Lippisch.

This is coolbert:

From the history section of the wiki entry for Ground Effect Vehicles we find:

"By the 1960s, the technology started to improve, in large part due to the independent contributions of Rostislav Alexeev in the Soviet Union and German Alexander Lippisch, working in the United States."

"Alexander Lippisch, working in the United States."

Alexader Lippisch, one of the most significant aircraft designers of the Twentieth [20th] Century!

Lippisch aircraft designs of which were to include:

* Gliders.
* Tail-less aircraft.
* Rocket planes.
* Ground-effect vehicles [GEV].

"Alexander Martin Lippisch (November 2, 1894 – February 11, 1976) was a German pioneer of aerodynamics. He made important contributions to the understanding of flying wings, delta wings and the ground effect. His most famous design is the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor."

"Like many German scientists, Lippisch was taken to the United States after the war under Operation Paperclip."

That number of German scientists, engineers, etc., brought to the U.S. in the aftermath of the Second World War is MUCH MORE extensive that what is normally realized. Lippisch included.

Here thanks to the web site Luft46 the entire catalog of Lippisch experimental designs from the World War Two era. Most if not all NOT coming to fruition. Too advanced for the period.

See here the entire range of gliders as originally designed by Lippisch.

See here the Me-163 rocket plane design of Lippisch. Very far advanced for the period. Too far advanced - - was NOT effective!

And finally, of course, post-war, experimentation, and interest in, and the design of, various ground-effect vehicles of ever increasing complexity and sophistication, the projects not venturing far beyond the prototype stage, regrettably!!

Gliders, tail-less aircraft, rocket planes, ground-effect vehicles, etc. Lippisch did it all.

coolbert.

Pinnacle Islands.

This is coolbert:

Those itty-bitty specks of rock [Senkaku & Diaoyu] that are currently a point of contention between Japan and China do have a history to them.

In English, called the Pinnacle Islands [eight of them].

NOT merely objects appearing above the water during certain tidal conditions. Pretty substantial island formations, NOT attractive to human settlement however.




These islands:

* Are not fit for human habitation? NO source of fresh water?

* Have never had even limited or periodic settlement of any kind?

* Were under the administration of the U.S. military during the occupation and military governance of Okinawa, from 1945 until 1972. Were seen by the U.S. as legitimately an extension of the Ryukyu Island chain.

* Both Japan [more modern times] and China [rather more older times] seem to have claims to the islands that are valid or at least debatable?

Of course, it is not the islands of themselves that are at stake here. Access to the surrounding seabed and the natural gas deposits that are alleged to exist underneath are the motivation for the duelling parties here.

And here with some long-winded and typical ambiguous pronouncements on the subject:

"The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands" [Japanese]

"Clinton urges dialogue to resolve China-Japan row" [American]

"We do believe that, because the Senkaku islands are under Japanese jurisdiction, that it is covered by the US-Japan security treaty. That said, we also stressed that we don't take a position on the sovereignty of the Senkaku islands." - - Clinton spokesman Philip Crowley

The U.S. recognizes Japanese jurisdiction, but not necessarily sovereignty! Typical diplomatic double-speak!

And too - - the U.S.-Japan security accord is mentioned. A veiled threat to the Chinese?

This problem is not intractable? Unless someone gets it into their head to establish a permanent presence on one of the islands, fly the flag, a military outpost, etc.! Then it can get rough! Conflicts and disagreements over disputed land have traditionally been a casus belli! A reason to go to war!

coolbert.

Senkaku & Diaoyu

This is coolbert:

"when China rules the world - - obey tremble-ing-ly!!" - - Bert.

Let me tell you about the story of Captain Zhan.

Thanks to the Asian Times:

"Asia's New Cold War"

A point-of-contention, a point-of-honor now, little "out-croppings" of rock sticking above the water, called "islands", disputed territory between Japan and China, now a potential source of conflict. Chinese fishing vessel captain held prisoner of the Japanese for over a month, released, the Chinese retaliating and making veiled threats with economic leverage!

"the captain [Zhan], 41 . . . returned from 18 days in detention in Japan after his trawler collided with Japanese Coast Guard boats patrolling waters near rocky isles claimed by both China and Japan. Called the Diaoyu Islands by the Chinese and the Senkaku by the Japanese, the tiny outcroppings in the East China Sea have been administered by Japan for decades, but China (and Taiwan) assert historic claims over them."

Most interestingly, the Chinese showing their displeasure, their anger, their fury, by restricting the continual flow [at least temporarily suspending] of rare earths vital to advanced manufacturing and fabrication of high technology items. The life-blood of Japan's export market put on hold [again, merely temporarily!].

"Beijing reacted with percussive fury, severing many diplomatic ties, slowing down Japanese cargo shipments and even briefly suspending exports of rare-earth minerals that Japan needs to manufacture everything from hybrid cars to superconductors."

Consider the world-wide demand and SOURCE for rare earths. Thanks to Steve the natural resource man for the tip:

"rare earth elements — the 17 chemical elements that include scandium, yttrium and the 15 lanthanides — are a crucial component in such things as high-tech electronic gadgets, hybrid automobiles, wind turbines and the catalysts used in oil refining. They also have a wide range of military applications."

"that nation [China] produces more than 97 percent of the world’s rare earth elements"

Repeat - - 97 %!

[rare earths are obtainable from other nations other than China. China has merely driven almost everyone else out of business by pricing their rare earths for export at such a low price!!]

And here is the whole problem in the proverbial nutshell:

"The Diaoyu/Senkaku islands may be uninhabited rocks, but they are thought to be surrounded by major underwater deposits of natural gas"

Thought! Thought! Thought! Disputed territory historically has been a source of friction between nations that leads to WAR!

coolbert.

Bavar 2.

This is coolbert:

Hot off the presses!

Here with the latest and newest addition to the Iranian military arsenal.

A flying boat of indigenous design and manufacture, apparently pretty sophisticated from what I see.




"Iran unveils squadrons of flying boats"

NOT having, at least in the initial "mark", a formidable capability. At this point, merely a surveillance aircraft not possessing much in the way of an offensive threat?

"The craft, dubbed the Bavar 2, is armed with a machine gun and carries surveillance cameras"

"bloggers poked fun [2006] at Iran’s so-called stealth technology, saying the flying boat looked like something anyone could buy in kit form from mechanical magazine ads."

I am NOT poking fun at the Bavar. This could very well be one more area of concern for the U.S. Navy. These little itty-bitty flying boats COULD in the future pose a challenge to an aircraft carrier or any other American warship for that matter.

The Iranians will be able to produce this low technology but still "stealth" type of flying boat in profusion. That is whole point of using such low technology. You can build with relative ease a whole bunch of these flying boats very cheaply, deploy them considerable numbers, disperse to any location WHERE THERE IS WATER and attack targets in the low-level attacker mode!

[it would interesting to know if Bavar works well in the ground-effect mode!]

If any of the Bavar are ever able to carry a TORPEDO, we may very well see in the future a type of combat as last seen almost seventy years ago now - - during the Battle of Midway [1942]? A concentrated mass of Bavar in numbers overwhelming defenses!

An asymmetrical attack weapon? See what you will. My conclusions differ with that of the "experts"? You decide for yourself.

coolbert.

Reparations!

This is coolbert:

Thanks to the tip from the blog Jungle Trader for the der Spiegel article.

War is bad for the economy! Read thoroughly this amazing stuff!

"Germany Closes Book on World War I With Final Reparations Payment"

"Germany will make its last reparations payment for World War I on Oct. 3, settling its outstanding debt from the 1919 Versailles Treaty and quietly closing the final chapter of the conflict that shaped the 20th century."

"the final chapter of World War I with the end of reparations payments 92 years after the country's defeat."

[let me abundantly clear here! We are not speaking about the Second World War, we are speaking about the Great War, the First World War!!]

"The German government will pay the last installment of interest on foreign bonds it issued in 1924 and 1930 to raise cash to fulfil the enormous reparations demands the victorious Allies made after World War I."

"The sum was initially set at 269 billion gold marks, around 96,000 tons of gold, before being reduced to 112 billion gold marks by 1929, payable over a period of 59 years."

Payment, the reparations to be made in GOLD MARKS! The victorious allies NOT accepting funny money of any type. Wanted actual gold or currency issued that could be redeemed for gold. Very reminiscent of the indemnity as forced upon the French in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870!

That borrowed money to pay for the gold and gold-back currency placed an undue burden upon the fledgling and generally unstable German government of the period. An excessive portion of the yearly budget was used merely to service that debt?

It has often been suggested that this onerous debt, the reparations as exacted on the German in the aftermath of World War One, the resentment leading to the eventual rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi party. Professor Niall Ferguson suggests that this resentment was not entirely valid, the Wiemar Republic government more inept than anything else, the "onerous" debt being actually a burden that could have been borne!

"Germany could have paid reparations had there been the political will . . . France paid 4,933 million francs in reparations to Germany between 1871 and 1873 totalling 25% of French national net income without causing national bankruptcy, and has argued that German claims . . . that reparations payments threatened Germany with bankruptcy were just an excuse to try to get out of paying reparations" - - Ferguson.

Please keep in mind that such a debt, when paid off over such a long time, is being paid in devalued currency, and NOT in gilt or anything even resembling gold or gold-backed currency.

coolbert.

White Pine.

This is coolbert:

"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations . . . . He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance" - - T. Jefferson.

Broad Arrow!!

And among those officers - - eating out the substance thereof - - were agents of the Crown - - marking those largest, oldest and most perfect white pine trees that could be found - - as property of the Crown - - forbidden for the colonists to harvest and mill.

"The Broad Arrow mark was made on the base of the tree by three blows with a marking hatchet. It was said to resemble a crow's track more than an arrow. Mast trade with England declined steadily. Surveyor-Generals and their agents were responsible for selecting, marking, policing, and enforcing. They became very unpopular and enforcement more difficult, as they stepped up the marking of more and more trees with the ‘Broad Arrow’."

White pine - - the largest specimens, suitable as masts for the Royal Navy, greatly coveted for their strength, durability, straightness, size! Britannia ruled the waves in large measure because of the white pine forests of British North America? Timber of such a nature not obtainable ANYWHERE ELSE!!

"During the age of sail, tall white pines with high quality wood were known as mast pines. Marked by agents of the Crown in colonial times with the broad arrow, they were reserved for the British Royal Navy."

"The British built special barge-like vessels which could carry up to 50 pine trunks destined to be ship masts . . ."

[the USS Constitution when originally constructed had masts of white pine!! "The original masts on the USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) were single trees but later they were laminated to better withstand cannon balls."]

A practice, the marking of the mast pines, reserved for use by the Royal Navy only, a disagreeable practice - - loathed by the American colonialists.

"Marking of large specimens by the Crown was very controversial in the colonies, and their de facto seizure was a point of great contention among the colonists and played a significant role in the events leading to the American Revolution."

"Among the real causes for the revolt by the Colonies was their resentment against the unpopular restriction on their right to cut tall pines (marked Broad Arrow), and against the efforts made by authorities to preserve them for exclusive use of the Crown."

Among the many "repeated injuries and usurpations" as visited by the Crown - - were the marking and harvesting, exclusively so, of those white pines most suitable as masts for ships!

"... for better providing and furnishing of Masts for our Royal Navy wee do hereby reserve to us . . . ALL trees of the diameter of 24 inches and upward at 12 inches from the ground, growing upon any soils or tracts of land within our said Province or Territory not heretofore granted to any private person. We . . . forbid all persons whatsoever from felling, cutting or destroying any such trees without the royal license from us . . . upon penalty of 100 pounds... for every such tree so felled... without such license had, etc. etc .... "

The White Pine forests of North America to include New England, Pennsylvania, New York, and what was to become the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, were an extremely valuable resource. Clear cut almost totally in the 1800's, only small and isolated remaining old growth stands of the timber now existing.

[for some unknown reason, when cut, white pine forests do not naturally regenerate.]

The broad arrow "vexation" was another unnecessary "repeated injury" that need not have occurred? An amicable settlement to the timber "issue" could have been arrived at? WAR between the American colonialists and their British masters and the Crown could have been avoided? A lot of scholars seem this is so! King George was "stubborn and stiff necked - - like unto an ass"?

The broad arrow represented a casus belli? Thomas Jefferson and the other colonial subjects of the Crown seem to have felt so! Who would have thought it!

coolbert.

Oak.

This is coolbert:

"Built in an era when a wooden ship had an expected
service life of ten to fifteen years, Constitution
was now thirty-one years old."

From the wiki entry for the USS Constitution, some interesting items regarding the various repairs/refurbishments/restorations - - past, present, and future.

Wood from certain specific species - - once found in abundance, now scarce. NOT only hard to find, but hard to find in the right sizes, age, and shapes!

And, those materials used during previous repairs/refurbishments/restorations as replacements - - but NOT of the original material - - found to be lacking.

1. Southern live oak being the preferred wood as used in the construction of the Constitution, a material at the time easily obtainable:

"Primary materials used in her construction were
white pine, longleaf pine, white oak, and, most
importantly, southern live oak, which was cut and
milled at Gascoigne Bluff in St. Simons, Georgia . .
. In total, 60 acres (24 ha) of trees were needed
for her construction [USS Constitution]"

2. Southern live oak, at the time of the 1925 restoration being hard to find, at least in the sizes and quantities needed:

"Materials were difficult to find, especially the
live oak needed . . . [there was found] uncovered a
long-forgotten stash of live oak . . . at Naval Air
Station Pensacola, Florida that had been cut sometime
in the 1850s"

3. And during the 1970 repairs/refurbishments/restoration, those materials initially thought to be an adequate substitute for the original, rather found to be lacking, replaced without further ado:

"large quantities of red oak were removed and
replaced. The red oak had been added in the 1950s as
an experiment to see if it would be of better
quality than the live oak, but it had mostly rotted
away by 1970."

[live oak works well, other types of oak do not! The shipwrights of yore knew what they were doing! Live oak si, red oak no!]

4. Repairs/refurbishments/restoration work on the USS Constitution requiring an abundance of top quality white oak, the U.S. Navy creating [1976] a forest preserve exclusively for the cultivation and harvesting of this species [white oak]:

"Commander Martin dedicated [1976] a tract of land
located at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in
Indiana as 'Constitution Grove.' The 25,000 acres
(100 km2) now supply the majority of the white oak
required for repair work"

5. The repairs/refurbishments/restoration work of 1992 again requiring live oak wood in quantities not normally obtainable. Various concerns to the rescue:

"The most difficult task, as during her 1920s
restoration, was the procurement of timber in the
quantity and sizes needed. The city of Charleston,
South Carolina donated live oak trees that had been
felled by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, and the
International Paper Company donated live oak from
its own property"

6. Current repairs/refurbishments/restoration work underway, as we speak, perhaps already reaching completion, a restoration to the original with regard to the support beams and decking, previous replacements found to be inadequate [?]:

"Also in October 2007, she entered a period of repair
expected to last until September 2010. During this
time the entire spar deck will be stripped down to
the support beams and the current Douglas fir
decking will be restored to the original white oak
and yellow pine."

It can be said that the USS Constitution possesses a certain "sacredness"?

And who too from that era of over two hundred years ago would have ever imagined that in the year 2010 the Constitution would still be afloat, a commissioned warship of the U.S. Navy, manned by active duty sailors? I doubt few, if anyone!

coolbert.