#damage due to aircraft

[sonalikrishnan]

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Read More: https://kshema.co/why-crop-insurance-in-india-is-essential/

[sayruq]

I figured I should list setbacks and consequences (including signs of internal collapse) faced by Israel in the past couple of months. I'll make this as chronological as possible. Add any you think I missed.

While Hezbollah targets Haifa, Golan Heights, and new settlements

Gaza continues to punish the invading army

More and more western publications are forced to admit that Israel cannot defeat the Palestinian resistance

“This is a very high number that encompasses many sectors. About 77 percent of the businesses that have been closed since the beginning of the war, which make up about 35,000 businesses, are small businesses with up to five employees, and are the most vulnerable in the economy,” Yoel Amir, CEO of Israeli information services and credit risk management firm, CofaceBdi, told Maariv. The report adds that “the most vulnerable industries are the construction industry, and as a result also the entire ecosystem that operates around it: ceramics, air conditioning, aluminum, building materials, and more – All of these were significantly damaged,” according to CofaceBdi’s risk ratings. The trade sector has also been severely affected. This includes the service sector and industries including fashion, furniture, housewares, entertainment, transport, and tourism. Israel is in a situation where “there is almost no foreign tourism,” the report said, adding that “damage to businesses is all over the country, and almost no sector has been spared.” This includes the agriculture sector, which is based mainly in the south and the north – both considered active combat zones due to the threat posed by the Palestinian resistance and Lebanon’s Hezbollah – whose support front against Israel has significantly contributed to the downfall of the economy. The CofaceBdi CEO estimates that 60,000 Israeli businesses are expected to be shut down by the end of 2024.

ICYMI, Yemen's armed forces have said they got a direct hit on Eisenhower, a nuclear powered aircraft carrier, forcing it to leave the Red Sea

Israel's attack on Yemen is playing a role in bringing Yemen's civil war to an end.

Etc, etc.

The point of this post is to encourage everyone who reads it. Keep talking about Gaza, keep boycotting, keep protesting, keep resisting.

[thatswhywelovegermany]

The Schlörwagen

The Schlörwagen was a radical aerodynamic prototype from 1939 developed by Karl Schlör von Westhofen-Dirmstein at the Aerodynamic Research Institute in Göttingen.

The prototype was shown on the International Automobile Exhibition in Berlin in 1939. The car attracted much attention, but car critics derided it as ugly. Although Mercedes-Benz was interested in series production, the design remained in prototype stage due to the outbreak of World War II.

The aerodynamic body fitting seven seats was mounted on the chassis of a rear-engined Mercedes-Benz 170H. Test drives on the Autobahn revealed a superior top speed and fuel economy due to its excellent Cx value of 0.15 to 0.18, a figure unseen in modern cars. However, the car was difficult to drive under crosswind conditions.

During the war, a captured Soviet aircraft engine and propeller was attached to the rear of the vehicle, and test drives were made on the Autobahn near Göttingen.

At the end of the war, the prototype was confiscated by the British occupation authorities, but remained in Göttingen on the premises of the Aerodynamic Research Institute.

Efforts by Karl Schlör von Westhofen-Dirmstein to get the car back from the British occupation authorities failed.

After August 1948, the car – meanwhile damaged by vandalism – was no longer seen in Göttingen. Its whereabouts have been unknown ever since.

[infiniteglitterfall]

I keep thinking about a post or a comment I saw months ago that basically said, "if this isn't a genocide then why haven't I seen any photos of Israel on fire"

So here are some photos of Israel on fire.

Starting with the obvious:

October 7th, 2023. Hamas attacked 21 towns. Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Re'im, and Nir Oz were essentially burned to the ground; it will take years to rebuild them.

Satellite images during the attack show fires burning all over.

On October 7, Israel’s farming industry lost approximately 40% of its workforce and 30% of its physical area when the nation’s agricultural center became a warzone and the site of mass death and destruction.

The war forced thousands of people in Israel’s north and south to abandon their homes, leaving hundreds of acres of farmland to lie fallow while the IDF secured the area from further Hamas attacks.

Devastating losses About 20% of Israel’s agricultural land is located in the Gaza border area.... 75% of the vegetables consumed in Israel usually come from the Gaza border region, plus 20% of the fruit and 6.5% of the milk. Meanwhile, Israel’s northern region — which has been facing increasing rocket attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon — accounts for a third of the country’s agricultural land, and according to the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, about 73% of its domestic egg production is concentrated in the Galilee and Golan regions.

Hezbollah's rocket attacks upon Israeli civilian areas, and Hamas rocket attacks from Lebanon, have caused massive fires across northern Israel.

The elimination of Israel has been a primary goal for Hezbollah, just as it is for Hamas and its affiliated groups.

Unlike Hamas, which targets Jews per se and cites the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to explain why, Hezbollah's reasoning follows that of the dictatorship of Iran:

"God, according to Hezbollah theology, cursed all Jews as blasphemers damned for all time and throughout history. Hezbollah, as well as the political/religious leaders of Iran, believe that the destruction of Israel will bring about the 'reappearance of the Imam (the Shiite Islamic Messiah).'"

Fire and brimstone it is, I guess.

April:

Nature and Parks Authority says that some 80,000 dunams (20,000 acres) in the Upper Galilee and Golan Heights have gone up in flames since the start of the month.

The Katzrin fire in early June:

Since the fighting erupted, the total scorched area in Israel is three times greater than the area consumed by the two greatest fires in Israeli history: the Sha'ar Hagai blaze west of Jerusalem in 1995, and the Mount Carmel forest fire in 2010. In each of those blazes, some 20,000 to 25,000 dunams of forest went up in smoke.

The total area burnt down now is also three times the combined area incinerated in 2016 when extreme weather conditions caused a wave of fires that consumed some 41,000 dunams. A similar size of woodland and forest also burned down during the Second Lebanon War. In 2019, a huge blaze consumed large swaths of central Israel's Mevo Modi'im community.

According to a Haaretz analysis of satellite images, which matches with estimates by authorities, some 210,000 dunams (about 52,000 acres) of land burned down in Israel and Lebanon: about 150,000 dunams in Israel from Hezbollah attacks and Israel Defense Forces anti-aircraft fire, and around 60,000 dunams in Lebanon. The burned-down areas in Israel stretch over a large area in the Galilee and Golan Heights, while in Lebanon they are concentrated near the border – due to the Israeli military policy of setting deliberate fire to [complex fortified] areas there in order to keep Hezbollah combatants away and to damage the vegetation that provides them with cover.

...These included trenches, bunkers, rocket-launching positions and arms storage sites.

June 4:

'If the fire spreads to the mountain – everything changes': Residents try to survive amid Hezbollah rockets

As rockets rain on their homes and wreak havoc, some Israelis believe the government's lackluster response shows it has forfeited the north to terrorists. "This is Hezbollah's new strategy – intentionally firing on open areas to ignite fires and burn the north," says former mayor.

Gay Eyal, the security officer of the Golan Regional Council, hasn't slept a wink since yesterday. More than 20 communities in the north, including two evacuated towns of Avivim and Dovev, fall under his wide purview.

"It seems this is the new method of the enemy: They see and hear what's happening – they understand burning the north is more effective," Eyal stated grimly. "We're coming off a night of fires. And this morning another blaze started in the Yir'on Forest. Our biggest fear is the fire spreading to Mount Meron. If that mountain ignites, all the communities of Meron, Safsufa, and the Galilee panhandle will be in danger." Eyal claims they prepared in advance, positioning 24 water trailer rigs of 1,000 liters each in every community. "It's a drop in the bucket. We geared up this past year with many water trailers to assist with firefighting, but it's not enough. We're working with fire stations in Safed, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberias, and Carmiel – our council is dealing with four fire stations. The firefighters are doing everything they can, working ceaselessly. They're tearing themselves apart, but the fire is spreading like a field of thorns."

...Another resident from the north who was out all night at the various fire scenes also tells Israel Hayom this morning: "It's impossible to describe what we went through here last night. Everything burned, an entire region was ablaze. I drove between the fruit orchards, between communities as the fires raged, and my heart burned. The feeling is terrible, of destruction. There's no way to explain the feeling of people watching their life's work burning before their eyes."

June 12:

Hezbollah launched some 215 rockets and several more missiles and drones at northern Israel on Wednesday, in what it said was a response to the killing of a senior commander in the terror group by an Israeli airstrike a night earlier.

The successive Hezbollah attacks began on Wednesday morning with a barrage of at least 90 rockets fired at several [CIVILIAN] areas in northern Israel, including Tiberias — for the first time amid the war — Safed and Rosh Pina, sending tens of thousands of people to shelters, as Jewish Israelis celebrated the Shavuot holiday.

The Israel Defense Forces said another 70 rockets were then launched at the Mount Meron area, home to a sensitive air traffic control base. Ten more rockets were fired at the northern community of Zar’it, and an anti-tank guided missile struck a factory of the Plasan armored vehicle manufacturer in Kibbutz Sasa, causing damage. Later in the morning, a drone launched from Lebanon detonated in an open area near the northern community of Zivon, local authorities said. Several more rockets were fired in the afternoon hours at the upper and western Galilee areas.

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

And yet everyone keeps telling Ukrainians they have to surrender, instead of telling russia to get out of Ukraine to stop the deaths...

Russia Loses Entire Regiment in One Day

This Was the Deadliest Day Yet for Putin’s Forces.

Ukrainian Armed Forces reported on November 12, that they killed or injured 1,950 Russian soldiers in just one day — a number nearly equal to an entire Russian regiment.

Lost An Entire Regiment

A Russian regiment typically consists of about 1,000 to 2,000 soldiers, depending on its type and role within the military structure, according to Ziare.

Motorized rifle or infantry regiments usually have around 1,500 to 2,000 troops, while armored or tank regiments tend to be on the smaller end, closer to 1,000 to 1,200 troops.

These numbers are rough estimates, as the size and organization of regiments can fluctuate, especially during wartime when units may operate below full capacity due to casualties and logistical challenges.

Highest Recorded Since Invasion

This daily toll is the highest recorded since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, underscoring the heavy losses Russia faces as it maintains its offensive in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s General Staff also reported the destruction of 81 Russian armored vehicles in the same period.

These losses occurred as Russia continued to apply pressure on multiple fronts, leading to a series of intense battles.

The Ukrainian forces’ success in resisting these assaults has resulted in significant damage to Russian personnel and military equipment, according to Ukrainian sources.

Since the war started, Ukraine has been releasing updates on Russian losses. The recent totals, with daily changes in parentheses, are as follows:

Personnel: approximately 712,610 (+1,950 from the previous day)

Tanks: 9,276 (+23)

Armored combat vehicles: 18,847 (+81)

Artillery systems: 20,352 (+38)

Multiple rocket launchers: 1,249 (+4)

Anti-aircraft systems: 996 (no change)

Aircraft: 369 (no change)

Helicopters: 329 (no change)

Drones: 18,737 (+61)

Cruise missiles: 2,636 (no change)

Naval vessels: 28 (no change)

Submarines: 1 (no change)

Vehicles and fuel tanks: 28,870 (+68)

Special military equipment: 3,626 (+6)

[radiance1]

Fuck it, I can't find the post so I can't link it here but who bloody cares.

Ahem.

This is bouncing off my other two posts about Danny and Vlad being turned into stuffed toys, wherein one Billy Batson kinda adopted them as friends, and the other being where Sam's soul was taken after she died and molded by Undergrowth into a lesser deity.

--

So, Sam, being a giant plant goddess lady (think Te Fiti from Moana) is just chilling on her island, minding her own business doing her dues, helping followers, making the island flourish.

Until one day, something was stolen from her island while she was busy elsewhere, a priceless 'artifact' that held a linkage to her past, mortal life, as Sam Manson.

Safe to say, she was absolutely livid.

So, she told her followers to not let anyone set foot upon this island, if they let someone on the island than it better be someone who's either utterly helpless or in need of help and even then, don't let them step a foot past the beach.

Then she set off.

She pushed her way through the sea, setting off for where she had a vague feeling was mainland and having the intention of getting back her belongings.

A few days later, the government caught wind of a new potential threat heading for the land, and as such, went out to sea to intercept them.

She ignored them, continuing her march and caring naught for the people around her. If they struck her, she would strike back twice as hard with all the fury of her part over nature.

When they struck at her, she summoned forth vines to bind their aircrafts and boats in vines and continued for the land. This goes on for a bit, before ultimately the Justice League have to be called because of the explosion of plant life spreading all over the city.

So they get to fighting her and is actually causing Sam some trouble here. For one thing, there are more of them than they are of her, another is that they're strong beings (as in Wonder Woman and Superman), another being that she's been out of combat for a while.

So she's rusty, sue her, and it's not like she used her abilities to cause harm instead of aid. Hell, this is the first time she even set foot off of her island when she became a goddess.

So eventually, it gets to a point where she just stops caring about causing mass amounts of collateral damage anymore and starts to use her abilities in order to fling literal buildings at Wonder Woman and Superman.

Then came another, highly powerful being.

Shazam.

She was growing tired of being denied what belonged to her, and she grew bitter about these so called 'heroes' trying to stop her as well, at least until, a certain doll, not even as tall as her fingernail just appeared before her.

Shazam tried to reach for them, thinking she would harm him too but, instead, she just stopped and stood there. Before whispering:

"Danny..?"

[thatsrightice]

THE LEGEND OF BRADY’S CREW AND THEIR CRASH WAGON

The crash landing we see John Brady’s crew conduct in Part 1 of Masters of the Air was not their first. On Christmas Eve of 1942, Brady’s crew took off on a training mission but crash landed in the snowy mountains of Evanston, Wyoming due to inclement weather and a lack of gas. No one was injured thanks to Brady’s skillful flying (and Harry Crosby’s Scottish descent, according to the young woman who found them).

Afterward, the crew received a brand new B-17F, serial number 42-30071. Though officially titled “SKIPPER”, the Fort had immediately been given a name: “BRADY’S CRASH WAGON” in homage to the legend of their training accident.

Their second crash landing, the one we see in the show, actually occurred at an Air Depot in Warton on the east coast due to the landing gear being frozen. Their belly-landing damaged their aircraft so they were forced to take a train to Diss and then a truck to Thorpe Abbotts.

42-30071 “BRADY’S CRASH WAGON” would be repaired and sent to the 96th Bomb Group. It was irreparably damaged in another belly-landing on April 18, 1944 and scrapped.

[faketoyplanes]

Mach Marshall- otherwise well known as “Big Dark”

He is my Sr-71 Blackbird oc!! (Albeit he’s frickin ginormous for his model) He has like 87 mental illnesses

I’ll yap about his backstory in detail another time but here’s something brief:

He enlisted as a Spyplane during the height of the Cold War (50s/60s) and set two records: World’s Fastest Plane, World’s First Sonic Boom. He was quite famous for all his accomplishments. As aircraft improved and modernized, Big Dark got jealous and paranoid that he would be forgotten. He tried to gain attention by doing a dangerous unauthorized flight- heavily damaging his systems and titanium plating. Clearly ill and grieving, they did what any logic thinker did in the late 60s- “fix his mind” by removing his critical avionic systems- basically he got lobotomized and was forced to retire very early. The “maintenance” left him extremely irritable and in a manic state. As well, the damage along his body wasn’t repairable due to its material and left him grounded in chronic pain. He homed himself in a flight museum, living in a supercooled hangar set at freezing temperatures to numb his physical pain. He hates everything and doesn’t like anyone except the custodian that helps take care of him

[floridaboiler]

(I had to recreate this post from the original person since it wouldn’t reblog for me)

LEGEND

BENAVIDEZ, ROY P.

Rank and organization: Master Sergeant. Organization: Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group, Republic of Vietnam

Place and date: West of Loc Ninh on May 2, 1968

Entered service at: Houston, Texas June 1955

Born: August 5, 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas.

Master Sergeant (then Staff Sergeant) Roy P. BENAVIDEZ United States Army, distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam.

On the morning of 2 May 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance, and requested emergency extraction. Three helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire.

Sergeant BENAVIDEZ was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters, of the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, returned to off-load wounded crew members and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant BENAVIDEZ voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team.

Prior to reaching the team’s position he was wounded in his right leg, face, and head. Despite these painful injuries, he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team’s position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy’s fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader.

When he reached the leader’s body, Sergeant BENAVIDEZ was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant BENAVIDEZ secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant BENAVIDEZ mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy’s fire and so permit another extraction attempt.

He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed from behind by an enemy soldier. In the ensuing hand-to-hand combat, he sustained additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary.[5][note 1] He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded.

Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant BENAVIDEZ’ gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men. His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.

[gusty-wind]

US Government denies FOIA request for sealed USS Liberty records. 57 year old files to remain classified.

The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship (a spy ship), USS Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian NSA employee), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship. At the time, the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nautical miles (47.2 km; 29.3 mi) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish.

Israel apologized for the attack, saying that USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship. Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship’s identity. Others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate. Thomas Hinman Moorer, 7th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, accused President Lyndon B. Johnson of having covered up that the attack was a deliberate act.

‘The Americans have findings that show our pilots were aware the ship was American,’ a newly published document by the State Archives says. -- Source

USS Liberty survivor Phil Tourney and Candace Owens talk about Israel planned their attack a year in advance. -- Source

On November 21, 2024, Senior Judge Marsha J. Pechman of the US District Court for the Western District of Washington issued what seems likely to be her final order in Kinnucan v. National Security Agency et al. The order came more than four years after the federal case was first filed in September 2020. The suit was brought to obtain records the NSA, Central Intelligence Agency, and the Defense Intelligence Agency had failed to release despite a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests concerning the USS Liberty (AGTR-5).

More than 57 years after the attack, the FOIA lawsuit revealed new details and, more importantly, it made it clear that the US government is still refusing to release hundreds of pages of documents concerning the assault

[sonalikrishnan]

Why Crop Insurance is Essential for Small and Marginal Farmers in India

Agriculture is India’s major economic activity with approximately 55 percent of its workforce engaged in agriculture or allied activities while small and marginal farmers constitute over 85% of this population. These farmers, owning less than 5 acres of land, play a vital role in ensuring the nation’s food security. However, they are also most vulnerable to risks, including unpredictable weather and fluctuating market prices. For such small farmers, protection is crucial because even a single crop failure can lead to devastating financial losses.

In this context, crop insurance in India is a lifeline, providing small farmers with the necessary protection and financial stability. This blog delves into why crop insurance is essential for small and marginal farmers, its benefits, and its transformative role for rural India.

The Challenges Faced by Small and Marginal Farmers

Small and marginal farmers in India face a range of challenges that threaten their livelihoods:

Unpredictable Weather: With climate change, events such as cyclones, floods, hailstorms, unseasonal rainfall etc. have become more frequent and severe.

Pests and Diseases: Crops are susceptible to pest infestations and diseases, which can destroy entire crops.

Rising Input Costs: Seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides have become costlier, increasing production expenses for farmers.

Read More at main blog: https://kshema.co/why-crop-insurance-in-india-is-essential/

[deutschland-im-krieg]

The Luftwaffe's first Sturzkampfflugzeug (Stuka/dive bomber), the Henschel Hs 123. A fantastic ground attack/dive bomber that was the first aircraft Henschel built, until then having previously been known for building locomotives. The aircraft debuted in Spain, Adolf Galland being an early user. These little aircraft were so good, that in Jan 1943, Generaloberst (Colonel General) Wolfram von Richthofen of Luftflotte (Air Fleet) 4 inquired whether Henschel could restart the production of Hs 123 biplanes due to their flexibility on the front lines, particularly with their capability to take off and land on muddy airfields, but Henschel had since dismantled the entire Hs 123 production line, making the request impossible. They served until the end of the war and could absorb a high level of damage. For more, see my Facebook group - Eagles Of The Reich

[girlactionfigure]

🟪 MORE SPIES CAUGHT, HAMAS HUMAN SHIELD STRATEGY PROVEN - Real time from Israel  

ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

A Gut’a Chol HaMoed from Israel - happy Succot intermediate holy days.

( PHOTO - doing your best to make a Sukkah in Lebanon. )

🔅END OF DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME in Israel, this Saturday night 2:00 AM. Change clocks back 1 hour, computers and phones should auto-adjust.▪️

❗️MORE SPIES CAUGHT.. 7 residents of east Jerusalem were arrested on suspicion of planning to eliminate a nuclear scientist and a mayor - on behalf of Iran.

⭕LEBANON - ANTI-AIRCRAFT FIRE at IDF JETS from HEZBOLLAH per Al Jazeera with video (not shared here), 23 mm anti-aircraft fire.

⭕HEZBOLLAH FIRES LONG RANGE MISSILE(S) this morning, alerts from Zichron Yaakov through north Tel Aviv.

Hezbollah for long range launches 1-5 missiles (so far).  With the low number and longer flight time, interception has been 100%.  Because of high altitude and speed of the flight, the scatter pattern for the debris covers a huge area. That is why a small number of missiles results in a large alert area in central Israel.

The opposite is occurring in the north, where Hezbollah is firing 20-110 short range rockets in a barrage, therefore each alert area is 1 or multiple rockets inbound.

⭕HAIFA PORT WORKERS GET THREATENING SMS.. Haifa port workers received messages Monday which stated that the port's system had been hacked and that they should leave the place as it would be the target of a missile attack.

⭕HAIFA - KRAYOT.. strong explosion without warning as an incoming rocket hits a nearby open area.

♦️LEBANON - HEAVY OVERNIGHT AIRSTRIKES across parts of Beirut and other areas.

♦️LEBANON - news report: boy killed working his shop due to Israeli STRIKE ON THE ROCKET LAUNCHER IN THE BACK space being rented by Hezbollah - reported straight like that.

♦️LEBANON - MASS EXODUS from Beirut continues, both sides of the highway going OUT.

♦️LEBANON - BUNKER UNDER HOSPITAL CAUSES PANIC.. Following the IDF spokesman's announcement regarding the Hezbollah cash-vault bunker under the al-Sakhal hospital in Harat Kharik in Dahiya in Beirut, hysteria began in the area surrounding the hospital as people tried to flee assuming an incoming IDF attack.

🔹US VS HOUTHIS $$.. The cost of the damage suffered by the US military so far is $186 million just from the downing of the MQ-9 Reaper drones.

❗️HAMAS’s MANIPULATIONS & INTENTIONAL HUMAN SHIELDS.. (WSJ) “As Arab mediators tried to speed up cease-fire talks, (Hamas leader) Sinwar urged his comrades in Hamas’s political leadership based outside of Gaza to REFUSE concessions. High civilian casualties would create worldwide pressure on Israel, Sinwar said in a message.

Sinwar messaged Hamas officials, urging them to refuse a hostage deal. Hamas had the upper hand in negotiations, Sinwar said, citing internal political divisions within Israel, cracks in Netanyahu’s wartime coalition and mounting U.S. pressure to alleviate the suffering in Gaza.”

▪️SERIOUS CRIMINAL INCIDENT - KFAR QASIM.. (Israeli Arabi/Bedouin town near Rosh Ha’ayin) 3 young people, ages 17, 17, 20, stabbed, critical condition, CPR.

▪️TRUMP SAYS.. Trump on the talks for a ceasefire in Lebanon: I spoke with people from Lebanon and to my surprise they want it (the attacks on Hezbollah) to continue as long as possible.

▪️AID PROFIT..  IDF: Paul Landes, head of the economic warfare staff at the Ministry of Defense, refuses to answer the question of whether Hamas makes money from humanitarian aid.

[usafphantom2]

26th July 1943. Medal of Honor action of 2nd Lt John ‘Red’ Morgan, a B-17 co-pilot with the 326th BS of the 92nd Bomb Group. Rejected for military service in America due to previously breaking his neck, he had instead joined the RCAF and ultimately flew 12 missions as a Flight Sergeant with RAF Bomber Command. Morgan transferred to the USAAF in March 1943 and was now flying his fifth combat mission with the Eighth Air Force, a raid against Hanover.

As the bombers reached the German coast, they were met by Luftwaffe fighters. Morgan’s B-17, ‘Ruthie II’, came under heavy attack from Focke-Wulf 190s and was badly damaged. The oxygen system to the rear fuselage was knocked out along with the intercom, while the top turret gunner had his arm severed by a cannon shell. He was found bleeding to death on the fuselage floor by the navigator, who bailed him out of the aircraft, an action which saved his life. Found and treated by the Germans, he was repatriated in 1944.

Meanwhile, a frontal attack had smashed the cockpit windscreen and a machine gun bullet inflicted a severe brain injury on the pilot, Lt Robert Campbell. He reflexively gripped the control column as he slumped forwards, putting the B-17 into a dive. Through sheer strength, Morgan managed to heave the aircraft back into formation. He was fought for control all the time by the semiconscious pilot, who even physically attacked his copilot due to the effects of his fractured skull.

Morgan couldn’t hear firing from any of the gunners behind him and believed they had bailed out or been killed. In fact, they were all unconscious through lack of oxygen. Believing that it would be more dangerous to turn back, he opted to continue with the formation. As the navigator and bombardier manned the nose guns against continued attacks, for up to two hours Morgan flew the B-17 with one hand, while fighting off Campbell with the other, as he continued his attempts to wrest control of the aircraft from him. He could have severed the pilot’s oxygen supply to render him unconscious, but feared this would kill him.

Finally, as fighter attacks eased, the navigator was able to leave his gun and secured Campbell in the nose with the help of the bombardier. With Morgan now firmly in control, the B-17 reached Hanover, dropped its bombs and returned safely to make an emergency landing at RAF Foulsham, with barely any fuel left in the tanks. Campbell’s injuries proved fatal and he died shortly after the landing, while the five men in the rear fuselage knocked out through oxygen starvation had all survived, though with varying degrees of frostbite. They had regained consciousness as the aircraft descended on the outward flight.

Awarded the Medal of Honor in December 1943, Morgan was promoted and given the option of going home, but continued to fly combat sorties. On 6th March 1944, his H2X radar-equipped B-17 was flying as a formation lead aircraft on a mission to Berlin when it took a direct flak hit over the target. Morgan grabbed a parachute, but hadn’t had time to fasten it before the aircraft exploded. He was in freefall for an estimated 20,000 feet as he struggled to clip the pack to his chest, succeeding with around 500 feet to spare.

Captured almost immediately, Morgan spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I, the only Medal of Honor winner to become a prisoner of war after receiving the award. He saw service again in Korea, flying cargo aircraft when denied a combat assignment. Ending his Air Force career in the Reserves as a Lieutenant Colonel, he died in 1991.

Pictured:

1) John Cary Morgan receiving the Medal of Honor from Lt Gen Ira Eaker, 8th Air Force commander, 18th December 1944.

📷 afhistory.af.mil

2) Morgan’s B-17 ‘Chopstick G. George’ descending in flames over Berlin, 6/3/44. This image was taken moments before the aircraft exploded, killing six of the crew.

📷 b17flyingfortress.de

3) Morgan manning a field kitchen at Stalag Luft I.

📷 thisdayinaviation.com

@JamieMctrusty via X

[lalalian]

into the far lands of the celatum... | aethergarde academy

date: october 8, 2024

EDIT: I don’t mean a lot as in like ‘major resource’ I mean a lot as in it gets a lot of one really niche resource from this island, namely ce’ceri scales; ce’ceri aren’t known to the world really, but their scales sometimes escape the barrier bc they contain a pretty good amount of mana

where am I?

I've really been starving ya'll lately in terms of actual main story lore, so, think of this post as (yet another) teaser.

This is like huge, actually 😭😭 not the island, I mean the importance of this place.

Today, I'll talk more about mermaids and their effects on Ostathia and the rest of the world.

BUT

Before that, let's talk mermaids (in general!!)

why are merfolk even important?

Merfolk are extremely important when it comes to trade, guiding, and water safety. Eudora has a tight bond with the merfolk-- they often do spy work and provide resources to land dwelling people that can only be found underwater.

I don't think I can stress how important merfolk are when it comes to trade, like they can block off trade routes within minutes if they want to.

Brimstone (Brimstone=all the kingdoms/empires on the continent) has a hard time trading with other places because merfolk constantly try to wreak their ships due to their alliances with other empires... especially Eudora and Caldarune. Asahn's outside alliances + the merfolk they're allied with do help reduce the attacks. It's not uncommon for empire to pay merfolk to do this; this is including the Eudora Empire.

Even if you use aircraft (atm, the only flying transportation vehicle is a floating ship invented by an institute in Aielles), you'd have to fly at a certain distance above water + make sure the bottom of the ship is strong enough to withstand their arrows. No, the merfolk aren't just going to throw spears at the ships by hand, they've made cannon-like machines to cause as much damage as possible.

Trading groups who are rich enough to have reinforced top-of-the-line air ships can generally withstand the merfolk's revolts.

asahn's history with merfolk

Asahn is the only Brimstone territory that has an alliance with some kind of merfolk group-- the group they're allied with is a small colony of 120~ who also don't like humans and have been known to have a peculiar taste for dragon flesh + blood.

If you've read the stuff in the script about Asahn, I think you could infer where they get their supply of dragon corpses (if you're deemed too weak for your dragon, your dragon is removed from your care).

I'd like to point out that Asahn is not a communist country, it's more totalitarian. There's nothing Asahn desires more than strength and power, to be worthy of noble status, you must be a B tiered rider or higher. Race and gender generally don't matter, you just need to be as powerful as you can possibly be.

Some of Callisto's resources are from Asahn

why are merfolk important to ostathia?

Ostathia was sealed by unknown entities for the last century. Though, the residents of Ostathia do know it was by aquatic beings.

Merfolk.

Ostathia is hidden from riders, dragons, and even other merfolk-- they cannot sense the presence of the force shield or the residents living in Ostathia. You can literally sail through Ostathia and not even know you did so.

Residents born in the kingdom of Ostathia (their residents call themselves Ostathees) don't leave; no outsiders were reported to have entered Ostathia since its closure.

The mermaids who reside in this kingdom care for the ce'ceri (seh-sir-see) -- water serpents. These serpents are a relative of the bakunawa, but these serpents are different enough to be unable to mate with bakunawas.

ostathia

I'm not going to say everything (once again, lmao) but I'll leave this post off with this:

The weakest point of Ostathia's barrier is located at the billows, it may only be marginally weaker, but it's weaker nonetheless

Who are the residents of Ostathia?

Are we really sure that nobody's left the kingdom in the last century?

Who are the dragons hanging around the Isles of Phaum?

Do/did the ce'ceri have riders?

Who is the black ce'ceri?

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I'm open to questions about Ostathia as long as it's not related to the major conflicts directly.

I will say that you will be dealing with this kingdom in your last year at aethergarde academy.

wanna know more about my aethergarde academy dr? here's a masterlist with everything I've posted about it!

[bekolxeram]

S8 opening disaster predictions

I was patiently waiting for more bts material before making my predictions, but due to recent events, it seems like we're not going to get much more before the premiere, so here goes nothing, I'm making wild guesses out of what we've got so far. (No, we're not going to Oz.)

Bees

We've all seen the constant reference to bees in promos, the latest official teaser seems to indicate a bee-nado as well. I don't think it's an actual tornado with bees in it, or even a The Swarm style large scale bee disaster. In that film the bees crash 2 military helicopters, derail a train and contribute to a nuclear meltdown. I don't think ABC would greenlight The Swarm parody or an actual bee-tornado, especially after how widely mocked Lone Star was for that frozen man CPR scene.

I can see it being a severe bee infestation with multiple bee sting emergencies. Whenever a swamp of bees is reported by media, it's often described as... you've guessed it, a bee tornado. I can totally see the 118 dealing with bee attacks in 8x01.

I can't think of how the bees alone would be a major disaster though. A couple unfortunate people might get stung by a swamp, some more unlucky firefighters might have to fight through the bees to get to the patient, but it's hardly a city-wide catastrophe. I highly doubt the opening disaster is just about the bees.

Plane

I've already written why I think S8's big disaster would be aviation related, judging by the few photos and clips uploaded by the crew.

Every international airport in the US is required to have enough resources to deal with regular aviation incidents like bird strikes, hot brakes, engine failures, minor runway excursions, etc. There must be a very real possibility of a catastrophic mass casualty event for the fire department to send in engines from outside the airport for support.

The emergency vehicles we see in the hangar seem to be parked neatly in rows, so I don't think it's the case of a plane rapidly dropping out of the sky, looking for a place to land as soon as possible, or a sudden accident happening within the vicinity of the airfield. Emergency services have already been notified before the aircraft's arrival, so the trucks are just waiting on the side.

One real life example I can think of that matches these 2 conditions would be JetBlue Flight 292 in 2005. The A320 was flying from Burbank to New York when the pilots realized they couldn't retract the landing gear after takeoff. The crew tried troubleshooting while hand-flying the plane in a holding pattern (the stuck gear prevented the autopilot and the auto-throttle from engaging) to no avail, so they decided to divert to Long Beach and suggested doing a low fly-by for airport officials to assess the damage to the landing gear before attempting to land. It was reported back that the nose gear of the A320 was rotated 90° to the left, meaning it was completely perpendicular to the direction of the fuselage.

In the case of unsafe landing gear, pilots would usually attempt a gear up belly landing instead, as most modern airliners are designed to handle that. Since the nose gear was sideways in this case, retracting it was not possible, so the pilots decided to hold over the city for more than 2 hours in order to burn fuel (A320s can't dump fuel), then attempt to land at LAX, since its runways are longer and wider.

The LAFD mobilized over 100 firefighters all across the city to the airport and positioned them at different locations along the runway on standby. On the other hand, news stations sent out flocks of helicopters to broadcast the whole incident live on TV. Not only their loved ones at home, but the passengers themselves could utilize the in-flight entertainment system to tune in and witness the very plane they were on circling over LA, with aviation experts on air discussing the potential disastrous scenarios they might encounter.

At around 18:00, the flight crew turned off the in-flight entertainment system and gave the passengers a few minutes to call their loved ones. After that, the plane successfully landed at LAX with 1000 feet of runway to spare. No one was injured.

This is what's left of the nose gear wheels.

I'm not saying it will be exactly like this incident, but a major mechanical failure that hinders an aircraft's ability to land safely would fit the most.

Prisoner

Apparently Athena will be on a flight escorting a prisoner in 8x02, at least according to that person working at ONT who posted the photo with Angela on reddit. Naturally, some theorized that the prison would have something to do with the plane going down. I've seen nothing to disprove this theory so far, so it's absolutely a possibility. Although, that would make it the second time in a row a sort of transport vessel with Athena in it runs into a disaster caused by criminal sabotage. It's predictable and repetitive. I also haven't seen in bts stuff the amount of cops required for a hijacking scenario.

What I've noticed from crew photos is that the plane outside of the hangar during filming is a Boeing aircraft, while the cockpit we see earlier at the studio is an Airbus. If there are indeed two different airplanes involved in 8x02, then I can see maybe an impending emergency landing shutting down the airport, the prisoner being stuck inside of a plane on the ground decides to open an emergency exit and makes a run for it. Athena tracking down the prisoner would be the B-plot or something I don't know. I have 0 evidence to back it up, it's just a wild guess.

Sankes Bees on a plane?

Bees swarm airplanes all the time, but getting inside is a different story.

It's kind of hard to miss a swarm of buzzing bees inside an airplane. After pre-flight inspections by technicians and the flight crew, security checks by the cabin crew, the time it takes for the passengers to embark and the baggage to be loaded. then pushing back and taxiing, if a swarm of bees somehow still goes unnoticed, I guess everyone has to be blind and deaf.

Also, if the nature of the disaster is merely a bunch of angry bees attacking people on a plane, it would be quite boring? It would just be a lot of first responders triaging people and applying first aid.

What if the the bees are in the cockpit and the pilots are stung? Well, do both of them just happen to be allergic to bees at the same time? If so, I can maybe see a passenger onboard having to land the plane listening to instructions from the ground. I say 80% chance it'll end badly, thus needing fire rescue. But still, it's a very improbable scenario that requires way to many coincidences.

Bee strike

Airplanes accidentally hit wildlife in the air all the time, the most common one is bird strike, but there have also been locust strike, bat strike, even fish strike.

A swarm of bees is not like a flock of geese, bees don't have bones and are much lighter in mass, so while they can still cause some minor damages to the engine(s), it's usually not a big deal. The leftover bee goo on the windshield might affect visibility, but modern airliners have so many automated systems and navigational aid in place that they can pretty much land in 0 visibility.

So the bees have nothing to do with the plane?

Not exactly, bees and wasps are actually a serious hazard to aviation safety, but not in the way you would think.

Some species of bees and wasps like to build their nests in small, exposed cavities belonging to an aircraft, especially the pitot tubes.

A pitot tube is a crucial instrument on the fuselage of an aircraft that measures its airspeed. If it becomes clogged by foreign objects, in this bees, wasps and/or their nest, the pilots would be left with unreliable airspeed indications. If they unknowingly fly too slow, the plane risks stalling and crashing, like Birgenair Flight 301 in 1996. Air France Flight 447 also stalled and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean due to blocked pitot tubes, but this time not caused by insects, they were blocked by icing.

Brisbane Airport in Australia struggles with wasps infestation particularly badly. In 2013, some mud daubers managed to clog the pitot tubes on an Etihad A330 in under 2 hours, resulting in an overweight emergency landing. For that, airport authority recommended the use of pitot tube covers for aircrafts on the ground, but that causes a whole new problem.

Although the pitot tube covers are big red things with "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" written on them, ground crews forgot to remove them before pushing back... twice! The 2022 incident was luckily caught just in time by a refueller nearby, but in 2018, the Malaysian Airlines A330 actually took off with all 3 pitot tube covers still on and the flight crew had to circle back to the airport with no airspeed indications.

While pitot tubes seem to be the most popular among bees and wasps, there have been cases of other openings on an aircraft being blocked by wasps. This Gulfstream business jet had its cabin pressurization relief valve clogged by dried dirt from a mud dauber, leading to a cabin over-pressurization event.

There shouldn't be a catastrophic crash because of unreliable airspeed if the pilots are well trained, but I can imagine a TV show finding some even more crucial flight instruments to be clogged by bees.

Bees as indirect contributors

Of course it can also be the case of bees just happen to sting the one person keeping the aircraft safe. Maybe bees distracted a small aircraft or drone pilot, causing a midair collision.

Or it could be an important airplane mechanic missing work to recover from bee stings. Just last week, an article was published on the Seattle Times detailing the timeline leading up to the Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 door plug blowout incident. It was revealed that there was basically only one single mechanic who would work on door plugs. On the 2 days when the door plug in question had to be opened and closed back up to replace damaged rivets, the mechanic happened to be on vacation. His replacement, a young trainee, had no idea what they were doing, and the 737 with a ticking time bomb of a door plug rolled straight out of the shop.

Aviation experts have commented that if the door plug exited the aircraft at a higher altitude, the result would be much more catastrophic: some parts in the cabin could be ripped off, objects would fly out of the plane and possibly ingested into the engine, and if the plane hit cruising altitude, unbuckled passengers and flight attendants up and walking around the cabin would be sucked right out.

Tommy's role in this disaster

The 217 truck is right there next to the 118 one, so Tommy's house is definitely involved. It probably happens at the airport where the 217 is located as well. We've already seen Tommy working on the ground in 7x06, he'll be needed in this kind of all hands on deck situation at his station's airport too.

He could also be airlifting seriously injured patients to the hospital. One service Air Ops provide that is often overlooked, is VIP transport. Tommy may be asked to fly higher ups of the fire department around the airport to assess the situation. LAFD helicopters were deployed for the JetBlue 292 incident in fact.

*Whisper*

There’s also a chance that Tommy’s helicopter will crash. One crashed in New York back in July because its fuel vent was clogged by a wasp nest.🫣

But I hope not, not so soon. Let me see them be cute and sweet for a while first, that’ll make the angst more delicious.

Conclusion

My predictions are probably super wrong, I don't have a lot to work with, so take them with a grain of salt, maybe think of this as simply a fun read about planes. These all are about as accurate as the Wizard of Oz theory, only I didn't grow up watching classic fantasy musical like a normal person, I watched all 24 seasons of Mayday.

I guess we'll find out in a month.