Images Dated 22nd July 2006

Royal Air Force E3D Sentry AWACS Reconnaisance Aircraft

A Royal Air Force E3D Sentry is pictured on a sortie from RAF Waddington.
The RAF operates seven E-3D Sentry aircraft in the airborne surveillance and command-and-control role. The aircraft are based at RAF Waddington, where they are operated by Nos 8 and 23 Squadrons as the UK's contribution to the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force.
The E-3D also forms one arm of the UK Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) triad of Sentinel R1, E-3D and Nimrod R1 aircraft. Whilst primarily procured as an airborne early warning aircraft, the E- 3D has been extensively employed in the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) role.
The E-3D Sentry, known to the RAF as the AEW1, is based on the commercial Boeing 707-320B aircraft, which has been extensively modified and updated to accommodate modern mission systems. Mission endurance is approximately 11 hours (over 5000nmls), although this can be extended by air-to-air refuelling.
The E-3D is the only aircraft in the RAF's inventory capable of air-to-air refuelling by both the American flying-boom system and the RAF's probe-and-drogue method

Frances Teresa Stewart, Duchess Of Richmond And Lennox 1648 To 1702 Mistress Of Charles Ii Also Known As La Belle Stuart Model For Image Of Britannia Drawn By Johnson From Painting By James Huysman Engraved By Rivers From Iconographia Scotica Or Portraits Of Illustrious Persons Of Scotland By John Pinkerton Published London 1797

© Ken Welsh / Design Pics

Four-leaved allseed

ROG-12684
Four-leaved allseed
Rare coastal plant in UK.
Polycarpon tetraphyllum
Bob Gibbons
Please note that prints are for personal display purposes only and may not be reproduced in any way

© Bob Gibbons / ardea.com

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