Keith Hampshire (RAAF officer)

Keith MacDermott Hampshire, (10 September 1914 – c. 17 November 1982) was a pilot and ace of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the Second World War. He saw action in twin-engine propellor-driven aircraft, flying [[Strike fighter|intruder]], [[ground attack aircraft|ground attack]] and [[night fighter]] missions.
Hampshire is notable for three achievements in particular:
His younger brother, [[John Hampshire (aviator)|John Hampshire]] (1916–1990), also commanded RAAF squadrons in both the Pacific and Europe.
Early life.
The Hampshire family had an agricultural background and Keith was born at Portsea, [[Port Macquarie, New South Wales]], to Gladys May Hampshire and Percy George Hampshire. The family moved to [[Perth, Western Australia]] (WA), where Percy Hampshire took up a position as State Dairy Expert and later became a cattle breeder. Keith attended [[Scotch College, Perth|Scotch College]], where he obtained a Junior Certificate. Hampshire then attended [[Muresk Institute|Muresk Agricultural College]], worked as a [[wool classer]] and gained a pilots' licence in his spare time.<ref name="Sunday Times 5/3/39">"Sunday Times" [Perth], 5 March 1939, p4.</ref>
A keen [[surfing|surfer]] and track and field athlete, Hampshire was a member of the WA team at the 1935 national [[surf life saving]] carnival in Sydney, and during the same period was also chief instructor at [[Cottesloe, Western Australia|Cottesloe]] Surf Life Saving Club.
He joined the RAAF on 18 January 1937 and had the [[service number]] of "147" throughout his career. In 1939, Hampshire completed a specialist [[signals (military)|signals]] course in England at [[RAF Cranwell]], as the war was breaking out. He was initially posted to signals duties in Australia.
Hampshire was promoted to temporary [[squadron leader]] in 1941 and returned to flying, commanding [[maritime patrol]] squadrons: [[No. 6 Squadron RAAF]] at [[RAAF Richmond]], and then [[No. 23 Squadron RAAF]] in Queensland. He was promoted to temporary [[Wing commander (rank)|wing commander]] in October 1942.
War service.
Pacific theatre.
In December 1942, Hampshire received a front-line command: [[No. 22 Squadron RAAF]], flying [[Douglas A-20 Havoc|Douglas Boston]] Mk III [[light bomber]]s in [[New Guinea campaign|New Guinea]]. Aviation historian [[Hank Nelson]] described Hampshire's approach to operations as "aggressive", accompanied by a concern for his squadron's facilities and morale. Hampshire worked closely in 22 Sqn with [[Flight Lieutenant]] [[Bill Newton]] and it was Hampshire who recommended Newton for the [[wikt:posthumous|posthumous]] award of a [[Victoria Cross]]. (In March 1943, Newton was shot down and taken prisoner during a mission over [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] positions near [[Salamaua]] and subject to [[summary execution]] by a Japanese officer.)
22 Sqn played a key role in the [[Battle of the Bismarck Sea]]. On the morning of 5 March 1943, to hinder Japanese air support, Hampshire led six Bostons in an attack on the major airbase at [[Lae]]. As he began the squadron's attack run, Hampshire was seriously wounded in the leg by [[Shrapnel shell|shrapnel]] and suffered severe blood loss, but carried out the attack and piloted his Boston back to base. Before the wound had fully healed, Hampshire resumed combat operations. As a result of his conduct since joining 22 Sqn, he was awarded the DSO, on 27 April 1943 (see the "Citation" opposite).
In mid-1943, the RAAF transferred Hampshire to the UK. He travelled via the United States and in New York City the [[United States Army Signal Corps#World War II|US Army Pictorial Service]] filmed Hampshire at the [[Empire State Building]], in conversation with former members of the US [[3d Operations Group|3rd Bombardment Group]] – discussing their respective roles during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. The footage appeared in the documentary feature "[[Appointment in Tokyo]]" (1945).
Europe.
In the UK, Hampshire undertook a fighter conversion course, and in late 1943, he assumed command of [[No. 456 Squadron RAAF|No. 456 Squadron]], an [[Article XV squadrons|Article XV]] RAAF [[night fighter]] unit, at [[RAF Fairwood Common]], in Wales. The squadron was converting at the time to the [[De Havilland Mosquito]] NF Mk. XVII, which carried [[Radar in World War II#S-Band airborne|AI Mk X]] on-board radar. In the words of Nelson, Hampshire proved to be a "demanding leader who enforced the division between the [[officer (military)|officer]]s and [[non-commissioned officer|non-commissioned]] [[aircrew]]... drove the squadron hard, and [ensured] it was well prepared for front-line duties.
In March 1944, in response to [[Operation Steinbock|"Unternehmnen Steinbock"]] ("Operation Ibex"), a [[Nazi Germany|German]] "[[Luftwaffe]]" intruder offensive against targets in southern England, 456 Sqn relocated to [[RAF Ford]], in Sussex.
According to aviation historian Martin W. Bowman, Hampshire and his navigator, Flt Lt Tom Condon most often flew Mosquito "HK286" (squadron code "RX-A").
 The pair experienced great success in this aircraft, starting with two [[Ju 88]]s shot down on [the night of] 27/28 February 1944 off the south-west coast [of England]. On 24/25 March they destroyed ... Ju88 [3E+AP] of "[[Kampfgeschwader 6|6./KG 6]]" over [[Walberton]], in Sussex, and three nights later ... downed [two] Ju 88s[:] 3E+FT of "9/KG 6" [over [[Beer, Devon]],] and B3+BL of "[[Kampfgeschwader 54|3./KG 54]]" [over [[Isle Brewers]], Somerset]... On 23/24 April they shot down another Ju 88 into the sea near [[Swanage]], whilst on 28/29 April they probably damaged a [[Dornier Do 217|Do 217]][,] 86 miles off [[Durrington, West Sussex|Durrington]] [West Sussex]. On 22/23 May they downed a Ju 88S off the [[Isle of Wight]], and on 12/13 June claimed ... another Ju 88 over the [English] [[English Channel|Channel]].
As [[Invasion of Normandy|D-Day]] approached, 456 Sqn switched to intruder and ground attack [[sortie]]s over [[occupied Europe]]. The squadron primarily attacked trains and other ground targets in France, while also diverting the "Luftwaffe" from major Allied bomber operations.
Near [[Le Havre]] on D-Day + 1 (7 June 1944), 456 Sqn intercepted a formation of four-engined [[Heinkel He 177]] heavy bombers, belonging to "[[Kampfgeschwader 40|KG 40]]", each armed with two [[glide bomb]]s, approaching the Allied beachheads. Hampshire shot down one of the heavy bombers and 456 Sqn destroyed four in all. 456 Sqn also destroyed more than 20 [[V-1 flying bomb]]s. While 456 Sqn had shot down only six enemy aircraft before Keith Hampshire assumed command, it was credited with 38 kills by the time he departed.
By 1944, Hampshire's brother John was also commanding a RAAF unit in the UK, [[No. 461 Squadron RAAF]]. The parallel military careers of the brothers attracted publicity, as did their recreational interests, including participation in a [[surf carnival]] reputed to be the first held in England. At around this time, Australian official war artist [[William Dargie]] made Hampshire the subject of a portrait (later acquired by the [[Royal Air Force Museum]]).
Hampshire ceased combat duties in November 1944, after which he was posted to [[No. 300 Group RAF|No. 300 Group]], [[RAF Transport Command]]. This was part of the Allied preparations for the [[Japan campaign|final stages of the war against Japan]].
On 18 February 1945, Hampshire was awarded a [[bar (medal)|Bar]] to his DSO, as a result of his service with 456 Sqn (see the citation opposite).
He was discharged from the RAAF in Australia on 29 April 1946, by which time he had achieved the substantive rank of [[group captain]].
Later life.
Nelson said of Hampshire's post-war life, that his "confidence, even arrogance, in decision-making, his courage, skill, competitiveness and acceptance of the loneliness of command that had served him well in the air war did not transfer easily into business." He never married.
Hampshire worked for the British Aviation Insurance Group in Australia and Asia, as well as fields such as farming, oil exploration, aircraft sales and importing.
During the 1960s, he attended [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], from which he received a Bachelor of Arts (1963) and a Master of Arts in economics (1970).
While visiting the United States, on or about 17 November 1982, Hampshire died from injuries following a fall from a beach cliff at [[Palos Verdes, California]]. A coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Footnotes.
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian World War II pilots]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Royal Australian Air Force officers]]
[[Category:Australian people of World War II]]
[[Category:People educated at Scotch College, Perth]]
[[Category:People from Perth, Western Australia]]
[[Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Australian surfers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths from falls]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths in California]]
[[Category:Australian aviators]]
[[Category:Australian World War II flying aces]]


SS Theresia L M Russ

Theresia L M Russ was a cargo ship that was built in 1927 by Neptun AG, Rostock, Germany for Ernst Russ. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine for two years during the Second World War. In 1944, she was sunk by bombing at Gotenhafen, German occupied Poland. The ship was raised and repaired in 1945. She was seized by the Allies at Copenhagen and passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Concrete.
In 1946, she was passed to the Dutch Government and renamed Velsen. She was sold into merchant service in 1947 and renamed Cronenburgh. In 1955, she was sold to Italy and renamed Astor under Panamanian management. She served until scrapped in 1970.
Description.
The ship was built in 1927 by Neptun AG, Rostock, as yard number 413.
The ship was long, with a beam of a depth of . She had a GRT of 1,6964 and a NRT of 993. Her DWT was 2,658.
The ship was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine, which had two cylinders of , and diameter by stroke. The engine was built by AG Neptun. The engine was supplied with steam from two boilers with a total heating area of , operating at . The engine could propel her at .
History.
"Theresia L M Russ" was built for Ernst Russ, Hamburg. The Code Letters RGNK were allocated. She made her maiden voyage on 20 December 1927. On 26 July 1932, "Theresa L M Russ" rescued the 40 survivors from the Reichsmarine training schooner "Niobe", which had capsized off Fehmarn in a squall. In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to DHXN. On 14 August 1938, the French steamship struck a mine and sank south east of Gibraltar. "Theresia L M Russ" rescued her crew of 14, who had taken to the lifeboats. They were landed at Gibraltar. On 9 April 1940, "Theresia L M Russ" was requisitioned at Bergen, Norway by the Kriegsmarine. She was returned to Ernst Russ on 29 April. On 15 August 1940, she was again requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine. On 9 December 1941, "Theresia L M Russ" was one of seven ships in a convoy travelling from Kirkenes, Norway to Tromsø, Norway when the convoy was attacked by and was sunk. "Theresia L M Russ" was returned to her owners on 23 May 1942. She was damaged in an air raid on 26 February 1944 at Helsinki, Finland. On 18 December 1944, "Theresia L M Russ" was sunk in a Royal Air Force raid on Gotenhafen, German occupied Poland. On 13 January 1945, she entered dry dock for repairs.
"Theresia L M Russ" was seized by the Allies in May 1945 at Flensburg. She arrived at Methil, Fife on 4 July 1945. "Theresia L M Russ" was passed to the MoWT and renamed "Empire Concrete". Her port of registry was London. The Code Letter GLOL and United Kingdom Official Number 180708 were allocated. She was operated under the management of Stockwood, Rees & Co Ltd. On 25 October 1946, "Empire Concrete" was transferred to the Dutch Government and renamed "Velsen". She was placed under the management of Wm Müller & Co NV, Rotterdam.
On 9 February 1947, "Velsen" was sold to Müllers and renamed "Cronenburgh". Her port of registry was changed to Rotterdam and the Code Letters PDMW were allocated. On 20 July 1948, "Cronenburg" grounded on a voyage between Stockholm and Mäntyluoto, Finland. It was subsequently discovered that she was leaking and she was drydocked for repairs.
In 1955, "Cronenburgh" was sold to U Gennari & Co, Italy. She was operated under the management of Compania de Navigation Caribbean Cargo Carriers SA, Panama and was renamed "Astor". When IMO Numbers were introduced, "Astor" was allocated number 5102755. On 15 February 1970, "Astor" was on a voyage from Algiers to Oran when she suffered damage to her boilers. She was sold on 9 March 1970 to Industry Varie SJV, La Spezia, Italy and arrived there under tow. Scrapping commenced on 23 March 1970.


AIQ (airline)


Little Ferry Seaplane Base

Little Ferry Seaplane Base is a public-use seaplane base located one nautical mile (1.852 km) east of the central business district of the borough of Little Ferry on the Hackensack River in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The base is privately owned.
Facilities and aircraft.
Little Ferry Seaplane Base covers an area of at an elevation of 0 feet (0 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 01/19 with a water surface measuring 5,500 by 150 feet (1,676 x 45 m).
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2014 the base had 0 aircraft operations, an average of 0 per day. At that time 0 aircraft were based there.


MacDill Field


Naval Air Station Lake City


Remicourt Aerodrome

Remicourt Aerodrome was a temporary World War I airfield in France. It was located West of Remicourt, in the Marne department in north-eastern France.
Overview.
The airfield was built during the late summer of 1918, perhaps initially for the French air service, as "Noirlieu" airfield, and used by two of its "escadrilles" in July–September. Before any American squadron flew in, the VII Corps Observation Group set up its headquarters on the airfield, where it stayed until 23 November.
On 20 September 1918, I Corps Observation Group arrived at the airfield, with HQ and its three squadrons; 1st, 12th and 50th Aero Squadrons, ready to support the Meuse-Argonne Offensive with reconnaissance and battlefield observation missions in which its Salmson 2A2 aircraft were in much demand, with aerial photography, observer notes and artillery adjustments over the front. The group moved to Julvecourt Aerodrome on 5 November in order to operate closer to the fast moving front lines, towards north and east.
After VII Corps Observation Group's HQ had left, the airfield was turned over to the French Air Service and soon returned to agricultural use. Today it is a series of cultivated fields located west of Remicourt . The airfield was located to the north of the Départmental 54 (D54), with no indications of its wartime use.


Daniel R. Hokanson

Daniel Robert Hokanson (born June 27, 1963) is a four-star general in the United States Army who currently serves as the 29th chief of the National Guard Bureau. He previously served as the 21st director of the Army National Guard. His previous military assignments include serving as vice chief of the National Guard Bureau, deputy commander of United States Northern Command, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, and commander of the 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He is a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Just Cause. Hokanson assumed his current assignment on August 3, 2020.
Early life.
Daniel Robert Hokanson was born in Happy Camp, California on June 27, 1963, the son of Bob and Diann (Kieffer) Hokanson. He graduated from Happy Camp High School in 1980, and attended the College of the Siskiyous before being accepted to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Military career.
Hokanson graduated from West Point in 1986 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Aviation branch. During his time at West Point and the period immediately afterwards he completed: Level C Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) Course; Aviation Officer Basic Course; Air Assault School; and Initial Entry Rotary Wing Flight Training (Aeroscout). He is also a graduate of the United States Army Airborne School.
Hokanson then served for several years as an aviator with the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, California, including deployment to Panama for Operation Just Cause in 1989–90. In 1991 he completed the Aviation Officer Advanced Course and AH-64 (Apache) Combat Aircraft Qualification Course. He subsequently served with 1st Battalion, 229th Aviation Regiment at Fort Hood, including command of the battalion's Company B, and then served as a project engineer for the Aircraft Armament Test Division at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
Army National Guard.
Hokanson left the Regular Army in July 1995 and was a member of the Army Reserve Control Group until October.
Hokanson then began his career as a member of the Army National Guard, assigned initially as aide-de-camp in the office of Oregon's adjutant general. His later assignments included: operations officer, 641st Medical Battalion (Helicopter Evacuation); aviation operations officer, Oregon Army National Guard; plans analyst, Program Analysis and Evaluation Division, National Guard Bureau; executive officer, 641st Medical Battalion (Evacuation Helicopter), Oregon Army National Guard; deputy director, Army Aviation, Oregon Army National Guard; commander, 641st Medical Battalion (Helicopter Evacuation), Oregon Army National Guard; chief of staff, Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix V, Afghanistan; deputy commander, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard; and commander, 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, including deployment as part of Multi-National Corps – Iraq.
General officer.
In 2010 Hokanson was promoted to brigadier general. His assignments as a general officer included: deputy director, Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5), North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command; and director, Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5), National Guard Bureau. Hokanson was promoted to major general in May 2013. From August 2013 to July 2015 he served as adjutant general of the Oregon Military Department.
In August 2015 Hokanson was selected for appointment as deputy commander of United States Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado and promotion to lieutenant general. He concurrently served as vice commander, U.S. Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command.
Hokanson's nomination for assignment as the 11th vice chief of the National Guard Bureau was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 15, 2016. He assumed office in November 2016.
Director of the Army National Guard.
In March 2019, the president nominated Hokanson to succeed Timothy J. Kadavy as director of the Army National Guard. Hokanson assumed his new duties in a ceremony on June 21, 2019. In June 2020, the adjutant general of Minnesota, Jon A. Jensen was nominated to succeed him as Army Guard director.
Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
In May 2020, Hokanson was nominated for appointment to the rank of general and assignment as the chief of the National Guard Bureau. He was confirmed by the Senate on July 20, 2020 and assumed office on August 3, 2020.
Education.
Hokanson is a 1986 graduate of the United States Military Academy, and received a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace).
In 2000 he completed a master of arts in International Security and Civil-Military Relations at the Naval Postgraduate School. In 2001 he graduated from the Naval War College with a master of arts in National Security and Strategic Studies. Hokanson completed the Senior Service College National Security Fellowship Program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2006. In 2011 he completed the CAPSTONE leadership course at the National Defense University.
Aviation qualifications.
In addition to completion of the Aviation Officer Basic and Advanced Courses and Initial Entry Rotary Wing Flight Training (Aeroscout), Hokanson's aviation qualifications include:
Family.
Hokanson is married to Kelly M. (Triplett) Hokanson. They are the parents of three children, daughter Victoria, and sons Daniel Jr. and McKinnon. All three Hokanson children pursued careers in the military.


Michael C. Flowers

Brigadier General U.S. Army (ret) Michael C. Flowers, is a former commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). The mission of JPAC is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of the nation's past conflicts. Michael C. Flowers is currently the Chief Operating Officer of DigiFlight, Inc. He has been with the company in several roles since 2008. He has been instrumental in the growth of DigiFlight’s Aerospace and Aviation business units and the overall continued growth for the company.
Mike was born at Ramey AFB in Aguadilla Puerto Rico. Flowers graduated from the University of Kansas in 1977 with a Bachelor of General Studies. In 1997, he earned a master's degree in public administration from Shippensburg University. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. Flowers has held a variety of command and staff positions throughout his 30+ years of service. He has also deployed to multiple military operations including Operation URGENT FURY (Grenada); Operations DESERT SHIELD and STORM Saudi Arabia and Iraq; and Operations RESTORE and UPHOLD DEMOCRACY (Haiti) and JOINT GUARDIAN (Kosovo).
Flowers' prior assignment was as the chief of staff, NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR), Pristina, Kosovo, from July 2004 until June 2005. In July 1997, he assumed command of the 18th Aviation Brigade (Corps) (Airborne), XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He also served as the XVIII Airborne Corps aviation officer. In July 1999, he relinquished command and served as the chief, Joint Exercises and Training, then later, Chief, Operations plans division, J-3, United States European Command, Stuttgart, Germany. Flowers then assumed the responsibilities of director, Center of Army Leadership, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, from August 2001 until June 2003. From that assignment, he became the director, human resources policy directorate, office of the deputy chief of staff, G-1, United States Army, Washington D.C.
Flowers' personal decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal (three awards), the Legion of Merit (three awards), the Bronze Star Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (four awards) and the Air Medal. He also possesses the Senior Army Aviator Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, French, German & British Parachutist Badge, and is Ranger qualified. He is rated in the UH60 Blackhawk, UH1 Huey, AH1 Cobra, OH58A/C Kiowa and OH58D Kiowa Warrior.
He has a wealth of experience in foreign negotiations and operations. He has been a member of the Multi-National Force and Observers in Sinai, Egypt. Below are two examples of his foreign negotiations.
On September 1, 2006, members of the Lao and U.S. delegations, led by Brigadier General Michael Flowers, including Ambassador Patricia Haslach and Mr. Southam Sakonhninhom conducted Consultative Talks in Vientiane, Laos. These consultative talks, first held in 1989, form the basis of conducting JPAC search and recovery operations in the Lao PDR.
March 2006, U.S. and Vietnamese officials met in Hanoi, Vietnam recently for the second round of Technical Talks this year. The talks were led by Brig. Gen. Michael Flowers, Commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command. The U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, the Honorable Michael Marine, also participated in the talks along with DoD officials from Washington D.C. Vietnamese officials included the newly appointed director of the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons, Nguyen Ba Hung, along with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense.
BG Flowers routinely hosted technical and consultative talks with senior officials worldwide to address topics specific to JPAC operations in those countries. JPAC negotiations ensure positive in-country conditions are maintained or established for investigative and recovery operations.


Robert J. Rankin

Robert James Rankin (October 23, 1915 – March 14, 2013) was a United States Air Force colonel. During World War II, he became a flying ace with the United States Army Air Forces credited with 10 aerial victories, including five in a single day, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Early life and service.
Robert J. Rankin was born on October 23, 1915, in Washington, D.C. Rankin enlisted into the United States Army Air Corps on March 6, 1941. On July 15, 1942, he became an aviation cadet in the newly formed Army Air Forces, graduating from flight training at Luke Field, Glendale, Arizona, on April 11, 1943.
World War II ace.
In August, Second Lieutenant Rankin was assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, Eight Air Force, at RAF Halesworth in Suffolk, England. On February 6, 1944, Rankin claimed his first aerial victory, shooting down a German Me109 over Paris, France.
On March 15, First Lieutenant Rankin shot down two more Me109s and damaged a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 over Germany. Rankin claimed his fourth victory on March 29 near Nienburg. In April, the squadron moved to RAF Boxted in Essex, England.
First Lieutenant Rankin would finally claim ace status on May 12, 1944. Rankin was leading a flight of P-47 Thunderbolts ahead of a bomber force in Germany. While near Marburg, the flight engaged several dozen Me109s, and Rankin shot three of them out of the air. Upon downing the third one, his group commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hubert Zemke, radioed for help as German planes were on his tail. Rankin and his wingmen flew to Zemke's position, where Rankin shot down two more planes and damaged two others.
First Lieutenant Rankin became the first member of the 56th Fighter Group and first P-47 pilot to claim "ace in a day." He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions that day. On June 7, 1944, Rankin claimed his 10th and final victory of the war.
Post-war career and life.
After World War II, Rankin transferred to the United States Air Force. He flew more combat missions with the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing during the Korean War. Rankin was promoted to colonel in 1963, later taking part in the Vietnam War. He retired from the Air Force on April 1, 1973.
On March 14, 2013, Robert J. Rankin died in his winter home in Jensen Beach, Florida. His body was subsequently cremated.
Awards and decorations.
Distinguished Service Cross.
Citation:
Commendations.
Col Rankin has been awarded the following throughout his military career:


Waco C-62

The Waco C-62 was a proposed high wing transport airplane similar in size and capacity to the Douglas DC-3. 13 pre-production aircraft were ordered in October 1941, with a contract for 240 production models awarded in early 1942; however, the project was canceled in September 1943 in favor of the Curtiss-Wright C-76 Caravan before any aircraft were built.


List of defunct airlines of Lebanon

This is a list of defunct airlines of Lebanon.


Battle of Al Waki Market

The Battle of Al Waki Market was a battle that took place in August 2007 in Al Waki Market in Basra, Iraq, between No. 1 Squadron RAF Regiment and approximately 50 members of the Iraqi insurgency. It is notable as the battle for which the first Military Cross was awarded to an airman of the Royal Air Force.
The battle.
On the 7 August 2007, elements of No. 1 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment B Flight were on foot patrol north of Basra Air Station. The intent of the patrol was to deter attacks on the air station and to reassure the local population. As they moved through Al Waki market the civilian population suddenly dispersed and the area went quiet. At the inquest into Leading Aircraftman (LAC) Beard's death, the section commander, Sergeant Robert Williams said that "..It all changed in a matter of seconds; the gunshots started and they opened fire on us from our left hand side."
The flight tried to take cover behind some buildings, but then people began firing at them from the rooftops. Corporal David Hayden who was also on the patrol said "It was as if everybody out there that day decided 'let's just have a go at them'. It was coming from all directions." The battle lasted for nearly 90 minutes with a heavy concentration of fire for 30 minutes. at one point the Gunner on a WIMK Was shot in the chest, only stopped by his ballistic vest, He was knocked off the WMIK. However he got back on the vehicle and continued firing. Enemy forces were estimated at about 50 with at least 16 of the insurgents being killed by the RAF Regiment. Besides the many insurgent deaths, LAC Beard was also killed. Corporal David Hayden carried Beard over under enemy fire to medical aid whilst he was injured, however, Beard died of his wounds, becoming the 166th British casualty of the War in Iraq. For his actions, Corporal Hayden became the first airman of the RAF to be awarded the Military Cross.
Painting.
The battle is the subject of a painting by Stuart Brown, commissioned by the RAF Regiment. Copies of the painting are on display in several military buildings around the United Kingdom.


Robert Reichert

Robert Reichert (born August 11, 1948) is an American Democratic politician and former mayor of Macon, Georgia, the fourth largest city in the state.
Early life and education.
Reichert was born in Macon to Albert Reichert, Sr. He graduated from Stratford Academy in Macon in 1966 and thereafter enrolled at the University of Georgia at Athens. He left the university in 1968 and entered the United States Army.
In 1976 he returned to the University of Georgia and received a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and biology. In 1981, he obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the Mercer University Walter F. George School of Law in Macon.
Military record.
From 1970 to 1971, he served with the 1st Air Cavalry Division as a helicopter pilot in South Vietnam. He attained the rank of chief warrant officer and completed his service in the armed forces as a member of the 3rd Armored Division at Fort Hood in central Texas.
Career.
Reichert returned to Macon after his tour in the Vietnam War. On his discharge from the military, Reichert worked for a Macon automobile dealer. He interned under former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, another Georgia Democrat.
Reichert then joined the Macon firm of Anderson, Walker and Reichert as an associate attorney. In 1985, he became a full partner and has been practicing law in the area of civil litigation. He previously served on the Macon City Council from 1987 to 1992.
Political career.
In 1992, Reichert was elected to the Georgia House (District 126) from northwest Macon and Bibb County. He served a full decade but did not seek re-election in 2002. In the House, he served on the Industry Committee, the Judiciary Committee, and the Regulated Beverage Committee.
Reichert returned to politics when he ran in the Democratic primary for the Macon mayoralty. He won the nomination, and then won the November 6, 2007, mayoral election with 96 percent of the vote. The vote was 11,488 to 461 for the Republican candidate, David Cousino. In this heavily Democratic city, the general election is considered merely a pro forma contest.
In June 2013, Reichert was one of six mayoral candidates for the consolidated government of Macon-Bibb. On October 15, 2013, Reichert won a runoff election against C. Jack Ellis with 63.1% of the vote, becoming the first mayor of the consolidated city-county.
On March 19, 2015, Reichert announced that he would seek a second full term as mayor of Macon-Bibb. He went on to win the election uncontested, as his challenger, local pastor and attorney Lonzy Edwards, suspended his campaign due to health concerns on April 19, 2016, and died 10 days later.
In November 2020, Reichert vetoed an anti-discrimination ordinance for all Macon residents who are LGBTQIA+. Reichert stated his decision was based in part on the timing of the bill so late in the term, and the unwillingness of the commissioners to amend the bill. Supporters of the bill, including many local attorneys urged him to sign it, claiming that Reichert had not referenced any specific legal concerns.
Personal life.
Reichert has been active in various civic organizations, including Leadership Macon, the Boy Scouts of America, the Macon Rescue Mission, the Georgia Industrial Home, Douglass Theatre, and the Kiwanis Club. Reichert and his wife, Dele, have two children, and they are members of the Vineville United Methodist Church.


PAF Base M.M. Alam

PAF Base M.M. Alam is a Pakistan Air Force airbase located at Mianwali, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The base is named after Muhammad Mahmood Alam.
History.
Originally a World War II airstrip, it was decided that Mianwali would be upgraded into a satellite airbase for PAF Base Mushaf (then PAF Base Sargodha) during the 1965 Indo-Pak War to act as an alternate recovery airfield. The airbase became operational in October 1971 and was first commanded by Group Captain S. M. Dutta. Aircraft of different types, including the Shenyang F-6, were operated from the base during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. Pilots and anti-aircraft gunners of Mianwali airbase shot down 5 enemy aircraft during that conflict, the first three days of which the base came under regular attacks.
The airbase was again upgraded to a permanent operational airbase in August 1974, although construction of facilities was not completed for another three years. The first base commander was Wing Commander Sultan Muhammad. During November 1975, the No.1 Fighter Conversion Unit (FCU) was transferred to Mianwali airbase from PAF Base Masroor where it began fighter conversion training using the FT-5 dual-seat training aircraft. Over 500 fighter pilots have graduated since.
In November 1976, No.14 Squadron was transferred to Mianwali airbase for operational conversion of graduates of the No.1 Fighter Conversion Unit from dual-seat to the Shenyang F-6 single-seat fighter aircraft. When No.14 Squadron was selected to operate the F-16 in August 1986, it was transferred away from Mianwali airbase and replaced by No.25 Squadron. Further construction of facilities and transfer of units to the base took place during the 1980s.
On January 5, 2012, No 1 Fighter Conversion Unit re-equipped, after end of long and illustrious services rendered by veteran Chinese FT-5 fighter trainer aircraft. No 1 FCU, is now being re-equipped with modern state-of-the-art K-8P fighter trainer aircraft.
Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was the Chief Guest at the occasion.
In this regard the advanced and focused training at No 1 FCU on K-8P aircraft would assist Pakistan Air Force to remain an air force second to none.
Renaming.
The airbase was renamed as "PAF Base M.M. Alam" on 20 March 2014 after the 1965 war veteran Muhammad Mahmood Alam.


RAF Hednesford

Royal Air Force Hednesford or more simply RAF Hednesford is a former Royal Air Force station situated south-east of Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
History.
The RAF station of Hednesford was built just south of Cannock Chase, above the village of Hednesford in 1938/39, on land purchased from the Marquess of Anglesey. Ten officers and fifty other ranks arrived in mid-March 1939. It operated as No 6 School of Technical Training. Royal Air Force and Fleet Air Arm mechanics received technical training on a variety of airframes and engines. The first intake of trainees arrived in April 1939, transferred from RAF Halton. In June 1939 Sir Kingsley Wood, Secretary of State for Air, visited the camp, by which time it already had 1,700 trainees. Accommodation consisted of wooden barrack huts (over 200 of them at their peak). Three large "Hinaidi" hangars housed the instructional aircraft and there was a large steel-framed workshop building of 70,000 square feet (6,500 square metres). During the War it grew to accommodate 4,000 trainees and 800 staff. Although it had no proper airfield at least three instructional aircraft were flown in and landed on the camp sports field. Brindley Heath railway station on the Chase Line served the camp. The road from the railway halt to the camp was steep and acquired the name "Kitbag Hill". The last intake for No 6 School of Technical Training was in 1947. After that RAF Hednesford became a demobilization centre and transit camp, and then a despatch centre, preparing personnel for overseas postings.
In 1950 it reopened as No 11 School of Recruit Training where many National Servicemen received their basic training. It was the very first base for most of the personnel there during the 1940s and 1950s. Most of them were newly called up in the rank of AC2 (the very lowest rank in the RAF) for their 2 years National Service in the British armed forces. It was known as a "square bashing camp" in the vernacular. New recruits into the RAF were given their initial training, which included first learning of RAF parade ground drill with rifles, intensive physical fitness training, training in ground combat and defence under Non Commissioned Officers of the RAF Regiment and some education about the RAF and its history. Men while undergoing their basic training at Hednesford were accommodated in wooden barrack huts, each one housing about twenty men. As usual with any military basic training camp discipline was very much stricter than it would be at any normal operational or trade training camp. Recruits normally spent a period of 8 weeks (later reduced to 6 weeks) on their training at Hednesford before being posted on to their "trade training" camp elsewhere in the United Kingdom. Thousands of conscripts went through its gates until 1956.
Ten days after the last passing out parade at RAF Hednesford, 800 refugees from Hungarian Uprising of 1956 moved in, the first batch of a total of some 1,200. The RAF initially helped with feeding arrangements although the camp was run by Staffordshire welfare services.
In 1958 the Air Ministry announced it planned to sell the site. In April 1959, a sale of all the moveable buildings and equipment on the site was arranged (except for the officer's mess, a small number of huts in the North-East corner). This included the large steel-framed workshop (which was rebuilt in nearby Chasetown) and the Hinaidi Hangers. The site was neglected for many years. Various plans for the sale of the site fell through and it was becoming vandalised and dangerous with the air-raid shelters still remaining and increased subsidence from old mine-workings. In 1962 some of the site was cleared by 213 Field Squadron Royal Engineers (TA) from Cannock and 293 Squadron from Stafford. The remaining buildings (the former officers' mess) in the North-East corner of the site were used by the Army as "No 81 Week End Training Centre", used by Territorial and Cadet units (a caretaker's bungalow, firing range and some other buildings were added). In 1963 the camp was acquired by Staffordshire council who had the remaining air-raid shelters demolished and the mining subsidence filled in. Access to the site was restricted for some time to allow vegetation and wildlife to regenerate, although it was sometimes used for military training exercises and the training of police dogs. The week-end Training centre was closed. The whole old camp area is now part of Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a visitor centre on the site (first opened in 1983).


New Manila International Airport

The New Manila International Airport (), also known as Bulacan International Airport, is an international airport currently under construction on the coastal areas of Bulakan, Bulacan, 35 kilometers north of the city of Manila. The project was proposed by the San Miguel Corporation and will help decongest Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), the main entry and exit point to Manila for air travelers. The airport is a part of flagship infrastructure program of the Duterte administration, commonly known as "Build! Build! Build!".
The proposed airport will be built on a 2,500-hectare coastal property as part of an envisioned 12,000 hectare township that features a residential zone, government center, seaport and an industrial zone. The ₱735.634-billion airport development will cover the passenger terminal building with airside and landside facilities as well as an airport toll road and railway.
The first phase of construction on the project, which includes two runways and the terminal buildings, began on October 14, 2020, and is planned to open by 2026.
History.
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Board approved the unsolicited proposal on April 26, 2018 and negotiation report on the Concession Agreement (CA) on December 21, 2018. Under the approved terms, the concession agreement includes a no government guarantee or any form of subsidy from the state.
The project will have a final review of the Office of the Solicitor-General (OSG) and the Department of Finance (DOF) before it will undergo a Swiss challenge where other prospective companies will compete against the San Miguel Corporation proposal. As the original project proponent, SMC has the right to match any bid by its competitors. The Department of Transportation, the implementing agency for the project, eyes to finish Swiss challenge for Bulacan airport project by the first quarter of 2019.
On July 31, 2019, the Swiss challenge period ended, with no rival bids. With this, SMC was expected to be awarded the project.
On August 13, 2019, SMC tapped 3 international firms, Groupe ADP Ingénierie, Meinhardt Group and Jacobs Engineering Group (the same builders behind Singapore Changi Airport, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Charles de Gaulle Airport) to build and design the airport.
On September 18, 2019, San Miguel Corporation, through its unit, San Miguel Aerocity Inc. was awarded a deal to oversee, then hand over the project by the Department of Transportation after both firms signed a concession agreement for the building of the new airport at the ASEAN Convention Center in Clark Freeport Zone. The airport will be fully owned by the Philippine government under a build-operate-transfer program. DOTr allowed the SMC unit to build, maintain, and operate the airport without funding from the government for a set period of time. Its groundbreaking was supposed to begin in December.
On September 1, 2020, the Congress approved on the 2nd reading the House Bill No. 7507, granting the San Miguel Aerocity a congressional franchise "to establish a domestic and international airport", and to "develop an adjacent airport city". Its construction is expected to begin in October of the same year.
On September 30, 2020, SMC launched its skills and livelihood training for relocation of resident where site to construct New Manila International Airport.
On October 6, 2020, SMC president Ramon Ang announced the first phase of the airport will begin construction and is planned to open by 2026.
On December 15, 2020, it was made public that the Dutch dredging firm Boskalis Westminster was selected for the development of approximately 1700 hectares of land for the new airport. Preparatory work is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2021 with the land development project expected to be completed by the end of 2024.
Airport facilities.
The proposed airport will feature at least four runways, expandable to six. It will have a capacity of 100 million passengers per year when fully built, which is about three times larger than the current capacity of NAIA. The first phase of the project will include two of the four runways.
It will also be connected to Metro Manila by an airport toll road with connections to the North Luzon Expressway and Radial Road 10. The airport will also be connected by rail to the MRT Line 7 through the MRT 7 Airport Express project.
Concerns.
Environmental impact.
Fishermen's group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (or "Pamalakaya", English: National Alliance of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines) raised concerns that the airport might intensify flooding in Bulakan and the municipalities in its vicinity in southwestern Bulacan and northern Metro Manila.
The environmental science advocacy group Agham also noted the importance of mangrove forests in the area in reducing the amount of carbon dioxide, its significance as the natural habitat of fish, and that at least 670 kilograms worth of fish and other local marine products will be affected. The group advocated that the Environmental Clearance Certificate issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources be revoked.
The environmental issues remain unaddressed although SMC has clarified that some of their activities, such as the dredging of the Tullahan River in Metro Manila, may alleviate flooding issues. Engineering interventions will also be used to mitigate flooding. On October 8, 2019, Pamalakaya national chairman and former Anakpawis representative Fernando Hicap requested that then House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano conduct a congressional inquiry on the airport project and its potential adverse impacts.
Relocation issues.
Pamalakaya-Bulacan spokesperson Rodel Alvarez also claimed that there was a lack of relocation plan for the residents and fishermen who would be potentially affected by the project. This was later refuted by SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang, who stated the conglomerate will provide free housing and livelihood assistance. DENR also denied that local fishermen will be affected, as the lands that will be used are from private landowners.
COVID-19 pandemic.
The scheduled groundbreaking in December 2019 faced a delay, which according to DOTr secretary Arthur Tugade was due to an issue over the "wording and interpretation" of the concession agreement with the SMC. The issue covered conditions on material adverse government action, which is concerned with the compensation to the concessionaire in the event the project is adversely affected by the actions of the national government, and on caps on liabilities of the government. Nevertheless, DOTr stated these delays were temporary and the project would still go on after reviews conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ).


Mercy-le-Bas Aerodrome

After the Armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, American Aero Squadrons moved ahead to former German airfields located in previously occupied France, waiting for permission to enter Germany's Rhineland on 1 December with the Third Army of Occupation (granted on 1 December). Among those airfields, quite a few were located near the city of Longuyon, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France, near the German border.
Overview.
 Noërs Aerodrome, on a plateau southwest of the city of Longuyon. It was used by 94th Aero Squadron from 20 November 1918, flying to Germany on 31 December.
A cluster of airfields were set about on the southeast of Longuyon:
Joppécourt Aerodrome, position unknown. Used by 166th Aero Squadron 21 November - 5 December 1918, then flew to Trier, in Germany.
Mercy-le-Bas Aerodrome, located North of the commune of Mercy-le-Bas, with 1st Aero Squadron from 21 November to 6 December 1918, then to Germany.
Mercy le Haut Aerodrome, position unknown. 462nd Aero Squadron (Construct.) stayed 20 November - 2 December 1918, doing some construction works as IV Corps Observation Group HQ arrived on 21 November 1918 with 12th Aero Squadron. All those units would have been gone by 6 December.
Preutin Aerodrome, position unknown. 9th and 91st Aero Squadrons arrived on 21 November 1918, gone to Germany by 5 December.
Once the American squadrons had departed, the airfields were most probably quickly returned to agricultural use, today with no indications of their wartime use.


Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator


225th Combat Communications Squadron

The United States Air Force's 225th Combat Communications Squadron was an Air National Guard combat communications unit located at Martin Air National Guard Station, Gadsden, Alabama.
History.
The 225 CBCS was initially organized in March 1953 as the 225th Radio Relay Squadron, in Greenville, Mississippi, Mississippi, as part of the Mississippi Air National Guard. The unit was formally organized on 18 June 1954, and was eventually transferred to the Alabama Air National Guard and relocated to Gadsden. On 22 February 1971, an element of the 225th was divested and reorganized as the Headquarters, 226th Mobile Communications Group. (The 226th eventually became the 226th Combat Communications Group.) The new Group was co-located on Martin Air National Guard Station with the 225th. On 1 October 1960, the 225 RRS was realigned under the Military Air Transport Service. The 226 CCG headquarters relocated to Abston Air National Guard Station in February 1996. The 225 CBCS was inactivated in April 2008.


239th Combat Communications Squadron

The United States Air Force's 239th Combat Communications Squadron is an Air National Guard combat communications unit located at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The unit has approximately 120 personnel.


Aspen Mountain Air


RIM-8 Talos

The Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile, and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semiactive radar homing (SARH) for terminal guidance. The array of four antenna which surround the nose are SARH receivers which functioned as a continuous wave interferometer. Initial thrust was provided by a solid rocket booster for launch and a Bendix ramjet for flight to the target with the warhead serving as the ramjet's compressor.
History.
Talos was the end product of Operation Bumblebee, the Navy's 16-year surface-to-air missile development program for protection against guided anti-ship missiles like Henschel Hs 293 glide bombs, Fritz X, and kamikaze aircraft. The Talos was the primary effort behind the Bumblebee project, but was not the first missile the program developed; the RIM-2 Terrier was the first to enter service. The Talos was originally designated SAM-N-6, and was redesignated RIM-8 in 1963. The airframe structure was manufactured by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis; final assembly was by Bendix Missile Systems in Mishawaka, Indiana. The first production versions of the missile cost about $155,000 in 1955 ($1,443,674.16 in 2020 dollars), however the price would drop as Bendix increased production.
The Talos saw relatively limited use due to its large size and dual radar antenna system; there were few ships that could accommodate the large missiles with the AN/SPW-2 missile guidance radar and the AN/SPG-49 target illumination and tracking radar. The 9.9-meter-long, 3½-tonne missile was comparable in size to a small fighter aircraft. The Talos Mark 7 Guided Missile Launching System (GMLS) was installed in three s (converted light cruisers) with 16 missiles in a ready-service magazine and up to 30 missiles and boosters in a storage area above the main deck. Nuclear-powered and three s (converted "Baltimore"-class heavy cruisers) carried Mark 12 Guided Missile Launching Systems fed from a 52-round magazine below the main deck.
The initial SAM-N-6b/RIM-8A had an effective range of about 50 nm, and a conventional warhead. The SAM-N-6bW/RIM-8B was a RIM-8A with a nuclear warhead; terminal guidance was judged unnecessary for a nuclear warhead, so the SARH antenna was omitted. The SAM-N-6b1/RIM-8C was introduced in 1960 and had double the range, and a more effective conventional continuous-rod warhead. The RIM-8D was the nuclear-warhead version of the -8C. The SAM-N-6c/RIM-8E "Unified Talos" had a warhead that could be swapped while embarked, eliminating the need to waste magazine capacity carrying dedicated nuclear-tipped variants. The RIM-8E also carried an improved continuous-wave terminal homing seeker, and had a higher ceiling reach-out. Some RIM-8Cs were retrofitted with the new seeker, and designated RIM-8F. The RIM-8G and RIM-8J had further radar homing improvements and a new fuel that extended the range to 130 nm.
The surface-to-air versions also saw action in Vietnam, a total of four MiGs being shot down by "Chicago" and "Long Beach". On May 23, 1968, a Talos fired from USS "Long Beach" shot down a Vietnamese MiG at a range of about 65 miles. This was the first downing of a hostile aircraft by a missile fired from a ship. The hit also destroyed a second MiG which flew through the debris. In September 1968 "Long Beach" scored another MiG destroyed at a range of 61 miles. On May 9, 1972 "Chicago"s forward Talos battery scored a long-range kill on a MiG. The Talos missile also had surface-to-surface capabilities.
The RIM-8H Talos-ARM was a dedicated anti-radar homing missile for use against shore-based radar stations. Initial testing of the RIM-8H was performed in 1965, and soon after it was deployed in Vietnam on "Chicago", "Oklahoma City", and "Long Beach", attacking North Vietnamese SAM radars. "Oklahoma City" fired the first successful RIM-8H combat shot in US Navy history in early 1972. It was also the first combat surface-to-surface missile shot in US Navy history.
Fate.
"Long Beach" had her Talos launcher removed in 1978. Talos was phased out of fleet service with the decommissioning of in 1979, though the "Albany"-class ships carrying the system soldiered on a few more years with the launchers left in place until they were retired in 1980. After 21 years of fleet service, the missile was replaced by the RIM-67 Standard missile, which was fired from the smaller Mk10 launcher.
Two Talos missiles are on display at the Military Honor Park located near the entrance of the South Bend International Airport in South Bend, Indiana.
A Talos missile is displayed in the atrium of the South Bend Regional Airport (historically known as Bendix Field).
Another example can be seen at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, located at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.
A Talos Missile can also be seen on display at the Muskogee War Memorial Park located in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
A Talos missile is on display at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown in Yorktown, Virginia.
A Talos missile is on display at The US Navy's Guided Missile School at Dam Neck, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, just outside of the main building of the NAVGMSCOL.
Two Talos missiles are on display, in launch position, on the stern of at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park located in Buffalo, New York.
A Talos missile and booster were on display at Rita Blanca Park (home of the XIT Rodeo & Reunion) in Dalhart Texas, at least from 1981 or earlier, but as of 2017 had been removed.


Pearl River Delta International Airport

Pearl River Delta International Airport, also known as New Guangzhou International Airport or New Foshan International Airport, is a planned airport scheduled to be located in Gaoming District, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China.
The construction work of the airport will be started in 2022. It will operate as a second airport for Guangzhou and Foshan with the existing Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport continuing to operate.
It will be another major transportation hub in mid-western part of Pearl River Delta. Situated in Gaoming District, Foshan, the new airport will also play a role in the transportation of the neighboring cities of Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Yunfu and Jiangmen.
Ground transportation.
The planned Guangzhou–Zhanjiang high-speed railway will have an intermediate stop at the airport.


Naval Air Technical Training Center Norman


List of defunct airlines of Canada

This is a list of defunct airlines of Canada.
Defunct airlines.
! Airline
! Image
! IATA
! ICAO
! Callsign
! Hub airport(s) orheadquarters
! class="unsortable"|Time activityNotes


Jimmy Dell

Wing Commander James Leonard Dell OBE (23 August 1924 – 25 March 2008) was a British test pilot. He is best remembered for his involvement in the BAC TSR-2 test programme, being one of only three test pilots to fly the aircraft before the project was scrapped in 1965.
James Dell (known as Jimmy Dell) was born in Liverpool in 1924 and joined the Royal Air Force in 1942. After pilot training in Rhodesia he became a flight instructor. Dell remained in the RAF until 1959, retiring with the rank of wing commander, to join English Electric as their deputy chief test pilot.
Dell appeared in a 1962 episode of "Look at Life", in which his work as a test pilot is portrayed.
Dell, along with chief test pilot Roland Beamont, was responsible for the TSR-2 test programme until it was controversially cancelled by the then Labour Government in 1965. Following Beamont's retirement in 1965, Dell became BAC's chief test pilot, and was later involved in the Jaguar and Panavia Tornado projects. He retired as director of flight operations for British Aerospace in 1989.
Jimmy Dell died on 25 March 2008.


Jagdstaffel

A Jagdstaffel (plural "Jagdstaffeln", abbreviated to Jasta) was a fighter "Staffel" (squadron) of the German Imperial "Luftstreitkräfte" during World War I.
Background.
Before April 1916, "Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches", which had been established in 1912 as the aviation service of the Imperial German Army, was largely organised in small general purpose units ("Feldfliegerabteilungen, FFA" Field Flyer Detachments). The first specialist bombing and close support units began forming during 1915. The "FFA" were subordinate to the Army command to which they were attached.
By the end of the spring of 1915, the first German fighter aircraft were being issued in small numbers to the "FFA". At this period their function was seen almost entirely as "protection" for the reconnaissance missions which were the primary duty of the "Fliegertruppe". Pilots like Kurt Wintgens, Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke pioneered the aggressive use of the early "Fokker Eindecker" fighters but it was to be almost a year before the first specialist fighter units joined the "Luftstreitkräfte".
In February 1916, the first step towards fighter-only units began, with the establishment by "Inspektor-Major" Friedrich Stempel of units described variously as "Fokkerstaffeln" or "Kampfeinsitzer Kommando" ("KEK", single-seat battle unit) formations. Fighter aircraft already in service and their pilots were detached from the general-purpose "FFA" units and brought together in pairs and quartets at important locations. Such units were formed at Vaux, Avillers, Jametz, Cunel and other places along the Western Front as "Luftwachtdienst" (aerial guard service) units, consisting only of fighters. This process was by no means universally welcomed, nor did it bring immediate success. By April 1916, the air superiority established by the Eindecker pilots in the Fokker Scourge had long gone and the Eindeckers were giving way to the Fokker and Halberstadt D-series biplane fighters.
History.
In the aftermath of the Battle of Verdun, during which the German side lost the air superiority built up over the Western Front during the so-called Fokker Scourge and as a result of the superior performance of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the French "Aéronautique Militaire" during the Battle of the Somme, the German flying service was reorganised, greatly expanded and renamed the "Deutschen Luftstreitkräfte" (German Air Service) reflecting a far greater degree of autonomy, although it remained an integral part of the army and acquired a far greater number and variety of specialist units, including "Jagdstaffeln" (hunting squadrons), the first German single-seater fighter units.
A target was set to establish 37 new squadrons in the next 12 months, equipped with up-to-date single-seat fighters and manned by specially selected and trained pilots, to counter the successes of the Allied fighter squadrons operated by the RFC and the French "Aéronautique Militaire". Boelcke, the leading fighter pilot of the day, was called on to organise the manning, equipment and training of "Jasta 2" which was to become the model for these new squadrons. Initially "Jasta 2" was equipped with a motley collection of fighters, including early Fokker and Halberstadt "D" types. In September, the squadron began to receive the first Albatros D.I fighters, that created the German air superiority of the first half of 1917. Boelcke was killed in an aerial collision on 28 October but his tactics, especially formation flying and a combination of aggression and prudence known as the Dicta Boelcke, remained the core of "Jagdstaffel" practice in the "Luftstreitkräfte" fighter arm for the rest of the war. Several pilots of "Jasta 2" trained by Boelcke, became fighter leaders, notably Manfred von Richthofen.
By April 1917, the "Jagdstaffeln" had established air superiority on the Western Front (known since as Bloody April and still regarded as the most disastrous period in the history of British military aviation). This ascendancy was not to last, as new allied fighters (most famously, the S.E.5a, the Sopwith Camel and the SPAD S.XIII) were already starting to come into service, all of which more than matched the last of the Albatros fighters to see squadron service, the disappointing D.V/D.Va.
The "Jagdstaffeln" concentrated on hindering the work of the Allied two-seater corps reconnaissance and bombing squadrons. Offensive incursions by fighters any distance behind Allied lines were avoided, as were mass confrontations with large allied fighter formations, on the grounds that such operations risked attrition that the "Luftstreitkräfte" could ill-afford.
Publicity for successful German fighter pilots and the cult of the Air ace rapidly established the status of their squadrons as elite units, which became associated with the kingdoms of the German Empire. Most "Jagdstaffeln" (eventually about 67 of them) were considered to be Prussian while other such units were associated with Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg. The Bavarian "Jagdstaffeln" in particular were associated for organisational and supply purposes with the (theoretically independent) Bavarian army, which did not add to overall efficiency in these departments.
To obtain a local and temporary air superiority, larger fighter units were established, composed of several "Jagdstaffeln", known as "Jagdgeschwader" and "Jagdgruppen" (Fighter Wing and Fighter Group). These units were moved from one section of the front to another as the tactical situation demanded. The most famous of these units was "Jagdgeschwader 1" composed of "Jagdstaffeln" 4, 6, 10 and 11, commanded by Richthofen until he was killed, many of which flew the supremely manoeuvrable Fokker Dr.I triplane from the autumn of 1917. By March 1918, there were 80 "Jagdstaffeln" in the "Luftstreitkräfte", most of them equipped with Albatros D.Vs. A long overdue re-equipment with new types began, most notably the Fokker D.VII, which for the first time since mid-1917, gave the "Jagdstaffeln" equipment that matched their opponents'.
Personal colour schemes.
German aircraft left the factory in a standard finish, although this differed from one manufacturer to another. Clear varnish on fabric and wooden surfaces had changed by 1916 to various camouflage schemes. In the "Jagdstaffeln" this gave way to a riot of colour, as pilots repainted their machines as they pleased. In January 1917, when he took over "Jasta" 11, Richthofen celebrated by painting his Albatros red and the squadron followed suit, painting at least part of their machines red. Other "Jagdstaffeln" soon adopted the fashion until few fighters flew in the manufacturers' finish, their fuselages in particular at least sporting the pilot's monogram or perhaps his favourite colour(s), even if the wings (as was often the case) remained in camouflage. A squadron theme was sometimes followed, with machines decorated in similar colours or with similar motifs but generally personal preference seems to have been prevalent. More than one pilot (on both sides) recorded that the contrast with the plain khaki of RFC fighters was helpful in rapidly distinguishing friend from foe in the hurly-burly of a dogfight and might have aided the accreditation of air victories claimed by individual German pilots.


David Towell

David Gilmer Towell (June 9, 1937 – June 10, 2003) served a single term as a U.S. Representative from Nevada, representing the state's at-large district. He was a Republican.
Born in Bronxville, New York, Towell was the son of a Canadian-born mother and an English-born father. He attended Bronxville and New York City public schools before earning a B.A. at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in 1960. He served in the Nevada Air National Guard from 1960 to 1966.
A real estate broker by profession, Towell's prior political experience included serving as chairman of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee and as a delegate to the Nevada State Republican conventions in 1968, 1970, and 1972. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1972, expecting to face eight-term conservative incumbent Democrat Walter Baring in the general election. However, Baring was defeated in the Democratic primary by a considerably more liberal Democrat, James Bilbray. Boosted by the divided opposition and a late endorsement from Baring himself, Towell won by a narrow margin.
In 1974, Towell ran for reelection, but was soundly defeated by a more conservative Democrat, former judge Jim Santini. Towell ran for the U.S. Senate in 1976 against incumbent Democrat Howard Cannon, but lost by an overwhelming margin. Afterwards, he resumed the real estate business.
Towell died of cancer on June 10, 2003, at Washoe County Medical Center in Reno.


Lebedovo

Lebedovo (also Dolinniye) was an air base in Russia located 18 km southeast of Privolzsky. It appeared on Department of Defense aeronautical charts dating from the 1960s and 1970s. It was probably a local diversion site for Engels bombers. It is now a dairy farm and the runways have been scrapped.


List of defunct airlines of Palau


List of mid-air collisions and incidents in the United Kingdom

A number of mid-air collisions and incidents have taken place in the United Kingdom.


List of defunct airlines of Papua New Guinea

This is a list of defunct airlines of Papua New Guinea.


C. Donald Bateman

Charles Donald Bateman, known as Don Bateman or C. Don Bateman, (born 8 March 1932, Saskatchewan, Canada) is an electrical engineer and the inventor of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS), a device that is responsible for a marked decline in controlled flight into terrain accidents.
Abstract.
Donald Bateman is a Canadian-born engineer who spent most of his career as Chief Engineer, Flight Safety Avionics at Honeywell. Over his career, he developed innovative, cost-effective avionic flight systems. His most significant accomplishment is having pioneered the invention of the original Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) in the late 1960s. The United States now requires the installment of GPWS for turbine aircraft which carry six or more passengers. This technology has delivered Honeywell close to a billion dollars of revenue.
Life.
Bateman earned his degree in electrical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan before commencing a career at Sundstrand Corporation (later Honeywell). Bateman retired from Honeywell on July 21, 2016.
Scientific Work.
While having over 40 U.S. and 80 foreign patents concerning aircraft terrain avoidance systems, head-up displays, speed control/auto throttle systems, stall warning systems, automatic aircraft flight control systems, and weight-and-balance systems, Bateman is most recognized for his invention of the original Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS). With his team of Honeywell engineers, Bateman invented the original GPWS, and continues to improve these devices. Every five years his team “comes up with a new model, not because the technology had improved but because we knew we could make it better.” These advancements led to the creation of the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS). This program provides a better visualization than the GPWS did. At a glance, pilots can view a visual display of hazardous terrain below and ahead of the aircraft.
Ground proximity warning system (GPWS).
A series of aircraft crashes as a result of controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) led Bateman to take the initiative in creating a solution to these accidents. CFIT is defined as “where a pilot has the aircraft under control but unknowingly flies into terrain” This type of accident typically takes place during poor visibility. Bateman felt it was within his capabilities to construct a system that would detect hazardous terrain in the aircraft’s projected path.
Ground proximity warning system (GPWS) serves the purpose of alerting pilots if their aircraft is in danger of flying into hazardous terrain or the ground.
“In order to provide for the additional effectiveness of a ground proximity warning system during a landing approach, the waypoint signal of an Area Navigation System is used in combination with an altitude above-ground-signal to compute a minimum terrain altitude for each point along the aircraft's approach to the runway. The minimum altitude is compared with the aircraft's actual altitude and if it is below the minimum an alarm is activated.”
This paragraph is the abstract of the invention from its patent. It describes using a radar altimeter system to keep track of the aircraft’s height above ground. The system will sound an alarm if aircraft’s altitude is unsafe.
While this technology improved flight safety tremendously, it was still imperfect. It had two problems:
Enhanced GPWS.
Bateman continued to head the development of the GPWS, developing it into the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning Systems (EGPWS). This fixed the GPWS shortcomings by incorporating GPS into its analysis of terrain. Now it is possible for EGPWS to predict the path of the aircraft and the terrain ahead of the aircraft for several miles. Digital terrain maps, featuring hazardous obstacles and features, warn the pilot when to pull up.
Additionally, with EGPWS, landing does not inhibit the performance of the system. In fact, the main focus now is making landing and departure safer, as they are the most dangerous aspects of flying.
Patents.
Bateman holds more than 40 U.S. and 80 foreign patents concerning aircraft terrain avoidance systems, HUDs, speed control/auto throttle systems, stall warning systems, automatic flight control systems, and weight and balance systems. The earliest for a HUD dates to 1972 when he was with United Controls. The latest, for a cabin depressurization warning system, dates to 2008 with Honeywell.
The primary GPWS patent, "Aircraft landing approach ground proximity warning system" dates to 1976, with Sundstrand Data.
Abstract: “In order to provide for the additional effectiveness of a ground proximity warning system during a landing approach, the waypoint signal of an Area Navigation System is used in combination with an altitude above-ground-signal to compute a minimum terrain altitude for each point along the aircraft's approach to the runway. The minimum altitude is compared with the aircraft's actual altitude and if it is below the minimum an alarm is activated.”


Bombing of Berlin in World War II

Berlin, then the capital of Nazi Germany, was subject to 363 air raids during the Second World War. It was bombed by the RAF Bomber Command between 1940 and 1945, by the USAAF Eighth Air Force between 1943 and 1945, and the French Air Force between 1944 and 1945, as part of the Allied campaign of strategic bombing of Germany. It was also attacked by aircraft of the Red Air Force, in 1941 and particularly in 1945 as Soviet forces closed on the city. British bombers dropped 45,517 tons of bombs, while American aircraft dropped 23,000 tons. As the bombings continued, more and more people fled the city. By May 1945, 1.7 million people (40% of the population) had fled.
Prelude.
When the Second World War began in 1939, the President of the United States (then a neutral power), Franklin D. Roosevelt, issued a request to the major belligerents to confine their air raids to military targets. The French and the British agreed to abide by the request, with the provision that this was "upon the understanding that these same rules of warfare will be scrupulously observed by all of their opponents".
The UK had a policy of using aerial bombing only against military targets and against infrastructure such as ports and railways of direct military importance. While it was acknowledged that the aerial bombing of Germany would cause civilian casualties, the British government renounced the deliberate bombing of civilian property, outside combat zones, as a military tactic. This policy was abandoned on 15 May 1940, two days after the German air attack on Rotterdam, when the RAF was given permission to attack targets in the Ruhr, including oil plants and other civilian industrial targets that aided the German war effort, such as blast furnaces that at night were self illuminating. The first RAF raid on the interior of Germany took place on the night of 10 – 11 May (on Dortmund). The "Jules Verne", a variant of the Farman F.220 of the French Naval Aviation, was the first Allied bomber to raid Berlin: on the night of 7 June 1940 it dropped eight bombs of 250 kg and 80 of 10 kg weight on the German capital.
Between 1939 and 1942, the policy of bombing only targets of direct military significance was gradually abandoned in favour of "area bombing" — large-scale bombing of German cities to destroy housing and civilian infrastructure. Although killing German civilians was never an explicit policy, it was obvious that area bombing would cause large-scale civilian casualties. With the technology available at the time, the precision bombing of military targets was possible only by daylight (and it was difficult even then). Daylight bombing raids conducted by Bomber Command involved unacceptably high losses of British aircraft, and bombing by night led to far lower British losses, but was of necessity indiscriminate due to the difficulties of nocturnal navigation and bomb aiming.
1940 to 1943.
Before 1941, Berlin, at from London, was at the extreme range attainable by the British bombers then available to the Allied forces. It could be bombed only at night in summer when the days were longer and skies clear—which increased the risk to Allied bombers. The first RAF raid on Berlin took place on the night of 25 August 1940; 95 aircraft were dispatched to bomb Tempelhof Airport near the center of Berlin and Siemensstadt, of which 81 dropped their bombs in and around Berlin, and while the damage was slight, the psychological effect on Hitler was greater. The bombing raids on Berlin prompted Hitler to order the shift of the Luftwaffe's target from British airfields and air defenses to British cities, at a time during the Battle of Britain when the British air defenses were becoming exhausted and overstretched.
In the following two weeks there were a further five raids of a similar size, all nominally precision raids at specific targets, but with the difficulties of navigating at night the bombs that were dropped were widely dispersed. During 1940 there were more raids on Berlin, all of which did little damage. The raids grew more frequent in 1941, but were ineffective in hitting important targets. The head of the Air Staff of the RAF, Sir Charles Portal, justified these raids by saying that to "get four million people out of bed and into the shelters" was worth the losses involved.
The Soviet Union started a bombing campaign on Berlin on 8 August 1941 that extended into early September. Medium Navy bombers, accompanied from 12 August by Army bombers, conducted ten raids from Saaremaa island to Berlin with 3–12 aircraft in each raid, fifty in total reaching Berlin. Heavy Army bombers, operating from near Leningrad, executed one raid to Berlin on 11 August, with only few machines reaching the target. In total in 1941, Soviet aircraft dropped of bombs on Berlin. Combat and operational losses for the Soviets tallied 17 aircraft destroyed and 70 crewmen killed.
On 7 November 1941, Sir Richard Peirse, head of RAF Bomber Command, launched a large raid on Berlin, sending over 160 bombers to the capital. 21 were shot down or crashed, and again little damage was done due to bad weather. This failure led to the dismissal of Peirse and his replacement (in February 1942) by Sir Arthur Travers Harris, who believed in both the efficacy and necessity of area bombing. Harris said: "The Nazis entered this war under the rather childish delusion that they were going to bomb everyone else, and nobody was going to bomb them. At Rotterdam, London, Warsaw, and half a hundred other places, they put their rather naïve theory into operation. They sowed the wind, and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.""
At the same time, new bombers with longer ranges were coming into service, particularly the Avro Lancaster, which became available in large numbers during 1942. During most of 1942, however, Bomber Command's priority was attacking Germany's U-boat ports as part of Britain's effort to win the Battle of the Atlantic. During the whole of 1942 there were only nine air alerts in Berlin, none of them serious. Only in 1943 did Harris have both the means and the opportunity to put his belief in area bombing into practice.
The Battle of Berlin.
The Battle of Berlin was launched by Harris in November 1943, a concerted air campaign against the German capital, although other cities continued to be attacked to prevent the Germans concentrating their defences in Berlin. Harris believed this could be the blow that would break German resistance. "It will cost us between 400 and 500 aircraft," he said. "It will cost Germany the war." By this time he could deploy over 800 long-range bombers on any given night, equipped with new and more sophisticated navigational devices such as H2S radar. Between November 1943 and March 1944, Bomber Command made 16 massed attacks on Berlin.
A prelude to the 1943 raids came from the De Havilland Mosquito, which hit the capital on January 30 1943, the tenth anniversary of the Nazis' "Machtergreifung". That same day, both Göring and Goebbels were known to be giving big speeches that were to be broadcast live by radio. At precisely 11.00 am, Mosquitoes of No. 105 Squadron arrived over Berlin exactly on time to disrupt Göring's speech. Later that day, No. 139 Squadron repeated the trick for Goebbels. These were great propaganda raids which—much as the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese home islands had done for boosting American morale in April 1942—were a severe embarrassment for the German leadership. April 20 1943 was Hitler's 54th birthday. Bomber Command decided that they had to mark the occasion with a raid on Berlin, and it was decided that the Mosquito was the right aircraft for the job. Accordingly, No. 105 Squadron was dispatched to the German capital, successfully reaching the city with the loss of only one aircraft.
The first raid of the battle occurred on November 18-19 1943. Berlin was the main target, and was attacked by 440 Avro Lancasters aided by four Mosquitos. The city was under cloud and the damage was not severe. The second major raid was on the night of November 22-23 1943. This was the most effective raid by the RAF on Berlin. The raid caused extensive damage to the residential areas west of the centre, Tiergarten and Charlottenburg, Schöneberg and Spandau. Because of the dry weather conditions, several firestorms ignited. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was destroyed. Several other buildings of note were either damaged or destroyed, including the British, French, Italian and Japanese embassies, Charlottenburg Palace and Berlin Zoo, as were the Ministry of Munitions, the Waffen SS Administrative College, the barracks of the Imperial Guard at Spandau and several arms factories.
On December 17, extensive damage was done to the Berlin railway system. By this time cumulative effect of the bombing campaign had made more than a quarter of Berlin's total living accommodation unusable. There was another major raid on January 28-29 1944, when Berlin's western and southern districts were hit in the most concentrated attack of this period. On February 15-16, important war industries were hit, including the large Siemensstadt area, with the centre and south-western districts sustaining most of the damage. This was the largest raid by the RAF on Berlin. Raids continued until March 1944.
These raids caused immense devastation and loss of life in Berlin. The November 22 1943 raid killed 2,000 Berliners and rendered 175,000 homeless. The following night, 1,000 were killed and 100,000 made homeless. During December and January regular raids killed hundreds of people each night and rendered between 20,000 and 80,000 homeless each time. Overall nearly 4,000 were killed, 10,000 injured and 450,000 made homeless.
The 16 raids on Berlin cost Bomber Command more than 500 aircraft, with their crews killed or captured. This was a loss rate of 5.8%, which was above the 5% threshold that was considered the maximum sustainable operational loss rate by the RAF. In December 1943, for example, 11 crews from No. 460 Squadron RAAF alone were lost in operations against Berlin; and in January and February, another 14 crews were killed. Having 25 aircraft destroyed meant that the fighting force of the squadron had to be replaced in three months. At these rates Bomber Command would have been wiped out before Berlin." It has been largely acknowledged that the Battle of Berlin was a failure; for the RAF, British official historians have stated that "in an operational sense the Battle of Berlin was more than a failure, it was a defeat".
March 1944 to April 1945.
In 1943, the U.S. Army and the Standard Oil company built a set of replicas in western Utah, of typical German working class housing estates, "German Village", which would be of key importance in acquiring the know-how and experience necessary to carry out the firebombings on Berlin. It was done with the assistance of Erich Mendelsohn, a Jewish architect of structures in Berlin who fled the Nazis in 1933.
The Big Week (Sunday, 20–Friday, 25 February 1944) heavy bomber offensive began shortly after the Eighth Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, had implemented a major change in fighter defense of USAAF strategic bomber formations that had bolstered the confidence of U.S. strategic bombing crews. Until that time, Allied bombers avoided contact with the Luftwaffe; now, the Americans used any method that would force the Luftwaffe into combat. Implementing this policy, the United States looked toward Berlin. Raiding the German capital, the USAAF reasoned, would force the Luftwaffe into battle. Consequently, on 4 March, the USSTAF launched the first of several attacks against Berlin. Fierce battles raged and resulted in heavy losses for both sides; 69 B-17s were lost on 6 March but the Luftwaffe lost 160 aircraft. The Allies replaced their losses; the Luftwaffe could not.
At the tail end of the Battle of Berlin the RAF made one last large raid on the city on the night of 24–25 March, losing 8.9% of the attacking force, but due to the failure of the Battle of Berlin, and the switch to the tactical bombing of France during the summer months in support of the Allied invasion of France, RAF Bomber Command left Berlin alone for most of 1944. Nevertheless, regular nuisance raids by both the RAF and USAAF continued, including the Operation Whitebait diversion for the bombing of the Peenemünde Army Research Center. In 1945, the Eighth Air Force launched a number of very large daytime raids on Berlin, the last of them being on 18 March (there were bombing raids to Falkensee and Spandau, near Berlin, in 28th March), the 15th Air Force launched its only bombing mission to Berlin on 24 March, and for 36 nights in succession scores of RAF Mosquitos bombed the German capital, ending on the night of 20/21 April 1945 just before the Soviets entered the city.
The largest American raid on Berlin.
1,500 bombers of the Eighth Air Force, protected by some 1,000 fighters attacked the Berlin railway system on the forenoon of 3 February 1945 in the belief that the German Sixth Panzer Army was moving through Berlin by train on its way to the Eastern Front, thinking the Sixth Panzer Army would use the Tempelhof railyards for the move. This was one of the few occasions on which the USAAF undertook a mass attack on a city centre. Lt-General James Doolittle, commander of the USAAF Eighth Air Force, objected to this tactic, but he was overruled by the USAAF commander, General Carl Spaatz, who was supported by the Allied commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower and Spaatz made it clear that the attack on Berlin was of great political importance in that it was designed to assist the Soviet offensive on the Oder east of Berlin, and was essential for Allied unity.
In the raid, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Rosenthal of the 100th Bombardment Group flying in a pathfinder B-17G, s/n 44-8379 — commanding the entire First Air Division's bomber force on this raid — Friedrichstadt (the newspaper district), and Luisenstadt (both divided between the boroughs of Kreuzberg and Mitte, the central area) and some other areas, such as Friedrichshain, were severely damaged. The bombs used in this raid consisted mostly of high explosive ordnance and not incendiary munitions. The area that suffered the greatest damage did not include railway main lines, which were more northern (Stadtbahn) and southern (Ringbahn), but did include two terminal stations of Berlin (Anhalter and Potsdamer Bahnhof, the latter of which had already been out of service since 1944 due to bomb destruction).
The bombing was so dense that it caused a city fire spreading eastwards, driven by the wind, over the south of Friedrichstadt and the northwest of neighboured Luisenstadt. The fire lasted for four days until it had burnt everything combustible in its range to ashes and after it had reached waterways, large thoroughfares, and parks that the fire could not jump over. Due to the exhaustion of German supplies the German anti-aircraft defense was under-equipped and weak so that out of the 1,600 US aircraft committed, only 36 were shot down and their crews taken as prisoners-of-war. First Air Division commander Lt. Col. Rosenthal was among those shot down and survived, but was rescued by the Soviet armed forces and eventually returned to England.
A number of monuments, such as French Luisenstadt Church, St. James Church, Jerusalem's Church, Luisenstadt Church, St. Michael's Church, St. Simeon Church, and the Marcher Protestant Consistory (today's entrance of Jewish Museum Berlin) as well as government and Nazi Party buildings were also hit, including the Reich Chancellery, the Party Chancellery, the Gestapo headquarters, and the People's Court. The Unter den Linden, Wilhelmstrasse and Friedrichstrasse areas were turned into seas of ruins. Among the dead was Roland Freisler, the infamous head justice of the People's Court. The death toll amounted to 2,894, fewer than might have been expected because the raid took place in daytime with relatively few incendiary bombs. The number of wounded amounted to 20,000, and 120,000 were left homeless or "dehoused".
Another raid on 26 February 1945 left another 80,000 people homeless. Raids continued until April, when the Red Army was outside the city. In the last days of the war the Red Air Force also bombed Berlin, as well as using Ilyushin Il-2 and similar aircraft for low-level attacks from 28 March onwards. By this time Berlin's civil defences and infrastructure were close to collapsing but civilian morale held. After the capture of Berlin, Soviet General Nikolai Bersarin said, referring to the Red Army's artillery and rocket bombardment, that:
Up to the end of March 1945 there had been a total of 314 air raids on Berlin, with 85 of those coming in the last twelve months Half of all houses were damaged and around a third uninhabitable, as much as 16 km² of the city was simply rubble. Estimates of the total number of dead in Berlin from air raids range from 20,000 to 50,000; current German studies suggest that a figure in the lower part of this range is more likely. This compares to death tolls of between 25,000 and 35,000 in the single attack on Dresden on 14 February 1945, and the 42,000 killed at Hamburg in a single raid in 1943, with both the Hamburg and Dresden raids each having lower casualty totals than the 9/10 March 1945 "Operation Meetinghouse" single firebombing raid on Tokyo, devastating some 15.8 square miles (40.9 km²) causing the loss of at least 100,000 lives in the Japanese capital. The relatively low casualty figure in Berlin is partly the result of the city's distance from airfields in Britain, which made large raids difficult before the liberation of France in late 1944, but also due to the city's superior air defences and shelters.
Berlin's defences.
The Nazi regime was acutely aware of the political necessity of protecting the Reich capital against devastation from the air. Even before the war, work had begun on an extensive system of public air raid shelters, but by 1939 only 15% of the planned 2,000 shelters had been built. By 1941, however, the five huge public shelters (Zoo, Anhalt Station, Humboldthain, Friedrichshain and Kleistpark) were complete, offering shelter to 65,000 people. Other shelters were built under government buildings, the best-known being the so-called Führerbunker under the Reich Chancellery building. In addition, many U-Bahn stations were converted into shelters. The rest of the population had to make do with their own cellars.
In 1943, the Germans decided to evacuate non-essential people from Berlin. By 1944 1.2 million people, 790,000 of them women and children, about a quarter of the city's population, had been evacuated to rural areas. An effort was made to evacuate all children from Berlin, but this was resisted by parents, and many evacuees soon made their way back to the city (as was also the case in London in 1940–41). The increasing shortage of manpower as the war dragged on meant that female labour was essential to keep Berlin's war industries going, so the evacuation of all women with children was not possible. At the end of 1944 the city's population began to grow again as refugees fleeing the Red Army's advance in the east began to pour into Berlin. The "Ostvertriebenen" ("refugees from the East") were officially denied permission to remain in Berlin for longer than two days and were housed in camps near the city before being moved on westwards; it is estimated less than 50,000 managed to remain in Berlin. By January 1945 the population was around 2.9 million, although the demands of the German military were such that only 100,000 of these were males aged 18–30. Another 100,000 or so were forced labor, mainly French "Fremdarbeiter", "foreign workers", and Russian "Ostarbeiter" ("eastern workers"). The key to the Flak area were three huge Flak towers ("Flaktürme"), which provided enormously tough platforms for both searchlights and 128 mm anti-aircraft guns as well as shelters ("Hochbunker") for civilians. These towers were at the Berlin Zoo in the Tiergarten, Humboldthain and Friedrichshain. The Flak guns were increasingly manned by the teenagers of the Hitler Youth as older men were drafted to the front. By 1945 the girls of the League of German Girls (BDM) were also operating Flak guns. After 1944 there was little fighter protection from the Luftwaffe, and the Flak defences were increasingly overwhelmed by the scale of the attacks.


Interamerican University of Puerto Rico

The Inter American University of Puerto Rico ("Spanish": Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico; abbreviated UIPR, and often referred as "Inter") is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has campuses in Aguadilla, Arecibo, Barranquitas, Bayamón, Fajardo, Guayama, Ponce, and San Juan. The university also has three professional schools: School of Optometry, School of Law, and the School of Aeronautics. The Inter offers academic programs in 11 teaching units. It was founded in San Germán in 1912. The San Germán campus is also the home to the Inter American School, a private co-educational college-preparatory school.
History.
The Inter American University was founded as Polytechnic Institute of Puerto Rico in 1912 by Rev. John Will Harris and his brother Clarence Harris. It was founded as an elementary and high school in the Lomas de Santa Marta sector of the town of San Germán in land now occupied by the University's San Germán Campus. In 1927, the first high school class graduation took place. In 1944, the institute was accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, thus becoming the first liberal arts college to receive such accreditation in Puerto Rico, as well as the first outside the continental United States. This accreditation has been maintained over the years.
Governance.
The governing body of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico is its self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. The faculty and administration of the Faculty of Law and School of Optometry determine their own programs and rules subject to approval by the president and trustees.
Religious life.
Although Inter American University maintains a historic relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA), it does not adhere to any one particular theology or ecclesiastical body.
Accreditations.
The eleven academic units of Inter American University of Puerto Rico are authorized by the Council on Education of Puerto Rico and accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education to offer university studies of the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels, as the case may be. Likewise, the University is committed to the professional accreditation of its academic programs. For this reason, some academic units have programs accredited by organizations, such as:
Academics.
Inter American University offers pre-university, undergraduate, graduate and professional academic programs for obtaining certificates and Associate, Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degrees in subject matters normally offered by institutions of higher education of a nature, educational mission and goals similar to those of this University. The School of Law of Inter American University grants the Juris Doctor degree and the School of Optometry, the Doctor of Optometry degree. Graduate courses may be taught in Spanish.


Richard Kingsland

Sir Richard Kingsland, (19 October 1916 – 27 August 2012) was an Australian RAAF pilot known for being the youngest Australian group captain at age 29. He later became a senior public servant, heading the Departments of the Interior, Repatriation, and Veterans' Affairs.
Biography.
Julius Cohen was born in 1916. He later changed his name to Richard Kingsland, to avoid anti-semitism.
He was sent to Morocco in 1940 to rescue two of Britain's most senior WWII leaders, Duff Cooper and John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort. Kingsland managed to rescue them from French headquarters with only two other men and managed to flee in a Seaplane.
The same year, Kingsland and his crew were sent to bomb a major Japanese headquarters established in Rabaul, New Guinea.
For his invaluable service, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in September 1940.
In June 2010 he published his autobiography, "Into the Midst of Things".
Public service.
During his public service career, rising to become Secretary of the Departments of Interior, Repatriation, and Veterans' Affairs, Kingsland served 12 ministers and built a reputation as a trusted and experienced departmental head.
Awards and honours.
Richard Kingsland was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1967.
He was knighted in 1978, and appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1989.
In 2013, a street in the Canberra suburb of Casey was named Kingsland Parade in Richard Kingsland's honour.
Death.
Richard Kingsland died in August 2012, aged 95. He was survived by his wife of 68 years, Kathleen Kingsland, two daughters and a son.


John William Best


Displaced threshold

A displaced threshold or DTHR is a runway threshold located at a point other than the physical beginning or end of the runway.
The displaced portion of the runway may be used for takeoff but not for landing. After landing at the other end, the landing aircraft may use the displaced portion of the runway for roll out.
Most often, the offset threshold is in place to give arriving aircraft clearance over an obstruction, while still allowing departing aircraft the maximum amount of runway available. A displaced threshold may also be introduced as a noise mitigation measure for the communities overflown on approach, or if a beginning section of the runway is no longer able to sustain the continuous impact from landing aircraft. Aircraft are expected to land beyond the displaced threshold. Departing aircraft are permitted to use the displaced section of the runway for takeoffs or landing rollouts even if the reason for the displacement is lowered pavement resistance, because those aircraft are not impacting the runway with the force of a landing aircraft.
A "permanent" displaced portion of the runway has two markings:
Runway 29 at Indira Gandhi International Airport, in Delhi, India, has a displaced threshold 1,460 m (4,790 ft) from the physical beginning of the pavement. This produces a 1.5 km displaced portion of runway.
Runway 22R at John F. Kennedy International Airport has a displaced threshold due to noise abatement. This shortens the landing distance available to just 7,795 ft for the 12,079 ft runway.


Meijersplein RandstadRail station

Meijersplein is a metro station, as a part of the Rotterdam metro and the regional light rail system RandstadRail, located in Schiebroek, a borough of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
History.
Construction of Meijersplein station began in January 2008. The station was built to replace Wilgenplas station, located approximately north. Wilgenplas was served by railway trains on the Hofplein line before that line was converted for use by metro trains and the station was temporarily kept in service after this conversion took place in 2006.
In May 2010 construction of Meijersplein station completed and Wilgenplas station was duly closed down on 12 May. Meijersplein station was opened on 17 May and it is now being served by metro trains of line E. It has an Airport Shuttle service to and from Rotterdam The Hague Airport.
Train services.
The station is served by the following service(s):