Falcon (Duinrell)

Falcon is a steel roller coaster at the amusement park Duinrell, located in Wassenaar, Netherlands. The roller coaster is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter model coaster which was opened to the public on 14 May 2009. At 97 degrees, Falcon has a steeper-than-vertical drop, and the steepest drop of any roller coaster in the Netherlands.

History

Soon after it opened in 1935, Duinrell had the Netherlands' first artificial ski slope. This ski slope was ultimately removed for the installation of Falcon in 2009. The municipality of Wassenaar had often had disputes with Duinrell in regards to noise levels created by the amusement park. This was true again with the proposed construction of a new coaster. The new coaster was given the code name "Rick's Delight"—which was a reference to Duinrell's mascot, Rick the Frog. The park was awarded when a permit from the municipality of Wassenaar over the objections of some residents and after a lengthy court battle. Noise and traffic studies were conducted and showed that the new coaster would not adversely influence these environmental factors in the area surrounding the park (results were just under the 45 decibel benchmark). A Duinrell spokesperson also stated that measures were being taken to further mitigate the noise from the park. On 14 May 2009, Mayor Hoekema van Wassenaar and the director of Duinrell, Philip van Zuylen van Nijvelt opened the ride to the public. Objections from the community, however, had delayed the coaster opening 2 years later than had originally been planned.

Falcon (gasoline launch)

The launch Falcon operated in Puget Sound and nearby regions, and also on Lake Washington during the first part of the 1900s. The wreck of this vessel has been discovered in Lake Washington not far from Kirkland and is in good condition under 190 depth of water. This vessel should not be confused with the steam (later diesel) tug Falcon built in Tacoma, Washington in 1902.

Construction and design

Falcon is reported to have been built in Bellingham, Washington in 1909 for the Island Transportation Company. There is some conflict in the sources. Another more contemporaneous source shows a gasoline powered vessel named Falcon (U.S. Registry No. 204927) with the same sized engine (100 horsepower) as having been built in 1908 at Anacortes, Washington.

Falcon was one of a number of gasoline-engined launches built in 1909.Falcon was designed by L. H. Coolidge, a Seattle naval architect. Depending on the source, Falcon was either 85 ft (25.91 m) or 67.9 ft (20.70 m) long and either 16 ft (4.88 m) or 14.8 ft (4.51 m) on the beam,with a depth of hold of 4.8 ft (1.46 m). The overall size of the vessel was 46 gross and 26 registered tons. The total number of crew was two. Power was furnished by a 100 horsepower Eastern Standard engine. The cost of construction and equipment for the vessel was $8,000.

Falconet (cannon)

The falconet or falcon was a light cannon developed in the late 15th century. During the Middle Ages guns were decorated with engravings of reptiles, birds or beasts depending on their size. For example, a culverin would often feature snakes, as the handles on the early cannons were often decorated to resemble serpents. The falconet fired small yet lethal shot of similar weight and size to a bird of prey, and so was decorated with a falcon. Similarly, the musket was associated with the sparrowhawk.

Its barrel was approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) long, had a caliber of 2 inches (5 cm) and weighed 80 kilograms (176 lb)~200 kilograms (441 lb). The falconet used 0.5 pounds (0.23 kg) of black powder to fire a 1 pound (0.5 kg) round shot approximately 5,000 feet (1,524 m). They could also be used to fire grapeshot.

The falconet resembled an oversized matchlock musket with two wheels attached to improve mobility. In 1620s Germany a breechloading version was invented, seeing action in the Thirty Years War. Many falconets were in use during the English Civil War as they were lighter and cheaper than the culverins, sakers and minions. During times of unrest they were used by the nobility to defend their grand houses.

Unidentified flying object

An unidentified flying object, or UFO, in its most general definition, is any apparent anomaly in the sky that is not identifiable as a known object or phenomenon. Culturally, UFOs are associated with claims of visitation by extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and have become popular subjects in fiction. While UFOs are often later identified, sometimes identification may not be possible owing to the usually low quality of evidence related to UFO sightings (generally anecdotal evidence and eyewitness accounts).

Stories of fantastical celestial apparitions have been told since antiquity, but the term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was officially created in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to serve as a catch-all for all such reports. In its initial definition, the USAF stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." Accordingly, the term was initially restricted to that fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, as the USAF was interested in potential national security reasons and/or "technical aspects" (see Air Force Regulation 200-2).

UFO (Newton Faulkner EP)

UFO is the third demo EP by Newton Faulkner. It was released on December 4, 2006 as a follow up to Full Fat. A studio recording of Teardrop (cover of the Massive Attack song) was later released as a single on Hand Built by Robots. The songs U.F.O and Feels Like Home are also included on this album.

Track listing

References

UFO (disambiguation)

A UFO is an unidentified flying object, a popular term for any aerial phenomenon that cannot be identified.

UFO may also refer to:

Insects

Computer technology

Brands, clubs, organizations

Books

Film and television