Bombardier (aircrew)

A bombardier or bomb aimer was the crew member of a bomber aircraft responsible for the targeting of aerial bombs. "Bomb Aimer" was the preferred term in the military forces of the Commonwealth, while "Bombardier" (from the French word for "bomb thrower" and similar in meaning to "grenadier") was the equivalent position in the United States Armed Forces.

In many planes, the bombardier took control of the airplane during the bombing run, using a bombsight such as the Norden bombsight which was connected to the autopilot of the plane. Often stationed in the extreme front of the aircraft, on the way to the target and after releasing the bombs, he could also serve as the front gunner in aircraft that had a front turret.

In the latter part of the 20th century, the title of bombardier fell into disuse, due largely to changes in technology, emanating from the replacement of this manual function with the development of computerized technology and smart bombs, that has given rise to terms like weapons systems officer or combat systems officer (CSO) to describe the modern role. The equivalent in the US Navy and US Marine Corps is the Naval Flight Officer.

Air Force One

Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign of a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term refers to those Air Force aircraft specifically designed, built, and used for the purpose of transporting the president. The presidential aircraft is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power.

The idea of designating specific military aircraft to transport the President arose in 1943, when officials of the United States Army Air Forces, the predecessor to the U.S. Air Force, became concerned with relying on commercial airlines to transport the President. A C-87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as a presidential transport; however, it was rejected by the Secret Service amid concerns over the aircraft's safety record. A C-54 Skymaster was then converted for presidential use; this aircraft, dubbed the Sacred Cow, transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Yalta Conference in February 1945, and was subsequently used for another two years by President Harry S. Truman.

Force play

In baseball, a force is a situation when a baserunner is compelled (or forced) to vacate his time-of-pitch base—and thus try to advance to the next base—because the batter became a runner. A runner at first base is always forced to attempt to advance to second base when the batter becomes a runner. Runners at second or third base are forced only when all bases preceding their time-of-pitch base are occupied by other baserunners and the batter becomes a runner.

A forced runner's force base is the next base beyond his time-of-pitch base. Any attempt by fielders to put a forced runner out is called a force play. Think of forced runners as bumper cars. If with a runner on first, the batter hits a ground ball, the batter must run to first, and since two runners are not allowed to stay on one base at one time, the runner who was on first to begin with is now bumper-carred by the advancing batter over to second. If there already was a runner on second as well, that runner is now bumper-carred over to third, and so on. If a runner is bumper-carred over to the next base by the advancing batter or by another runner who was bumper-carred by the advancing batter, then that runner is considered to have been forced to advance to the next base. If, however, with a runner on third, for example, the batter hits a ground ball, the batter must run to first, but the runner on third, not having been bumper-carred by the batter, is not forced to advance and can stay where he is if he elects to.

Lego Star Wars

Lego Star Wars is a Lego theme that incorporates the Star Wars saga. The first Lego Star Wars, released in 1999, included model 7140, the first Lego X-Wing. Star Wars was the first intellectual property to be licensed in Lego Group history. The first few sets based on the original trilogy were released in 1999, coinciding with the release of The Phantom Menace. Sets based on the prequel trilogy (Episodes 1 to 3) of Star Wars would follow, starting with Episode I. As each new film in the prequel trilogy neared its release date, Lego issued new models of ships and scenes in those films, as well as additional sets from the original trilogy. Lego also produced models based on The Clone Wars, which was released early in 2008.

Originally it was only licensed from 1999–2008, but the Lego Group extended the license with Lucasfilm Ltd. multiple times: First to 2011 and then again until 2016. In 2012 another 10-year agreement was signed between the two companies. The brand has spawned five video game releases, developed by Traveller's Tales — Lego Star Wars: The Video Game (2005), Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (2006), Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (2007) and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (2011), and Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2016).

Force (2011 film)

Force is a 2011 Indian blockbuster action thriller film directed by Nishikanth Kamath, starring John Abraham opposite Genelia D'Souza in lead roles. It is a remake of Gautham Menon's successful 2003 Tamil film, Kaakha Kaakha Starring Suriya and Jyothika in lead and is about a dutiful cop who chases the capture of a dreaded gangster. The film released on 30 September 2011, and received mostly positive reviews upon release,. John Abraham's performance was also praised by public and critics.

Plot

The film starts with ACP Yashvardhan IPS (John Abraham) in the hospital, recalling the accident that changed his life forever. Yash is a dutiful, responsible and stone-hearted police officer in the Narcotics Control Bureau whose only passion in life is crime-fighting. He has no family or loved ones and has been alone in life since he can remember. Everything changes when Yash meets Maya (Genelia D'Souza), an independent and lovely woman. Though the two get off to a rocky start, Maya warms up to him once she realises he is a police officer, and apologises for the misunderstandings they had. When Maya gets hit by a car in front of Yash, he rushes her to the hospital. With that, the two bond and start to meet and go out regularly. Maya confesses her love to Yash, but Yash refutes her advances, as he does not want her to become his weakness in his professional life. However, Swati (Sandhya Mridul), the wife of Yash's coworker and good friend, convinces Yash that he is in love with Maya as well and Yash decides to get married to her.

Bombardier (rank)

Bombardier is a military rank that has existed since the 16th century in artillery regiments of various armies, such as in the British Army and the Royal Prussian Army, equivalent to the infantry rank of corporal. The rank of lance-bombardier is the artillery counterpart of lance-corporal.

British and Commonwealth armies

Bombardier (Bdr) and lance-bombardier (LBdr or L/Bdr) are used by the British Army in the Royal Artillery and Royal Horse Artillery. The same applies to the Royal Australian Artillery, the Royal New Zealand Artillery, the South African Army Artillery and the Armed Forces of Malta. The Royal Canadian Artillery uses the ranks of master bombardier and bombardier, corresponding to master corporal and corporal. In the Australian Army the insignia is identical to that of a corporal, the only distinguishing featuring being the RAA badge worn on the cap by lance bombardiers and bombardiers.

Originally, the Royal Artillery had corporals, but not lance-corporals. Unlike a lance-corporal, a bombardier held full non-commissioned rank and not an acting appointment. The rank was equivalent to second corporal in the Royal Engineers and Army Ordnance Corps.

Firestone 600

The Firestone 600 is an IndyCar Series race held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas. The race is held on a Saturday night in early June. From 1997 until 2005, it served as the first race after the Indianapolis 500. It resumed this place in 2010 and in 2011. When it debuted in 1997, it was the first IndyCar race in the state of Texas since 1979.

Since its inception, the Firestone 600 has widely been considered the second-largest oval track race on the IndyCar Series calendar (second only to the Indy 500) in terms of attendance, popularity, and prestige.

History

The first Championship/Indy car races in the Dallas/Fort Worth area took place at Arlington Downs Raceway in nearby Arlington, Texas. AAA sanctioned five races from 1947–1950. USAC sanctioned ten Championship car events at Texas World Speedway in College Station, Texas. The race was discontinued when the track closed in 1981.

In 1997, the IndyCar Series debuted at the track on a Saturday night in early June. It marked the first-ever superspeedway night race for American open wheel racing. During the race, one of the electronic scoring wires malfunctioned in the pit area, which caused unexpected scoring errors. Billy Boat was scored as the leader, and took the checkered flag as the winner. Arie Luyendyk, who felt he had been robbed of the win, stormed victory lane, where he was lunged at by Boat's owner, A. J. Foyt. Quickly the fight broke up. The next morning, it was determined that Luyendyk actually was the official winner. Foyt refused to return the trophy, and the race has since become a famous part of Texas Motor Speedway lore. Luyendyk received a replacement, and the "official" trophy years later, presented to him by track president Eddie Gossage.