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The LP was soon confronted by the "45", a diameter fine-grooved vinyl record playing at 45 rpm. It was introduced by RCA Victor in 1949. To compete with the LP, boxed albums of 45s were issued, along with EP (extended play) 45s, which squeezed two or even three selections onto each side. Despite these efforts, the 45 succeeded only in replacing the 78 as the format for singles. |
The "last hurrah" for the 78 rpm record in the US was the microgroove 78 series pressed for the Audiophile label (Ewing Nunn, Saukville, Wis.) in the early 1950s. This series was labeled AP-1 through about AP-40, pressed on grainless red vinyl. Today AP-1 through AP-5 are very scarce. By very tightly packing the fine groove, a playing time of 17 minutes per side was achieved. Within a couple of years Audiophile switched to . |
Reel-to-reel magnetic tape recorders posed a new challenge to the LP in the 1950s, but the higher cost of pre-recorded tapes was one of several factors that confined tape to a niche market. Cartridge and cassette tapes were more convenient and less expensive than reel-to-reel tapes, and they became popular for use in automobiles beginning in the mid-1960s. However, the LP was not seriously challenged as the primary medium for listening to recorded music at home until the 1970s, when the audio quality of the cassette was greatly improved by better tape formulations and noise-reduction systems. By 1983, cassettes were outselling LPs in the US. |
The Compact Disc (CD) was introduced in 1982. It offered a recording that was, theoretically, completely noiseless and not audibly degraded by repeated playing or slight scuffs and scratches. At first, the much higher prices of CDs and CD players limited their target market to affluent early adopters and audiophiles; but prices came down, and by 1988 CDs outsold LPs. The CD became the top-selling format, over cassettes, in 1992. |
Along with phonograph records in other formats, some of which were made of other materials, LPs are now widely referred to simply as "vinyl". Since the late 1990s there has been a renewed interest in vinyl. Demand has increased in niche markets, particularly among audiophiles, DJs, and fans of indie music, but most music sales as of 2018 came from CDs, online downloads, and online streaming, because of their availability, convenience, and price. |
With the advent of sound film or "talkies", the need for greater storage space made rpm records more appealing. Soundtracks – played on records synchronized to movie projectors in theatres – could not fit onto the mere five minutes per side that 78s offered. When initially introduced, 12-inch LPs played for a maximum of about 23 minutes per side, 10-inchers for around 15. They were not an immediate success, however, as they were released during the height of the Great Depression, and seemed frivolous to the many impoverished of the time. It wasn't until "microgroove" was developed by Columbia Records in 1948 that Long Players (LPs) reached their maximum playtime, which has continued to modern times. |
Economics and tastes initially determined which kind of music was available on each format. Recording company executives believed upscale classical music fans would be eager to hear a Beethoven symphony or a Mozart concerto without having to flip over multiple, four-minute-per-side 78s, and that pop music fans, who were used to listening to one song at a time, would find the shorter time of the 10-inch LP sufficient. As a result, the 12-inch format was reserved solely for higher-priced classical recordings and Broadway shows. Popular music continued to appear only on 10-inch records. |
Their beliefs were wrong. By the mid-1950s, the 10-inch LP, like its similarly sized 78 rpm cousin, would lose the format war and be discontinued. Ten-inch records briefly reappeared as mini-LPs in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States and Australia as a marketing alternative. |
In 1952, Columbia Records introduced "extended-play" LPs that played for as long as 52 minutes, or 26 minutes per side. These were used mainly for the original cast albums of Broadway musicals, such as "Kiss Me, Kate" and "My Fair Lady", or to fit an entire play, such as the 1950 production of "Don Juan in Hell", onto two LPs. The 52-minute playing time remained rare, however, because of mastering limitations, and most LPs continued to be issued with a 30- to 45-minute playing time. |
A small number of albums exceeded the 52-minute limit. These records had to be cut with much narrower spacing between the grooves, which allowed for a smaller dynamic range on the records, and meant that playing the record with a worn needle could damage the record. It also resulted in a much quieter sound. The list of long-playing vinyl records includes the 90-minute 1976 LP "90 Minutes with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops", made by Radio Shack; Genesis' "Duke", with each side exceeding 27 minutes; Bob Dylan's 1976 album "Desire", with side two lasting almost thirty minutes; Todd Rundgren's 1975 album "Initiation", totaling 67 min 32 s over two sides; and André Previn's "Previn Plays Gershwin,", with the London Symphony Orchestra, whose sides each exceeded 30 minutes. Finally, several recordings of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony were reissued on single discs; these LPs contained about 35 minutes on each side, with the third movement split into two parts. |
Spoken word and comedy albums require a smaller dynamic range compared to musical records. Therefore, they can be cut with narrower spaces between the grooves. "The Comic Strip", released by Springtime Records in 1981, has a side A lasting 38 min 4 s, and a side B lasting 31 min 8 s, for a total of 69 min 12 s. |
Turntables called record changers could play records stacked vertically on a spindle. This arrangement encouraged the production of multiple-record sets in automatic sequence. A two-record set had Side 1 and Side 4 on one record, and Side 2 and Side 3 on the other, so the first two sides could play in a changer without the listener's intervention. Then the stack was flipped over. Larger boxed sets used appropriate automatic sequencing (1–8, 2–7, 3–6, 4–5) to allow continuous playback, but this created difficulties when searching for an individual track. |
Vinyl records are vulnerable to dust, heat warping, scuffs, and scratches. Dust in the groove is usually heard as noise and may be ground into the vinyl by the passing stylus, causing lasting damage. A warp can cause a regular "wow" or fluctuation of musical pitch, and if substantial it can make a record physically unplayable. A scuff will be heard as a swishing sound. A scratch will create an audible tick or pop once each revolution when the stylus encounters it. A deep scratch can throw the stylus out of the groove; if it jumps to a place farther inward, part of the recording is skipped; if it jumps outward to a part of the groove it just finished playing, it can get stuck in an infinite loop, playing the same bit over and over until someone stops it. This last type of mishap, which in the era of brittle shellac records was more commonly caused by a crack, spawned the simile "like a broken record" to refer to annoying and seemingly endless repetition. |
Records used in radio stations can suffer cue burn, which results from disc jockeys placing the needle at the beginning of a track, turning the record back and forth to find the exact start of the music, then backing up about a quarter turn, so that when it is released the music will start immediately after the fraction of a second needed for the disc to come up to full speed. When this is done repeatedly, the affected part of the groove is heavily worn and a hissing sound will be noticeable at the start of the track. |
The process of playing a vinyl record with a stylus is by its very nature to some degree a destructive process. Wear to either the stylus or the vinyl results in diminished sound quality. Record wear can be reduced to virtual insignificance, however, by the use of a high-quality, correctly adjusted turntable and tonearm, a high-compliance magnetic cartridge with a high-end stylus in good condition, and careful record handling, with non-abrasive removal of dust before playing and other cleaning if necessary. |
The average LP has about of groove on each side. The average tangential needle speed relative to the disc surface is approximately . It travels fastest on the outside edge, unlike audio CDs, which change their speed of rotation to provide constant linear velocity (CLV). (By contrast, CDs play from the inner radius outward, the reverse of phonograph records.) |
Thin, closely spaced spiral grooves that allowed for increased playing time on a rpm microgroove LP led to a faint pre-echo warning of upcoming loud sounds. The cutting stylus unavoidably transferred some of the subsequent groove wall's impulse signal into the previous groove wall. It was discernible by some listeners throughout certain recordings but a quiet passage followed by a loud sound would allow anyone to hear a faint pre-echo of the loud sound occurring 1.8 seconds ahead of time. This problem could also appear as post-echo, with a ghost of the sound arriving 1.8 seconds after its main impulse. Pre- and post-echo can be avoided by the use of direct metal mastering. |
The first LP records introduced used fixed pitch grooves just like their 78 predecessors. The use of magnetic tape for the production of the master recordings allowed the introduction of variable pitch grooves. The magnetic tape reproducer used to transfer the recording to the master disc was equipped with an auxiliary playback head positioned ahead of the main head by a distance equal to one revolution of the disc. The sole purpose of this head was to monitor the amplitude of the recording. If the sound level from both the auxiliary and main magnetic heads was loud, the cutting head on the disc recording lathe was driven at its normal speed. However, if the sound level from both magnetic heads was quieter, then the disc cutting head could be driven at a lower speed reducing the groove pitch with no danger of the adjacent grooves colliding with each other. The playing time of the disc was therefore increased by an amount dependent on the duration of quieter passages. |
The record manufacturers had also realised that by reducing the amplitude of the lower frequencies recorded in the groove, it was possible to decrease the spacing between the grooves and further increase the playing time. These low frequencies were then restored to their original level on playback. Furthermore, if the amplitude of the high frequencies was artificially boosted on recording the disc and then subsequently reduced to their original level on playback, the noise introduced by the disc would be reduced by a similar amount. This gave rise to an equalization frequency response applied during record coupled with an inverse of the response applied on playback. Each disc manufacturer applied their own version of an equalization curve (mostly because each manufacturer's equalization curve was protected by interlocking patents). Low-end reproduction equipment applied a compromise playback equalization that reproduced most discs reasonably well. However, amplifiers for audiophile equipment were equipped with an equalization selector with a position for most, if not all, disc manufacturers. The net effect of equalization is to allow longer playing time and lower background noise while maintaining full fidelity of music or other content. |
In 1954, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) introduced a standard equalization curve to be used by all record manufacturers. Consequently, both low-quality and audiophile reproducers alike could replay any recording with the correct equalization. There are two versions of the reproduction RIAA equalization curve. The first, is simply the inverse of the recording curve designed for cheaper equipment using crystal or ceramic reproduction cartridges. The second curve is intended for equipment fitted with magnetic reproduction cartridges where the output voltage is dependent on the frequency of the recorded signal (the voltage output is directly proportional to the frequency of the recorded signal; that is: the voltage doubles as the recorded frequency doubles). |
The audio quality of LPs has increased greatly since their 1948 inception. While early LP recordings were monophonic, stereophony had been demonstrated in 1881 and Alan Blumlein had patented Stereophonic sound in 1931. Unsuccessful attempts were made to create stereophonic records starting in the 1920s, including Emory Cook's 1952 "binaural" LPs using two precisely spaced tracks on the record (one track for each channel) which had to be played with two monaural pick-ups on a tuning-fork-shaped tonearm. The modern system ultimately released by Audio Fidelity Records in November 1957 uses two modulation angles, equal and opposite 45 degrees from vertical (and so perpendicular to each other.) It can also be thought of as using traditional horizontal modulation for the sum of left and right channels (mono), making it essentially compatible with simple mono recordings, and vertical-plane modulation for the "difference" of the two channels. |
The following are some significant advances in the format: |
The composition of vinyl used to press records (a blend of polyvinyl chloride and polyvinyl acetate) has varied considerably over the years. Virgin vinyl is preferred, but during the 1970s energy crisis, it became commonplace to use recycled vinyl. Sound quality suffered, with increased ticks, pops, and other surface noises. Other experiments included reducing the thickness of LPs, leading to warping and increased susceptibility to damage. Using a biscuit of 130 grams of vinyl had been the standard. Compare these to the original Columbia 12-inch LPs (ML 4001) at around 220 grams each. Besides the standard black vinyl, specialty records are also pressed on different colors of PVC/A or picture discs with a card picture sandwiched between two clear sides. Records in different novelty shapes have also been produced. |
In 2018, an Austrian startup, Rebeat Innovation GmBH, received 4.8 million in funding to develop high definition vinyl records that purport to contain longer play times, louder volumes and higher fidelity than conventional vinyl LPs. Rebeat Innovation, headed by CEO Günter Loibl, has called the format 'HD Vinyl'. The HD process works by converting audio to a digital 3D topography map which is then inscribed onto the vinyl stamper via lasers, resulting in less loss of information. Many critics have expressed skepticism regarding the cost and quality of HD records. |
In May 2019, at the Making Vinyl conference in Berlin, Loibl unveiled the Perfect Groove software for creating 3D topographic audio data files. This is a critical step in the production of HD Vinyl stampers, as they provide the map for subsequent laser-engraving. The audio engineering software was created with mastering engineers Scott Hull and Darcy Proper, a four-time Grammy winner. The demonstration offered the first simulations of what HD Vinyl records are likely to sound like, ahead of actual HD vinyl physical record production. Loibl discussed the Perfect Groove software at a presentation titled "Vinyl 4.0 The next generation of making records" before offering demonstrations to attendees. |
Disc jockeys (or DJs) in clubs still frequently use vinyl records, as cueing tracks from cassette tapes is too slow and CDs did not allow creative playback options until 2001. The term "DJ", which had always meant a person who played various pieces of music on the radio (originally 78s, then 45s, then tape cartridges and reels; now cuts from CDs or tracks on a computer) – a play on the horse-racing term "jockey" – has also come to encompass all kinds of skills in "scratching" (record playback manipulation) and mixing dance music, rapping over the music or even playing musical instruments, but the original dance club (non-radio) definition was simply somebody who played records, alternating between two turntables. The skill came in subtly matching beats or instruments from one song to the next, providing a consistent dance tempo. DJs also made occasional announcements and chatted on the side with patrons while songs were playing to take requests, similar to what radio disc jockeys have been doing since the 1940s. |
= = = Endurantism = = = |
Endurantism or endurance theory is a philosophical theory of persistence and identity. According to the endurantist view, material objects are persisting three-dimensional individuals wholly present at every moment of their existence, which goes with an A-theory of time. This conception of an individual as always present is opposed to perdurantism or four-dimensionalism, which maintains that an object is a series of temporal parts or stages, requiring a B-theory of time. The use of "endure" and "perdure" to distinguish two ways in which an object can be thought to persist can be traced to David Lewis. |
One serious problem of perdurantism is the problem of temporary intrinsics raised by David Lewis. Lewis claims that intrinsic properties of objects would change over time. Thus, endurantism cannot harmonize identity with change and then cannot explain persistence clearly even if endurantists appeal to intrinsic properties. Endurantists may argue that intrinsic properties are related to time. However, this would produce another problem. If intrinsic properties are related to others, they are not intrinsic property (see intrinsic and extrinsic properties). Therefore, Perdurantism is a better position of persistence (see prominent arguments in favor of four-dimensionalism). |
However, some philosophers, such as Haslanger, find a way to resolve this problem as Lewis's perdurantism does. Haslanger claims that Lewis’s perdurantist solution is not the only solution, and endurantism can resolve this problem as well. She believes that Lewis’s way does not directly answer the problem that objects that persist can change their intrinsic properties; he just finds a way to bypass it—the perdurer is not an object that keeps intrinsic properties unchanged over time (see identity and change). Similarly, endurantism could find a way to bypass this problem and to reconcile the persistence of objects and intrinsic properties. Her method is in virtue of adverbial modification. According to this method, a sentence that objects have properties is related to time, but the time modifies ‘have’ rather than objects or properties. A person, for example, had-at-t1 bentness and had-at-t2 straightness. It seems like that objects can at different times through different ways obtain properties. After such treatment, objects that exist can through different ways at different times instantiate different intrinsic properties (these properties are not related to time directly). Through this method, endurantism can resolve the problem of temporary intrinsic as Lewis’s method does. |
= = = Nong Muang Khai District = = = |
Nong Muang Khai District (, ) is a district ("amphoe") in the central part of Phrae Province, northern Thailand. |
The minor district ("king amphoe") Nong Muang Khai was established on 1 April 1990 from "tambons" Mae Kham Mi and Nong Muang Khai of Rong Kwang District and Wang Luang and Nam Rat of Song District. It was made a subordinate of Rong Kwang District. It was upgraded to a full district on 7 September 1995. |
Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise): Song, Rong Kwang, Mueang Phrae, and Long. |
The district is divided into six sub-districts ("tambons"), which are further subdivided into 34 villages ("mubans"). Nong Muang Khai is a township ("thesaban tambon") and covers most parts of "tambon" Nong Muang Khai. There are a further five tambon administrative organizations (TAO). |
= = = Osoyoos Indian Band = = = |
The Osoyoos Indian Band is a First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located in the town of Osoyoos in the Okanagan valley, approximately four kilometres north of the Canada–United States border. They are a member of the Okanagan Nation Alliance. The band controls about 32,000 acres of land in the vicinity of the town of Osoyoos. |
The band's Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre (pronounced “in-Ka-meep”) is located on the east side of Osoyoos. The centre gives tours in the arid region (similar to desert, but actually shrub-steppe) and explains the uniqueness of the plant species found there. The current chief of the band is Clarence Louie. Louie has pushed for economic self-reliance by expanding investments, including a vineyard and winery, a four-star resort, and a 9-hole golf course. |
There are more than 400 band members who live and work on the reserve. |
= = = Talesa of Aragon = = = |
Talesa, Talèse, Talèze, or Ataresa (died after 1136) was an Aragonese noblewoman and relative of the royal Jiménez dynasty. She was the daughter of Sancho Ramírez, Count of Ribagorza, natural brother of King Sancho Ramírez of Aragon and Navarre. She married Gaston IV of Béarn and acted as regent of the viscounty of Béarn during his absences on Crusade in 1096-1101, and after his death for their son in 1131-1134. |
She was married towards 1085 in a move by Gaston's father Centule V of Béarn to expand his influence across the Pyrenees by allying himself with the ruling house of Aragon and Navarre. She brought as a dowry the viscounty of Montaner, a small country in the neighbourhood of Bigorre. |
Between 1096 and 1101, while Gaston participated in the First Crusade, Talesa governed Béarn with the help of a baronial council. This scenario was repeated several times more during her husband's frequent military ventures in Aragon. Like many of her day, she found her way into historical records primarily through the foundation and endowment of religious establishments. |
On the death of Gaston in 1131, Talesa took up the regency for her young son Centule VI. Centule died in the Battle of Fraga in 1134 and the viscounty passed to the son, Peter II, of Guiscarda, Talesa and Gaston's eldest daughter. Peter II being a mere boy, Talesa continued in the regency for him. |
In that same year, Aragon and Navarre experienced a succession crisis, as Talesa's cousin Alfonso the Battler died without heirs and leaving a testament by which his realm was to pass to the military religious orders. The two kingdoms split and the throne of Aragon was contested by Ramiro the Monk, the dead king's brother, and Alfonso VII of León, a more distant relative. Talesa sided with Ramiro, who in turn surrendered to her the lordships of (a part of) Zaragoza and Uncastillo which he had inherited from Gaston. After papal intervention, the conflict was finally settled in favour of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona, who, to recover good relations with Béarn, granted Talesa the fiefs of Huesca and Bespen with rights over the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, where Gaston lay buried. He also gave Peter II a Catalan princess for a bride and thus brought Béarn within the Catalan sphere of influence. |
Talesa died sometime after 1136. Aside from Centule and Guiscarda, she had another daughter who died young and is only known from a first initial, N. She also had a first son named Centule who died before 1128, predeceasing Gaston's heir. |
= = = Gambit (newspaper) = = = |
Gambit is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based free alternative weekly newspaper that was established in 1981. "Gambit" features reporting about local politics, news, food and drink, arts, music, film, events, environmental issues and other topics, as well as listings. "Gambit" publishes 36,000 papers each Tuesday, which are distributed to 400 locations in the New Orleans metro area beginning Sunday afternoon. |
The paper's columnists include political editor Clancy DuBos, who is also a political analyst and commentator on WWL-TV. Past columnists have included Chris Rose, Jeremy Alford, Andrei Codrescu and Ronnie Virgets. Regular features include "Opening Gambit" (political news briefs), and "Thumbs Up & Thumbs Down," weekly awards for the city's "heroes and zeroes." "Gambit" also publishes a weekly editorial and issues endorsements in many political races, with two notable exceptions; it does not endorse in national elections, nor does it endorse in judicial elections (on a longstanding political belief that judges should be appointed, not elected). |
The paper has won many local and national honors, and former "Gambit" writer Katy Reckdahl was awarded Hunter College's James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism in 2002 for her series on the mistreatment of the homeless, and a 2002 Casey Journalism Center Medal for Distinguished Coverage of Children and Family Issues for her report titled "Louisiana Juvenile Justice" on the Tallulah Correctional Center for Youth . Other former writers and editors include Michael Tisserand, author of the books "The Kingdom of Zydeco" and "Sugarcane Academy", Scott Jordan, former spokesman for the Louisiana Democratic Party, and Rich Collins, a member of the children's music group Imagination Movers. |
The paper sponsors the annual Big Easy Theater Awards and Big Easy Music Awards, honoring New Orleans' best performing artists. |
On October 1, 2007, "Gambit" launched Blog of New Orleans to supplement its website Best of New Orleans with daily updates on New Orleans news, politics, arts, music, sports, cuisine and local culture. Its other publications include "CUE," a monthly home and fashion magazine and "BRIDE & GROOM," a twice-annual wedding guide. |
In January 2009, the paper changed its name from "Gambit Weekly", to which it had been renamed in 1996, back to "Gambit", the name under which it had been founded in 1981. |
On April 9, 2018, the holding company for "The New Orleans Advocate" purchased "Gambit" and bestofneworleans.com. |
= = = Jacksnipe = = = |
The Jacksnipe is a two-man racing sailing dinghy with a single trapeze for the crew and symmetrical spinnaker. |
In the late 1960s, Jack Holt was asked by Peter Harris of the British Snipe Class Association to design an up-to-the-minute boat with a hull the same overall length as the International Snipe, which would carry the Snipe rig with the addition of a trapeze and spinnaker. The Snipe having failed to be selected for Olympic Games, it was hoped that a modern, high-performance boat might succeed. |
At the time, scows were very much the thing, especially the Fireball, and so Holt drew up a flat-bottomed planing design, considerably lighter than the International Snipe, with a pivoting centreboard and a bold new cockpit design that still looks contemporary 40 years later. The name was suggested by Peter Scott. |
The cockpit includes a double bottom (or false floor) which extends through almost to the bow, with deep, self-bailer equipped footwells each side of the centreline; a detachable foredeck was developed but has not been a feature of production boats. While the production deck, which extends well forward of the forestay fitting, would lend itself very well to incorporation of a spinnaker chute, none was ever fitted by the manufacturers, spinnaker stowage relying instead on an elasticated pocket or 'turtle' before the mast, under which the spinnaker could readily be stuffed. |
At the time, the Class Secretary commented: |
This exciting new design incorporates all modern features. The easily driven, lightweight hull planes readily yet possesses fantastic stability. Fully equipped she is priced considerably below other high-performance dinghies. Her round bilged hull, designed with glass fibre in mind, has a double bottom, self-draining through transom flaps and wells for helmsman and crew equipped with self bailers. The ample built-in buoyancy and reserve foam buoyancy is designed to make self rescue easy in the case of capsize. |
The claims made were by no means excessive. The buoyancy arrangements are exemplary, allowing the boat to float low on its side when capsized making it easy for the crew to climb onto the centreboard and, in combination with a foam-filled mast, making it rare for the boat to fully invert. Yet the double floor provides for very rapid expulsion of any water in the cockpit after the boat is righted; a combination of virtues that few other designs can match. The deep footwells improve the boat's stability by positioning the crew low during manoeuvres, such as gybing, greatly adding to confidence. |
A singlehanded option was envisaged, with a forward mast step position, a second, forward set of chainplates, and corresponding set of anchor points for the mainsheet bridle. With a longer tiller extension, the boat could then be sailed using just the mainsail and trapeze, Contender-style. |
By comparison with its main rivals, the Fireball and Hornet, the Jacksnipe is lightly canvassed, which makes it ideal for lighter crews, but this combined with the large underwater planing surfaces leads to a boat which performs better in stronger than in lighter winds - a characteristic of many later 'skiff' designs. In overall performance terms, the Portsmouth Yardstick in 1970 was 88, which compared to 85 for the Fireball and 88 for the Hornet (at the time in its original form with jib rather than genoa, and a small spinnaker). |
Some 32 examples were built by Jack Holt Limited, moulded by Lakeland Plastics before the design was passed to a chandlery which tried fitting 505 rigs to the hulls, resulting in a very fast (talk at the time was of speeds approaching those of an A-Class catamaran) but presumably over-canvassed boat, bearing in mind the narrow overall beam. A Fireball rig would surely have been more appropriate. |
That the class failed to sell in large numbers can be attributed to stiff competition offered by the already well-established Fireball, and, ironically, to antipathy from within the British Snipe Class which had sponsored the new design but was split as to whether it would be detrimental to the popularity of the existing design (see ref 1). |
Of current designs, the closest in terms of dimensions, cockpit layout, performance, ideal crew weight and sailing qualities is the 3000. |
= = = 4950th Test Wing = = = |
The 4950th Test Wing, a wing of the United States Air Force, was established in March 1971. |
It was created as the flying unit of the Wright Air Development Center, which was created in June 1951. Wright ADC changed to Division status in December 1959 until it was replaced by the Aeronautical Systems Division (ASD) in April 1961. The 4951st, 4952d and 4953d Test Squadrons were activated in July 1975 and based at the West Ramp (a former Strategic Air Command facility) of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. |
ASD is responsible for the design, development and acquisition of aeronautical systems including transports, tankers and utility aircraft, rescue helicopters, long- and short-range air-to-surface missiles, aircraft engines and electronic warfare systems. In addition, the wing supported programs conducted by other AFMC departments. The majority of AFMC's large transport aircraft were assigned to the 4950th Test Wing and were loaned to other agencies as required. The 4950th Test Wing operated a variety of testbed C-135s, many of which have featured major modifications. The wing was consolidated with the AFMC Flight Test Center's 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, CA and inactivated in 1994. |
Section updated by Major Tony Sylvain, Maj, USAF (Ret), 4950th OMS, 11 Jun 84 to 21 Jan 92. |
Aircraft 61-2775, 776, and 777 were pre-production prototypes. These aircraft had multiple subtle differences evolved during design, most notable was the main crew door, which was hinged on the top and opened outward from the bottom. These aircraft were never fitted with air refueling capability and were never converted to C-141Bs. Aircraft specifics: |
Section updated by Sgt Rob Schultz (FMS Engine Shop/4953rd AMU, 1986–1992), 26 April 2011 |
= = = Denys Val Baker = = = |
Denys Val Baker (24 October 1917 – 6 July 1984) was a Welsh writer, specialising in short stories, novels, and autobiography. He was also known for his activities as an editor, and promotion of the arts in Cornwall. |
Born Denys Baker in Poppleton, York, North Riding of Yorkshire on 24 October 1917 where |
his father, Welsh born Valentine Henry Baker, was stationed as a pilot instructor during World War I. His mother was Dilys Eames, who was from Anglesey in North Wales and had played harp at the National Eisteddfod of 1901. He grew up in Sussex and eventually lived with his parents in Surbiton, then in Surrey, now in Greater London. |
Val Baker was always proud of being of Celtic ancestry; he considered himself to be more Welsh than English, and this was an influence in his writings. |
A lifelong pacifist and vegetarian, he registered as a conscientious objector in June 1939, prior to World War II, and volunteered to join a group of some 200 COs sailing to Jersey in May 1940 to work on the tomato and potato harvests. The impending German invasion of the Channel Islands led to the return of half of the COs, including Val Baker. He became secretary of a pacifist community, Youth House, in Camden Town. and carried out rescue work in London during the Blitz. |
Val Baker showed an interest in writing from when a young man. He was particularly drawn to the short story format, which was very popular in the 1920s and 1930s, and he would send stories to many magazines. Thanks to his father’s contacts with the |
Harmsworth family, Val Baker managed to get a job as a reporter on the "Derby Evening Telegraph", one of the Harmsworth family’s regional titles, and stayed there for three years. After that he moved to London where he worked as a jobbing journalist on various trade papers. |
He was by now beginning to supplement his income through freelance journalism and sales of short stories to the many literary magazines that were popular in the days before television. He had by this time legally changed his surname to Val Baker in honour of his father, who had died in a flying accident in 1942. |