa lalu. Dilepas dengan harga 200.000 an saja belum termasuk ongkir, via sms aja ya gan,… malu jika dialog he3,…. 081-5678-73353. Tengok lebih lengkapnya di web saya yang lain,…. pasti Agan ketawa dech soalnya ada yang lucu,….
Posted in UNIK UNIK ANEH | Tags: antik, barang kuno, vintage
Sangat jarang koleksi Sea Lion yang Lady, kebanyakan untuk cowok, masih normal sayangnya rante/gelangnya saya ganti dengan yang baru karena yang lama sulit di benarkan, sayangnya lagi yang lama saya letak entah di mana,…. mungkin yang asli ada lapisan emas yang kuat soalnya warna kuningnya tidak pernah pudar. Saya lepas dengan harga 300.000 belum ongkir gan,…. Via sms untuk kontak 081-5678-73353.
Kalo ini jam cowok banget,… otomatis juga,…. saya dapat di kota Medan,…. Platenya masih bagus,…. Saya lepas 1 juta aja. SMS saya jika berminat. Terimakasih.
Posted in UNIK UNIK ANEH | Tags: antik, barang kuno, vintage
(Koleksi Lebih Lengkap: www.antiknjadul.blogspot.com) Mantap koleksi2nya gan,….
Belum tahu tahun keluarannya gan,…. yang jelas kalkulator ini indah angka2nya bisa “murup” / “menyala” biru kehijauan, dan 12 digit lumayan panjang, batere pake batere warung aja gan,…. deket belinya ga usah jauh2 ke toko elektronik. Memang agak tebel sih tapi kokohnya itu membuat kalkulator ini umurnya puanjang,…… perlu pembersihan biar agak enak dipakai terutama di tombol2 angka yg kena debu pasar kali ya,…. Bisa kontak via sms 081-5678-73353.
Posted in UNIK UNIK ANEH | Tags: antik, barang kuno, vintage
(Koleksi lebih lengkap: www.antiknjadul.blogspot.com)
Kalkulator ini termasuk jadul karena mulai era digital tahun 70an, kalkulator ini memang punya 2 keanehan. Pertama dia punya tomboh kounter dan hasilnya bisa langsung kita kalkulasikan, kedua tampilan hanya 3 digit meskipun hasilnya tidak terbatas. Misalnya jika Anda menghitung jumlah ayam yang siap di jual di kandang Anda,…. misalnya hasilnya 400 ayam lalu dikalikan dengan harga ayam besar adalah 50.000 per ekor maka total adalah 2.000.000 maka hasil dalam kalkulator antik ini akan ditampilkan 3x menjadi 2,, dan 000, dan 000. Pake battere kecil bisa beli di warung dan angkanya jelas diwaktu malam dengan warna khas hijau, Asyik kan. Saya lepas dengan harga 100.000 belum ongkir loo gan,….. hub 081-5678-73353
Posted in UNIK UNIK ANEH | Tags: antik, barang kuno, vintage
(Koleksi Lebih Lengkap: www.antiknjadul.blogspot.com)
Wah ini barang yang antik menurut saya, karena JVC ini diproduksi Japan asli, Tahun Jadul lagi, 1977 saya baru berumur 7 tahun. Masih bisa berfungsi TV nya meski cuma VHF saja, radio masih bening suaranya dan FM nya ada sehingga sy bisa menikmatinya tiap sore dan malam hari. Tape memakai pita (jadul belum ada CD nya lah yaw),…. suaranya masih bagus tidak ngombak (meliuk-liuk) sy masih gunakan untuk menikmati lagunya Rhoma Irama masih muda (tahun 1984) bersama Elvy Sukaesih judulnya “Ke Monas”,…… Ada hilang knob High and Low,…. meski masih fungsi tapi knobnya patah,….. Kabel power juga masih asli,…. langka karena seperti kabel telpon,…… spiral. Saya lepas dengan harga 2 juta rupiah. Ga mesti setahun sekali nemu barang seperti ini, kalaupun nemu udah hancur dimakan usia.
Udah Ongkir boss,…. atau main aja kerumah sy jika takut rusak di jalan,… Hub via sms aja ya,….081-5678-73353.
Posted in UNIK UNIK ANEH | Tags: barang antik, kuno, vintage
Coral Castle is a stone structure created by the Latvian American eccentric Edward Leedskalnin north of the city of Homestead, Florida in Miami-Dade County at the intersection of U.S. 1 (South Dixie Highway) and Southwest 157th Ave. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones (mostly limestone formed from coral), each weighing several tons.[2] It currently serves as a privately-operated tourist attraction.
According to the Coral Castle’s own promotional material, Edward Leedskalnin was jilted by his 16-year-old fiancée Agnes Scuffs in Latvia, just one day before the wedding. Leaving for America, he came down with allegedly terminal tuberculosis, but spontaneously healed, stating that magnets had some effect on his disease.
Edward spent over 28 years building the Coral Castle, refusing to allow anyone to view him while he worked. A few teenagers claimed to have witnessed his work, reporting that he had caused the blocks of coral to move like hydrogen balloons. The only tool that Leedskalnin spoke of using was a “perpetual motion holder.”
Leedskalnin originally built the castle, which he named Rock Gate Park, in Florida City, Florida around 1923. He purchased the land from Ruben Moser whose wife helped assist him when he had a very bad bout with tuberculosis.[3] Florida City, which borders the Everglades, is the southernmost city in the United States that is not on an island. It was an extremely remote location with very little development at the time. The castle remained in Florida City until about 1936 when Leedskalnin decided to move and take the castle with him. The Coral Castle website states that he chose to move in order to protect his privacy when discussion about developing land in the area of the castle started.[4] The second commonly held notion was that he wanted to relocate to a more populous locale after being badly beaten one night by hooligans looking to rob him.[5] He spent three years moving the Coral Castle structures 10 miles (16 km) north from Florida City to its current location in Homestead, Florida.
Leedskalnin continued to work on the castle up until his death in 1951. The coral pieces that are part of the newer castle, not among those transported from the original location, were quarried on the property only a few feet away from the southern wall.
Leedskalnin charged visitors ten cents a head to tour the castle grounds. There are signs carved into rocks at the front gate to “Ring Bell Twice” and a second sign just inside the property that says “Adm. 10c Drop Below”. He would come down from his living quarters in the second story of the castle tower close to the gate and conduct the tour. Leedskalnin never told anyone that asked him how he made the castle. He would simply answer “It’s not difficult if you know how.”
When asked why he had built the castle, Leedskalnin would vaguely answer it was for his “Sweet Sixteen.” This is widely believed to be a reference to Agnes Scuffs (whose surname is given by some sources as “Skuvst”). In Leedskalnin’s own publication A Book in Every Home he implies his “Sweet Sixteen” was more an ideal than a reality. According to a Latvian account, the woman existed, but her name was actually Hermīne Lūsis.[6]
When Leedskalnin became ill in December 1951, he put a sign on the door of the front gate “Going to the Hospital” and took the bus to a Miami hospital. The doctors discovered Leedskalnin was suffering from advanced stomach cancer. He died in the hospital three days later.
While the property was being investigated, $3,500 was found among Leedskalnin’s personal belongings. Leedskalnin had made his income from conducting tours, selling pamphlets about various subjects (including magnetic currents) and the sale of a portion of his 10-acre (4.0 ha) property for the construction of U.S. Route 1.[4] Having no will, the castle became the property of his closest living relative in America, a nephew from Michigan named Harry.[7]
The Coral Castle website reports that the nephew was in poor health and he sold the castle to an Illinois family in 1953. However, this story differs from the obituary of a former Coral Castle owner, Julius Levin, a retired jeweler from Chicago, Illinois. The obituary states Levin had purchased the land from the state of Florida in 1952 and may not have been aware there was even a castle on the land.[8]
The new owners changed the name of Rock Gate Park to Coral Castle and turned it into a tourist attraction.[9]
In January 1981, Levin sold the castle to the Coral Castle, Inc. for $175,000.[10] They remain the owners today.
In 1984, The National Register of Historic Places added Rock Gate, also known as Coral Castle, to its list of historic places
A view from within Leedskalnin’s Coral Castle.
The grounds of Coral Castle consist of 1,100 short tons (1,000 t) of stones found in the forms of walls, carvings, furniture and a castle tower. While commonly referred to as being made up of coral, it is actually made of oolite, also known as oolitic limestone. Oolite is a sedimentary rock composed of small spherical grains of concentrically layered carbonate that may include localized concentrations of fossil shells and coral. Oolite is found throughout southeastern Florida from Palm Beach County to the Florida Keys.[12] Oolite is often found beneath only several inches of topsoil, such as at the Coral Castle site.
The stones are fastened together without any mortar. They are simply set on top of each other using their immense weight to keep them together. However, the craftsmanship detail is so skillful that the stones are connected with such precision that no light passes through the joints. The 8-foot (2.4 m) tall vertical stones that make up the perimeter wall have a uniform height. Even with the passage of decades and a direct hit on August 24, 1992 by the Category 5 Hurricane Andrew, which leveled everything in the area, the stones have not shifted.
Many of the features and carvings of the castle are notable. Among them are a two-story castle tower that served as Leedskalnin’s living quarters, walls consisting entirely of 8-foot high pieces of stone, an accurate sundial, a Polaris telescope, an obelisk, a barbecue, a water well, a fountain, celestial stars and planets, and numerous pieces of furniture. The furniture pieces included are a heart-shaped table, a table in the shape of Florida, twenty-five rocking chairs, chairs resembling crescent moons, a bathtub, beds and a royal throne.
The Thirty Ton Stone.
What is most remarkable about the contents of the Coral Castle is the massive size of the stones used throughout the construction, all the more remarkable when one considers that a single man assembled the entire site using only primitive tools. With few exceptions, the objects are made from single pieces of stone that weigh on average 15 short tons (14 t) each. The largest stone weighs 30 short tons (27 t) and the tallest stones are two monolithic stones standing 25 ft (7.6 m) high each.
A 9-short-ton (8.2 t) revolving gate is the most famous structure of the castle and was documented on the television programs In Search of… and That’s Incredible! The gate is carved so precisely that it fits within a quarter of an inch of the walls on both sides. It was so well-balanced that a child could open it with the push of a single finger. The mystery of the gate’s perfectly balanced axis and the amazing ease with which it revolved lasted for decades until the gate suddenly stopped working in 1986. At that time, a team of engineers was brought in for consultation. In order to remove the gate, six men and a 50-short-ton (45 t) crane were utilized. Once the gate was removed, the engineers discovered how Leedskalnin had centered and balanced the 9-short-ton piece of rock. Leedskalnin had drilled a hole from top to bottom of the 8-foot-tall gate with no electric tools and inserted a metal shaft. The rock rested on an old truck bearing. It was the rusting out of this bearing that resulted in the gate’s failure to revolve. The 9-short-ton gate, complete with new bearings, and a replaced shaft was lifted and set back into place on July 23, 1986.[13] The gate failed again in 2005 and was subsequently repaired, however it does not rotate with the same ease it once did.
The structure is considered mysterious by some, mainly because it is said that one man assembled the entire structure. Leedskalnin seems to have gone to great lengths to ensure that he was not observed working. The castle’s official site states that “Ed did much of his work at night by lantern light. The Coral Castle has numerous lookouts along the castle walls that were designed to help protect his privacy.”[4]
There are various theories that hold that Leedskalnin constructed the castle using some unknown form of science. For example, one website claims that “Ed Leedskalnin left behind the blueprints of nature, a Secret Knowledge of the Ancients”.[14] Such theories seem to be discounted by evidence, such as photographs showing Leedskalnin working, apparently using traditional methods like block and tackle.[15]
There is skepticism as to the success of the traditional methods of tripods equipped with pulleys and chains that are in the photographs of Leedskalnin at work. Some point out that the tripods appear to rise only about 20 ft (6.1 m), while the largest stones are 25 ft (7.6 m) long and stand vertical. They claim that tripods that are made from wooden telephone poles could not support the larger stones. There are not enough pulleys to lessen the weight of the stones enough that a 100-pound (45 kg) man could exert enough force to lift the stones. The chains can still be found in the tool room of the castle tower and are seen in the photographs. They have links 3⁄8 in (0.95 cm) thick and are only rated with a 3.5-short-ton (3.2 t) workload and may not be able to support the weight of the stones.[16] However, these claims have not been rigorously analyzed by either engineers or scientists.[17]
The Coral Castle site states that “if anyone ever questioned Ed about how he moved the blocks of coral, Ed would only reply that he understood the laws of weight and leverage well.” [4] He also stated that he had “discovered the secrets of the pyramids”,[17] which of course could be interpreted in either esoteric or engineering terms. Despite the skepticism of traditional building methods at least one person, W. T. Wallington, has shown that he can produce feats of this nature using only simple tools. Given this type of construction method, the statements of Leedskalnin and the evidence surrounding its construction this could be the way Leedskalnin built the Coral Castle.
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Mecca (Pos Kota) – Muslims worldwide amounted to 1.5 billion people currently have a benchmark time. Not only is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) based in London, England, which became a benchmark. But hours earlier inaugurated the new Mecca of Ramadan 1431 H rival GMT.
Clock that looks majestic perched on Mecca’s Royal Clock Tower. These places are the heart of a vast and magnificent complex financed by government of Saudi Arabia which includes hotels, shopping centers and conference rooms.
Shaped four-hour face was lit by two million LED lights along with Arabic inscriptions “In God’s Name.” Hours running time by the standards of Saudi Arabia, which is three hours ahead of GMT. Buildings with a height of about 2000 feet is the second tallest building in the world.
To recall prayer time, 21 000 green and white light visible at a distance of 18 miles of blinking as long as five times a day. Islamic scholars hoped the influence of these hours can make Mecca replace Greenwich Observatory as a “true center of the earth.”
Mohammed Al-Arkubi, one hotel manager said the complex, making Mecca time to replace Greenwich Mean
Time is the goal.
Similar disclosed Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric who was known throughout the Islamic world because of its popular television show, Sharia and Life. “Mecca is more suited to be prime meridian for a perfect alignment with the north magnetic field,” he said,
DETAIL
The Abraj Al-Bait Towers also known as the “Mecca Royal Clock Hotel Tower” is a complex under construction in Mecca, Saudi Arabia by the Saudi Binladin Group. Upon completion, the tallest tower in the complex would stand as the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, and the tallest and largest hotel in the world, with a planned height of 601 m (1,972 ft). Upon completion, the structure would have the largest floor area of any structure in the world with 1,500,000 m2 (16,150,000 sq ft) of floorspace. This is the same as Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates which is the current record holder. It will also surpass the Emirates Park Towers in Dubai as the world’s tallest hotel. It is also the second tallest building under construction. The entire project is estimated to be completed in the autumn of 2011.
The site of the complex is located across the street to the south from an entrance to the Masjid al Haram, which houses the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam. In order to start construction, the historic Ottoman Ajyad Fortress had to be first completely demolished. To accommodate worshippers who visit the Kaaba, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a large prayer room capable of holding nearly ten thousand people. The tallest tower in the complex will also contain a seven-star hotel to help provide lodging for the over five million pilgrims who travel to Mecca annually to participate in hajj.
In addition, the Abraj Al-Bait Towers will have a four-story shopping mall and a parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles. Residential towers will house permanent residents while two heliports and a conference center are to accommodate business travelers. In total, up to 100,000 people would be housed inside the towers. The project will use clock faces for each side of the hotel tower. The highest residential floor will be at 450 m (1,480 ft), just below the clocks. The clock faces will be 43 × 43 m (141 × 141 ft), the largest in the world. The roof of the clocks will be 530 m (1,740 ft) high up, making them the world’s most elevated architectural clocks. A 61 m (200 ft) tall spire will be added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 m (1,972 ft),
Clock on 11 August,2010.
Artist’s rendition of the clock.
The hotel tower is topped by a four-faced clock, which is billed by Saudi Arabia as the largest clock in the world. The clock will dwarf London’s Big Ben, once the largest four-faced clock in the world, with dials more than five times greater in area. Each of the clock’s four faces are 151 feet in diameter and will be illuminated by 2 million LED lights, along with huge Arabic script reading: “God is Greatest.” Another 21,000 white and green colored lights, fitted at the top of the clock, will flash to as far as 19 miles[1]. The Saudi coat of arms is displayed at the center of each clock behind the dials. The clock’s dials are also bigger than the current world champion at the Cevahir Mall clock in Istanbul, which has a 36 meter face set in the transparent roof of the shopping complex.
A three-month test run for the clock started on 11 August, 2010 (1st Ramadhan, 1431 Hijri). Only one of the clock’s four faces has so far been completed and is covered with 98 million pieces of glass mosaics. Each face will be inscribed with “God is greatest” in Arabic and fitted with thousands of colored lights. The clock will be visible from more than 16 miles (25 kilometers).
German and Swiss engineers designed the clock and according to the Ministry of Religious Endowments, the entire project will cost $800 million [2]. The clock will run on Arabian atandard time, (+3 GMT). The clock reflects a goal to replace the 126-year-old universal time standard, also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Fire in Hajar Tower.
The Abraj-al-bait complex has seen two fire incidents during construction. The first fire struck the Hajar Tower on 28 October, 2008. It took 400 firefighters to put out the fire, which burned for 10 hours, consuming nine floors of the tower[3]. According to eyewitness reports, the blaze erupted shortly after midnight, and spread rapidly because of wood used for construction stored in the premises. Soon, the entire building was engulfed in smoke. Hospitals were put on high alert, but no injuries were reported. A civil defence spokesman said the fire started on the 32nd floor of Hajar Tower[4].
The second fire struck Sara tower on 01 May, 2009. No deaths or injuries were reported in the blaze that was quickly contained by Civil Defense. Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out soon after Asr prayer while some workers in the building were welding iron rods on wooden scaffoldings. The fire damaged a large part of the under-construction tower. According to Major General Adel Zamzami, director general of Civil Defense in the Makkah province, the fire broke out at the 14th floor and reached up to the 20th floor of the tower
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Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London,[1] and is often extended to refer to the clock or the clock tower as well.[2] It is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world.[3] It celebrated its 150th anniversary in May 2009 (the clock itself first ticking on 31 May 1859),[4] during which celebratory events took place.[5][6]
The Palace of Westminster, the Clock Tower and Westminster Bridge
A clock tower was built at Westminster in 1288, with the fine-money of Ralph Hengham, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.[7][8]
The present tower was raised as a part of Charles Barry‘s design for a new palace, after the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire on the night of 16 October 1834.
The new Parliament was built in a Neo-gothic style. Although Barry was the chief architect of the Palace, he turned to Augustus Pugin for the design of the clock tower, which resembles earlier Pugin designs, including one for Scarisbrick Hall. The design for the Clock Tower was Pugin’s last design before his final descent into madness and death, and Pugin himself wrote, at the time of Barry’s last visit to him to collect the drawings: “I never worked so hard in my life for Mr Barry for tomorrow I render all the designs for finishing his bell tower & it is beautiful.”[9] The tower is designed in Pugin’s celebrated Gothic Revival style, and is 96.3 metres (315.9 ft) high (roughly 16 stories).[10]
Monochrome image of Westminster clock tower
The bottom 61 metres (200 ft) of the Clock Tower’s structure consists of brickwork with sand coloured Anston limestone cladding. The remainder of the tower’s height is a framed spire of cast iron. The tower is founded on a 15-metre (49 ft) square raft, made of 3-metre (9.8 ft) thick concrete, at a depth of 4 metres (13 ft) below ground level. The four clock faces are 55 metres (180 ft) above ground. The interior volume of the tower is 4,650 cubic metres (164,200 cubic feet).
Despite being one of the world’s most famous tourist attractions, the interior of the tower is not open to overseas visitors, though United Kingdom residents are able to arrange tours (well in advance) through their Member of Parliament [1]. However, the tower has no elevator, so those escorted must climb the 334 limestone stairs to the top.[10]
Because of changes in ground conditions since construction (notably tunnelling for the Jubilee Line extension), the tower leans slightly to the north-west, by roughly 220 millimetres (8.66 in) at the clock face, giving an inclination of approximately 1/250.[11][12] Due to thermal effects it oscillates annually by a few millimetres east and west.
The clock faces are large enough that the Clock Tower was once the largest four-faced clock in the world
The face of the Great Clock of Westminster. The hour hand is 2.7 metres (9 ft) long and the minute hand is 4.3 metres (14 ft) long.
The clock and dials were designed by Augustus Pugin. The clock faces are set in an iron frame 7 metres (23 ft) in diameter, supporting 312 pieces of opal glass, rather like a stained-glass window. Some of the glass pieces may be removed for inspection of the hands. The surround of the dials is gilded. At the base of each clock face in gilt letters is the Latin inscription:
| “ | DOMINE SALVAM FAC REGINAM NOSTRAM VICTORIAM PRIMAM | ” |
Which means O Lord, keep safe our Queen Victoria the First.
The Clock Tower at dusk, with The London Eye in the background
The clock is famous for its reliability. The designers were the lawyer and amateur horologist Edmund Beckett Denison, and George Airy, the Astronomer Royal. Construction was entrusted to clockmaker Edward John Dent; after his death in 1853 his stepson Frederick Dent completed the work, in 1854.[13] As the Tower was not complete until 1859, Denison had time to experiment: Instead of using the deadbeat escapement and remontoire as originally designed, Denison invented the double three-legged gravity escapement. This escapement provides the best separation between pendulum and clock mechanism. The pendulum is installed within an enclosed windproof box sunk beneath the clockroom. It is 3.9m long, weighs 300 kg and beats every 2 seconds. The clockwork mechanism in a room below weighs 5 tons. On top of the pendulum is a small stack of old penny coins; these are to adjust the time of the clock. Adding a coin has the effect of minutely lifting the position of the pendulum’s centre of mass, reducing the effective length of the pendulum rod and hence increasing the rate at which the pendulum swings. Adding or removing a penny will change the clock’s speed by 0.4 seconds per day.[6]
On 10 May 1941, a German bombing raid damaged two of the clockfaces and sections of the tower’s stepped roof and destroyed the House of Commons chamber. Architect Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed a new five-floor block. Two floors are occupied by the current chamber which was used for the first time on 26 October 1950. Despite the heavy bombing the clock ran accurately and chimed throughout the Blitz.
The south clock face being cleaned on 11 August 2007
The second ‘Big Ben’ (centre) and the Quarter Bells from The Illustrated News of the World December 4, 1858
A modern picture of ‘Big Ben’
The main bell, officially known as the Great Bell, is the largest bell in the tower and part of the Great Clock of Westminster. The bell is better known by the nickname Big Ben.[22]
The original bell was a 16.3-tonne (16 ton) hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons.[1] The bell was named in honour of Sir Benjamin Hall, and his name is inscribed on it.[23] However, another theory for the origin of the name is that the bell may have been named after a contemporary heavyweight boxer Benjamin Caunt.[24] It is thought that the bell was originally to be called Victoria or Royal Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria,[25] but that an MP suggested the nickname during a Parliamentary debate; the comment is not recorded in Hansard.
Since the tower was not yet finished, the bell was mounted in New Palace Yard. Cast in 1856, the first bell was transported to the tower on a trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress. Unfortunately, it cracked beyond repair while being tested and a replacement had to be made. The bell was recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.76-tonne (13½ ton) bell.[26] This was pulled 200 ft up to the Clock Tower’s belfry, a feat that took 18 hours. It is 2.2 metres tall and 2.9 metres wide. This new bell first chimed in July 1859. In September it too cracked under the hammer, a mere two months after it officially went into service. According to the foundry’s manager, George Mears, Denison had used a hammer more than twice the maximum weight specified.[1] For three years Big Ben was taken out of commission and the hours were struck on the lowest of the quarter bells until it was reinstalled. To make the repair, a square piece of metal was chipped out from the rim around the crack, and the bell given an eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different place.[1] Big Ben has chimed with an odd twang ever since and is still in use today complete with the crack. At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until “Great Paul”, a 17 tonne (16¾ ton) bell currently hung in St. Paul’s Cathedral, was cast in 1881.[27]
Click to hear BBC World Service announce itself, then play Westminster Chimes and the 12 strikes of Big Ben as broadcast at exactly 00:00:00 GMT on 1 January 2009.
Along with the Great Bell, the belfry houses four quarter bells which play the Westminster Quarters on the quarter hours. The four quarter bells are G♯, F♯, E, and B. They were cast by John Warner & Sons at their Crescent Foundry in 1857 (G♯, F♯ and B) and 1858 (E). The Foundry was in Jewin Crescent, in what is now known as The Barbican, in the City of London.
The Quarter Bells play a 20-chime sequence, 1–4 at quarter past, 5–12 at half past, 13–20 and 1–4 at quarter to, and 5–20 on the hour (which sounds 25 seconds before the main bell tolls the hour). Because the low bell (B) is struck twice in quick succession, there is not enough time to pull a hammer back, and it is supplied with two wrench hammers on opposite sides of the bell. The tune is that of the Cambridge Chimes, first used for the chimes of Great St Mary‘s church, Cambridge, and supposedly a variation, attributed to William Crotch, on a phrase from Handel‘s Messiah. The notional words of the chime, again derived from Great St Mary’s and in turn an allusion to Psalm 37:23-24, are: “All through this hour/Lord be my guide/And by Thy power/No foot shall slide”. They are written on a plaque on the wall of the clock room.[28][29]
Double Decker buses frame a busy Whitehall with Big Ben in the background.
The nickname Big Ben is the subject of some debate. The nickname was applied first to the Great Bell; it may have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who oversaw the installation of the Great Bell, or after boxing’s English Heavyweight Champion Benjamin Caunt.[1][22][30][31] Now Big Ben is used to refer to the clock, the tower and the bell collectively, although the nickname is not universally accepted as referring to the clock and tower.[2][32][33][34] Some authors of works about the tower, clock and bell sidestep the issue by using the words Big Ben first in the title, then going on to clarify that the subject of the book is the clock and tower as well as the bell.[35][36]
The clock has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London, particularly in the visual media. When a television or film-maker wishes to indicate a generic location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to show an image of the Clock Tower, often with a red double-decker bus or black cab in the foreground.[37] The sound of the clock chiming has also been used this way in audio media, but as the Westminster Quarters are heard from other clocks and other devices, the unique nature of this sound has been considerably diluted.
The Clock Tower is a focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the start of the year. Similarly, on Remembrance Day, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and the start of two minutes’ silence.
Superior part of the clock tower.
ITN‘s News at Ten opening sequence features an image of the Clock Tower with the sound of Big Ben’s chimes punctuating the announcement of the news headlines, and has done so on and off for the last 41 years. The Big Ben chimes (known within ITN as “The Bongs”) continue to be used during the headlines and all ITV News bulletins use a graphic based on the Westminster clock face. Big Ben can also be heard striking the hour before some news bulletins on BBC Radio 4 (6 pm and midnight, plus 10 pm on Sundays) and the BBC World Service, a practice that began on 31 December 1923. The sound of the chimes are sent in real time from a microphone permanently installed in the tower and connected by line to Broadcasting House.
Londoners who live an appropriate distance from the Clock Tower and Big Ben can, by means of listening to the chimes both live and on the radio or television, hear the bell strike thirteen times on New Year’s Eve. This is possible due to what amounts to an offset between live and electronically transmitted chimes since the speed of sound is a lot slower than the speed of radio waves. Guests are invited to count the chimes aloud as the radio is gradually turned down.
The Clock Tower has appeared in many films, most notably in the 1978 version of The Thirty-Nine Steps, in which the hero Richard Hannay attempted to halt the clock’s progress (to prevent a linked bomb detonating) by hanging from the minute hand of its western face. It was also used in the filming of Shanghai Knights starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and was depicted as being partially destroyed in the Doctor Who episode “Aliens of London“. An animated version of the clock and its inner workings were also used as the setting for the climactic final battle between Basil of Baker Street and his nemesis Ratigan in the Walt Disney animated film The Great Mouse Detective, and is shown being destroyed by a UFO in the film Mars Attacks! and by a lightning bolt in the film “The Avengers“. The apparent “thirteen chimes” detailed above was also a major plot device in the Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episode, “Big Ben Strikes Again“.
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The CN Tower, located in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a communications and observation tower standing 553.3 metres (1,815 ft) tall.[2] It surpassed the height of the Ostankino Tower while still under construction in 1975, becoming the tallest free-standing structure on land in the world for the next 31 years. On September 12, 2007 the CN Tower was surpassed in height by Burj Khalifa (formerly known as Burj Dubai).[3] It remains the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere, the signature icon of Toronto’s skyline, and a symbol of Canada,[4][5] attracting more than two million international visitors annually.[6] Though Burj Khalifa is the tallest free-standing structure, the CN Tower remains the world’s tallest tower, according the Guinness Book of World Records 2010, although the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower surpassed the height of the CN Tower in 2009.
CN originally referred to Canadian National, the railway company that built the tower. Following the railway’s decision to divest non-core freight railway assets, prior to the company’s privatization in 1995 it transferred the tower to the Canada Lands Company, a federal Crown corporation responsible for real estate development. Since local residents wished to retain the name CN Tower, the abbreviation is now said to expand to Canada’s National Tower rather than the original Canadian National Tower; however, neither of these names are commonly used.[7]
In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It also belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers, where it holds the first place ranking.
View from CN Tower at night
The idea of the CN Tower originated from the 1968 Canadian National Railway had a desire to build a large TV and radio communication platform to serve the Toronto area, as well as demonstrate the strength of Canadian industry and CN in particular. These plans evolved over the next few years, and the project became official in 1972. The tower would have been part of Metro Centre (see CityPlace), a large development south of Front Street on the Railway Lands, a large railway switching yard that was being made redundant by newer yards outside the city. Key project team members were NCK Engineering as structural engineer; John Andrews Architects; Webb, Zerafa, Menkes, Housden Architects; Foundation Building Construction; and Canron (Eastern Structural Division).
At the time, Toronto was a boom town, and the late 1960s and early 1970s had seen the construction of numerous large skyscrapers in the downtown core, most notably First Canadian Place. This made broadcasting into the downtown area very difficult due to reflections off the buildings. The only solution would be to raise the antennas above the buildings, demanding a tower over 300 metres (984 ft) tall. Additionally, at the time, most data communications took place over point-to-point microwave links, whose dish antenna covered the roofs of large buildings. As each new skyscraper was added to the downtown, former line-of-sight links were no longer possible. CN intended to rent “hub” space for microwave links, visible from almost any building in the Toronto area. The CN Tower can be seen from at least as far away as Kennedy Street in Aurora, Ontario, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the north, and from several points on the south shore of Lake Ontario, 48 kilometres (30 mi) to the south in New York state in the United States.[original research?]
The original plan for the tower envisioned a tripod consisting of three independent cylindrical “pillars” linked at various heights by structural bridges. Had it been built, this design would have been considerably shorter, with the metal antenna located roughly where the concrete section between the main level and the Sky Pod lies today. As the design effort continued, it evolved into the current design with a single continuous hexagonal core to the Sky Pod, with three support legs blended into the hexagon below the main level, forming a large Y-shape structure at the ground level.
The idea for the main level in its current form evolved around this time, but the Sky Pod was not part of the plans until some time later. One engineer in particular felt that visitors would feel the higher observation deck would be worth paying extra for, and the costs in terms of construction were not prohibitive. It was also some time around this point that it was realized that the tower could become the world’s tallest structure, and plans were changed to incorporate subtle modifications throughout the structure to this end.
On June 26, 1986, the ten-year anniversary of the tower’s opening, high-rise firefighting and rescue advocate Dan Goodwin, in a sponsored publicity event, used his hands and feet to climb the outside of the tower, a feat he performed twice on the same day. Following both ascents, he used multiple rappels to descend to the ground.[8]
Southward view from the tower
View of downtown Toronto from the CN Tower
Construction on the CN Tower began on February 6, 1973 with massive excavations at the tower base for the foundation. By the time the foundation was complete, 56,000 t (61,729 ST; 55,116 LT) of dirt and shale were removed to a depth of 15 metres (49.2 ft) in the centre, and a base incorporating 7,000 cubic metres (9,156 cu yd) of concrete with 450 tonnes (496 ST; 443 LT) of rebar and 36 tonnes (40 ST; 35 LT) of steel cable had been built to a thickness of 6.7 metres (22.0 ft). This portion of the construction was fairly rapid, with only four months needed between the start and the foundation being ready for construction on top.
To build the main support pillar, a hydraulically-raised slipform was built at the base. This was a fairly impressive engineering feat on its own, consisting of a large metal platform that raised itself on jacks at about 6 metres (19.7 ft) per day as the concrete below set. Concrete was poured continuously by a team of 1,532 people until February 22, 1974, during which it had already become the tallest structure in Canada, surpassing the recently built Inco Superstack, which was built using similar methods. In total, the tower contains 40,500 cubic metres (52,972 cu yd) of concrete, all of which was mixed on-site in order to ensure batch consistency. Through the pour, the vertical accuracy of the tower was maintained by comparing the slip form’s location to massive plumb-bobs hanging from it, observed by small telescopes from the ground. Over the height of the tower, it varies from true vertical accuracy by only 29 millimetres (1.1 in).
Brackets being raised, August 1974
The CN Tower as seen from its base
The CN glass floor view
In August 1974, construction of the main level commenced. Using 45 hydraulic jacks attached to cables strung from a temporary steel crown anchored to the top of the tower, twelve giant steel and wooden bracket forms were slowly raised, ultimately taking about a week to crawl up to their final position. These forms were used to create the brackets that support the main level, as well as a base for the construction of the main level itself. The Sky Pod was built of concrete poured into a wooden frame attached to rebar at the lower level deck, and then reinforced with a large steel compression band around the outside.
The antenna was originally to be raised by crane as well, but during construction the Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane helicopter became available when the United States Army sold off theirs to civilian operators. The helicopter, named “Olga”, was first used to remove the crane, and then flew the antenna up in 36 sections. The flights of the antenna pieces were a minor tourist attraction of their own, and the schedule was printed in the local newspapers. Use of the helicopter saved months of construction time, with this phase taking only three and a half weeks instead of the planned six months. The tower was topped off on April 2, 1975 after 26 months of construction, officially capturing the height record from Moscow’s Ostankino Tower, and bringing the total mass to 118,000 tonnes (130,073 ST; 116,136 LT).
Two years into the construction, plans for Metro Centre were scrapped, leaving the tower isolated on the Railway Lands in what was then a largely abandoned light-industrial space. This caused serious problems for tourists to access the tower. Ned Baldwin, project architect with John Andrews, wrote at the time that “All of the logic which dictated the design of the lower accommodation has been upset,” and that “Under such ludicrous circumstances Canadian National would hardly have chosen this location to build.”[9]
The CN Tower opened to the public on June 26, 1976, although the official opening date was October 1. The construction costs of approximately CDN$63 million ($330 million in 2005) were repaid in fifteen years. Canadian National Railway sold the tower prior to taking the company public in 1995, when they decided to divest themselves of all operations not directly related to their core freight shipping businesses.
As the area around the tower was developed, particularly with the introduction of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Rogers Centre (known as the SkyDome before 2005), the former Railway Lands were redeveloped and the tower became the centre of a newly developing entertainment area. Access was greatly improved with the construction of the SkyWalk in 1989, which connected the tower and SkyDome to the nearby railway and subway station, Union Station and, in turn, to the city’s PATH underground pedestrian system. By the mid-1990s, it was the centre of a thriving tourist district. The entire area continues to be an area of intense building, notably a boom in condominium construction in the 2000s and the 2010s.
From 1997 to January 2004, TrizecHahn Corporation managed the building and instituted several expansion projects including a $26 million entertainment expansion and revitalization that included the addition of two new elevators (to a total of six) and the relocation of the staircase from the north side leg to inside the core of the building, a conversion that also added nine stairs to the climb.
The CN Tower will close during the G-20 summit on June 26-27, 2010, for security reasons, given its proximity to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Main Pod
Cross-section of the Main Pod
The CN Tower consists of several substructures. The main portion of the tower is a hollow concrete hexagonal pillar containing the six elevators, stairwells, and power and plumbing connections. On top of this is a 102-metre (334.6 ft) tall metal broadcast antenna, carrying TV and radio signals. There are two visitor areas: the main deck level (formerly known as SkyPod) located at 346 metres (1,135 ft), and the higher Sky Pod (formerly known as “Space Deck”) at 446.5 metres (1,465 ft),[10] just below the metal antenna. The hexagonal shape can be seen between the two areas; however, below the main deck, three large supporting legs give the tower the appearance of a large tripod.
The main level is seven storeys, some of which are open to the public. Below the public areas — at 338 metres (1,108.9 ft) — is a large white donut-shaped radome containing the structure’s microwave receivers. The glass floor and outdoor observation deck are at 342 metres (1,122.0 ft). The glass floor has an area of 24 square metres (258 sq ft) and can withstand a pressure of 4,100 kilopascals (595 psi). The floor’s thermal glass units are 64 millimetres (2.5 in) thick, consisting of a pane of 25-millimetre (1.0 in) laminated glass, 25 millimetres (1.0 in) airspace and a pane of 13-millimetre (0.5 in) laminated glass. Some people experience acrophobia when standing on the glass floor and looking down at the ground 342 metres (1,122.0 ft) below. In 2008, one elevator was upgraded to add a glass floor panel, believed to have the highest vertical rise of any elevator equipped with this feature.[11] The Horizons Cafe and the lookout level are at 346 metres (1,135.2 ft). The 360 Restaurant, a revolving restaurant that completes a full rotation once every 72 minutes, is at 351 metres (1,151.6 ft). When the tower first opened, it also featured a disco named Sparkles, billed as the highest disco and dance floor in the world.[citation needed]
The Sky Pod is the second-highest public observation deck in the world, surpassed only by the Shanghai World Financial Center.[12] On a clear day, it is possible to see 100 to 120 kilometres (62–75 mi) away, to the city of Rochester across Lake Ontario in the United States, the mist rising from Niagara Falls, or the shores of Lake Simcoe.[13]
A metal staircase reaches the main deck level after 1,776 steps,[14] and the Sky Pod 100 metres above after 2,579 steps; it is the tallest metal staircase on Earth. These stairs are intended for emergency use only and are not open to the public, except for two times per year for charity stair-climb events.[15][16] The average climber takes approximately 30 minutes to climb to the base of the radome, but the fastest climb on record is 7 minutes and 52 seconds in 1989 by Brendan Keenoy, an Ontario Provincial Police Officer.[16] In 2002, Canadian Olympian and Paralympic champion Jeff Adams climbed the stairs of the tower in a specially designed wheelchair. The stairs were originally on one of the three sides of the tower, with a glass view, but these were later replaced with the third elevator pair and the stairs were moved to the inside of the core.[14]
CN Tower as seen from its base.
A freezing rain storm on March 2, 2007 resulted in a layer of ice several centimetres thick forming on the side of the tower and other downtown buildings. The sun thawed the ice, and winds of up to 90 km/h (56 mph) blew some of it away from the structure. There were fears that cars and windows of nearby buildings would be smashed by large chunks of ice. In response, police closed some streets surrounding the tower. During morning rush hour on March 5, police expanded the area of closed streets to include the Gardiner Expressway 310 metres (1,017 ft) away from the tower, as increased winds blew the ice farther away, as far north as King Street, 490 metres (1,608 ft) away, where a taxicab window was shattered.
On March 6, the Gardiner Expressway was reopened after winds died down.[17] It was the first time such an event had posed a threat to public safety.
Inside the 360 Restaurant in the CN Tower
In August 2000, a fire broke out at the Ostankino Tower in Moscow. It killed three people and caused extensive damage. The fire was blamed on poor maintenance and outdated equipment. The failure of the fire-suppression systems and the lack of proper equipment for firefighters allowed the fire to destroy most of the interior and spark fears the tower might even collapse.
The Ostankino Tower was completed only nine years before the CN Tower, and is only 13 metres (44 ft) shorter.[18] The parallels between the towers led to some concern that the CN Tower could be at risk of a similar tragedy. However, Canadian officials subsequently stated that it is “highly unlikely” that a similar disaster could occur at the CN Tower as it has important safeguards that were not present in the Ostankino Tower. Specifically, officials cited:
Officials also noted that the CN Tower has an excellent safety record and that there has never been an accidental fire in the tower since it was opened in 1976.[19] Moreover, other supertall structures built between 1967–1976 – such as the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), the World Trade Center (until its destruction on September 11, 2001), the Fernsehturm Berlin, the Aon Center, the John Hancock Center, and First Canadian Place – also have excellent safety records, which suggests that the Ostankino Tower accident was a rare safety failure, and that the likelihood of similar events occurring at other supertall structures is extremely low.
The CN Tower illuminated, as seen from Toronto Islands
The CN Tower was once lit at night with incandescent lights, but they were removed in 1997 because they were expensive and inefficient to repair. In June 2007, the tower was outfitted with 1,330 super-bright LED lights inside the elevator shafts, shooting up over the “bubble” and upward to the top of the tower’s mast to light the tower from dusk until 2 a.m. The official opening ceremony took place on June 28 before the Canada Day holiday weekend. The tower changes its lighting scheme on holidays and to commemorate major events. After the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, the tower was lit up in green and white to represent the colours of the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders.[20]
Programmed from a desktop computer with a wireless network interface card, the LEDs use less energy to light than the previously used incandescent lights (10% less energy than the dimly lit version and 60% less than the brightly lit version). The estimated cost to use the LEDs is $1,000 per month.
During the spring and autumn bird migration seasons, the lights will be turned off to comply with the voluntary Fatal Light Awareness Program, which “encourages buildings to dim unnecessary exterior lighting to mitigate bird mortality during spring and summer migration.”[21][dead link]
• Burj Khalifa, Dubai
• CN Tower, Toronto
• Willis Tower, Chicago
The CN Tower is the tallest freestanding structure in the Americas. Currently, the only other freestanding structure in the Americas to exceed 500 m (1,640.4 ft) in height is the Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower) in Chicago, which stands at 527 m (1,729.0 ft) when measured to its pinnacle. One World Trade Center, currently under construction in New York City, is expected to have a pinnacle height of 1,776 ft (541.3 m), or approximately 12 m (39.4 ft) shorter than the CN Tower. Due to the symbolism of the number 1776 (the year of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence), the height of One World Trade Center is unlikely to be increased. The Chicago Spire was expected to exceed the height of the CN Tower, but its construction has been halted due to financial difficulties and its completion remains uncertain.
Between 2010 and 2013, the rank of the CN Tower in the list of the world tallest structures is expected to drop considerably. At least seven structures currently under construction, all of which are scheduled to be completed by 2013, are expected to exceed the CN Tower’s height of 553.33 metres once completed.
CN Tower as seen from its base at night.
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Guinness World Records has called the CN Tower “the world’s tallest self-supporting tower” and “the world’s tallest free-standing tower”.[22][23] Although Guinness did list this description of the CN Tower under the heading “tallest building” at least once,[23] it has also listed it under “tallest tower”, omitting it from its list of “tallest buildings.”[22] In 1996, Guinness changed the tower’s classification to “World’s Tallest Building and Freestanding Structure”. Emporis and the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat both list the CN Tower as the world’s tallest free-standing structure on land, and specifically state that the CN Tower is not a true building, thereby awarding the title of world’s tallest building to Taipei 101, which is 44 metres (144 ft) shorter than the CN Tower.[24][25] The tower’s official web site, however, still claims it is the “world’s tallest building” as of 2008.[26]
Although the CN Tower contains a restaurant, a gift shop, and multiple observation levels, it does not have floors continuously from the ground, and therefore it is not considered a building by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) or Emporis. CTBUH defines a building as “a structure that is designed for residential, business, or manufacturing purposes. An essential characteristic of a building is that it has floors.”[25] The CN Tower and other similar structures – such as the Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, China; the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada; and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France – are categorized as “towers”, which are free-standing structures that may have observation decks and a few other habitable levels, but do not have floors from the ground up. The CN Tower is the tallest tower by this definition.[24]
Taller than the CN Tower are numerous radio masts and towers which are held in place by guy-wires, the tallest being the KVLY-TV mast in North Dakota at 628 metres (2,060 ft) tall, leading to a distinction between these and “free-standing” structures. Additionally, the Petronius Platform stands 610 metres (2,001 ft) above its base on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, but only the top 75 metres (246 ft) of this oil and natural gas platform are above water, and the structure is thus partially supported by its buoyancy. Like the CN Tower, none of these taller structures are commonly considered buildings.
On September 12, 2007, the Burj Khalifa, which is a hotel, residential and commercial building in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and was formerly known as Burj Dubai, passed the CN Tower’s 553.33 metre[2] height. The CN Tower held the record of tallest free-standing structure on land for over 30 years.[3] The tower, as of 2009, stands as the third-tallest free-standing structure on land in the world and the second-tallest free-standing tower, after the top-out of the Guangzhou TV & Sightseeing Tower in China.
After Burj Khalifa had been formally recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s tallest freestanding structure, Guinness re-certified CN Tower as the world’s tallest freestanding tower.[27] The tower definition used by Guinness was defined by Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat as ‘a building in which less than 50% of the construction is usable floor space’. Guinness World Records editor-in-chief Craig Glenday announced Burj Khalifa was not classified as tower because it has too much usable floor space to be considered to be a tower.[28] CN Tower still held world records for highest above ground wine cellar (in 360 Restaurant) at 351 metres, highest above ground restaurant at 346 metres (Horizons Restaurant),[29] and tallest free-standing concrete tower during Guinness’s recertification.
Posted in 1
| The Sunflower | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Full name | Nelson Mandela Bay Multi-Purpose Stadium |
| Location | 70 Prince Alfred Road North End Port Elizabeth South Africa[1] |
| Coordinates | 33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E / 33.93778°S 25.59889°ECoordinates: 33°56′16″S 25°35′56″E / 33.93778°S 25.59889°E |
| Broke ground | 2007 |
| Opened | 2009 (first game) 2010 (official opening) |
| Renovated | 2009 |
| Expanded | 2009 |
| Owner | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality |
| Operator | Access Facilities and Leisure Management (Pty) Limited |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | Rand 2.05 billion (USD $ 270 million) |
| Architect | Architectural Design Associates(Pty)Ltd & Dominic Bonnesse Architects cc |
| Capacity | 42,486 (2010 FIFA World Cup)[2] 48,459 (Football and Rugby)[1] |
| Field dimensions | Football – 105m X 68m Rugby – 100m X 70m |
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a 48,000-seater stadium in Port Elizabeth. The five-tier, R2 billion (approximately $159 million) Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was built overlooking the North End Lake, at the heart of the city. It is one of three coastal stadiums built in anticipation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It regularly hosts large scale football and rugby matches. The stadium has also been used as a concert venue.
This is the first time a world-class football stadium has been built in the Eastern Cape province. The city of Port Elizabeth did not have a large scale football facility, as under the apartheid government, football was not given much funding. Football clubs in the city had to make use of smaller scale venues through out the city. Before this stadium was built, most large football matches were played at the EPRU Stadium, the city’s rugby ground. The EPRU Stadium was often problematic for football, as it normally hosts rugby matches, thus the playing surface was not of a great standard. When Port Elizabeth was chosen as a host city for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the city decided against upgrading the EPRU Stadium. This was because it would have needed to be almost completely rebuilt, in order to be upgraded to FIFA requirements. The city then decided on building a brand new, multipurpose stadium, in the heart of the city.
Inevitably, there was a great deal of speculation about the status of stadium construction in the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with the requirement that all the FIFA World Cup host stadiums must be completed by January 2010. The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium was the first of five new stadiums to start construction. The other new stadiums are in Cape Town, Durban, Polokwane and Nelspruit.
The stadium is named after the administrative district which the stadium is within, the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, itself named after Nelson Mandela, the former President of South Africa. The Nelson Mandela Bay area is made up of the city of Port Elizabeth, the towns of Uitenhage and Despatch, as well as smaller settlements.
The stadium is sometimes incorrectly called the ‘Nelson Mandela Stadium’ in the media. It is also sometimes mistakenly claimed that the stadium is named after Mandela, rather than the metropolitan area named in his honour.
The stadium has an eye-catching, unique roof-structure and a spectacular view, overlooking the North End Lake. The roof is made up of a series of white ‘petals’ making it look like a flower. This is the reason for the stadium’s nickname, The Sunflower. There are not many stadiums in the world that are designed and constructed overlooking a lake; this in itself is a very distinctive feature of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The stadium building is approximately 40m high and consists of six levels on the western side in addition to five on each of the north, south and east stands.[1] The main architecture was handled by Architectural Design Associates(Pty)Ltd and Dominic Bonnesse Architects cc. The stadium has three gates for entry, located on the northern, southern and eastern sides of the stadium, the western side of the stadium leads to the North End Lake. The 3 gates are: gate A-B, in Milner Avenue, gate B-C, in Prince Alfred Road, and gate C-D, in Fettes Road.[3]
An overhead view of the stadium
The stadium seats 45 000 in addition to 4,000 extra seats, temporarily installed for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The seats are of different shades, from light orange to dark red. They are arranged seemingly at random, but this was done to help the stadium appear full at all times. It also means that sun damage is less of a problem and replaced seats are less noticeable. There are 23 private boxes with a planned additional 22 private boxes, including two bars, as part of the post World Cup building. The stadium also boasts 150 VIP suites, 60 business suites, a sports clothing shop, gymnasium, plus lecture and function rooms. There are also two conference rooms, which are able to accommodate 200 people, which are situated on the 5th level.
There are four ramps for easy wheelchair access, three VIP/VVIP lifts, two in the West Stand and one in the East Stand, as well as six passengers’ lifts all around the stadium. Two additional lifts will be installed for the legacy phase. The stadium will have a total of 11 lifts. There are 32 turnstiles and colour coded gates on level 2 for spectators to access their seats and four ramps leading up from level 2 to level 5.
Two big viewing screens (12.7m x 7.2m) were installed for live coverage of the activities on the field. There are a total of 74 toilet blocks (male and female) – 36 blocks on level 2 – 4 blocks on level 3 – 14 blocks on level 4 and 20 blocks on level 5.
Parking inside the stadium is provided only on level 1 and consists of media parking – 160 bays, broadcast – 80 bays, VVIP parking – 70 bays, special VVIP parking – 12 bays, VIP parking – 32 Bays, disabled parking – 4 bays and general parking on site – 1,280 bays.[1]
The playing surface is made of natural grass that was grown off site, in the St Albans area. The areas surrounding the pitch are made of artificial turf.[1] The field that was originally laid was a mixture of kikuyu grass and rye grass. For the 2010 FIFA World Cup though, the field will be made up completely of rye grass.
The field was designed to be able to accommodate both football and rugby. The pitch is maintained by a group of 5 people, who work day and night to ensure the quality of the playing surface. The field is currently watered at 2 am due to a severe drought and heatwave in the area.[4] A ‘pitch grow’ lighting system is used to ensure that all grass on the pitch grows properly. A unit with 6 1,000 watt bulbs is used to help certain parts of the pitch covered by shadow due to the stadium roof.[5]
For football the field is marked at the FIFA approved dimensions of 105m by 68m. For rugby the field is marked at 100 m long by 70 m wide, it also has two 10 m by 70 m ‘in-goal areas’ behind each set of goal posts.
The stadium’s construction was handled by a consortium made up of Grinaker-LTA, Interbeton and Ibhayi JV. It was built on the site of the old Parks Rugby Club, and the Prince Alfred Park.
The roof material of the stadium consists of a combination of aluminium cladding, combined with a membrane material called polytetraflurethylene, which is a coated glass-fibre fabric and steel super structure. The total length of piles installed is 21,000 m and the material excavated is 138,000 m3.
The local building industry has benefited a great deal due to the construction of the stadium. The implementation of this huge, fast track project has introduced several local role players to a new scale of development which will be beneficial to the local construction industry now and the future. The construction process has also included extensive use of local suppliers and experts in conjunction with international specialists, ensuring that adequate skills transfers take place.
An estimated total of 6,800 jobs were created throughout the process and the development of the stadium will result in the upliftment and urban renewal of the surrounding residential and commercial area of North End and the major routes leading to the stadium. The stadium will bring vast social and economic opportunities, during and after the World Cup.
Posted in BOLA
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a long range, mid-sized, wide-body, twin-engine jet airliner developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It seats 210 to 330 passengers, depending on variant. Boeing states that it is the company’s most fuel-efficient airliner and the world’s first major airliner to use composite materials for most of its construction.[4] Its development has involved a large-scale collaboration with numerous suppliers. On January 28, 2005, the aircraft’s initial designation 7E7 was changed to 787.[5] Early released concept images depicted a radical design with highly curved surfaces. On April 26, 2005, a year after the launch of the program, the final and more conventional external 787 design was set. Boeing unveiled its first 787 in a roll-out ceremony on July 8, 2007, at its Everett assembly factory, by which time it had become the fastest-selling wide-body airliner in history with nearly 600 orders.[6] By April 2010, 866 Boeing 787s had been ordered by 56 customers.[7] The aircraft was originally scheduled to enter service in May 2008, but production had been delayed multiple times, and in August 2009, the scheduled service entry date was pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2010.[8] The aircraft’s maiden flight, originally planned for August 2007,[9][10] took place on December 15, 2009 in the Seattle area.[11] The 787 is currently undergoing flight testing with a goal of receiving its type certificate in late 2010.
During the late 1990s, Boeing began considering a replacement for the 767 when sales weakened due to competition from the Airbus A330-200. As sales of the Boeing 747-400 also slowed, the company proposed two new aircraft, the 747X, and the Sonic Cruiser. The 747X, competing with the Airbus A380, would have lengthened the 747-400 and improved efficiency by using a composite supercritical wing. The Sonic Cruiser would have achieved higher speeds (approximately Mach 0.98) while burning fuel at the same rate as the existing 767.
Market interest for the 747X was tepid, but the Sonic Cruiser had brighter prospects. Several major airlines in the United States, including Continental Airlines, initially showed enthusiasm for the Sonic Cruiser concept, although they also expressed concerns about the operating cost.[12] However, by decreasing travel time they would be able to increase customer satisfaction and aircraft utilization.
Earlier proposed design configuration of the Boeing 7E7
The September 11, 2001 attacks upended the global airline market. Airlines could not justify large capital expenditures, and increased petroleum prices made them more interested in efficiency than speed. The worst-affected airlines, those in the United States, were considered the most likely customers of the Sonic Cruiser. Boeing offered airlines the option of using the airframe for either higher speed or increased efficiency, but the high projected airframe costs caused demand to slacken further. Then the company officially canceled the Sonic Cruiser on December 20, 2002, and switched tracks by announcing an alternative product, the 7E7, on January 29, 2003, naming the executives to run the new jetliner program.[4][13] The emphasis on a smaller midsize twinjet rather than a large 747-size aircraft represented a shift from hub-and-spoke theory towards the point-to-point theory,[14] in response to analysis of focus groups.[15]
The replacement for the Sonic Cruiser project was dubbed the “7E7”[16] (with a development code name of “Y2”). The “E” was said to stand for various things, depending upon the audience. To some, it stood for “efficiency”, to others it stood for “environmentally friendly”. In the end, Boeing claimed it merely stood for “Eight”, after the aircraft was eventually rechristened “787”.[4] A public naming competition was also held, for which out of 500,000 votes cast online the winning title was Dreamliner.[17]
All Nippon Airways launched the 787 Dreamliner program with an order for 50 aircraft in 2004.
On April 26, 2004, the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA) became the launch customer for the 787, then known as the 7E7, by announcing a firm order for 50 aircraft with deliveries to begin in late 2008.[18] ANA’s order included 30 787-3, 290–330 seat, one-class domestic aircraft, and 20 787-8, long-haul, 210–250 seat, two-class aircraft for regional international routes such as Tokyo Narita–Beijing. The aircraft will allow ANA to open new routes to cities not previously served, such as Denver, Moscow, and New Delhi.[19]
Early concept images of the 787 included rakish cockpit windows, a dropped nose and a distinctive “shark-fin” vertical stabilizer.[20] The final styling of the aircraft was more conservative, the fin appearing visually similar to those of aircraft currently in service. The nose and cockpit windows were also changed to a more conventional form.
Size comparison of the Boeing 787-8 (black outline) with the Boeing 777-300 (pink), 767-300 (cyan), and 737-800 (green).
The 787-3 and 787-8 were to be the initial variants, with the 787-9 entering service in 2010. Boeing initially priced the 787-8 variant at US$120 million, a low figure that surprised the industry. In 2007, the list price was $146–151.5 million for the 787-3, $157–167 million for the 787-8 and $189–200 million for the 787-9.[21] Customer-announced orders and commitments for the 787 reached 237 aircraft during the first year of sales, with firm orders numbering 677 by the 787’s premiere on July 8, 2007, and well before entry into service.[22] This makes the 787 the fastest-selling wide-body airliner ever before entry into service.[6]
The 787 uses the same technology proposed for the Sonic Cruiser in a more conventional configuration (see Features). Boeing claims the 787 will be near to 20% more fuel-efficient than the 767.[23] One third of the efficiency gain will come from the engines, another third from aerodynamic improvements and the increased use of lighter weight composite materials, and the final third from advanced systems. The most notable contribution to efficiency is the new electrical architecture which replaces bleed air and hydraulic power sources with electrically powered compressors and pumps, as well as completely eliminating pneumatics and hydraulics from some subsystems (e.g., engine starters or brakes).[24] Technology from the Sonic Cruiser and 787 will be used as part of Boeing’s project to replace its entire airliner product line, an endeavor called the Yellowstone Project (of which the 787 is the first stage).[25]
External features on the Boeing 787 include raked wingtips and noise-reducing engine nacelles with serrated edges.
Boeing selected two engine types, the General Electric GEnx and Rolls-Royce Trent 1000, to power the 787, both placed in pods. Significantly, this leaves Pratt & Whitney, which normally has an entrant in the market, unable to offer one of its engines to 787 customers. According to United Technologies Corporation CEO George David, Pratt & Whitney “couldn’t make the business case work for that engine.”[26] For the first time in commercial aviation, both engine types will have a standard interface with the aircraft, allowing any 787 to be fitted with either a GE or Rolls-Royce engine at any time. Engine interchangeability makes the 787 a more flexible asset to airlines, allowing them to change easily from one manufacturer’s engine to the other’s if required.[4] The engine market for the 787 is estimated at US$40 billion over the next 25 years. The launch engine for all three current 787 variants is the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000. Airbus has offered the competing A350 powered by a development of the Rolls Royce Trent turbofan, the Trent XWB.
Disassembled composite fuselage section of the Boeing 787
The 787’s all-composite fuselage makes it the first composite airliner in production. While the Boeing 777 contains 50% aluminum and 12% composites, the new airplane uses 50% composite (mostly carbon fiber reinforced plastic), 15% aluminum, and other materials. The 787 fuselage was designed to be assembled in one-piece composite barrel sections. Each barrel would be manufactured in one piece and joined end to end during final assembly. The composite barrel approach was a departure from the multiple aluminum sheets and fasteners used on existing aircraft,[27] and eliminated the need for some 50,000 fasteners used in conventional airplane assembly.[28] Boeing built and tested the first commercial aircraft composite section while examining the Sonic Cruiser concept nearly five years before,[29] and regarded the 787 as a significantly refined product.[30] Further, the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey military transport is over 50% composites,[31] and the C-17 has over 16,000 lb of structural composites.[32]
The 787 underwent extensive wind tunnel testing at Boeing’s Transonic Wind Tunnel, QinetiQ‘s five-meter wind tunnel at Farnborough, UK, and NASA Ames Research Center‘s wind tunnel, as well as at the French aerodynamics research agency, ONERA.
After stiff competition, Boeing announced on December 16, 2003, that the 787 would be assembled in its factory in Everett, Washington.[4] Instead of building the complete aircraft from the ground up in the traditional manner, final assembly employs just 800 to 1,200 people to join completed subassemblies and to integrate systems.[33] Boeing has assigned its subcontractors to do more assembly themselves and deliver completed subassemblies to Boeing. Boeing would then perform final assembly. This approach results in a leaner and simpler assembly line and lower inventory.[34]
Boeing has previously shipped 737 fuselage barrel sections by rail from Spirit AeroSystems’ Wichita, Kansas, facility to Boeing’s narrow-body final assembly plant in Renton, Washington. As the major 787 components have many systems pre-installed before delivery to Everett, final assembly time is reduced to three days. This is less than a quarter of the time traditionally needed for Boeing’s final assembly process.[35][36] In order to speed delivery of the 787’s major components, Boeing has modified a few used 747-400s into 747 Dreamlifters. These widened airplanes can house the wings and fuselage of the 787 and other smaller parts.
Boeing manufactures the 787’s tail fin at its plant in Frederickson, Washington, the ailerons and flaps at Boeing Australia, and fairings at Boeing Canada Technology. For economic reasons, the wings are manufactured by Japanese companies in Nagoya such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which also makes the central wing box.[37] This was a new and daring step for Boeing, which has historically guarded its techniques for designing and mass producing commercial jetliner wings.[38] The horizontal stabilizers are manufactured by Alenia Aeronautica in Italy; and the fuselage sections by Global Aeronautica and Boeing’s Charleston facility[39] in North Charleston, South Carolina (USA), Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan and Spirit AeroSystems, in Wichita, Kansas (USA).[40]
The main landing gear of the Boeing 787
The passenger doors are made by Latécoère (France), and the cargo doors, access doors, and crew escape door are made by Saab (Sweden). Japanese industrial participation is very important to the project, with a 35% work share, and many of the subcontractors are supported and funded by the Japanese government.[38] On April 26, 2006, Japanese manufacturer Toray Industries and Boeing announced a production agreement involving $6 billion worth of carbon fiber. The deal is an extension of a contract signed in 2004 between the two companies and eases some concerns that Boeing might have difficulty maintaining its production goals for the 787.[4] On February 6, 2008, TAL Manufacturing Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group (India) announced a deal to provide floor beams for the 787.[41][42]
Assembly of Section 41 of a Boeing 787
Messier-Dowty (France) builds the landing gear, which includes titanium forged in Russia, and brake parts from Italy,[43] and GE Aviation in Yakima WA builds several actuators for the landing gear. Thales supplies the integrated standby flight display and electrical power conversion system.[4] Honeywell and Rockwell-Collins provide flight control, guidance, and other avionics systems, including standard dual head up guidance systems. Future integration of forward-looking infrared is being considered by Flight Dynamics allowing improved visibility using thermal sensing as part of the HUD system, allowing pilots to “see” through the clouds.[4] Connecticut (USA)-based Hamilton Sundstrand provides power distribution and management systems for the aircraft, including manufacture and production of Generator Control Units (GCUs) as well as integration of power transfer systems from the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU).[44] Labinal (France) builds the wiring systems.[44]
On June 26, 2007, the first Dreamliner, LN1/ZA001 finished major assembly and was towed to the paint hangar in the early morning.[45]
An important milestone in the launch of the 787 was the on-time certification of the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine on August 7, 2007, by European and US regulators.[46] The alternative GE GEnx-1B engine achieved certification on March 31, 2008.[47] On August 20, 2007, Hamilton Sundstrand stated that it had delivered its first two cabin air conditioning packs to Boeing for the initial flight-test of the 787 Dreamliner.[48] On June 20, 2008, the 787 team achieved “Power On” of the first aircraft, powering and testing the aircraft’s electrical supply and distribution systems.[25]
Major assembly of the first test Boeing 787 was completed on June 26, 2007.
In addition to the flight test aircraft, Boeing has also constructed a non-flight 787 airframe which has been built without engines or horizontal stabilizers and will be used for static testing. On September 27, 2008, over a period of nearly two hours, the fuselage was successfully tested at 14.9 psi (102.7 kPa), this being 150 percent of the maximum pressure expected in commercial service (i.e., when flying at maximum cruising altitude).[49] In December 2008 FAA passed the maintenance program for the 787.[50]
On March 28, 2010 the 787 completed the ultimate wing load test which requires that the wings of a fully assembled aircraft be loaded to 150% of design limit load and held for 3 seconds. The wings were flexed approximately 25 feet upward during the test.[51] Unlike the 777 however, the wings were not tested to failure.[52][53] On April 7, Boeing announced that analysis of the data showed the test was a success.[54]
On May 3, 2009, the first test 787 was moved to the flight line following extensive factory testing. The tests included landing gear swings, systems integration verification, and a total run through of the first flight. Before first flight, the test aircraft must be put through additional power and systems tests, including engine run-ups.[55] Boeing spent most of May 2009 conducting tests on the first 787 prototype in preparation for the first flight. The aircraft’s engines were started for the first time on May 21, 2009.
For the assembly of the 787, Boeing assigned its subcontractors to do more assembly themselves and deliver completed subsystems with Boeing performing final assembly. Some subcontractors have had difficulty completing the extra work, because they could not procure the needed parts, perform the subassembly on schedule, or both. The remaining assembly work is left for Boeing to complete and is referred to as “traveled work”.[56][57][58]
The 787 Dreamliner’s first public appearance was webcast live on July 8, 2007.
Boeing premiered the first 787 at a rollout ceremony on July 8, 2007, which matches the aircraft’s designation in the US-style month-day-year format (7/8/07).[59] However, the aircraft’s major systems had not been installed at that time, and many parts were attached with temporary non-aerospace fasteners requiring their later replacement with flight fasteners.[60] Boeing had originally planned for a first flight by the end of August 2007, but on September 5 announced a three-month delay, blaming a shortage of fasteners as well as incomplete software.[9]
On October 10, 2007, a second three-month delay to the first flight and a six-month delay to first deliveries was announced. Boeing cited problems with its foreign and domestic supply chain for the delay, especially the ongoing fastener shortage, the lack of documentation from overseas suppliers, and continuing delays with the flight guidance software.[61][62][63] Less than a week later, Mike Bair, the 787 program manager was replaced.[64]
On January 16, 2008, Boeing announced a third three-month delay to the first flight of the 787. The company said that insufficient progress had been made on the factory floor to complete work that was originally planned to be carried out by suppliers.[65]
The first Boeing 787 underwent taxi tests at Paine Field in November and December 2009.
On March 28, 2008, in an effort to gain more control over the supply chain, Boeing announced that it plans to buy Vought Aircraft Industries’ interest in Global Aeronautica, owner of the South Carolina plant that manufacturers major portions of the 787’s fuselage. The purchase will make the assembly plant a 50–50 joint venture between Boeing and Italy’s Alenia Aeronautica.[66] In July 2009, Boeing also agreed to purchase Vought‘s facility in North Charleston, S.C. that makes 787 fuselage sections, for a total cost of $1 billion.[67]
On April 9, 2008, Boeing officially announced a fourth delay, shifting the maiden flight to the fourth quarter of 2008, and delaying initial deliveries by around 15 months to the third quarter of 2009. The 787-9 variant was postponed to 2012 and the 787-3 variant will follow but has no firm delivery date.[68]
The program was further delayed by a Boeing machinists strike during September and October 2008. On November 4, 2008, the company announced another delay, this time caused by the incorrect installation of some of the structurally important fasteners, stating that the first test flight would not be accomplished in the fourth quarter of 2008.[69] Boeing continued to emphasize that the new delay could be attributed directly to the strike.[70] After assessing the 787 program schedule with its suppliers,[71] Boeing confirmed on December 11, 2008, that the first flight would be delayed until the second quarter of 2009.[72]
On June 15, 2009, during the Paris Air Show, Boeing said that the 787 would make its first flight within two weeks. However, on June 23, 2009, Boeing announced that the first flight is postponed “due to a need to reinforce an area within the side-of-body section of the aircraft”.[73][74][75] Boeing provided an updated 787 schedule on August 27, 2009, with the first flight planned to occur by the end of 2009 and deliveries to begin at the end of 2010.[76] The company expects to write off $2.5 billion because it considers the first three Dreamliners built are unsellable and suitable only for flight tests.[77]
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Boeing’s program called for a 9-month flight test campaign.[78] Boeing’s previous major aircraft, the 777, took 11 months with nine aircraft, partly to demonstrate 180-min ETOPS, one of its main features.[79] In December 2009, Boeing expected 787 flight testing to last approximately 8.5 months.[80]
The Boeing 787 flight test program is composed of 6 aircraft, ZA001 through ZA006. The first four aircraft are Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 powered jets while the last two are GE GEnx-1B64 powered. ZA001, on December 12, 2009, completed high speed taxi tests, the last major step before flight.[81][82][83]
Takeoff of the first Boeing 787 built on its maiden flight
On December 15, 2009, Boeing conducted the Dreamliner’s maiden flight with the first 787-8, originating from Snohomish County Airport in Everett, Washington at 10:27 am PST,[84] and landing at Boeing Field in King County, Washington at 1:35 pm PST.[85] Originally scheduled for four hours, the test flight was shortened to three hours because of bad weather.[86]
The second 787, ZA002 in ANA livery, flew to Boeing Field on December 22, 2009 to join the flight test program.[87][88] The third 787, ZA004 joined the test fleet with its first flight on February 24, 2010. The fourth 787-8, ZA003 flew its maiden flight on March 14, 2010.[1] On March 24, testing for flutter and ground effects was completed. This cleared the aircraft to fly its entire flight envelope.[89]
Angled planform view of the second 787 Dreamliner during flight testing
On April 23, 2010 Boeing delivered their latest 787 to a hangar at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida for extreme weather testing. The 787 will undergo testing in temperatures ranging from 115 °F to -45 °F (46 °C to -42 °C). Boeing will take the 787 through the steps necessary to prepare for takeoff once the plane stabilizes at either temperature extreme. Various sensors will determine if all airplane operations proceed as anticipated. The weather testing was to be completed by May 7, 2010.[90]
On May 12, 2010 Boeing conducted the first General Electric GEnx engine runs on a Dreamliner. These tests used ZA005, the fifth 787 built, which is the first of two test 787s with the GEnx engine.[91] On June 16, 2010, ZA005 made its first flight and joined the flight test program.[92] The first five 787 test aircraft have flown 1,001 hours and 25 minutes in 311 flights combined as of June 16, 2010.[1]
In June 2010, gaps were discovered in the horizontal stabilizers of test aircraft, due to wrongly installed shims; all aircraft produced so far are to be inspected and repaired.[93] The 787 made its first appearance at an international air show at the Farnborough Airshow, UK on July 18, 2010.[94]
The 787 features lighter-weight construction. Its materials (by weight) are: 50% composite, 20% aluminum, 15% titanium, 10% steel, 5% other.[95][96]; the craft will be 80% composite by volume.[97] Each 787 contains approximately 35 short tons of carbon fiber reinforced plastic, made with 23 tons of carbon fiber.[98] Carbon fiber composites have a higher strength to weight ratio than traditional aircraft materials, and help make the 787 a lighter aircraft.[96] Composites are used on fuselage, wings, tail, doors, and interior. Aluminum is used on wing and tail leading edges, titanium used mainly on engines and fasteners, with steel used in various places.[96]
The longest-range 787 variant can fly 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,700 km), enough to cover the Los Angeles to Bangkok or New York City to Taipei routes. It will have a cruising airspeed of Mach 0.85[99] (561 mph, 903 km/hr at typical cruise altitudes).
Boeing 787 flight deck
A version of Ethernet—Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX) / ARINC 664—will be used to transmit data between the flight deck and aircraft systems.[100] The flight deck features LCD multi-function displays, all of which will use an industry standard GUI widget toolkit (Cockpit Display System Interfaces to User Systems / ARINC 661).[101] The Lockheed Martin Orion spacecraft will use a glass cockpit derived from Honeywell International‘s 787 flight deck.[102] The 787 flight deck includes two head-up displays (HUDs) as a standard feature.[103] Like other Boeing airliners, the 787 will use a yoke instead of a side-stick.
The 787 uses turbofan engines that are bleedless, thus eliminating the superheated air conduits normally used for aircraft power, de-icing, and other functions. These systems are to be replaced by all-electrical systems.[4] Another new system is a wing ice protection system that uses electro-thermal heater mats on the wing slats instead of hot bleed air that has been traditionally used.[104][105]
An active gust alleviation system, similar to the system used on the B-2 bomber, improves ride quality during turbulence.[106][107] Boeing, as part of its “Quiet Technology Demonstrator 2” project, is experimenting with several engine noise-reducing technologies for the 787. Among these are a redesigned air inlet containing sound-absorbing materials and redesigned exhaust duct covers whose rims are tipped in a toothed pattern to allow for quieter mixing of exhaust and outside air. Boeing expects these developments to make the 787 significantly quieter both inside and out.[108]Interior
Mockup of early Dreamliner cabin concept
The 787 will seat 240 in two-class domestic configuration, with a 46-in (116.8 cm) pitch for first class and a 34-in (86.4 cm) pitch for coach class. 296 passengers can be seated in a high-density 3+2+3 / 2+4+2 coach arrangement with 36-in (91.4 cm) Business and 32-in (81.3 cm) Coach pitch. Up to 234 passengers may be seated in a three-class setup that uses 61-in (154.9 cm) pitch in First Class (2+2+2 or 1+2+1), 39-in (99 cm) pitch for Business (2+3+2 or 2+2+2) and 32-in (81.3 cm) for Coach (2+4+2).[109] Cabin interior width is approximately 18 feet (547 cm) at armrest,[109] and was increased by 1 inch (2.5 cm) over what was originally planned.[110] The 787’s interior cabin width is 15 in (38 cm) greater than that of the Airbus A330 and A340,[111] but 5 in (13 cm) narrower than the A350-800 XWB[112] and 16 in (41 cm) less than the Boeing 777.[113] For economy class in 3+2+3 or 2+4+2 arrangements, seat-bottom widths will be 18.5 in (47 cm), comparable to that found on the Boeing 777, and recommended by detailed passenger ergonomics studies. For 3+3+3 and 2+5+2 maximum passenger density layout, the seat widths would be 17.18 in (43.55 cm), smaller than those found on the Boeing 737. The vast majority of airlines are expected to select the 3+3+3 maximum passenger density configuration on the 787.[114] (See wide-body aircraft for a comparison of cabin widths and seating).
Composite photo showing three-color options for Dreamliner cabin LED lighting.
The cabin windows are larger than all other in-service civil air transports (27 cm by 47 cm), with a higher eye level, so passengers can maintain a view of the horizon. Electrochromism-based “auto-dimming” (smart glass) reduces cabin glare while maintaining transparency. These are to be supplied by PPG Industries.[115] Similar to the previous Airbus A320 Enhanced, standard cabin lighting uses Light-emitting diode (LED)[116] in three colors instead of fluorescent tubes,[116] allowing the aircraft to be entirely ‘bulbless’ and have 128 color combinations.
The internal pressure will be increased to the equivalent of 6,000 feet (1,800 m) altitude instead of the 8,000 feet (2,400 m) on conventional aircraft. According to Boeing, in a joint study with Oklahoma State University, this will significantly improve passenger comfort.[106][117] A higher cabin pressure is possible in part because of better properties of composite materials.[28] Higher humidity in the passenger cabin is possible because of the use of composites, which do not corrode. Cabin air is provided by electrically driven compressors using no engine bleed air.[118] An advanced cabin air-conditioning system provides better air quality: Ozone is removed from outside air; HEPA filters remove bacteria, viruses and fungi; and a gaseous filtration system removes odors, irritants and gaseous contaminants.[96]
Boeing engineers designed the 787 interior to better accommodate persons with mobility, sensory, and cognitive disabilities. For example, a 56-inch (142 cm) by 57-inch (145 cm) convertible lavatory includes a movable center wall that allows two separate lavatories to become one large, wheelchair-accessible facility.[119]
The 787’s introduction of widespread composite material usage has drawn scrutiny. Former Boeing senior engineer Vince Weldon has suggested that the risks of having a composite fuselage have not been fully assessed and should not be attempted,[120][121] adding that carbon fiber, unlike metal, does not visibly show cracks and fatigue.[122] The rival A350 was later announced to be using composite panels on a frame, a more traditional assembly approach which its contractors regarded as less risky than Boeing’s application of composite barrels.[123] Boeing has dismissed criticisms of its fuselage materials, insisting that composites have been used on wings and other passenger aircraft parts for many years and they have not been an issue. They have also stated that special defect detection procedures will be put in place to detect any potential hidden damage.[124]
Demonstration composite Boeing 787 fuselage panel at the Dreamliner Center in Seattle
Concerns have been raised about the porous properties of composite materials, allowing them to absorb unwanted moisture. As the aircraft reaches altitude, the moisture expands, and may cause delamination of the composite materials, and structural weakness over time.[125] Another concern arises from the risk of lightning strikes.[126] The 787 fuselage’s composite could have as much as 1,000 times the electrical resistance of aluminum, increasing the risk of damage during a lightning strike.[127] Boeing has stated that the 787’s lightning protection will meet FAA requirements.[120] FAA management is planning to relax some lightning strike requirements, which will help the 787.[128]
In 2006, Boeing launched the 787 GoldCare program.[129] This is an optional, comprehensive life-cycle management service whereby aircraft in the program are routinely monitored and repaired as needed. This is the first program of its kind from Boeing: Post-sale protection programs are not new, but have usually been offered by third party service centers. Boeing is also designing and testing composite hardware so inspections are mainly visual. This will reduce the need for ultrasonic and other non-visual inspection methods, saving time and money.[130]
According to Boeing Vice President Jeff Hawk, who heads the effort to certify the 787 for airline service, a crash test involving a vertical drop of a partial fuselage section from about 15 feet onto a one inch-thick steel plate occurred on August 23, 2007, in Mesa, Arizona.[131][132] Boeing spokesperson Lori Gunter stated on September 6, 2007, that results matched what Boeing’s engineers had predicted. As a result the company can model various crash scenarios using computational analysis rather than performing more tests on actual pieces of the plane.[133][134] However, it has also been suggested by former Boeing engineer that in the event of a crash landing, survivable in a metal plane, the composite fuselage could shatter and burn with toxic fumes.[120]
Boeing had been working to trim excess weight since assembly of the first airframe began in 2006. This is common for new aircraft during their development phase. The first six 787s, which are to be used as part of the flight test program, will be overweight according to Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Scott Carson.[135] The first 787 is expected to be 5,000 lb (2,270 kg) overweight. The seventh and subsequent aircraft will be the first optimized 787s and are expected to meet all goals.[136] Boeing has redesigned some parts and made more use of titanium.[137] According to ILFC’s Steven Udvar-Hazy, the 787-9’s operating empty weight is around 14,000 lb (6,350 kg) overweight, which also could be a problem for the proposed 787-10.[138]
The prototype Boeing 787, used for the aircraft’s maiden flight and test program.
In early 2009 a number of 787 customers started to publicly mention their dissatisfaction with the reduced specifications on the 787, specifically weight and range issues. Industry insiders have stated Boeing has reduced its range estimates for the 787-8 from 14,800–15,700 km to 14,150–15,170 km, a reduction of over 500 km. There have also been reports that this led Delta to delay deliveries of 787s it inherited from Northwest in order to take later planes which may be closer to the original estimates. Other airlines are suspected to have been given discounts to take the earlier models.[139] Shanghai Airlines stated in March 2009 it wished to either delay or cancel its first order. Boeing expects to have the weight issues addressed by the 21st production model.[140]
In May 2009, a press report indicated that a 10–15% range reduction for early 787-8 aircraft is anticipated because of these planes being about 8% overweight. This means a range of about 6,900 nmi (12,800 km) instead the originally promised 7,700 to 8,200 nmi (14,800–15,700 km). Substantial redesign work is expected to correct this, which will complicate increases in production rates.[141] Boeing confirmed on May 7 that early 787s would be heavy and is working on weight reductions. The company stated the early 787-8s will have a range of almost 8,000 nmi (14,800 km).[142]
In January 2008, previous Federal Aviation Administration concerns came to light regarding protection of the 787’s networks from possible intentional or unintentional passenger access.[143][144] The computer network in the passenger compartment, designed to give passengers in-flight internet access, is connected to the airplane’s control, navigation and communication systems.[143]
Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine fitted to the first Boeing 787.
Boeing called the report “misleading”, saying that various hardware and software solutions are employed to protect the airplane systems, including air gaps for the physical separation of the networks, and firewalls for their software separation. Measures are provided so data cannot be transferred from the passenger internet system to the maintenance or navigation systems. As part of certification Boeing plans to demonstrate to the FAA that these provisions are acceptable.[143]
The two different engine models compatible with the 787 will use a standard electrical interface to allow an aircraft to be fitted with either Rolls-Royce or General Electric engines. This will save time and cost when changing engine types.[145] However, ILFC’s Vice President of Marketing, Marty Olson, stated that swapping different engines could take up to 15 days, and therefore would cost too much. “You’d have to take all the pylon, everything from the wing down, off,” Olson said. Other aircraft can have engines changed to those of a different manufacturer, but the high cost makes it rare. Boeing said that the design is unfinished, and 24 hours is still the goal.[146]
There are three variants of the 787 and all were first offered for sale in 2004. The 787-8 is to enter service in 2010. The 787-9 will enter service next in 2013. The last to enter service will be the 787-3.
The Boeing 787-8, the first model of the aircraft to see production
The 787-8 is the base model of the 787 family with a length of 186 feet (57 m) and a wingspan of 197 feet (60 m) and a range of 7,650 to 8,200 nautical miles (14,200 to 15,200 km) depending on seating configuration. The 787-8 seats 210 passengers in a three class configuration. The variant will be the first of the 787 line to enter service in 2010. Boeing is targeting the 787-8 to replace the 767-200ER and 767-300ER, as well as expand into new non-stop markets where larger planes would not be economically viable. The bulk of 787 orders are for the 787-8. On December 8, 2009, in an unusual move, United Airlines announced an agreement for 25 Boeing 787-8s with an option for 50 more, while also ordering similar quantities of the larger Airbus A350.[147]
This variant was designed to be a 290-seat (two-class) short-range version of the 787 targeted at high-density flights, with a range of 2,500 to 3,050 nautical miles (4,650 to 5,650 km) when fully loaded. It was designed to replace the Airbus A300/Airbus A310 and Boeing 757-300/Boeing 767-200 on regional routes from airports with restricted gate spacing. It would have used the same fuselage as the 787-8, though with some areas of the fuselage strengthened for higher cycles. The wing would have been derived from the 787-8, with blended winglets replacing raked wingtips. The change would have decreased the wingspan by roughly 25 feet (7.6 m), allowing the 787-3 to fit into more domestic gates, particularly in Japan.
This model would have been limited in its range by a reduced Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) of 364,000 lb (163,290 kg). (Actual range is calculated by the remaining available weight for fuel after the aircraft empty weight and payload are subtracted from the MTOW). A full load of passengers and cargo would limit the amount of fuel it could take on board, as with the 747-400D. This is only viable on shorter, high-density routes, such as Tokyo to Shanghai, Osaka to Seoul, or London to Berlin. Many airports charge landing fees based on aircraft weight; thus, an airliner rated at a lower MTOW, though otherwise identical to its sibling, would pay lower fees.
An artist’s impression of the 787-3, which has winglets and a shorter wingspan
Boeing has projected that the future of aviation between very large (but close) cities of five million or more may stabilize around the capacity level of the 787-3.[148][149] Regions such as India and East Asia, where large population centers are in close proximity, offer many examples. Approximately 3.1 billion people live within the range of the 787-3 if used in India or China. Boeing has also claimed that the 787-3’s efficiency could offset the higher landing fees and acquisition costs (compared to a single-aisle plane) and make it useful on such routes.
Boeing also believed legacy carriers could have used this variant to compete with low-cost airlines by running twice the capacity of a single-aisle craft for less than twice its operating cost (fuel, landing fees, maintenance, number of flight crew, airspace fees, parking fees, gate fees, etc.).
Beyond Asia, a range of 3,050 nm (5,600 km), or flight time of roughly six hours is sufficient to connect many major cities. The gate spacing constraint that the 787-3 was intended to overcome is really only a problem in Japan. In Europe, the -3 would still have been too wide for most short-haul gates and in the Middle East, India and China new airports are being built with wider gate spacing. Boeing had not planned to certify the 787-3 in Europe because of lack of interest in the model from potential European customers.
Forty-three 787-3s were ordered by the two Japanese airlines that operate the 747-400D, but production problems on the base 787-8 model led Boeing to postpone the introduction of the 787-3 in April 2008, following the 787-9 but without a firm delivery date.[68] Japan Airlines canceled all of its 787-3 orders, and All Nippon Airways reduced its order to 28 in May 2009 (canceled two from its original 30). All of these canceled 787-3 orders were transferred to 787-8 orders. In December 2009, All Nippon Airways converted their remaining 787-3 orders to the 787-8, leaving no orders for this type.[150] It is likely the 787-3 variant will be shelved entirely following the lack of interest by potential customers caused by it being designed specifically for the Japanese market.[151]
The stretched 787-9, designed with greater range and payload capability
The 787-9 will be the first variant of the 787 with a “stretched” (lengthened) fuselage, seating 250–290 in three classes with a range of 8,000 to 8,500 nautical miles (14,800 to 15,750 km). This variant differs from the 787-8 in several ways, including structural strengthening, a lengthened fuselage, a higher fuel capacity, a higher maximum take-off weight (MTOW), but with the same wingspan as the 787-8.[152] The targeted date for entry into service (EIS), originally planned for 2010,[153] was scheduled for early 2013 in December 2008.[154] Boeing is targeting the 787-9 to compete with both passenger variants of the Airbus A330 and to replace their own 767-400ER. Like the 787-8, it will also open up new non-stop routes, flying more cargo and fewer passengers more efficiently than the 777-200ER or A340-300/500. The firm configuration was finalised on 1 July 2010.[155]
When first launched, the 787-9 had the same fuel capacity as the other two variants. The design differences meant higher weight and resulted in a slightly shorter range than the 787-8. After further consultation with airlines, design changes were incorporated to add a forward tank to increase its fuel capacity. It will now have a longer range and a higher MTOW than the other two variants. The -9 will be able to fly non-stop from New York to Manila or from Moscow to São Paulo and will have the lowest seat-mile cost of the three 787 variants.
Air New Zealand is the launch customer for the 787-9 and the second customer ever for the 787 behind ANA. Qantas, Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines have placed the largest orders for the 787-9.
Boeing has stated that it is likely to develop another version, the longer 787-10, with seating capacity between 290 and 310.[156][157] This proposed model is intended to compete with the planned Airbus A350-900.[158] The 787-10 would supersede the 777-200ER in Boeing’s current catalog and could also compete against the Airbus A330-300 and A340-300. Boeing was having discussions with potential customers about the 787-10 in 2006 and 2007.[159][160][161] This variant has not yet been officially launched by Boeing, but Mike Bair, at that time head of the 787 Program, stated that “It’s not a matter of if, but when we are going to do it … The 787-10 will be a stretched version of the 787-9 and sacrifice some range to add extra seat and cargo capacity.”[162] The 787-10 has remained under consideration by Boeing.
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Visitors to Istanbul will soon have a chance to view the most spectacular ocean views on the planet. A seven floor, seven-star hotel is being built underwater on what was formerly a tobacco factory. There will be exhibition halls, and restaurants, and all rooms will be sea facing.
This isn’t the first such underwater hotel complex in the world. That honor goes to the $500 million Poseidon Hotel which is currently being built off Fiji. The Istanbul hotel differs in that it is being built under the city center, which should make for an interesting experience.
The hotel’s inauguration is set to coincide with the city’s taking over from Linz, Austria as the Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010.
Posted in PENGETAHUAN, TECNHO UPDATE
USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth US naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the “Big E“. At 1,123 ft (342 m), she is the longest naval vessel in the world, though her 93,500 long tons (95,000 t) displacement places her as the 11th heaviest supercarrier, surpassed by the 10 carriers of the Nimitz-class.
Enterprise is a single-ship class, and is the second oldest vessel still in commission in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled, three-masted frigate USS Constitution. As the oldest carrier in the fleet, she was originally scheduled for decommissioning some time in 2014–2015 depending on the life of her current reactors and completion of her replacement, the USS Gerald R. Ford[6]. However, with the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, Enterprise is now set to retire in 2013 with 51 years of continuous service, the longest for any aircraft carrier in the history of the U.S. Navy[7].
Enterprise is currently homeported at Norfolk, Virginia and scheduled to complete two more deployments before her decommissioning[8]. Her current commanding officer is Captain Ronald Horton.
Size comparison of some notably large ships and buildings:
USS Enterprise, 342 m
The Pentagon, 431 m
RMS Queen Mary 2, 345 m
Hindenburg, 245 m
Yamato, 263 m
Empire State Building, 443 m
Knock Nevis tanker, 458 m
Enterprise was meant to be the first of a class of six, but construction costs ballooned and the remaining vessels were never laid down, resulting in her being the only ship of her class.
Because of the huge cost of her construction, Enterprise was launched and commissioned without the planned Terrier missile launchers. These were never installed and the ship’s self-defense suite instead consisted of three shorter ranged RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, Basic Point Defense Missile System (BPDMS) launchers[9]. Later upgrades added two NATO Sea Sparrow (NSSM) and three Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS gun mounts[10]. One CIWS mount was later removed and two 21 cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launchers were added[11].
Enterprise is also the only aircraft carrier to house more than two nuclear reactors. Her eight-reactor propulsion design was rather conservative, with each A2W reactor taking the place of one of the conventional boilers in earlier designs. She is the only carrier to be fitted with four rudders compared to two for the other classes, and features a more cruiser-like hull[12].
In addition to having the innovation of nuclear power, Enterprise also featured a phased array radar system designed to provide improved tracking of multiple airborne targets relative to conventional rotating antenna radars. Her early phased arrays are responsible for the distinctive square-looking island, up until their replacement circa 1980[5].
In 1958, Enterprise‘s keel was laid at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. On 24 September 1960, the ship was launched, sponsored by Mrs. W. B. Franke, wife of the former Secretary of the Navy. On 25 November 1961, Enterprise was commissioned, with Captain Vincent P. de Poix, formerly of Fighting Squadron 6 on USS Enterprise (CV-6),[13] in command. On 12 January 1962, the ship then made her maiden voyage conducting a three-month shakedown cruise. After commissioning, Enterprise began a lengthy series of tests and training exercises designed to determine the full capabilities of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
On 20 February 1962, Enterprise played a role as the tracking and measuring station for the flight of Friendship 7, the Project Mercury space capsule in which Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr. made the first American orbital spaceflight. In August of that year, the carrier joined the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean sea, returning to Norfolk, Virginia in October.
Soon after, Enterprise was dispatched to her first international crisis. For some months, the United States had been flying U-2 reconnaissance planes over Cuba, an island nation 90 mi (78 nmi; 140 km) off the coast of Florida. During one such flight over Cuba pictures obtained from the spy planes revealed what appeared to be Soviet launch sites for nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba under construction. Fearing the worst, President John F. Kennedy began to prepare for military action against Cuba, moving several Army units to Florida and supporting these units with a strong naval force. President Kennedy ordered a naval and air quarantine on shipment of offensive military equipment to Cuba and demanded the Soviets dismantle the missile sites there. A blockade of Cuba was imposed. Enterprise, supported by the carriers Independence, Essex, and Randolph and backed by shore-based aircraft, commenced with the blockade. On 24 October, on the brink of war, the 2nd Fleet began a strict quarantine of all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba. By 28 October, the crisis was averted.
Task Force One, the world’s first nuclear-powered task force. Enterprise, Long Beach and Bainbridge in formation in the Mediterranean, 18 June 1964. Enterprise crew members are spelling out Einstein’s mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc² on the flight deck. Note the distinctive phased array radars in the superstructures of Enterprise and Long Beach.
On 19 December 1962, a E-2 Hawkeye was catapulted off Enterprise in the first shipboard test of nose-tow gear designed to replace the catapult bridle. Minutes later, the second nose-tow launch was made by an A-6A, demonstrating one of the primary design goals of reducing launch intervals.
In 1963-1964, Enterprise made her second and third deployment to the Mediterranean, respectively. Also during the third Mediterranean deployment, the carrier was part of Operation Sea Orbit, the world’s first nuclear-powered task force with the cruisers Long Beach and Bainbridge, which joined to sail around the world. In October, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for her first refueling and overhaul.
In November 1965, the Big E was transferred to the Pacific Seventh Fleet. The following month, on 2 December, she became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat when she launched aircraft against the Viet Cong near Bien Hoa. Enterprise launched 125 sorties on the first day, unleashing 167 short tons (151 t) of bombs and rockets on the enemy’s supply lines. On 3 December, she set a record of 165 strike sorties in a single day.
View of Enterprise‘s stern during the fire of 1969
In January 1968, the capture of Pueblo by a North Korean patrol boat led to a diplomatic crisis. Enterprise was ordered to operate near South Korean waters for almost a month.
In the morning of 14 January 1969, a MK-32 Zuni rocket loaded on a parked F-4 Phantom exploded due to ordnance ‘cook off’ after being overheated by an aircraft start unit mounted to a tow tractor[14]. The explosion set off fires and additional explosions across the flight deck. The fires were brought under control relatively quickly (when compared with previous carrier flight deck fires), but 27 lives were lost and an additional 314 personnel were injured. The fire destroyed 15 aircraft, and the resulting damage forced Enterprise to put in for repairs, primarily to repair the flight deck’s armored plating[15]. In early March 1969, repairs to the ship were completed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the ship proceeded on her deployment to Vietnam and the Tonkin Gulf.
Sailors aboard Enterprise battle a massive ordnance fire triggered by a Zuni rocket. January 14, 1969
On 14 April 1969, tensions with North Korea flared up again as a North Korean aircraft shot down an unarmed EC-121 Constellation which was on a routine reconnaissance patrol over the East Japan Sea from its base at Atsugi, Japan. The entire 31-man crew was killed. The U.S. responded by activating Task Force 71 (TF 71) to protect such flights over those international waters in the future. Initially, the Task Force consisted of Enterprise, Ticonderoga, Ranger and Hornet, with a screen of cruisers and destroyers. The ships for TF 71 were drawn mostly from Southeast Asia duty. This deployment became one of the largest shows of force in the area since the Korean War.
In all, Enterprise made six combat deployments to Southeast Asia from 1965-1972.
In 1969-1970, Enterprise returned to Newport News Shipbuilding and went through an overhaul and her second refitting. In January 1971, she completed sea trials with her newly-designed nuclear reactor cores which contained enough energy to power her for the next 10 years. Enterprise then set sail for Vietnam, again to provide air support for American and South Vietnamese units.
In Vietnam, Enterprise, Oriskany and Midway accumulated a strike sortie count of 2,001 by 30 July 1971. Strike operations in July were disrupted when the carriers on station evaded three typhoons — Harriet, Kim and Jean. A slight increase in South Vietnam strike sorties occurred during the month. These were mainly visual strikes against enemy troop positions and in support of US helicopter operations. From August-November 1971, Enterprise was in operations on Yankee Station.
In December 1971 during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, Enterprise was deployed to the Bay of Bengal as a show of strength against India’s naval blockade by INS Vikrant. A Soviet Navy submarine was also trailing the US task force. A confrontation was averted when the Americans moved towards South East Asia, away from the Indian Ocean.[16]
In October 1972, the U.S. ended all tactical air sorties into North Vietnam above the 20th parallel and brought Linebacker I operations to a close. This goodwill gesture of terminating the bombing in North Vietnam above the 20th parallel was designed to help promote the peace negotiations being held in Paris. Enterprise and the other carriers had flown a total of 23,652 tactical air attack sorties into North Vietnam from May-October and US tactical air sorties during Linebacker I operations helped to stem the flow of supplies into North Vietnam, thereby limiting the operating capabilities of the North Vietnamese Army.
From October to December, Enterprise alternated with other carriers on Yankee Station during the bombing halt and remained on station. As a result of the bombing halt above the 20th parallel in North Vietnam, no MiG kills or US losses were recorded during this time.
18 December 1972: The U.S. resumed bombing campaigns above the 20th parallel under the name Linebacker II. During Linebacker II operations, Enterprise and other carriers on station reseeded the mine fields in Haiphong harbor and conducted concentrated strikes against surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery sites, enemy army barracks, petroleum storage areas, Haiphong naval and shipyard areas, and railroad and truck stations. Navy tactical air attack sorties under Linebacker II were centered in the coastal areas around Hanoi and Haiphong. There were 705 Navy sorties in this area during Linebacker II. Between 18 December and 22 December the Navy conducted 119 Linebacker II strikes in North Vietnam, with the main limiting factor on airstrikes being bad weather.
In December 1972, the North Vietnamese returned to the peace table and Linebacker II ended. In January 1973, the Vietnam cease fire was announced and American carriers ceased all combat sorties into North and South Vietnam.
From 28 January 1973, aircraft from Enterprise and Ranger flew 81 combat sorties against lines-of-communication targets in Laos. The corridor for overflights was between Hue and Da Nang in South Vietnam. These combat support sorties were flown in support of the Laotian government which had requested this assistance. Laos had no relationship with the cease-fire in Vietnam.
After the cease-fire in Vietnam, Enterprise proceeded to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, where the carrier was altered and refitted to support the Navy’s newest fighter aircraft — the F-14 Tomcat. Two of four jet blast deflectors were enlarged to accommodate the Tomcat. The number four propulsion shaft was replaced due to being bent after its screw became fouled in a discarded arresting gear cable.
Although unable to support them at first, Enterprise was eventually refitted to handle the newer F-14 Tomcats, and operated with these fighters until their retirement from Enterprise in 2001.
On 18 March 1974, the first operational Tomcats of VF-1 Wolfpack and VF-2 Bounty Hunters made their maiden takeoffs and landings from the carrier. In September 1974, Enterprise became the first carrier to deploy with the new fighter plane when she made her seventh western Pacific (WESTPAC) deployment.
In February 1975, Typhoon Gervaise struck the island nation of Mauritius. Enterprise responded to calls for disaster relief from Mauritius, arriving at Port Louis the carrier personnel spent more than 10,000 man-hours rendering such assistance as restoring water, power and telephone systems, clearing roads and debris, and providing helicopter, medical, food and drinkable water support to the stricken area.
In April 1975, Enterprise, Midway, Coral Sea, Hancock, and Okinawa were deployed to waters off Vietnam for possible evacuation contingencies as North Vietnam, in violation of the Paris Peace Accords, launched a conventional invasion of South Vietnam. On 29 April, Operation Frequent Wind was carried out by US Navy and Marine Corps helicopters from the 7th Fleet. The Operation involved the evacuation of American citizens and “at-risk’ Vietnamese from Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam under heavy attack from the invading forces of North Vietnam.
President Gerald Ford ordered the helicopter evacuation when PAVN shelling forced the cessation of the fixed-wing evacuation from Tan Son Nhut airport. With fighter cover provided by carrier aircraft, the helicopters landed at the US Embassy, Saigon and the DAO Compound to pick up evacuees. The last helicopter lifted off the roof of the US Embassy, Saigon at 07:53 on 30 April 1975 carrying the last 11 Marine Security Guards. During Operation Frequent Wind, aircraft from Enterprise flew 95 sorties.
In July 1976: Enterprise began her eighth WESTPAC deployment. In February 1977, Idi Amin, the President of Uganda, made derogatory remarks against the United States in public and Americans in Uganda were taken hostage. This was several months after the Israeli raid at Entebbe airport. Enterprise and her escort ships, having just left Mombasa after a port call, were directed to remain in the area and operated off the east African coast for approximately one week. At that point the ships were scheduled to be on their way home after a seven-month deployment. The ship’s Marine detachment and air wing prepared for a possible mission to rescue and evacuate the Americans, but Amin eventually released all the hostages. The ships then steamed across the Indian Ocean at high speed to make their previously-scheduled final port call at NAS Cubi Point in the Philippines, then after dodging a typhoon, transited the Pacific at high speed to return home approximately on time.
In 1978, Enterprise underwent her ninth WESTPAC deployment, including port calls in Hong Kong, Perth, Australia, and Singapore. In January 1979, the carrier sailed into Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a 30-month comprehensive overhaul. During this overhaul, the ship’s superstructure was modified, removing the SCANFAR radars and the unique inverted cone-shaped top section which was three stories high. During the lengthy overhaul, Enterprise was referred to as “Building 65” by Navy and shipyard personnel.
In 1982, the carrier underwent her 10th WESTPAC deployment. In April 1983, Enterprise ran aground on a sandbar in San Francisco Bay while returning from deployment and remained stuck there for several hours.[17] Ironically, George Takei, who played Mr. Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship Enterprise was aboard at the time as a Distinguished Visitor of the Navy.[18]. Even though groundings and collisions are usually career-enders for U.S. warship captains, the captain at the time, Robert J. Kelly, who had already been selected for promotion to commodore, eventually became a four-star admiral and commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet[19].
In 1984, the carrier underwent her 11th WESTPAC deployment. On 2 November 1985, she struck Bishops Rock on the Cortes Bank during exercises, damaging the outer hull and propeller. She continued operations and later went to drydock for repairs.
In 1986, the carrier underwent her 12th WESTPAC deployment. On 28 April 1986, Enterprise became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal. She went from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean to relieve Coral Sea, on station with America off the coast of Libya. Enterprise entered the Mediterranean to support “Operation Eldorado Canyon“, the U.S. bombing of Libya. It was the first time in over 22 years that Enterprise had entered the Mediterranean.
In April 1988, Enterprise underwent her 13th deployment and was assigned to Operation Earnest Will, escorting reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers in the Persian Gulf while stationed in the North Arabian Sea. Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine in international waters. In response, Operation Praying Mantis was launched in retaliation, against Iranian targets involving both surface and air units. CVW-11 aircraft from Enterprise were a major participant. The initial American strikes centered around a surface group action against two Iranian oil platforms that had been identified as support bases for Iranian attacks on merchant shipping. Aircraft from CVW-11 provided air support for the surface groups in the form of surface combat air patrols, flying A-6 Intruders and A-7 Corsair IIs, and combat air patrols with F-14 Tomcats.
In September 1989, Enterprise left NAS Alameda, Ca., and began her 14th overseas deployment, an around-the-world cruise to the ship’s new homeport of Norfolk, Va. In early December 1989, Enterprise and Midway participated in Operation Classic Resolve, President George H.W. Bush‘s response to Philippine President Corazon Aquino‘s request for air support during the rebel coup attempt. Enterprise remained on station conducting flight operations in the waters outside Manila Bay until the situation subsided, and then proceeded to her next stop on the deployment: Pattaya Beach, Thailand.
In March 1990, Enterprise completed her highly successful around-the-world deployment by arriving in Norfolk, Virginia. She had safely steamed more than 43,000 mi (69,000 km) from her long-time home port of Alameda, California, making ports of call in Hong Kong, the Philippine Islands, Thailand, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, St. Thomas, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In October, the carrier moved to Newport News Shipbuilding for refueling and the Navy’s largest complex overhaul refit ever attempted. During this overhaul, the Navy extended the carrier’s length from 1,101 ft (336 m) to 1,123 ft (342 m), as well as other modifications to extend her service life.
On 27 September 1994: Enterprise returned to sea for sea trials, during which she performed an extended full power run as fast as when she was new.
On 28 June 1996, Enterprise began her 15th overseas deployment. The carrier enforced no-fly zones in Bosnia as part of Operation Joint Endeavor and over Iraq as part of Operation Southern Watch. The deployment also marked the end of an era when VA-75 retired the A-6 Intruder from the Navy. During the six-month deployment, the ship visited eight ports. By December 1996, the ship completed her deployment. In February 1997, Enterprise entered Newport News Shipbuilding for an extended selective restrictive availability lasting four-and-a-half months.
Enterprise underway
In November 1998, following workups, Enterprise departed on her 16th overseas deployment, this time with CVW-3.
On the night of 8 November, shortly after the start of the deployment, a EA-6B Prowler crashed into an S-3 Viking on the carrier’s flight deck. The mishap occurred when the EA-6B was returning to Enterprise following night qualifications and struck the folded wings of the S-3 which was in the landing area of the flight deck. The crew of the EA-6B perished in the impact, but the crew of the S-3 ejected shortly thereafter. A fire broke out on the flight deck, but was quickly extinguished by the flight deck crew. Three of the four members of the Prowler crew were lost at sea. The remains of the fourth were recovered shortly after the crash. The two crew of the Viking were rushed to the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. No other crew members were injured. A search for three EA-6B Prowler crew members was suspended after nearly 24 hours and after covering more than 100 square nautical miles (340 km²) on the water and 700 nautical miles (1300 km)[dubious – discuss] in the air.
On 23 November 1998, Enterprise relieved Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf. During a port call in Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates, the carrier hosted former President George H.W. Bush and a live concert by Grammy Award winning rock group Hootie and the Blowfish. In December 1998, Enterprise battlegroup spearheaded Operation Desert Fox, destroying Iraqi military targets with more than 300 Tomahawk land attack missiles and 691,000 lb (346 ST; 313 t) of ordnance. The 70-hour assault was carried out by Enterprise, Gettysburg, Stout, Nicholson and Miami. On 23 December 1998, Secretary of Defense William Cohen, flew out to the carrier, bringing along his wife Janet, Senator Daniel Inouye from Hawaii, Representative John Murtha from Pennsylvania, and singers Mary Chapin Carpenter, Carole King and David Ball[disambiguation needed]. The Secretary enjoyed lunch with sailors on the mess deck before he kicked off a concert on the flight deck.
Enterprise patrols the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Fox
Following operations off Sicily, the carrier was to conduct a port visit in Cannes, France. However, the Yugoslavian peace talks in Rambouillet, France deteriorated and the carrier was ordered back to the Adriatic after only 24 hours in Cannes.
In early March 1999, Enterprise pulled into port at Trieste, Italy for the last Mediterranean port visit before returning to the Persian Gulf. She relieved Carl Vinson on 14 March 1999 and took over the helm of Southern Watch, returning home in May 1999.
During the 1998-1999 deployment, Enterprise steamed more than 50,000 mi (80,000 km) and spent 151 days underway. The aircraft of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) were launched over 9,000 times, logging approximately 17,000 hours in the sky. Enterprise Battle Group was the first to deploy fully IT- 21 capable, affording the team unprecedented internal and external communication channels.
Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered carrier (background) with what was then the newest: French carrier Charles De Gaulle, 16 May 2001
On 25 April 2001, Enterprise began her 17th overseas deployment with CVW-8. From 18-28 June, the carrier and four escorts participated in an exercise with the British Royal Navy in a joint and combined warfare training exercise in the North Sea, near the Hebrides Islands and in Scotland.
Enterprise was beginning her voyage home from the Persian Gulf when the attack of 11 September 2001 was carried out. Without orders, the carrier did a 180° turn, came to flank speed, and headed back to the waters off Southwest Asia near the Persian Gulf, outrunning her escorts. In October 2001, the United States launched air attacks against Al Qaeda training camps and Taliban military installations in Afghanistan. The actions were designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a base for terrorist operations and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime. Over three weeks, aircraft from Enterprise flew nearly 700 missions and dropped large amounts of ordnance over Afghanistan. In late October, she returned to her home port.
On 10 November, the carrier arrived at her home port of Norfolk, Virginia, 16 days later than originally planned. During her last day at sea, the ship hosted a live two-hour broadcast of ABC‘s Good Morning America. Garth Brooks performed a concert with Jewel from Enterprise on 21 November while she was docked in Norfolk, Virginia. The concert was carried live on CBS.
In January 2002, Enterprise entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va. for a scheduled one-year Extended Dry Docking Selected Restricted Availability.
In 2003-2004, the carrier provided air support for Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2004, the ship participated in Summer Surge 2004 and several multinational exercises.
From May 2006, Enterprise departed for a six-month deployment, however the ship was out for a total of six and a half months. During this deployment, the ship visited eight ports, operated in 6th, 5th and 7th Fleet AORs, and supported both Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. She returned to Norfolk 18 November 2006.
Enterprise became the first US naval vessel to make port in Cannes, France since the events of 11 September 2001[20]. In August 2007, Enterprise joined the fleet near Iran[21]. On 19 December 2007, the carrier returned home after a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf[22].
In April 2008, Enterprise entered the Northrop-Grumman Newport News shipyard for a scheduled 18 month Extended Docking Selected Restricted Availability, with a projected completion date of September 2009. As of April 2009, the total cost of the overhaul was projected at $480.9 million, 6 percent higher than originally projected[23].
As of December 2009, the ship is scheduled to complete one final deployment before decommissioning, with the total cost of her final overhaul increasing to $605 million, over 20 percent higher than initial estimates[8][24].
Posted in PENGETAHUAN
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