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Aero Adventure KP 2U-Sova__NOTOC__
The Kappa 77 KP 2U-SOVA is a two-seat civil utility aircraft designed in the Czech Republic and available in kit form for homebuilding. It is a conventional low-wing monoplane featuring all-metal construction and retractable tricycle undercarriage. It is marketed in the United States by Aero Adventure Aviation.
Specifications (KP 2U-SOVA)
General Characteristics
- Crew: one pilot
- Capacity: 1 passenger
- Length: 7.17 m (23 ft 7 in)
- Wingspan: 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in)
- Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 7 in)
- Wing area: 11.9 m² (128 ft²)
- Empty: 285 kg (682 lb)
- Loaded: kg ( lb)
- Maximum takeoff: 450 kg (1,058 lb)
- Powerplant: Rotax 912, 80 hp (60 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 240 km/h (150 mph)
- Range: 875 km (547 miles)
- Service ceiling: m ( ft)
- Rate of climb: 450 m/min (1,475 ft/min)
- Wing loading: kg/m² ( lb/ft²)
- Power/Mass: kW/kg ( hp/lb)
Related content
Related development:
Comparable aircraft:
Designation sequence:
KP 2 -
KP-5
Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian civil utility aircraft 1990-1999
Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian ultralights 1990-1999
Category:homebuilt aircraft
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic (Czech: Česká republika ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. Historic Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist attraction, is its capital and largest city. Other major cities include Brno, Ostrava, Zlín, Plzeň, Pardubice, Hradec Králové, České Budějovice, Liberec, Olomouc, and Ústí nad Labem.
The country is composed of two older regions, Bohemia and Moravia, and part of a third one, Silesia. As of May 1, 2004, it is a member state of the European Union.
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993 announced that the name Czechia (Czech: Česko) is to be used in all situations other than formal official documents and the full names of government institutions [http://www.p.lodz.pl/I35/personal/jw37/EUROPE/cesko2.htm], [http://www.p.lodz.pl/I35/personal/jw37/EUROPE/cesko1.htm], but this has not caught on in English usage. See also: Czech lands.
History
Main article: History of the Czech lands
From prehistoric times, archaeologists have found evidence of human settlers in the area. From the 3rd century BC Celtic migrations, the Boii (see Bohemia) and later in the 1st century Germanic tribes of Marcomanni and Quadi settled there. During the Migration Period of ca. the 5th century, many Germanic tribes moved westward and southward out of Central Europe. In an equally signifcant migration, Slavic people from the Black Sea and Carpathian regions settled in the newly emptied lands (a movement that was also stimulated by the onslaught of peoples from Siberia and Eastern Europe: Huns, Avars, Bulgars and Magyars). Following in the Germans' wake, they moved southward into Bohemia, Moravia, and much of present day Austria. This movement marked the Slavs' emergence from historical obscurity.
During the 7th century the Frankish merchant Samo, supporting the Slavs fighting their Avar rulers, became the ruler of the first known Slav state in Central Europe. The Moravian principality arose in the 8th century (see under Great_Moravia).
The Czech state emerged in the late 9th century when it was unified by the Přemyslids. The kingdom of Bohemia was a significant local power, but religious conflicts such as the 15th century Hussite Wars and the 17th century Thirty Years War were devastating. It later came under the Habsburg influence and became part of Austria-Hungary.
Following the collapse of this empire after World War I, the Czechs and neighbouring Slovaks joined together and formed the independent republic of Czechoslovakia in 1918. This new country contained a large German minority, which would lead to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia when Germany successfully annexed the minority through the Munich Agreement in 1938, and Slovakia gained greater autonomy, with the state renamed "Czecho-Slovakia". Slovakia broke away further in 1939 and the remaining Czech state was occupied by the Germans who installed a puppet-regime explicitly styled Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, where the Czech President and Prime Minister were de facto subordinate to the nazi Reichsprotektor ('imperial protector').
After World War II, a reconstituted Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968, an invasion by Warsaw Pact troops ended the efforts of the country's leaders to liberalize party rule and create "socialism with a human face" during the Prague Spring.
In 1989, Czechoslovakia regained its "freedom" through a peaceful "Velvet Revolution". On January 1, 1993, the country peacefully split in two, creating independent Czech and Slovak republics.
The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004.
Politics
Main article: Politics of the Czech Republic
According to its constitution the Czech Republic is a parliamentary democracy, whose head of state is a president, indirectly elected every five years by the parliament. The president is also granted specific powers such as the right to nominate Constitutional Court judges, dissolve parliament under certain conditions, complete immunity, and enact a veto on legislation. He also appoints the prime minister, who sets the agenda for most foreign and domestic policy, as well the other members of the cabinet on a proposal by the prime minister.
The Czech parliament (Parlament) is bicameral, with a Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) and a Senate (Senát). The 200 Chamber delegates are elected for 4-year terms, on the basis of proportional representation. The 81 members of the Czech Senate serve for 6-year terms with one-third being elected every 2 years on the basis of two-round majority voting.
The country's highest court of appeals is the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court, which rules on constitutional issues, is appointed by the president, and its members serve 10-year terms.
Regions
Main article: Regions of the Czech Republic; see also: [http://www.czech.cz/index.php?section=1&menu=5 Overview of regions in Czech Republic]
The Czech Republic consists of 13 regions (kraje, singular - kraj) and one capital city (hlavní město), marked by a
- :
Regions of the Czech Republic
Geography
Main article: Geography of the Czech Republic
Geography of the Czech Republic
The Czech landscape is quite varied; Bohemia to the west consists of a basin, drained by the Elbe (Czech: Labe) and Vltava rivers, surrounded by mostly low mountains such as the Sudeten with its part Krkonoše, where one also finds the highest point in the country, the Sněžka at 1,602 m.
Moravia, the eastern part, is also quite hilly and is drained predominantly by the Morava river, but also contains the source of the Oder (Czech: Odra) river. Water from the landlocked Czech Republic flows to three different seas: the North Sea, Baltic Sea and Black Sea.
The local climate is temperate with warm summers and cold, cloudy, humid winters, typified by a mixture of maritime and continental influences.
Economy
Main article: Economy of the Czech Republic
One of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist states, the Czech Republic has been recovering from recession since mid-1999. Growth in 2000-2001 was led by exports to the EU, especially Germany, and foreign investment, while domestic demand is reviving.
The rate of corruption remains one of the highest among OECD countries.
Uncomfortably high fiscal and current account deficits could be future problems.
Moves to complete banking, telecommunications, and energy privatisation will add to foreign investment, while intensified restructuring among large enterprises and banks and improvements in the financial sector should strengthen output growth.
The Czech government has expressed a desire to adopt the euro currency in 2010, but the introduction of the currency is currently only in the early planning stages.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of the Czech Republic
The majority of the inhabitants of the Czech Republic (95%) are ethnically Czech and speak Czech, a member of the Slavic languages. Other ethnic groups include Slovaks, Germans, Roma, Hungarians, Ukrainians and Poles. After the 1993 division, some Slovaks remained in the Czech Republic and comprise roughly 2% of the current population. The border between the Czechia and Slovakia is open for citizens of the former Czechoslovakia. Given the massive rise of tourism in Prague, English is becoming widely popular among business-owners and public servants.
Despite the very visible presence of cathedrals and church buildings all over the country, the majority of Czechs (59%) are agnostics or atheists. Significant religious groups include Roman Catholics (27%), Protestants (1.2%), and Czechoslovak Hussites (1%).
Culture
- Cinema of the Czech Republic
- Famous Czech People
- Literature of the Czech Republic
- Music of the Czech Republic
- National Theatre (Prague)
- Czech TV
- Czech cuisine
International rankings
- Human Development Index 2003: Rank 31st out of 177 countries.
- Index of Economic Freedom 2005: Rank 33rd out of 155 countries.
- Reporters Without Borders world-wide press freedom index 2005: Rank 9th out of 167 countries.
Miscellaneous topics
- Communications in the Czech Republic
- Foreign relations of the Czech Republic
- Junák
- List of cities in the Czech Republic
- List of postal codes in the Czech Republic
- List of Czech Republic-related topics
- Military of the Czech Republic
- Public holidays in the Czech Republic
- Tourism in the Czech Republic
- Transportation in the Czech Republic
- Spa towns in the Czech Republic
Reference
- Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
External links
- [http://www.psp.cz/cgi-bin/eng Chamber of Deputies website], in English
- [http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/ Czech Press Agency news in English]
- [http://www.czechtourism.com/index.php?lang=3 CzechTourism] - governmental agency aimed at promoting tourism in the Czech Republic
- [http://www.vlada.cz/1250/eng/aktuality.htm Government website], in English
- [http://www.Czech.cz Official Czech portal]
- [http://portal.gov.cz/wps/portal/_s.155/5906?lng=en Portal of the Public Administration of Czech Republic]
- [http://www.slackertravel.com/pictures/Czech_Republic/czechrepublic.html Pictures of the Czech Republic] - from slackertravel.com
- [http://www.praguemonitor.com/ Prague Daily Monitor] - Czech news in English
- [http://www.praguepost.com/ Prague Post] - English-language newsweekly
- [http://www.hrad.cz/ Presidential website], click for a pop-up overview of English-language content
- [http://radio.cz/en/ Radio Prague] - website of the English service of Czech Radio
- [http://www.senat.cz/index-eng.php Senate website], in English
- [http://www.czechforum.net Czech Forum], about all the different aspects of the Czech Republic
- Czech Republic at Wikitravel - share your tourist experience.
- [http://www.worldwide-tax.com/czech/indexczech.asp Czech R. economy and business indicators] Czech Republic key Data on Taxes and Income Tax.
Category:European Union member states
Category:Landlocked countries
zh-min-nan:Česko
ko:체코
ms:Republik Czech
ja:チェコ
simple:Czech Republic
th:สาธารณรัฐเช็ก
fiu-vro:Tsehhi
KitplaneAlso known as amateur-built aircraft, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by one or more persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits. Although the aircraft is constructed by an amateur, the finished product is often of good quality.
In the United States, such aircraft may be flown as Experimental Aircraft under FAA regulations, provided that the owner has done at least 51% of the construction work her or himself.
The first aircraft to be offered for sale in this form was the Ace Baby Ace in the late 1920s. Homebuilt aircraft gained in popularity in the US in the 1950s with the formation of the Experimental Aircraft Association and with a large demand for light aircraft created by ex-military pilots after World War II.
Homebuilt aircraft are typically small, one- to four-seat sportsplanes, and employ simple methods of construction. Fabric-covered wood or metal frames and plywood are common in the aircraft structure, but increasingly, fiberglass is being used. Engines are often converted from automobile engines, with Volkswagen air-cooled flat-4s proving popular. This helps to keep costs down, but some builders use dedicated aircraft engines which typically give better performance. There are some newer aircraft engines becoming common, such as those from Rotax, that use modern technology to keep costs and fuel burn down compared to the small Lycoming or Continental engines.
History
One can trace the history of amateur-built aircraft almost to the beginning of aviation itself. Even if the Wright brothers, Clément Ader, and their successors had commercial objectives in mind, the first aircraft were amateur-built, constructed by passionate enthusiasts whose goal was to fly.
Early years
Aviation took a leap forward with the industrialization that accompanied the First World War (1914-1918). In the post-war period, manufacturers needed to find new markets and introduced models designed for tourism. However, these machines were affordable only by the very rich.
Many U.S. aircraft designed and registered in the 1920s onward were considered "experimental" by the then-CAA, the same registration modern homebuilts are certified under. Many of these were prototypes, but designs such as Bernard H. Pietenpol's first, 1923 design were some of the first homebuilt aircraft. In 1928 Henri Mignet published plans for the HM-8 aircraft, as did Pietenpol for his Air Camper. Pietenpol later constructed a factory, and in 1933 began creating and selling partially-constructed aircraft kits.
The year 1936 saw the creation in France of an association of amateur aviation enthusiasts. Many types of amateur aircraft began to make an appearance, and in 1938 legislation was amended to provide for a Certificat de navigabilité restreint d'aéronef (CNRA, "restricted operating certificate for aircraft"). 1946 saw the birth of the Ultralight Aircraft Association which later in 1952 became the Popular Flying Association in the United Kingdom, followed the next year by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States.
Technology and innovation
Until around the late 1950s, builders had mainly kept to wood-and-cloth design. Borrowing from improving technology in the manufacturing side of aviation, homebuilders showed great creativity in introducing innovations. Metal construction in kitplanes was taken to a new level by Richard Van Grunsven in his RV series, while Burt Rutan pioneered composite construction and introduced the canard design to the homebuilding world. Standardized components from production aircraft, such as autopilots and more advanced navigation instruments became common as well..
Litigation during the 1970s and 1980s caused much stagnation in the production small aircraft market, forcing the surviving companies to stick to older, proven designs. In recent years, the less restrictive regulations for homebuilts allowed a number of manufacturers to develop new and innovative designs; many can considerably outperform certified production aircraft in their class.
A prime example of high-end homebuilt design is Lancair, which has developed a number of high-performance kits. The most powerful is the Lancair PropJet, a four-place kit with cabin pressurization and a turboprop engine, cruising at 24,000 feet and 370 knots. The only production aircraft of similar size and performance, the Extra 500, is still undergoing certification in the U.S. and will cost $1.5 million.
A small number of jet kitplanes have been built since the 1970's, including the tiny Bede BD-5.
Aircraft Types
Wood and cloth
This is the oldest construction, seen in the first aircraft and hence the best known. For that reason amateur-built aircraft associations will have more specialists for this type of craft than other kinds.
The most commonly-used woods are Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir, which offer excellent strength-to-weight ratios. Wooden structural members are joined with adhesive, usually epoxy. Unlike the wood construction techniques used in other applications, virtually all wooden joints in aircraft are simple butt joints, with plywood gussets. Joints are designed to be stronger than the members.
After the structure has been completed, the airplane is covered in fabric (usually aircraft-grade polyester) using typical aircraft methods.
The biggest advantage of this type of construction is that it does not require a lot of complex tools and equipment, but rather such commonplace items as a saw, plane tool, file, sandpaper, and clamps are sufficient.
Amateur wood/cloth planes include:
- The Ison miniMAX
- the Jodel models including the bébé D-9, D-112, and the more D-18, D-19, and D-20
- the Piel CP-30 or Émeraude
- the motorized glider Fournier RF-5.
A more modern trend is to build what could well be designated as wood-composite aircraft. The basic material is still wood, but it's combined with foam and other synthetic materials. An example of a wood-composite design would be this [http://ibis.experimentals.de/ IBIS experimental aircraft project], designed by Roger Junqua.
Metal
Planes built from metals use similar techniques to more conventional factory-built airplanes. They can be more challenging to build, requiring metal-cutting, metal-shaping, and riveting. However, full or component assembly kits are relatively easy to obtain. (A component assembly kit has the material needed to build part of the aircraft, such as the fuselage. Such kits are also available for the other types of aircraft construction.)
There are three main types of metal construction: sheet aluminum, tube aluminum and welded steel tube. The tube structures are covered in fabric, much like wooden airplanes.
Examples of metal-based amateur aircraft include:
- The Vans_RV-4, RV-8, and other models produced by Van's Aircraft, are by far the most popular metal homebuilt airplanes. Van's is a U.S. manufacturer whose designs are available in kit form.
- Those built by Chris Heintz's Zenith Aircraft Company
- Jean Pottier's Pottier P-230 Panda
Composite
"Composite_material" structures are made of cloth with a high tensile strength (usually fibreglass or carbon, or occasionally Kevlar) combined with a structural plastic (usually epoxy, although vinylester is used in some airplanes). The fabric is saturated with the structural plastic in a liquid form; when the plastic cures and hardens, the part will hold its shape while possessing the strength characteristics of the fabric.
The two primary types of composite planes are molded composite, where major structures like wing skins and fuselage halves and prepared and cured in molds, and moldless, where shapes are carved out of foam and then covered with fiberglass or carbon fiber.
The advantages of this type of construction include smooth surfaces (without the drag of rivets), the ability to do virtually any compound curve, and the ability to place fiberglass or carbon fiber in optimal positions, orientations, and quantities. Drawbacks include the need to work with chemical products, and the weight, which can be even greater than with wood/cloth or metal models.
Examples of amateur craft made of composite materials include:
- Canard designs such as the VariEze and Long_EZ designed by Burt Rutan.
- all Lancair designs
- the MCR de Dyn'aero,a high-performance craft available in kit form.
See also
- :Category:Homebuilt aircraft
- Ultralight
External links
- [http://www.eaa.org Experimental Aircraft Association] "EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, is a growing and diverse organization of members with a wide range of aviation interests and backgrounds."
- [http://www.pfa.org.uk Popular Flying Association] "The Popular Flying Association is the representative body in the United Kingdom for amateur aircraft construction, recreational and sport flying."
- [http://www.rsafrance.com Réseau du Sport de l'Air] (In French) "Le Réseau du Sport de l'Air est la Fédération Nationale dédiée à la Construction et la Restauration d'aéronefs grandeur nature depuis 1947 (avions, planeurs, ulm, hélicoptères, ballons...)" ("The Air Enthusiasts Association is the national federation dedicated to the construction and restoration of heavier-than-air craft since 1947 (planes, gliders, ultra-lights, helicopters, balloons, ...)")
- [http://members.pgv.at/ieclub Igo Etrich Club] The Igo Etrich Club was founded in 1987 by to provide a place for all Austrians interested in building aircraft. The association assists it members at the following tasks: own developments; building a copy using a plan; building a kit plane; restoration of an old plane or overhauling of an old-timer.
-
Homebuilt aircraftAlso known as amateur-built aircraft, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by one or more persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits. Although the aircraft is constructed by an amateur, the finished product is often of good quality.
In the United States, such aircraft may be flown as Experimental Aircraft under FAA regulations, provided that the owner has done at least 51% of the construction work her or himself.
The first aircraft to be offered for sale in this form was the Ace Baby Ace in the late 1920s. Homebuilt aircraft gained in popularity in the US in the 1950s with the formation of the Experimental Aircraft Association and with a large demand for light aircraft created by ex-military pilots after World War II.
Homebuilt aircraft are typically small, one- to four-seat sportsplanes, and employ simple methods of construction. Fabric-covered wood or metal frames and plywood are common in the aircraft structure, but increasingly, fiberglass is being used. Engines are often converted from automobile engines, with Volkswagen air-cooled flat-4s proving popular. This helps to keep costs down, but some builders use dedicated aircraft engines which typically give better performance. There are some newer aircraft engines becoming common, such as those from Rotax, that use modern technology to keep costs and fuel burn down compared to the small Lycoming or Continental engines.
History
One can trace the history of amateur-built aircraft almost to the beginning of aviation itself. Even if the Wright brothers, Clément Ader, and their successors had commercial objectives in mind, the first aircraft were amateur-built, constructed by passionate enthusiasts whose goal was to fly.
Early years
Aviation took a leap forward with the industrialization that accompanied the First World War (1914-1918). In the post-war period, manufacturers needed to find new markets and introduced models designed for tourism. However, these machines were affordable only by the very rich.
Many U.S. aircraft designed and registered in the 1920s onward were considered "experimental" by the then-CAA, the same registration modern homebuilts are certified under. Many of these were prototypes, but designs such as Bernard H. Pietenpol's first, 1923 design were some of the first homebuilt aircraft. In 1928 Henri Mignet published plans for the HM-8 aircraft, as did Pietenpol for his Air Camper. Pietenpol later constructed a factory, and in 1933 began creating and selling partially-constructed aircraft kits.
The year 1936 saw the creation in France of an association of amateur aviation enthusiasts. Many types of amateur aircraft began to make an appearance, and in 1938 legislation was amended to provide for a Certificat de navigabilité restreint d'aéronef (CNRA, "restricted operating certificate for aircraft"). 1946 saw the birth of the Ultralight Aircraft Association which later in 1952 became the Popular Flying Association in the United Kingdom, followed the next year by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States.
Technology and innovation
Until around the late 1950s, builders had mainly kept to wood-and-cloth design. Borrowing from improving technology in the manufacturing side of aviation, homebuilders showed great creativity in introducing innovations. Metal construction in kitplanes was taken to a new level by Richard Van Grunsven in his RV series, while Burt Rutan pioneered composite construction and introduced the canard design to the homebuilding world. Standardized components from production aircraft, such as autopilots and more advanced navigation instruments became common as well..
Litigation during the 1970s and 1980s caused much stagnation in the production small aircraft market, forcing the surviving companies to stick to older, proven designs. In recent years, the less restrictive regulations for homebuilts allowed a number of manufacturers to develop new and innovative designs; many can considerably outperform certified production aircraft in their class.
A prime example of high-end homebuilt design is Lancair, which has developed a number of high-performance kits. The most powerful is the Lancair PropJet, a four-place kit with cabin pressurization and a turboprop engine, cruising at 24,000 feet and 370 knots. The only production aircraft of similar size and performance, the Extra 500, is still undergoing certification in the U.S. and will cost $1.5 million.
A small number of jet kitplanes have been built since the 1970's, including the tiny Bede BD-5.
Aircraft Types
Wood and cloth
This is the oldest construction, seen in the first aircraft and hence the best known. For that reason amateur-built aircraft associations will have more specialists for this type of craft than other kinds.
The most commonly-used woods are Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir, which offer excellent strength-to-weight ratios. Wooden structural members are joined with adhesive, usually epoxy. Unlike the wood construction techniques used in other applications, virtually all wooden joints in aircraft are simple butt joints, with plywood gussets. Joints are designed to be stronger than the members.
After the structure has been completed, the airplane is covered in fabric (usually aircraft-grade polyester) using typical aircraft methods.
The biggest advantage of this type of construction is that it does not require a lot of complex tools and equipment, but rather such commonplace items as a saw, plane tool, file, sandpaper, and clamps are sufficient.
Amateur wood/cloth planes include:
- The Ison miniMAX
- the Jodel models including the bébé D-9, D-112, and the more D-18, D-19, and D-20
- the Piel CP-30 or Émeraude
- the motorized glider Fournier RF-5.
A more modern trend is to build what could well be designated as wood-composite aircraft. The basic material is still wood, but it's combined with foam and other synthetic materials. An example of a wood-composite design would be this [http://ibis.experimentals.de/ IBIS experimental aircraft project], designed by Roger Junqua.
Metal
Planes built from metals use similar techniques to more conventional factory-built airplanes. They can be more challenging to build, requiring metal-cutting, metal-shaping, and riveting. However, full or component assembly kits are relatively easy to obtain. (A component assembly kit has the material needed to build part of the aircraft, such as the fuselage. Such kits are also available for the other types of aircraft construction.)
There are three main types of metal construction: sheet aluminum, tube aluminum and welded steel tube. The tube structures are covered in fabric, much like wooden airplanes.
Examples of metal-based amateur aircraft include:
- The Vans_RV-4, RV-8, and other models produced by Van's Aircraft, are by far the most popular metal homebuilt airplanes. Van's is a U.S. manufacturer whose designs are available in kit form.
- Those built by Chris Heintz's Zenith Aircraft Company
- Jean Pottier's Pottier P-230 Panda
Composite
"Composite_material" structures are made of cloth with a high tensile strength (usually fibreglass or carbon, or occasionally Kevlar) combined with a structural plastic (usually epoxy, although vinylester is used in some airplanes). The fabric is saturated with the structural plastic in a liquid form; when the plastic cures and hardens, the part will hold its shape while possessing the strength characteristics of the fabric.
The two primary types of composite planes are molded composite, where major structures like wing skins and fuselage halves and prepared and cured in molds, and moldless, where shapes are carved out of foam and then covered with fiberglass or carbon fiber.
The advantages of this type of construction include smooth surfaces (without the drag of rivets), the ability to do virtually any compound curve, and the ability to place fiberglass or carbon fiber in optimal positions, orientations, and quantities. Drawbacks include the need to work with chemical products, and the weight, which can be even greater than with wood/cloth or metal models.
Examples of amateur craft made of composite materials include:
- Canard designs such as the VariEze and Long_EZ designed by Burt Rutan.
- all Lancair designs
- the MCR de Dyn'aero,a high-performance craft available in kit form.
See also
- :Category:Homebuilt aircraft
- Ultralight
External links
- [http://www.eaa.org Experimental Aircraft Association] "EAA, the Experimental Aircraft Association, is a growing and diverse organization of members with a wide range of aviation interests and backgrounds."
- [http://www.pfa.org.uk Popular Flying Association] "The Popular Flying Association is the representative body in the United Kingdom for amateur aircraft construction, recreational and sport flying."
- [http://www.rsafrance.com Réseau du Sport de l'Air] (In French) "Le Réseau du Sport de l'Air est la Fédération Nationale dédiée à la Construction et la Restauration d'aéronefs grandeur nature depuis 1947 (avions, planeurs, ulm, hélicoptères, ballons...)" ("The Air Enthusiasts Association is the national federation dedicated to the construction and restoration of heavier-than-air craft since 1947 (planes, gliders, ultra-lights, helicopters, balloons, ...)")
- [http://members.pgv.at/ieclub Igo Etrich Club] The Igo Etrich Club was founded in 1987 by to provide a place for all Austrians interested in building aircraft. The association assists it members at the following tasks: own developments; building a copy using a plan; building a kit plane; restoration of an old plane or overhauling of an old-timer.
-
United States:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American.
The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America.
The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.
Geography and climate
The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas.
Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization.
When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²).
The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity.
Hawaii
The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.
History
American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200.
Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there.
During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655.
This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule.
British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]]
In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed.
From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments.
Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]]
During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946.
During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics.
In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Government
Iraq of the United States.]]
Republic and suffrage
The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via secret ballot or appointed by other elected officials. Americans enjoy almost universal suffrage from the age of 18 regardless of race, sex, or wealth. There are some limits, however: felons are disenfranchised and in some states former felons are likewise. Furthermore, the national representation of territories and the federal district of Washington, DC in Congress is limited: residents of the District of Columbia are subject to federal laws and federal taxes but their only Congressional representative is a non-voting delegate.
Federal government
The federal government is the national government, comprising the Legislative Branch (led by Congress), the Executive Branch (led by the President), and the Judicial Branch (led by the Supreme Court). These three branches were designed to apply checks and balances on each other. The Constitution limits the powers of the federal government to defense, foreign affairs, the issuing and management of currency, the management of trade and relations between the states, and the protection of human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the federal government—with the assistance of the Supreme Court—has gradually extended these powers into such areas as welfare and education, on the basis of the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution.
The Congress
necessary and proper
The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district and serves for a two-year term. House seats are apportioned among the states by population; in contrast, each state has two Senators, regardless of population. There are a total of 100 senators, who serve six-year terms. The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people. The Constitution also includes the necessary-and-proper clause, which grants Congress the power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers."
The President
necessary-and-proper clause
At the top level of the executive branch is the President of the United States. The President and Vice-President are elected as 'running mates' for four-year terms by the Electoral College, for which each state, as well as the District of Columbia, is allocated a number of seats based on its representation (or ostensible representation, in the case of D. C.) in both houses of Congress (see U.S. Electoral College). The relationship between the President and the Congress reflects that between the English monarchy and parliament at the time of the framing of the United States Constitution. Congress can legislate to constrain the President's executive power, even with respect to his or her command of the armed forces; however, this power is used only very rarely—a notable example was the constraint placed on President Richard Nixon's strategy of bombing Cambodia during the Vietnam War. The President cannot directly propose legislation, and must rely on supporters in Congress to promote his or her legislative agenda. The President's signature is required to turn congressional bills into law; in this respect, the President has the power—only occasionally used—to veto congressional legislation. Congress can override a presidential veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. The ultimate power of Congress over the President is that of impeachment or removal of the elected President through a House vote, a Senate trial, and a Senate vote. The threat of using this power has had major political ramifications in the cases of Presidents Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton.
The President makes around 2,000 executive appointments, including members of the Cabinet and ambassadors, which must be approved by the Senate; the President can also issue executive orders and pardons, and has other Constitutional duties, among them the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress once a year. Although the President's constitutional role may appear to be constrained, in practice, the office carries enormous prestige that typically eclipses the power of Congress: the Presidency has justifiably been referred to as 'the most powerful office in the world'. The Vice President is first in the line of succession, and is the President of the Senate ex officio, with the ability to cast a tie-breaking vote. The members of the President's Cabinet are responsible for administering the various departments of state, including the Department of Defense, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads have considerable regulatory and political power, and it is they who are responsible for executing federal laws and regulations. George W. Bush is the 43rd President, currently serving his second term.
The Courts
George W. Bush
The highest court is the Supreme Court, which consists of nine justices. The court deals with federal and constitutional matters, and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unconstitutional, nullifying the law and creating precedent for future law and decisions. Below the Supreme Court are the courts of appeals, and below them in turn are the district courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.
Separate from, but not entirely independent of, this federal court system are the individual court systems of each state, each dealing with its own laws and having its own judicial rules and procedures. A case may be appealed from a state court to a federal court only if there is a federal question; the supreme court of each state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution.
State and local governments
supreme court of each state. Note that Alaska and Hawaii are shown at different scales, and that the Aleutian Islands and the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands are omitted from this map.]]
The state governments have the greatest influence over people's daily lives. Each state has its own written constitution and has different laws. There are sometimes great differences in law and procedure between the different states, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest elected official of each state is the Governor. Each state also has an elected legislature (bicameral in every state except Nebraska), whose members represent the different parts of the state. Of note is the New Hampshire legislature, which is the third-largest legislative body in the English-speaking world, and has one representative for every 3,000 people. Each state maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and culminating in each state supreme court, though sometimes named differently. In some states, supreme and lower court justices are elected by the people; in others, they are appointed, as they are in the federal system.
The institutions that are responsible for local government are typically town, city, or county boards, making laws that affect their particular area. These laws concern issues such as traffic, the sale of alcohol, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. In New England, towns operate directly democratically, and in some states, such as Rhode Island and Connecticut, counties have little or no power, existing only as geographic distinctions. In other areas, county governments have more power, such as to collect taxes and maintain law enforcement agencies.
Political divisions
With the Declaration of Independence, the thirteen colonies proclaimed themselves to be nation states modeled after the European states of the time. Although considered as sovereigns initially, under the Articles of Confederation of 1781 they entered into a "Perpetual Union" and created a fully sovereign federal state, delegating certain powers to the national Congress, including the right to engage in diplomatic relations and to levy war, while each retaining their individual sovereignty, freedom and independence. But the national government proved too ineffective, so the administrative structure of the government was vastly reorganized with the United States Constitution of 1789. Under this new union, the continued status of the individual states as sovereign nation states fell into dispute in 1861, as several states attempted to secede from the union; in response, then-President Abraham Lincoln claimed that such secession was illegal, and the result was the American Civil War. Since the Union victory in 1865, the independent status of the individual states has not been broached again by any state, and the status of each state within the union has been deemed by mainstream officials and academics to be settled as being subordinate to the union as a whole.
In subsequent years, the number of states grew steadily due to western expansion, the purchase of lands by the national government from other nation states, and the subdivision of existing states, resulting in the current total of 50. The states are generally divided into smaller administrative regions, including counties, cities and townships.
The United States–Canadian border is the longest undefended political boundary in the world. The U.S. is divided into three distinct sections:
- the "continental United States," also known as "the Lower 48" and more accurately termed the conterminous, coterminous or contiguous United States
- Alaska, which is physically connected only to Canada
- the archipelago of Hawaii, in the central Pacific Ocean.
The United States also holds several other territories, districts, and possessions, notably the federal district of the District of Columbia, which is the nation's capital, and several overseas insular areas, the most significant of which are American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The Palmyra Atoll is the United States' only incorporated territory; it is unorganized and uninhabited.
The United States Navy has held a base at a portion of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, since 1898. The United States government possesses a lease to this land, which only mutual agreement or United States abandonment of the area can terminate. The present Cuban government of Fidel Castro disputes this arrangement, claiming Cuba was not truly sovereign at the time of the signing. The United States argues this point moot because Cuba apparently ratified the lease post-revolution, and with full sovereignty, when it cashed one rent check in accordance with the disputed treaty.
Foreign relations and military
sovereign]
The immense military and economic dominance of the United States has made foreign relations an especially important topic in its politics, with considerable concern about the image of the United States throughout the world. Reactions towards the United States by other nationalities are often strong, ranging from uninhibited admiration and mimicking of all things American to anti-Americanism. US foreign policy has swung about several times over the course of its history between the poles of strict isolationism and imperialism and everywhere in between.
Three of the nation's four military branches are administered by the Department of Defense: the Army, the Navy (including the Marine Corps), and the Air Force. The Coast Guard falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime, but is placed under the Department of the Navy in time of war.
The combined United States armed forces consist of 1.4 million active duty personnel, along with several hundred thousand each in the Reserves and the National Guard. Military conscription ended in 1973. The United States Armed forces are considered to be the most powerful military (of any sort) on Earth and their force projection capabilities are unrivaled by any other nation.
The 2005 defense budget amounted to $401.7 billion, which is an increase of 4% over 2004 and of 35% since 2001. Over 50% of that number is spent in research & development.
(For comparison, in 2004 the European Union (considered as the second-largest military force) had a combined total of 1.6 million troops, and a defense budget of €160 billion, with less than 10% of that being spent on R&D.)
Largest cities
The United States has dozens of major cities, including 11 of the 55 global cities of all types — with three "alpha" global cities: New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
The figures expressed below are for populations within city limits. A different ranking is evident when considering U.S. metro area populations, although the top three would be unchanged.
Note that some cities not listed (such as Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New Orleans, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.) are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics.
The twenty largest cities, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 estimates, are as follows:
Economy
The United States has the largest single-country economy in the world, with a per-capita gross domestic product of $40,100. In this market-oriented economy, private individuals and business firms make most of the decisions, and the federal and state governments buy needed goods and services predominantly in the private marketplace.
gross domestic product
The largest industry of the U.S. is now service, which employs roughly three quarters of the U.S. work force. The United States has many natural resources, including oil and gas, metals, and such minerals as gold, soda ash, and zinc. In agriculture, the U.S. is a top producer of, among other crops, corn, soy beans, and wheat; the United States is a net exporter of food. The U.S. manufacturing sector produces goods such as, cars, airplanes, steel, and electronics, among many others.
Economic activity varies greatly from one part of the country to another, with many industries being largely dependent on a certain city or region; New York City is the center of the American financial, publishing, broadcasting, and advertising industries; Silicon Valley is the country’s primary location for high-technology companies, while Los Angeles is the most important center for film production. The Midwest is known for its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry, with Detroit, Michigan, serving as the center of the American automotive industry; the Great Plains are known as the "breadbasket" of America for their tremendous agricultural output; the intermountain region serves as a mining hub and natural gas resource; the Pacific Northwest for fish and timber, while Texas is largely associated with the oil industry; the Southeast is a major hub for both medical research and the textiles industry.
Several countries continue to link their currency to the dollar or even use it as a currency (such as Ecuador), although this practice has subsided since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system. Many markets are also quoted in dollars, such as those of oil and gold. The dollar is also the predominant reserve currency in the world, and more than half of global reserves are in dollars.
The largest trading partner of the United States is Canada (19%), followed by China (12%), Mexico (11%), and Japan (8%). More than 50% of total trade is with these four countries.
In 2003, the United States was ranked as the third most visited tourist destination in the world; its 40,400,000 visitors ranked behind France's 75,000,000 and Spain's 52,500,000.
Labor unions have existed since the 19th century, and grew large and powerful from the 1930s to the 1950s. See Labor history of the United States. Since 1970 they have shrunk in the private sector and now cover fewer than 8% of the workers. However union membership has grown rapidly in the public sector, especially among teachers, nurses, police, postal workers, and municipal clerks. There have been few strikes in recent years.
The United States' imports exceed exports by 80%, leading to an annual trade deficit of $700,000,000,000, or 6% of gross domestic product. It is the largest debtor nation in the world, with total gross foreign debt of over $13,000,000,000,000 (2005 estimate); and it absorbs more than 50% of global savings annually.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. has increased the use of neoliberal economic policies that reduce government intervention and reduce the size of the welfare state, backing away from the more interventionist Keynsian economic policies that had been in favor since the Great Depression. As a result, the United States provides fewer government-delivered social welfare services than most industrialized nations, choosing instead to keep its tax burden lower and relying more heavily on the free market and private charities.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the national level ($5.15 per-hour), including the highest, Washington State at $7.35. Twenty-six states are the same as the federal level; two--Ohio and Kansas--are below; and six do not have state laws.
America's wealth is relatively highly concentrated. The average C.E.O. earns 500 times the typical amount a worker grosses, this is up from 25 times in the late 1970s. In terms of wealth the top 1% of Americans own 40% of all assets and 50.1% of the country's income goes to the top twenty percent of households. Average wages for the majority of employees have been largely stagnating since the 1970s.
America's poverty line defined as a family of four earning less than $19,157 is at 12.7% of the general population. Approximately one out of every five children in the United States grows up below the official poverty line. Among racial groups; African Americans have the lowest median income while Asians had the highest. Regionally, the southern states had the lowest median incomes while the West Coast and New England had the highest. The current Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan remarked that the U.S.’s growing income inequality since the 1970s is, "not the type of thing which a democratic society - a capitalist democratic society - can really accept without addressing."[http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s03-usec.html?s=itm] However, Greenspan also noted, "...you can look at the system and say it's got a lot of problems to it, and sure it does. It always has. But you can't get around the fact that this is the most extraordinarily successful economy in history."
Transportation
Alan Greenspan ]]
Because the United States is a relatively young nation, most of the development of U.S. cities has taken place since the invention of the automobile. To link its vast territory, the United States built a network of high-capacity, high-speed highways, of which the most important element is the Interstate Highway system, commissioned in the 1950s by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and modeled after the German Autobahn. The United States also has a transcontinental rail system, which is used for moving freight across the lower forty-eight states. Passenger rail service is provided by Amtrak, which serves forty-six of the lower forty-eight states.
Many cities in the United States have extensive mass-transit systems. New York City operates one of the world's largest and most heavily used subway systems. The regional rail and bus networks that extend into Long Island, New Jersey, Upstate New York, and Connecticut are among the most heavily used in the world.
Air travel is often preferred for destinations over 300 miles (500 kilometers) away. In terms of passengers, seventeen of the world's thirty busiest airports in 2004 were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; in terms of cargo, in the same year, twelve of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's busiest, Memphis International Airport. There are several major seaports in the United States; the three busiest are the Port of Los Angeles, California; the Port of Long Beach, California; and the Port of New York and New Jersey. Others include Houston, Texas; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Portland, Oregon; San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Seattle, Washington; plus, outside the contiguous forty-eight states, Anchorage, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Society
Demographics
Hawaii
The mean center of the U.S. population continues to drift farther west and south. The fastest growing region is the western United States followed by the southern portion. According to Census 2000, the states that saw the greatest increases from 1990 were: Nevada (66.3%), Arizona (40%), Colorado (30.6%), Utah (29.6%), Idaho (28.5%), Georgia (26.4%), Florida (23.5%), Texas (22.8%), North Carolina (21.4%), and Washington (21.1%). [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t2/tab03.pdf]
Ethnicity and race
:Main article: Racial demographics of the United States
The United States is a very racially diverse country. According to the 2000 census, it has 31 ethnic groups with at least one million members each, and numerous others represented in smaller amounts.
The majority of Americans descend from white European immigrants who arrived at the establishment of the first colonies (most after Reconstruction). This majority--69.1% in 2000--decreases each year, and is expected to become a plurality within a few decades. The most frequently stated European ancestries are German (15.2%), Irish (10.8%), English (8.7%), Italian (5.6%) and Scandinavian (3.7%). Many immigrants also hail from Slavic countries such as Poland and Russia. Other significant immigrant populations came from eastern and southern Europe and French Canada.
Russia
Hispanics from Mexico and South and Central America are the largest minority group in the country, comprising 12.5% of the population (2000 census). People of Mexican descent made up 7.3% of the population in the 2000 census, and this proportion is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades.
About 12.3% (2000 census) of the American people are African Americans (Blacks). African Americans are spread throughout the country, but their presence is largest in the South.
Asian Americans--including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders--are a third significant minority (3.7% of the population in 2000). Most Asian Americans are concentrated on the West Coast and Hawaii. The largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from the Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.
Indigenous peoples in the United States, such as American Indians and Inuit, make up 0.9% of the population (2000 census). About 35% live on Indian reservations.
Religion
Polls estimate that just under 80 percent of Americans are Christians of various denominations. The other 20 percent comprises other religions such as Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism, other various faiths, and those without a specific religion.
The United States is noteworthy among developed nations for its relatively high level of religiosity. According to a 2004 Gallup poll, about 44% of Americans attend a religious service at least once a week. However, this rate is not uniform across the country; attendance is more common in the Bible Belt—composed largely of Southern and Midwestern states—than in the Northeast and West Coast. In the Southern states, Baptists are the largest group, followed by Methodists; Roman Catholics are dominant in the Northeast and in large parts of the Midwest due to their being settled by descendants of Catholic immigrants from Europe (such as Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) or other parts of North America (mainly Quebec and Puerto Rico). The rest of the country for the most part has a complex mixture of various Christian groups.
Education
West Coast's home at Monticello and the University of Virginia (library building shown above, and designed by Jefferson), the only collegiate campus on the list. Both sites are located in Charlottesville, Virginia.]]
In the United States, education is a state, not federal, responsibility, and the laws and standards vary considerably. However, the federal government, through the Department of Education, is involved with funding of some programs and exerts some influence through its ability to control funding. In most states, all students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten, which children normally enter at age 5, and following through 12th grade, which is normally completed at age 18
Aero Adventure AviationAero Adventure Aviation (formerly Arnet Pereyra Inc) is a US aircraft manufacturer based in Rockledge, Florida. It produces ultralights, light aircraft, and is currently developing a small turboprop engine.
In 1996, the firm acquired the assets and production rights of Keuthan Aircraft.
External link:
[http://www.aeroadventureinc.com Company website]
Category:Aircraft engine manufacturers
Category:United States aircraft manufacturers
Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian civil utility aircraft 1990-1999Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian civil utility aircraft
Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian civil aircraft 1990-1999
Category:Civil utility aircraft 1990-1999
Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian ultralights 1990-1999Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian ultralights
Category:Czech and Czechoslovakian civil aircraft 1990-1999
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Category:Civil aircraft Wilson LowryWilson Lowry (January 24, 1762 - June 23, 1824) was an English engraver. He was born at Whitehaven, Cumbria, the son of Strickland Lowry, a portrait painter. The family settled in Worcester, and Wilson Lowry, as a boy, left home to work as a house painter in London and Arundel, Sussex. On returning home is received some instruction in engraving from a local craftsman.
He went to London at the age of 18 with an introduction to the print seller John Boydell, who gave him work and introduced him to William Blizzard, the surgeon. Blizzard encouraged Lowry to become a surgeon and for four years he undertook training, but abandoned it.
Lowry received training at the Royal Academy and worked for a number of engravers, as well as Boydell. Lowry developed a number of special instruments to assist his work: about 1790 he devised a ruling machine; in 1801 a device for generating elliptical curves; in 1806 another for making perspective drawings. Lowry was the first engraver to use diamond points and to discover the composition of a corrosive fluid for biting the lines into steel plates.
Lowry specialised in making engraving of architectural and mechanical topics, an excelled in perspective views of machinery. His work appears in Tilloch's Philosophical Magazine, and the Journal of the Society of Arts, Wilkins's Magna Graecia, 1807 and Vitruvius, 1812, Peter Nicholson's Principles of architecture1795-98, and Architectural Dictionary1819, Crabbe's Technological Dictionary 1823, and the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. Lowry's most famous work in this field was undoubtedly the work he did for Rees's Cyclopaedia between 1802 and 1809, including contributing articles, but did work for other encyclopaedias including Pantologia and the British Encyclopaedia.
Lowry was of a scientific bent, and was a founder member of the Geological Society and was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1812.
He married firstly a Miss Porter: they had two daughters, one of whom, Matilda, (who became Mrs Hemming) was a portrait painter. He married secondly Rebecca Delvalle (1761-1848) a mineralogist: they had a son Joseph Wilson Lowry and a daughter Delvalle, who married John Varley the landscape painter.
Wilson Lowry died at his residence, Great Titchfield Street, London.
Reference
DNB article Lowry, Wilson
Lowry, Wilson
Lowry, Wilson
Lowry, Wilson
Lowry, Wilson
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