Nos próximos dias, começa o Salão de Cantão, na China. Por isso, uma série de novidades já vem sendo apresentada pelos fabricantes que atuam no país. A última delas é o C5, que será produzido no país pela joint-venture Dongfeng-Citroën. Trata-se do mesmo modelo vendido na Europa, mas com mudanças para se adequar ao gosto chinês.

Como novidades, o C5 chinês apresenta lanternas levemente diferenciadas, tampa do porta-malas com o nome da marca escrito em uma barra cromada e cromados em áreas diferentes das vistas no modelo vendido na Europa. Por dentro, o acabamento manteve os materiais. De série, há seis airbags, controles de tração e estabilidade, teto-solar e assentos elétricos, ar-condicionado de duas zonas, entre outros. O modelo V6 traz revestimento em couro, transmissão automática, rodas de 18 polegadas, bancos com aquecimento e sistema de navegação.

Na China, ele terá três motores: 2.0 de 147 cv, 2.3 de 171 cv e 3.0 V6 de 220 cv.

GALERIA

Окончание. Начало здесь

С5 седан

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Оригинальный и комфортабельный конкурент Ford Mondeo
Результаты тестов: Выше среднего

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: Базовые модели с бензиновыми двигателями ничего из себя не представляют, так что бери 2.2 HDi VTR+
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: C5 – это классический Ситроен. Выглядит классно, но такой же спортивный, как дохляк, который прогуливал уроки физкультуры. Комфортабельная и удобная баржа.
Наш выбор: 2.2 HDi Exclusive
Секрет фирмы: У базовых моделей нет гидроподвески.
Вердикт: Ошибиться невозможно.
Конкуренты: Skoda Superb
Результаты тестов : Средне
Одним словом: Хорошо

TOPGEAR

О модели: Мы в шоке! Ситроен выпустил большой семейный автомобиль без своей фирменной гидроподвески! Шо деется люди, шо деется-то! Только не спеши топиться от тоски, ты можешь заказать ее из списка опционального оборудования. Кстати, машина совсем неплоха и даже может, наверное, поколебать стереотипы о французском автопроме.
Позиция в рейтинге : Нет в рейтинге
Наш выбор: Дизель
Не обманывайся насчет: кнопки Sport. Динамичной эту машину назвать трудно.
Конкуренты: Ford Mondeo, Renault Laguna, Mazda6, Vauxhall/Opel Insignia

WHATCAR

За: Стильный семейный автомобиль и более комфортабельный притом чем большинство конкурентов. Отличные дизели и подвеска очень комфортная. Можно получить серьезную скидку.
Против : Руль не очень информативный и поведение на дороге не так чтоб очень. Приборная доска слишком необычна. Не настолько практичен как лучшие машины в этом классе. Плохо держит цену на вторичке.
Вердикт: Выглядит прекрасно и немногие конкуренты настолько хороши в плане комфорта. Обрати внимание на то,что эта машина плохо держит цену на вторичке, странную приборную доску и не особенно хорошую управляемость.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Хорошо
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Хорошо
Наш выбор: 2.0 HDi 140 VTR+ SatNav

С5 универсал

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Комфортабельный автомобиль, но не очень вместительный.
Результаты тестов: Выше среднего

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: Нет мнения
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: см С5 седан

TOPGEAR

О модели: см С5 седан

За: Стильный семейный универсал и более комфортабельный, чем большинство из конкурентов. Отличные дизели и подвеска очень комфортная. Можно получить серьезную скидку.
Против : Руль не очень информативный и поведение на дороге не так чтоб очень. Приборная доска слишком необычна. Не настолько практичен как лучшие машины в этом классе. Плохо держит цену на вторичке. Объем багажника не очень велик.
Вердикт: Выглядит прекрасно и немногие конкуренты настолько хороши в плане комфорта. Обрати внимание на то,что эта машина плохо держит цену на вторичке, странную приборную доску и не особенно хорошую управляемость.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Хорошо
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Хорошо
Наш выбор: 2.0 HDi 140 VTR+ SatNav

С6

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Очень интересный автомобиль, но цену на вторичке не держит абсолютно.
Результаты тестов: Хорошо

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: Нет мнения
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: Вальяжный автомобиль, которому мы выдали дополнительные баллы за то, что он не копирует BMW. Красивая, отличающаяся от других машина. Ее редко встретишь на дороге, а цена на вторичке на нее падает как рождаемость среди коренных французов.
Наш выбор: 2.2 HDi
Секрет фирмы: Вогнутое заднее стекло – самоочищающееся. В теории.
Вердикт: Галлический символ.
Конкуренты: Renault Laguna Coupe
Результаты тестов : Средне
Одним словом: Хорошо

TOPGEAR

О модели: Выглядит тааак круто, как только могут быть крутыми галлы. Типа Астерикса. Добавь к этому отличные ходовые качества и получится неожиданно выглядящий ответ французов немецким узурпаторам сектора дорогих машин.
Позиция в рейтинге : Нет в рейтинге
Наш выбор: 2.7 HDI
Не обманывайся насчет: разговоров о том, что эта машина будет хорошо держать цену. Щассс… лучше купи себе годовалую машину и сэкономишь полцены.
Конкуренты: Chrysler 300C, Audi A6, Volvo S80

WHATCAR

За: Очень сильно отличается от всех других машин на дороге. На выбор предлагаются два отличных дизельных двигателя. Прекрасно ведет себя на трассе.
Против : С точки зрения денежных вложений – просто катастрофа. Покупная цена очень высока, а стоимость владения еще выше. Сервисное обслуживание очень дорогое.
Вердикт: У нас нет сомнений в том, что большой Ситроен представляет собой что-то абсолютно другое, чем его конкуренты. Однако высокая стоимость владения отторгнет многих потенциальных покупателей. Покупай базовую модель.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Плохо
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Отлично
Наш выбор: 2.2 HDi 173 Автомат

С8

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Нет мнения
Результаты тестов: Не тестировали

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: 2.0 HDi LX держит цену лучше всего. А еще этот вариант самый дешевый по стоимости владения.
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: Большой и такой вместительный минивэн, что в нем есть эхо. Закатай рукава своей рубашки и осуществи свою детскую мечту стать водителем автобуса.
Наш выбор: 2.0 HDi 16v SX
Секрет фирмы: сдвигающиеся двери – полная фигня.
Вердикт: Накажи всех пятерых детей сразу. И себя тоже.
Конкуренты: Ford Galaxy
Результаты тестов : Средне
Одним словом: Плохо

TOPGEAR

О модели: Это Peugeot 807 с другим шильдиком. Что означает, что это большой, просторный и абсолютно незапоминающийся минивэн. Кстати, о чем мы только что говорили?
Позиция в рейтинге : 148 из 152
Наш выбор: Наверное 2.2 HDi SX
Не обманывайся насчет: мыслей о том, что ты хозяин жизни. Привыкай к роли родителя – они гадят, ты подтираешь…
Конкуренты: Ford Galaxy, Peugeot 807, Renault Espace

WHATCAR

За: Большой, хорошо продуманный и комфортабельный минивэн. В нем найдется место для семерых пассажиров. Двигатели очень неплохие. Он отлично ездит и управляется удивительно хорошо для машины такого размера.
Против : Из-за того, что багажник непропорционально мал, перевезти семерых людей с соответствующим багажом эта машина не может. Выглядит “никак”, а большого удовольствия от этой машины не получаешь.
Вердикт: Если тебе нужен семиместник за небольшие деньги, то на эту машину стоит обратит внимание. Но она не настолько хороша, как большинство ее конкурентов. Убедись, что ты получаешь большую скидку с рекомендованной цены.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Средне
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Средне
Наш выбор: 2.0 HDi 16v 120 LX

С-Crosser

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Нет мнения
Результаты тестов: Не тестировали

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: Нет мнения
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: Это Mitsubishi Outlander с французским беретом. Но у него есть дизельный движок. Офигенно… когда сравниваешь его с кровным братом от Peugeot. Внутри он – типичный Mitsubishi.
Наш выбор: HDi VTR+
Секрет фирмы: Шасси имеет что-то общее с Mitsubishi Evolution X.
Вердикт: Меньшее из трех зол (Outlander, C-Crosser, 4007).
Конкуренты: Honda CR-V
Результаты тестов : Средне
Одним словом: Хорошо

TOPGEAR

О модели: Первый ситроеновский внедорожник и совсем неплохой при этом.
Позиция в рейтинге : Нет в рейтинге
Наш выбор: Бери дизель и не ошибешься.
Не обманывайся насчет: Mitsubishi Outlander и Peugeot 4007. Эта троица – одна и та же машина.
Конкуренты: Mitsubishi Outlander, Peugeot 4007, Vauxhall/Opel Antara

WHATCAR

За: Машина обладает мягкими, мощными двигателями, управляется хорошо и выглядит неплохо. Внутри достаточно места для пятерых. Хороший уровень оснащения на всех моделях.
Против : Третий ряд сидений тяжело разложить и там очень мало места, так что те, кому постоянно надо возить шестерых пассажиров, должны обратить свое внимание на конкурентов. По стандартам Ситроена, цена довольно высока.
Вердикт: Один из наиболее хорошо ездящих среднеразмерных паркетников. Уровень оснащения хорош. Жаль только, что на третьем ряду очень мало места. Постарайся избегать прожорливых моделей с бензиновыми двигателями.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Средне
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Хорошо
Наш выбор: 2.2 HDi VTR+

Berlingo Multispace

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Нет мнения
Результаты тестов: Не тестировали

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: 1.6 VTR ощущается как легковая машина а не грузовой “каблучок”, да и разгоняется неплохо.
Позиция в рейтинге : 78

CAR

О модели: Если бы уровень оборудования был еще чуть-чуть ниже, то ты мог бы покрасить ее изнутри в тот цвет который тебе понравится – металл стерпит все.
Наш выбор: 1.6 HDi 90 VT
Секрет фирмы: Только у варианта XTR есть кондиционер.
Вердикт: Коммерческий автомобиль с окнами.
Конкуренты: C3 Picasso
Результаты тестов : Хорошо
Одним словом: Хорошо

TOPGEAR

О модели: На этой колымаге мы бы в Испанию не поехали, но она практична, дешева и достаточно оригинальна в качестве семейного транспорта. Мало найдется машин, которые предложат столько для семейного человека, да еще и за такие деньги.
Позиция в рейтинге : Нет в рейтинге
Наш выбор: Мощный дизель.
Не обманывайся насчет: Разгона. Эти фиговины медленные.
Конкуренты: Skoda Roomster, Mercedes Vaneo, грузовик.

WHATCAR

За: За цену супермини можно купить машину, которая предлагает необъятные просторы салона. И, что немаловажно, ездит она совсем неплохо
Против : Автомобиль этот был разработан с одной целью – стать пассажирским вариантом коммерческого “каблучка” и это чувствуется. Уровень оснащения очень низок, особенно в части безопасности на всех базовых версиях.
Вердикт: Если тебе нужна простая, практичная и вместительная семейная машина за небольшие деньги, Berlingo может стать неплохим выбором. Не бери дохлые бензиновые двигатели, если планируешь регулярно перевозить тяжелые грузы.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Средне
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Хорошо
Наш выбор: 1.6 90 VTR

Nemo

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Нет мнения
Результаты тестов: Не тестировали

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: Нет мнения
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: Нет мнения

TOPGEAR

О модели: “Каблучок” с окнами, который назвали в честь мультяшной рыбы. Как тебе такое? Berlingo больше этой тачки, которая просто уменьшенная его версия. Типа папа-рыба и рыба-дитенок.
Позиция в рейтинге : Нет в рейтинге
Наш выбор: Самый мощный дизель.
Не обманывайся насчет: диснеевских историй. От них иногда плачут даже взрослые.
Конкуренты: FIAT Qubo

WHATCAR

За: Дешев при покупке, обслуживании и страховании. Отличная простая семейная машина – это больше, чем просто коммерческий автомобиль с окнами.
Против : Уровень стандартного оборудования минимален. Задние сидения узкие, а багажник короткий. Выбирай дизельные двигатели.
Вердикт: Разработчики явно сориентировались на снижение стоимости машины для тех, кому нужен простой, без наворотов, транспорт из точки А в точку Б. Но небольшие размеры машины ограничили их возможности и она не получилась особо практичной.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Средне
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Нет мнения
Наш выбор: Нет мнения

Xsara Picasso

AUTOCAR

Наше мнение: Нет мнения
Результаты тестов: Не тестировали

AUTOEXPRESS

Наш выбор: Нет мнения
Позиция в рейтинге : Не участвует

CAR

О модели: Нет мнения

TOPGEAR

О модели: Древний компактвэн, который все еще может конкурировать на рынке, особенно в дизельном варианте. В это трудно поверить, но их все еще делают, так что вперед, торговаться!
Позиция в рейтинге : Нет в рейтинге
Наш выбор: 1.6 HDi
Не обманывайся насчет: первого “самого лучшего” предложения. Продолжай выдавливать скидки из продавцов.
Конкуренты: Ford Focus C-Max, Honda FR-V, Vauxhall/Opel Zafira, VW Touran

WHATCAR

За: Практичный, вместительный и дешевый автомобиль. Скидки на него просто неимоверные (минимум 30%, а то и все 50%). Им легко управлять. Машина достаточно комфортабельна и обладает очень мягкой подвеской.
Против : Машина сильно устарела и это ощущается во всем, с ее наидешевейшими пластиковыми деталями отделки салона. Внешний вид также не добавит ей очков в конкурсе красоты. Тот же С4 Picasso ненамного дороже, но на голову выше с точки зрения качества. Цена на вторичке ниже плинтуса.
Вердикт: Если тебе нужен дешевый, просторный автомобиль для семьи, то Xsara Picasso вполне может таковым стать. Но в наше время она уже настолько устарела, что проигрывает конкурентам во всем.
Рейтинг для лучшей модификации: Средне
Рейтинг модели по версии читателей журнала: Средне
Наш выбор: 1.6 HDi Desire

По материалам AutoCar, AutoExpress, Car, TopGear и WhatCar. Фотографии утянуты с WhatCaк

The U.S. is in a war. Try telling that to the brainics that are charting the airlift needs of the U.S. military.

A recent report on airlift by the GAO shows that things are pretty confused. Add to this, some want to look at having a futuristic giga-dollar large airlift aircraft that has vertical take-off and landing skills like a tilt-rotor. This thinking is more steak on a hamburger budget.

The real problems are as follows.

The C-27 procurement is goofed up. The U.S. Army needs this small cargo lifter to help make a useful impact on our current wars. Somewhere along the way the USAF and the Army did their best to mess this one up. Two different stories of cost don’t help. By the time it gets fielded in any numbers the war will be over.

C-17. Some are eager to end the production of this fine aircraft. The problems with this idea are many. The C-17 is getting used a lot. Early in-service C-17s will be reaching the end of their useful life not too far into the future. A low rate production of this aircraft is the only way to go. Production does not need to stop.

The C-130. Old C-130s are being used up at a fast rate. By the time the USAF sorts out the avionics improvement program (cost blow-outs) for the old C-130s, they will have reached the end of their useful life. Here again, continuous production of the C-130J needs to go on until further notice.

The C-5. The C-17 is not just a little C-5. Only the C-5 can lift certain things. And only the C-17 can do certain things including being more tactical when needed. This is often missed by some in D.C. They are complementary aircraft.

Claims that the U.S. has it’s strategic airlift needs figured out are weak. Other problems include foreign contract airlift. AN-124s are great until you get into a war that the owner of those aircraft doesn’t agree with.

Supplemental strategic airlift will be helped by the USAF tanker program. But positive impact from that is still many years off; if ever.

The solutions are to keep building C-17s, C-130Js and C-27s–all while making what C-5s we have last a lot longer. Right now, all the DOD is offering are more studies. This kind of thinking is lethal now; just as it would be in WWII.

.

i come home very grumpy because my karma status levelled DOWN
have to work the whole day tmr when i thought i could get off at noon

then i see this-

ha ha ha seriously damn funny.
because we have to wear contact lenses for this deployment
so the doods who’ve never worn contacts ever are all whining about it, but John is seriously classic. its just a little plastic film please. 22 COMMENTS!!

anyway check out my many new nicknames recently.

KIMCHI – by neeky
COOKIE MONSTER – by prawn
SUAY – by myself hurrrrr

see, now i have to force myself to go and sleep because tomorrow i have to wake up early. mehh i dont wanna sleep yet.

LOL @ mama

so after 10 days of being apart, C5 gathered together again for work and play, fun and laughter.

the beefers. JUJU Hokkaido has very big serving plates.

me and mama share. we look ghostly and spooky after Halloween.

stupid smurf ate fish, and she kept saying how yummy her soup was after we finished. then she drank mine and proclaimed hers was nicer. so ha cheong drank hers and said, “IT’S DAMN FISHY”. i drank it and i almost spat it in her face. wtf smurf crazy woman haha it was like fishy water.

cheeeaaaaaaarrrrrrrrs. as in thai cheers beer ad.

the november babies cutting their mango cake

and we laughed at lz eating my dessert omgzz damn suay i only ate one bite and it was so yummy… and she grabbed it to taste. arghh allan still dared to eat it after that, and he made shannon and john eat it too HAHAHA. laughed like mad.

oh noes i have to work tomorrow and sunday. and everyday. until 15th.. or is it 19th… cry.

So today I decided to begin pulling the derbi apart after the crank managed to bend itself up really good in atwater. I began pulling the polini, the ignition, and other stuff, but then matt came over with an impact, and I noticed I had another piston port motor (which managed to look brand new under the covers), so I figured I’d throw it on the variant. Upon pulling the sad motor I found this:

I dunno if that should worry me.

So I pulled the pulley, put on the little plastic guides for the swingarm mounts, and bolted the motor up. After about an hour messing with the stupid throttle cable and hooking up the electrics, I had a rad-tastic running derbi. The C5 pipe is certainly a nice touch, I’m sure you will agree. Its all stock, so its slow, maybe 30 on flats, 35 downhill, but whatever, it runs. I’ll probably phbg it, add cdi, and some other crap and I’ll have a sweet moped for around town. I think its awesome. Skid-zies and stoppies all over town. Oh yea, it’s got the super rare Spacetronic Ignition System. So rad!

We’ve all had one like this..well at least if you’re a car-guy/shadetree mechanic/do-it-yourself-er.

You know what its like.  You’re doing some simple task that seems relatively straightforward and then something happens, minor actually, and screws you to the core.  Something so seemingly insignificant that can actually drive you to the point of irrationality and anger that you are ready to explode.

I’ve had them..a lot of us have had them.  You know..you drop something down into the engine when you pulled the distributor…maybe you were taking off a carb and something fell into the manifold.  Or that real ball-buster..dropping a screw or nut on the floor and it somehow vanishes into another dimension (not unlike “Fringe” …my new favorite TV show).

This is the one that pushed me to the limits of my endurance…that drove me to the point of mania.

My buddy Steve and I were having a “garage therapy” day.  We call it that whenever we get together and do some maintenance, chore or tackle a task on the car(s) and use it as excuse to take frequent breaks for cigars and adult beverages.

This was a particularly hot day in July…as opposed to your normal stinking hot days in July in Georgia.  My garage is not air-conditioned (yet) but with the fans and being partly in the shade, at least it can be made comfortable..most of the time.  This day was not one of them.

Anyway, we were doing some mild upgrades to the Corvette.  I believe we installed the silicone air coupler and the Z06 airbox lid.   If you are familiar with the 5th Generation Corvette (C5) you know that they have a pretty good airbox in a very awkward angle down in front of the car (remember this for later).

Everything had gone swimmingly until the new cover of the airbox was being locked down.  This car has two spring metal latches with big plastic handles.  The hooked end goes into some slots on the airbox base and then the wrap over the lip and the big handles get snapped down over the top of the box, using the spring metal and the stretch/compression of torquing the handles over the top to keep the lid in place and make the airseal.  Wingnuts evidently being things of the past as far as Corvettes are concerned.

As I was snapping down the second spring steel latch, it snapped back at me as my sweaty paw did not have a good grip.  The spring in the steel caused it to snap off the airbox base and fly into the air and then fall, invisibly to the earth….somewhere.

Steve and I didn’t moved, just stared at each other, mouths agape.  “What the hell…” I screamed, “did you see that??”

“Tony, what the hell happened?”

“The latch just snapped itself off and I didn’t see where it went.”

We giggled for a second at the thought of something so simple giving me a hard time (this is not quantum physics, after all) and set about to finding that latch.

Steve, ever the cool cucumber, states the obvious “well, it couldn’t have gotten far.”  (Yeah really Steve…how about another freakin’ dimension….how freakin’ far is that????)  “Let’s look around carefully.”

In my daze, I agree and we set about to looking for this 7 inch by 1/4 inch piece of spring steel with a 2 inch black plastic T-handle.  I should mention that the car was on my Kwik-Lift at the time so we were standing on the side ramps of the lift, 20 inches off the ground and hunched over the fenders.

We looked underneath the car…nothing.  My floor is epoxied a light tan color, so it should be easy to spot.  Its only 2:00pm in the afternoon but I have the overhead lights on anyway.  I turn on the lights over the workbench and we try again…nothing.

“Let me get a flashlight” I said as we start poring over the engine compartment.  The heat now has risen at least 10 degrees and I am now in full-drip. I get my 4 inch pocket Maglite and we take turns swapping it back and forth to eyeball the nooks and crannies in the engine bay, looking for this thing.  Needle in a haystack comes to mind; I chuckle nervously.  Damn, its hot.  Steve is now beginning to glisten all over his head.

We both grab a swig of beer and shrug our shoulders….chuckling like nervous school boys on their first date.  I’m trying to remain calm as the sweat rolls down my back and I feel my shirt start to really stick.  Turn the fan up.

“Maybe we need some more light?” Steve asked helpfully.  He does have a point.  Part of the overhead light is being blocked by the clamshell hood and the lights on the bench don’t offer any help in seeing the engine bay, only the floor.  “Do you have a drop-light? Steve asked?

“Yup” and I dug it out of the cabinet.  I silently worried about getting electrocuted as I plugged in the old rickety droplight I have.  Its really old and I’m dripping water like I got out of the shower.  I notice at this point its been almost 20 minutes and my perspiration is starting to smell desperate.

The light gets pressed into service in the engine bay and Steve and I take turns swapping it around.  This is where the swearing starts.  The language was so foul coming out of my mouth that I’m sure I was adding years in Purgatory.  We cursed the damn latch, the airbox design, John Cafaro, Bob Lutz, GM, ..anyone we could think of that might have anything to do with this car (except Zora….oh and Bunkie Knudsen..who probably had nothing to do with the Corvette but Steve and I really liked him for what he did for Pontiac back in the day so he gets a pass).

This now has gone on for a little over an hour and we progressed from beer to scotch and took a cigar break.  There..that helps.  We spend about 20 minutes scratching our heads, sipping scotch and wondering how the hell shit like this happens.  I take the time to wipe down my head, neck, back and arms which are pouring water off me like those drip-irrigation hoses.   Steve is also getting his hair mussed from perspiration and if you know Steve, you would know that this is a big damn deal.  His hair is never mussed.  He has a routine and it doesn’t matter if he’s flat-footing it at 125 mph or jumping out of an airplane or even coming out of swimming pool..his hair is NEVER mussed.

We polish off a scotch and decide to calm down and give it a look again.  We then start putting our hands all over the engine..rubbing it down like we’re a cross between aliens visiting the planet and two high-school nerds getting their first Jessica Alba poster.  Nothing.  I start using foul language, which doesn’t help but as anyone will tell you at times like these..is absolutely critical.

More nervous laughter..and man..it has really gotten hot in this garage.   If you know me, you’ll know that I often revert back the basics..like retracing your steps, running down a checklist..and swinging a big hammer.  I won’t let something beat me without one hell of a fight.   In my red-eye stupor, I start looking at the sledgehammer.  “Swear to God Steve..I’m going to use the sledgehammer!”  He looks at me and can see I’ve crossed to “The Zone” and am close to the breaking point.  He suggests another break and a scotch..I agree.  As we sit in the shade and get about halfway through it, I casually turn to him and say “I’m about 10 minutes away from getting out the torch and removing the entire front end of that *$&$(#@& car!’

Steve gives me the nervous laugh that he and I use when we are almost at wit’s end.   We finish the drink, wipe ourselves down and give it one more try with the flashlight, the drop-light and soothing calm voices to each other.  The total time has now gone on something like 95 minutes since the latch popped off.  I start cursing about the time I did this on the other Vette and was not aware that the bottom of the airbox didn’t have to come off (another story soon to be up on the site) and we again laugh nervously.

Finally, I spot it…it is lying on the engine at the front of the manifold and for the life of me, I can’t imagine how it could have been more cleverly concealed.  It looked like the parting line of two components and color blended incredibly!!   Before I moved it, I asked Steve to take a close look.  He did..he even put on his glasses and he couldn’t see it!   While he watched, I reached in and picked it up.  “Sonofabitch, Tony…its a miracle we found it at all.”  I just looked at him, reached in and a minute later, the latch was in place and job done.

We looked at each other and shook our heads at how something like this could happen.   We patted each other on the back with relief and decided to have a beer.

About that time, my wife came out and asked what was taking us so long.  We just looked at each other and cackled like a bunch of schoolgirls for 15 minutes.

Then I made sure that the gas was shut off on the torch and put the sledgehammer away.

I MISS YOU APENG! – I can’t think of any better line to start this entry.  For everyone else’s sake, Apeng is a dear, dear friend I lost from a tragic car accident. What’s even painful is that we were together when this happened somewhere in C5 – that effin deadly road to the other side of the world. Till now I still can’t comprehend why everything happened, why out of the 8 passengers only 1 died or better said, why someone had to die when everyone else was  in perfect shape? I was even thinking that technically, the casualty would’ve been me coz I was on the crash side. It has been exactly three years (today, 10.14) since this happened and everytime I think of it I still get those chills I felt that night and my heart is just soo broken thinking that never again in this lifetime will I see her.

Video that Dani made for Apeng’s wake

Some of our documented hangouts

Missing those good 'ol college days with Mims, Aowie and Apeng

1611 with Dani and Apeng

Drunk Nights with Sasa Babes

Apeng's Big Chubby Cheeks

Ning, I want you to know that you’re remembered everyday. I love and miss you so much.

• Arkonor 10,500 units = 82.95 M ISK
• Bistot 116,230 units = 581.150 M ISK
• Crokite 278,750 units = 1.338 B ISK

This totals around 7 M M3 of minerals that need to be refined. We had to put up 5 Corporate Hangars to hold all of our ore!

5x Hangars

 Right now each member is looking at around 400 M ISK each and we haven’t even touched the following sites:

1. 3x Ordinary Perimeter Deposit
2. Unexceptional Frontier Deposit
3. Average Frontier Deposit
4. Rarified Core Deposit

(Paris)

Citroën C5 kommer inom kort att få två nya motorer; 2.0 HDi 160 FAP (diesel) samt 1.6 THP 155 (bensin), bägge försedda med 6-stegade manuella växellådor. Bränsleförbrukning vid blandad körning anges till 5,6 respektive 7,1 lit/10 mil (5,7 respektive 7,2 för kombiversionen).

Även Berlingo är aktuell med en ny motor: det rör sig om 1.6 120 VTi som får en förbrukning på 7,3 lit/10 mil.

//Peter H Svensson

sometimes i hate mopeds because there are too many awesome ones. I get too attached, then I don’t have room/money for other ones. Example. My current bikes are: Chappy, LTD, Derbi Racer, Swinger2, MagnumX, and Vespino. I can never sell Chappy, LTD, or MagnumX. I’m also building a freespirit for the polini cup polini class. But then today I found another bike I really want: Derbi Diablo. So yea, something has to go. I’m guessing the two to leave will be the swinger and vespino but that sucks. So yea, I’m bummed. I want it all but that doesn’t work. Damn conundrum.

(Shanghai)

Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automobile (DPCA) kommer att starta produktionen i sin nya kinesiska fabrik den 17 november. Byggarbetet har tagit tre år i anspråk, och kapaciteten ligger på 150’000 bilar per år. Det blir företagets andra fabrik och i denna kommer man främst att koncentrera sig på tillverkning av Citroën C5 och den kommande Peugeot 408 som baseras på samma plattform.

DPCA avser att under 2010 introducera hybriddrivna versioner av Citroën C-Elysee och C-Quatre (vilka baseras på Citroën C4). Under de kommande fem åren skall DPCA presentera tio nya bilmodeller (både Citroën och Peugeot) för den kinesiska marknaden.

//Peter H Svensson

The last week has not been as productive as the last few weeks. Having 4 out of 6 characters podded back to Empire, and the destruction of our Orca, has caused major setbacks.

Today a C5 (us) -> C5 -> C4 -> C5 -> Highsec (0.5) route opened up so we took the opportunity to bring our minerlas to Jita. Here’s our haul. We hit a good sized Crokite roid (120K+ units) for a few days, hence a lot of Zydrine.

A weeks worth of refined minerals.

eve-central.com Estimated Value:

Tritanium: 611,706
Pyerite: 187,266
Nocxium: 9,507,899
Zydrine: 658,035,408
Megacyte: 516,153,896
Morphite: 112,095,000

Total: 1.297 B ISK

Jita buy prices were a little low today. 3,994 ISK for  Megacyte and 1,500 for Zydrine so we decided to stockpile and not sell at this time.

It has been a lonely few days in WH space. My WH partner and I were podded and we used our then offline corpmate, with the help of a Blue in a neighbor system, to scan a new entrance. I’ve gotten my main in, but my WH partner hasn’t been able to successfully time a good link.

I am finding that our C5 will always link to another C5, which will link to a C4 or nullsec. We haven’t gotten a nullsec link all week in the C5, so we have to turn to the C4. The C4 will usually link to another C4 or a C3, which will eventually go to empire or lowsec. The weak part in the chain is the C4 <-> C3 as these WHs tend to have 16 H lifetimes which makes logistics a little more interesting.

I’ve been scanning for a 3 days trying to find a safe route in and getting faster at pinning down signatures with each system that I practice on. Last night I started scanning — ah, a fresh WH of type H432 in our C5 which leads to another C5. I entered and scanned it down; 6 signatures and the second signature one was a WH of type H296 that leads to nullsec.

Not bad, as I have been scanning down C5s with 10+ signatures and of course the last one is a WH. Pinned, bookmarked and warped to. After coming out on the other side, I ended up in The Syndicate, also not bad. I’m afraid of ending up deep in the Drone Region or Goonswarm space, but hey, that’s part of the excitement.

I cycled the MWD, hit the cloak, bookmarked the entrance WH, and brought up the map. Success, we have a nice route to Empire.

1. Our C5
2. Empty neighbor C5
3. PVH8-0 (-0.10), The Syndicate
4. 6-CZ49 (-0.16), The Syndicate
5. Reblier (0.40), Verge Vendor
6. Chesiette (0.57), Verge Vendor
7. … 20 Empire Jumps to Jita

PVH8-0 had 7 neutrals in local and even had a station in it! I warped to docking range and when the station came into view, I was targeted by a Manticore (Caldari Stralth Bomber). *click* *click* *click*  – I spammed the dock button. He got off one round which took out my shields and put me 50% into armor. I knew that I wasn’t able to take another round, as I was in a scanning Helios (Gallente Covert Ops) with paper-thin armor. I got away and safely docked, repaired and contracted the bookmarks to my WH partner and corpmate.

Within a minute, the Manticore docked up. I knew that he was going to play station games and was waiting for me to undock so he could scram me fresh out of station. I might be new to nullsec, but not that new. I had time to kill as these were fresh 24 H WHs so I noted his name, added him to my addressbook and ate dinner. I came back later and saw him leave station, then a few minutes later local count went to zero. Good timing, I scooted back into our WH system and into our POS bubble.

A few hours later, my corpmate got his main account in WH space and fired up the refinery. He has good Arkonor, Bistot, and Crokite sills so I let him do the refining. We have a lot of ore to process from last week and will eventually need to go to Jita:

The moneymakers are the 11.99 K Bistot, 90.44 K Zydrine, 75.49 K of Crokite and some Mercoxit. The lower ends will either be abandoned when we move or go into ammo/drone production for fighting Sleepers. I sometimes get flack from new Carebears about abandoning Tritantium and Pyerite – trust me, it just isn’t worth the ISK/m3 to haul it in WH space.

Up next on the list? We need to get a lot of items in and the ore out:

1. My WH partner’s alt in
2. My corpmate who is eager to mine in
3. 1x Orca (insured), got ganked last week
4. 2x Hulk, got ganked last week
5. 1x Skiff, my alt is going for Exhumers V
6. Strip Miner I’s, always need more
7. POS Fuel, 7D left
8. Refined ore out to Jita

My partner and corpmate were unable to get a good haul in today due to some gatecamping on the Reblier gate in Verge Vendor. Maybe today… but we are going to wait for a C3 -> Empire link to bring in the Orca.

I’m glad to have my partner in WH space again. He’s really good at scanning and will move quickly to get the rest of our equipment in. It can get quite boring if you are alone so always bring some friends in WH space!

The past two days in WH space has not been exciting at all. We have lost ships, my main WH partner is stuck in Empire, a corpmate has lost ships, and I have had to learn how to scan down signatures with my less than perfect scanning skills.

Tuesday 13:51 Eve Time

My WH partner and I had an Orca, 2x Hulks, and a Retriever on a Core site when a gang of hostiles came into the system. A Vexor, Dominix, Anathema and a Phobos bubble us and pod us.

After waking up in Empire in a fresh clone, I headed off to Jita to refit. Some 180 M later, I am on my way back to my home base system in the Essence region. I check up on some jobs, trends on the Empire markets and consolidate some goods from neighboring systems.

Tuesday 15:00 Eve Time

A blue in a neighboring C5 system found my corpmate in our C5. Since my corpmate does not have good scanning abilities, he offers to help us find a way out. After a few hours of scanning, they found a route.

C5 (us) -> C5 (empty) -> C4 (empty) -> C3 (idle Frigates) -> Lowsec Empire exit. I get my main and alt back in WH space, but my WH partner misses the C3 -> C4 connection as he tried the route a few hours after I got in.

Wednesday 13:00 Eve Time

Start scanning our C5 with my main character. After 2.5 hours of scanning, I finally find a route out. C5 -> C5 (empty) -> C4 (abandoned Frigate) -> C3 (abandoned 2x Mobile Small Warp Disruptor I’s) -> C3 (idle Frigate) -> Lowsec Empire.

This was my first adventure on WH space scanning all on my own. It was up to me to find a route out since I was the only one left with some scanning skills.

I don’t have scanning skills trained up to an effective level; I had to get signatures down to 0.25 AU or 1 AU in order for them to finally come up as green which took a lot more effort than what I have heard from my WH partner who has invented in scanning skills. For now I’ve put Gallente Battleship V on hold in favor of:

1. Astrometrics IV
2. Astrometric Pinpointing I
3. Astrometric Pinpointing II
4. Astrometric Pinpointing III
5. Astrometric Rangefinding III
6. Astrometric Rangefinding IV
7. Astrometric Pinpointing IV

With Astrometrics at III and Astrometric Rangefinding at II, I am having quicker success when pinning down signatures than I did a few days ago when these skills were not trained. I have also added 2x Small Gravity Capacitor Upgrade I’s to my Helios, which increase Scan Strength +10% with no stacking penalty, for improved scanning speed.

Thursday 2:00 Eve Time

A K162 opens up into our system and in comes a Wolf (Minmatar Assault Ship). Out of no where it ganks one of my corpmates and he looses a Mining Barge and ends up back in Empire. I found out that he came from C5 (us) -> C4 (empty) -> C5 (did not explore).

Not a good few days in WH space.

Well, tomorrow is another day. My goals are to get my WH partner in our C5, haul in some more fuel and some spare Hulks.

I worked on an Average site last night and cleared 15K Arkonor, 30K Bistot and 20K Crokite. I received the following message from my WH partner this AM.

2009.09.14 08:46
omg blake!!!!  We’re not going anywhere.

Good work last night btw,  Clearing that avg.  Time to get those lasers warmed up good and proper.  We have 2….. yes I said 2 as in two rarefied core deposits.

That means

100K Ark
160K Bistot
160K Crok

At our 75% refined state that’s still just shy of 2 billion isk on those 2 sites.  add onto that what we mined the past couple of days and that’s a hell of a lot of money.

Wow!!!!!!!

Great Monday morning news as I was expecting to help take down the POS and move to a neighbor WH this morning.

While clearing the Sleep spawns, I almost lost my Dominix today on the first site. With my Dominix Rail/Blaster Setup, I can barely tank 1 Sleeper BS and 2x Sleeper Cruisers. Luckily, my partner had a Remote Hull Repairer on his ship and was keeping me alive.

Here’s a shot me of me dipping into Structure; my heart was beating a little faster at this point.

Clearing a Rarefied Core Deposit in a C5

I did stay alive, but I need to make sure to remember these two tactics: don’t warp to 0 right on top of the Sleeper ships and use Heavy Drones on Sleeper Battleships. Whew, onto the Arkonor, Bistot and Crokite!

Have you ever thought of running like you used to when you were a child—no schedules, no pace, no distance, no pressure—just pure clean fun?  I was lucky enough to have a chance at that last night at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) during my long run.  I was pretty bored of the typical Bonifacio High Street (BHS) route and out of nowhere I just thought of running wherever!  No defined routes and distance, just being spontaneous.  The only rule I followed was to run wherever in BGC I haven’t been to and hopefully not get lost—and I didn’t, so here’s what happened:

Is this route crazy or what? (Click for more details)

At about 4K into my run I received an SMS from a friend that they’d be running towards McKinley Hill. I was at the time already in Market! Market! and taking the usual route to McKinley Hill would take some time. I really was planning on going to McKinley Hill for some hill training and that’s when I thought of joining my friends—by taking C5 to get there.

I was dismayed when I found out how near McKinley Hill was from Market! Market!  I’ve never been to that section of C5 before so I had no idea it was that close.  After some time I finally met up with my friends along Lawton Ave. and crazy as I am I joined them in their run instead of heading back despite already covering 8K at that time.  For some weird reason I was able to convince them to head back to Market! Market! the same way I did going to McKinley—via C5.  Like earlier stated it was short but from McKinley it was not easy as it was a very long uphill run on the flyover!  From there we had some interesting route going back to BHS and for me ending with a total of 12.92K for the night (including the 1.21K warmup run I had around BHS).

One Million Meters

Upon tallying up my runs since I started August last year I just found out that I already covered 1,000K distance!  With this last run I currently have 1,007K under my feet and counting towards my first 1,000K for the year which currently stands at 885K.  it was truly a rewarding night since not only did I cover areas of BHS I’ve never been to, I was also able to break 1,000K.

We hit a Rarified Core Deposit for 4 days straight. This WH has been the most profitable so far. I hope that we get a good, empty C5 neighbor to move into tomorrow. No more Gravimetric sites are spawning so I am getting some C32 out of a Ladar sight until downtime.

Advanced Tactical Systems – www.ultra-ats.com – was named as one of the Best Companies to Work for in Texas for 2009 by Texas Monthly Magazine and the Texas State Chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). ATS is a mission-focused organization that values putting the warfighter first, doing what’s right, executing with passion and meeting our commitments.

Advanced Tactical Systems is one of 25 businesses within Ultra Electronics and has a history of growth and success. ATS has a strong and established management team and a solid base of contracts. Most importantly, the company is well positioned within the high growth C4I market. We design, develop, deliver, and support real-time tactical command and control systems and have delivered systems to all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces and many of our Allied and Coalition partners. Our systems and personnel have supported every major conflict since our founding in 1987.

It is against this backdrop that ATS seeks a Director of Business Development, a leader to develop and execute the next generation strategy to ensure that ATS continues to maximize its potential. This position will be responsible for establishing and coordinating all marketing and business development functions for the company.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
· Provide strategic vision and associated roadmap to ensure the continued growth and success of ATS’ business within the C4ISR domain and across the Department of Defense and adjacent agencies / military organizations.
· Serve as key operational leader and be fully accountable for the ongoing success for the Marketing and Business Development efforts.
· Create and establish relationships with key decision makers and acquisition officials with the DoD / military community to lead and win new business.
· Work closely with ATS’ sister companies within Ultra to ensure effective pursuit strategies for programs that require multi business group collaboration.
· Represent ATS and Ultra across the DoD / military market space as well as with industry-partner executives.

YEAR ONE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
· Be a “Rock-turner” and contribute to the rapid growth of the business.
· Establish a high energy and creative culture that encourages teamwork and the break-down of silos.
· Create a culture that will grow the business by taking current and new capabilities to market.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
The successful candidate must:
· Be a proven leader with the capability to rapidly grow the business by identifying new service offerings and taking current capabilities to new customers. A transformative executive is sought.
· Have 10+ years of increasing P&L experience and selling solutions within the C4I / federal government / military community where there was a significant level of direct accountability.
· Ideal candidate will have a proven track record of taking a small C4I footprint and succeeded in growing a significant business.
· Inspirational management style, the ability to build relationships with an existing high-performing organization and be able to quickly develop a compelling forward looking vision for the business.
· Have a career experience base encompassing significant project management, capture management, and proposal management within the DoD mission community.
· Exhibit industry reputation and established relationships with key decision makers and acquisition officials in the DoD and other federal agencies.
· Illustrate a proven record of pursuing and winning mission services and solutions-based new business opportunities of significant size, complexity of scope and/or following a unique/complex business model.
· Possess a results orientation with prior executive experience where personal contributions and demonstrated business development capabilities contributed to consistent growth and enhanced profitability.
· Be strong at problem-solving and conceptual thinking. Possess the capability to work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.
· Possess exceptional interpersonal skills with the ability to form strategic relationships.
· Display excellent written communications and presentation capabilities.

EDUCATION
Requires a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Marketing, General Business, Finance, or a related field.

MUST HAVE A CURRENT US SECURITY CLEARANCE OR THE ABILITY TO OBTAIN ONE.

Apply online at http://tr.im/xOuf or forward your resume to hr@ultra-ats.com.

______________________________
Advanced Tactical Systems, Inc
An Ultra Electronics Business
www.ultra-ats.com

EOE

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Ultra_ATS
Become our Fan on Facebook: http://tr.im/lejn

What a lonely home over the past week. I only say one Covert Ops on the Directional Scanner the entire time we were in the system. Currently the WH has stopped spawning new sites, so it is time to move.

Anomaly: Magnetar
Class: 5
Attributes:

• Targeting Range: -41%
• Turret Tracking Speed: -41%
• Missile AOE Velocity Multiplier: -41%
• Drone Velocity: -41%
• Damage Multiplier: +85%
• Gravimetric ECM Strength: +85%
• Ladar ECM Strength: +85%
• Magnetometric ECM Strength: +85%
• Radar ECM Strength: +85%
• Target Painter Effectiveness: +85%
• Sensor Dampener Range Reduction: +85%
• Sensor Dampener Scan Resolution Reduction: +85%
• Tracking Disruptor Tracking Penalty: +85%
• Tracking Disruptor Optimal Range Reduction: +85%

We focused on the Rarified Core Deposit for around 4 days and generated around 1.491 B worth of profit after the minerals were hauled to Jita.  We are donating 300M to our corporation and splitting 1.19 B so my personal take home is around 595M.

Mined:

• 50,000 Arkonor
• 80,000 Bistot
• 80,000 Crokite
• 15,000 Mercoxit
• 20,000 Spodumain

We did not touch:

• 200,000 Omber
• 200,000 Hedbergite

All of our minerals were processed by our Intensive Refining Array which has a refining yield of 75%.  In a few months, we are planning on using a Rorqual to compress all of our Ore and bringing it to empire to refine where we can get a much higher yield.