User:Ndsg/Sandbox

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Adapted GR lead for TFA

Gwoyeu Romatzyh

The four tones of 'guo' in characters and GR

Gwoyeu Romatzyh (literally "National Romanization"), abbreviated GR, is a system for writing Chinese in the Latin alphabet. It was developed in the 1920s by a group of linguists led by Y.R. Chao, and is unique in its use of "tonal spelling" to indicate the four tones of Mandarin. Tones are a fundamental part of the Chinese language: using the wrong tone sounds as puzzling as if one said bud in English, meaning "not good" or "the thing one sleeps in". Unlike other systems, which indicate tones with accents or numbers, GR modifies the spelling of the syllable: the four tones of ai, for example, are spelled ai, air, ae and ay. Some teachers believe that these distinctive spellings may help foreign students remember the tones.

In 1928 China adopted GR as the nation's official romanization system. Although GR was mainly used in dictionaries, its proponents hoped one day to establish it as a writing system for a reformed Chinese script. But despite support from some trained linguists in China and overseas, GR met with public indifference and even hostility due to its complexity. Eventually GR lost ground to Pinyin and other later romanization systems. However, its influence is still evident, as several of the principles introduced by its creators have been used in romanization systems that followed it. (more...)

This article describes an innovative writing system applied to a major world language, Chinese. It was largely devised by Yuen Ren Chao, one of the 20th century's great linguists. The history of Gwoyeu Romatzyh illustrates the practical difficulty of attempting to implement script reform in the face of entrenched social, cultural and political opposition. --NigelG (or Ndsg) | Talk 09:17, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

New article: Cotswold Gliding Club

The Cotswold Gliding Club (CGC) is based at Aston Down airfield, between Cirencester and Stroud in Gloucestershire, South West England. The Club maintains a fleet of aircraft for training purposes, and is a centre for cross-country gliding and competitions.

The Club

CGC was formed in 1964. It was initially based at Long Newton airfield near Tetbury, but in 1967 moved to its current home, Aston Down—at that time still a military airfield. In 1981, with the help of Sports Council grants and other loans, the Club purchased a large part of the airfield from the Ministry of Defence. Having since acquired further land, CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track.

CGC has some 200 members, including 30 students from the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol. In 2007 the CGC widened its membership to include Blokarters (blokart is a form of land sailing using portable land yachts).

The Airfield

Aston Down airfield from the south

Aston Down is, by gliding standards, a large airfield The 1500m main runway (about one mile) offers scope for high launches, sometimes up to 900m (3000 feet) when the wind direction is straight down the runway. This makes it easy to contact the abundant thermals that rise from the well drained Cotswold limestone to give superb soaring conditions. Aerotow launching is also used, particularly when westerly or north-westerly winds generate lift off the Cotswold ridge (or "Edge") or wave lift downwind of the Welsh mountains.

The picture shows Aston Down taken from the south. The main (northeast-southwest) runway runs from bottom left to top right, while the shorter 1000m (3,300 ft) east-west runway runs left to right. The disused runway in the distance has been partly removed to allow more room for gliders landing on the grass. Blokarting is restricted to the runway not currently in use (which varies according to wind direction).

The Club fleet

The club's fleet of aircraft includes three Ka13 dual-seat trainers, a DG 500T advanced cross-country trainer and has use of a Ka7 owned by UWE Gliding Club. Two Ka8s are available for early solo pilots, while more experienced pilots can fly either a Pilatus B4 or an Astir. All Club gliders have simlar instrumentation and are equipped with audio variometers. Privately owned motor gliders based at Aston Down are available for club members for field landing and cross-country endorsement checks.

CGC is currently undertaking a phased replacement of all the current Ka13 gliders with modern PW-6U training gliders, the first two of which are due to be delivered in the first quater of 2008.

Gliding activity

Members receive training from the Club's 20 BGA-qualified instructors. This training takes pilots to solo and well beyond—to advanced cross-country flying. Members of the public can book trial lessons and more intensive one-day courses. During the soaring season (April to September) many members fly private gliders, usually owned jointly by two or more partners: this flyig takes the form of either local soaring or more ambitous cross-country flying.

Competitions

The excellent runway and facilities available at Aston Down make the CGC a frequent choice for hosting regional and national gliding competitions. Two recent examples were the 15 Metre Nationals in 2006 and the Inter University Task Week in 2007. In November 2007 the British Blokart Championships were held at Aston Down.

Facilities

The original control tower houses a club room, kitchen and residential accommodation; caravan and camping facilities are available on site. A large hangar accommodates the club fleet, most of the private gliders owned by club members being stored in trailers when not being flown. There is a large workshop for maintenance of aircraft, vehicles and winches.

WP article on Aston Down (CGC material migrated)

Map sources for Ndsg/Sandbox at grid reference SO9101

Aston Down is a former Royal Air Force airfield near Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, South West England. It was used by the RAF from the First World War until 1967, since when it has been the home of the Cotswold Gliding Club. In 2002 the land and hangars surrounding the airfield were sold by the Ministry of Defence to private developers for use as industrial units.

History

Aston Down was first used as an airfield in the First World War, serving as a base for the Australian Flying Corps. Originally known as Minchinhampton Aerodrome, the airfield was renamed Aston Down in 1938 at the request of the residents of Minchinhampton village, which lies about one mile (1.5 km) to the west of the airfield, who feared not enemy attack, but a fall in the value of their houses. During the Second World War the hard runways and hangars were built. Until early 1941 Aston Down was host to the RAF's No. 55 OTU (Officer Training Unit), after which it was used as a ferry base. More recently the airfield was used as a satellite airfield for the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington, with trainee pilots practising their circuits in BAC Jet Provosts. Visits by the Red Arrows were also frequent until their departure from the nearby Kemble Airfield in 1983.

Gliding

Main article: Cotswold Gliding Club

Aston Down airfield from the south

In 1967 the Cotswold Gliding Club (CGC) moved to Aston Down, which in 1981 became surplus to requirements and was sold to the Club by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Having since acquired further land, the CGC now owns most of the airfield within the perimeter track.

Industry and the environment

The land surrounding the airfield, including a number of large hangars (visible in the photograph above), continued to be used by the MOD until 2002, when it was sold to the development firm Leda Properties to be let as warehousing and industrial units. In 2005, following a Freedom of Information request, the local newspaper revealed that Aston Down is contaminated with arsenic, hydrocarbons and radium. Since the site is located above a vulnerable aquifer, local residents have formed a pressure group to persuade local government and central government agencies to implement more stringent safety regulations.

External links

• Cotswold Gliding Club
• UWE Gliding Club
• Blokarters
• The Story Of The Air Transport Auxiliary

Category:Airfields Category:Gliding in England Category:Sport in Gloucestershire

Lead section of Ming dynasty

The Ming Dynasty (Chinese: 明朝; pinyin: Míng Cháo), or Empire of the Great Ming (simplified Chinese: 大明国; traditional Chinese: 大明國; pinyin: Dà Míng Guó), was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. At its height, the Ming Dynasty had a population of 160 to 200 million people. The Ming was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Hans (the main Chinese ethnic group), before falling to the rebellion led by Li Zicheng and soon after replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. Although the Ming capital of Beijing fell in 1644, remnants of the Ming throne and power (collectively called the Southern Ming) survived until 1662.

Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of 1,000,000 troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century surpassed all others in sheer size. There were enormous projects of construction, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century.

Emperor Hongwu (r. 1368–1398) attempted to create caaandy a society of self-sufficient rural communities in a rigid, immobile system that would have no need to engage with the commercial life and trade of urban centers. His rebuilding of China's agricultural base and strengthening of communication routes through the militarized courier system had the unintended effect of creating a vast agricultural surplus that could be sold at burgeoning markets located along courier routes. Rural culture and commerce became influenced by urban trends. The high echelons of society embodied in the scholarly gentry class were also affected by this new consumption-based culture. In a departure from tradition, merchant families began to produce examination candidates to become scholar-officials and adopted cultural traits and practices typical of the gentry class.

By the 16th century the Ming economy was stimulated by maritime trade with the Portuguese Empire and Spanish Empire. China became involved in a new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as the Columbian Exchange. Trade with European powers and the Japanese brought in massive amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paper banknotes as the common medium of exchange in China. During the last decades of the Ming the flow of silver into China was greatly diminished, thereby undermining state revenues and indeed the entire Ming economy. This damage to the economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure, and sudden epidemics. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority.

Ming dynasty revised TOC

Contents javascript:toggleToc() hide

• 1 History

• • 1.1 Founding

• • • 1.1.1 Revolt and rebel rivalry
    • 1.1.2 Reign of the Hongwu Emperor
    • 1.1.3 The southwestern frontier

• • 1.2 Reversal of Hongwu's policies

• • • 1.2.1 Imposing standards and relocations
    • 1.2.2 Self-sufficient agriculture, surplus, and urban trends
    • 1.2.3 Fusion of the merchant and gentry classes
    • 1.2.4 Courier network and commercial growth
    • 1.2.5 Merchants, an open market, and silver

• • 1.3 Reign of the Yongle Emperor

• • • 1.3.1 Rise to power
    • 1.3.2 New capital and a restored canal
    • 1.3.3 Treasure fleet

• • 1.4 Tumu Crisis and the Ming Mongols
  • 1.5 Isolation to globalization

• • • 1.5.1 Illegal trade, piracy, and war with Japan
    • 1.5.2 Trade and contact with Europe

• • 1.6 Decline

• • • 1.6.1 Reign of the Wanli Emperor
    • 1.6.2 Role of eunuchs
    • 1.6.3 Economic breakdown and disaster

• • 1.7 Fall of the Dynasty

• • • 1.7.1 Rise of the Manchu
    • 1.7.2 Rebellion, invasion, collapse

• 2 Government

• • 2.1 Province, prefecture, subprefecture, county
  • 2.2 Institutions and bureaus

• • • 2.2.1 Institutional trends
    • 2.2.2 Grand Secretariat and Six Ministries
    • 2.2.3 Bureaus and offices for the imperial household

• • 2.3 Personnel

• • • 2.3.1 Scholar-officials
    • 2.3.2 Lesser functionaries
    • 2.3.3 Eunuchs, princes and generals

• 3 Society and culture

• • 3.1 Literature and arts
  • 3.2 Religion
  • 3.3 Philosophy

• • • 3.3.1 Wang Yangming's Confucianism
    • 3.3.2 Conservative reaction

• • 3.4 Urban and rural life

• 4 Science and technology
• 5 Population
• 6 See also
• 7 Notes
• 8 References
• 9 Further reading
• 10 External links

General aviation lead section

General aviation (GA) in the United Kingdom is defined as a "civil aircraft operation other than a commercial air transport flight operating to a schedule." Although the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) excludes any form of remunerated aviation from its definition, some commercial operations are often included within the scope of general aviation in the UK. The sector operates business jets, rotorcraft, piston and jet-engined fixed-wing aircraft, gliders of all descriptions, and lighter than air craft. Public transport operations include business aviation and air taxi services, and account for nearly half of the economic contribution made by the sector. Other commercial GA activities are aerial work, such as surveying and air ambulances, and flight training, which plays an important role in the supply of pilots to the commercial air transport (CAT) industry. Private flying is conducted for personal transport and recreation. It includes a strong vintage aircraft movement, and encompasses a range of air sports, such as racing, aerobatics, and parachuting, at which British teams and individuals have succeeded in international competition.

Of the 27,000 civil aircraft registered in the UK, 96 per cent are engaged in GA operations, and annually the GA fleet accounts for between 1.25 and 1.35 million hours flown. The commonest class of aircraft is the fixed-wing light aircraft associated with traditional GA, but the main area of growth over the last 20 years has been in the use of more affordable aircraft, such as microlights, amateur built aeroplanes, and smaller helicopters. There are 28,000 Private Pilot Licence holders, and 10,000 certified glider pilots. Some of the 19,000 commercial pilots are also engaged in GA activities. Although GA operates from more than 1,800 aerodromes and landing sites, ranging in size from large regional airports, through predominantly GA airfields, to informal farm strips, over 80 per cent of GA activity is conducted at 134 of the larger aerodromes. The GA industry, which is around 7 per cent the size of the CAT sector, employs 12,000 people, and contributes £1.4 billion to the UK economy.

GA is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority, although regulatory powers are being increasingly transferred to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The main focus is on standards of airworthiness and pilot licensing, and the objective is to promote high standards of safety. At the lighter end of the GA spectrum some regulatory authority is devolved to representative bodies, with gliding being in transition from a self-regulatory model to more formal governance by EASA. Airspace regulation necessary to protect an increasing number of CAT operations has reduced the area in which GA flights can be freely conducted. The growth in CAT is also making access to larger airports more difficult for the GA sector, and smaller aerodromes are vulnerable to closure and re-development for more profitable uses. The UK planning system, far from favouring the development of smaller aerodromes catering to the GA market, has become a mechanism for restricting aerodrome use, to address local environmental issues which, particularly regarding noise, are the main subjects of public criticism levelled at GA.