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Go-fast Boat
A go-fast boat is a small, fast power boat designed with a long narrow platform and a planing hull. During the United States alcohol prohibition era, these boats were used in " rum-running", transferring illegal liquor from larger vessels waiting outside US territorial waters to the mainland. Their high speed enabled them to avoid interception by the law enforcement. The present conception of such boats is based largely on designs by Donald Aronow for offshore powerboat racing in the 1960s. During this period, these boats were also used by drug smugglers to transfer drugs across the Caribbean to the United States. Name Go-fast boats are also called "cigarette boats" and "cigar boats"—references to their shape, though some report that they are references to items they were used to smuggle. "Cigarette boat" is especially popular because it is a brand name for a line of go-fast boats that popularized and largely defined the class in the 1960s, made by Don Aronow's Cigarette ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. A radar system consists of a transmitter producing electromagnetic waves in the radio or microwaves domain, a transmitting antenna, a receiving antenna (often the same antenna is used for transmitting and receiving) and a receiver and processor to determine properties of the objects. Radio waves (pulsed or continuous) from the transmitter reflect off the objects and return to the receiver, giving information about the objects' locations and speeds. Radar was developed secretly for military use by several countries in the period before and during World War II. A key development was the cavity magnetron in the United Kingdom, which allowed the creation of relatively small systems with sub-meter resolution. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tunnel Hull
A tunnel hull is a type of boat hull that uses two typically planing hulls with a solid centre that traps air. This entrapment then creates aerodynamic lift in addition to the planing (hydrodynamic) lift from the hulls. Many times this is attributed to ground effect. Theoretical research and full-scale testing of tunnel hulls has demonstrated the dramatic contributions of 'close-proximity ground effect' on enhanced aerodynamic lift/drag in operation of performance tunnel hull designs."Secrets of Tunnel Boat Design", JDRussell,P.Eng. () Tunnel hulls are distinguishable from other catamarans by the typical close hull spacing and solid deck in between the hulls. Formula 1 powerboats have a tunnel hull catamaran design allowing them to go faster. Tunnel hulls are a common design in offshore powerboat racing. References See also * Cathedral hull * Hickman sea sled * Boston Whaler * Supercavitation propeller * Offshore Powerboat Racing Offshore powerboat racing is a type of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supercavitating Propeller
{{no footnotes, date=November 2016 The supercavitating propeller is a variant of a propeller for propulsion in water, where supercavitation is actively employed to gain increased speed by reducing friction. They are being used for military purposes and for high performance racing boats as well as model racing boats. This article distinguishes a supercavitating propeller from a subcavitating propeller running under supercavitating conditions. In general, subcavitating propellers become less efficient when they are running under supercavitating conditions. The supercavitating propeller operates submerged with the entire diameter of the blade below the water line. Its blades are wedge-shaped to force cavitation at the leading edge and to avoid water skin friction along the whole forward face. As the cavity collapses well behind the blade, the supercavitating propeller avoids the spalling damage due to cavitation that is a problem with conventional propellers. An alternative to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poker Run
A poker run is an organized event in which participants, usually using motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, horses, on foot or other means of transportation, must visit five to seven checkpoints, drawing a playing card at each one. The object is to have the best poker hand at the end of the run. Having the best hand and winning is purely a matter of chance. The event has a time limit, however the individual participants are not timed. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the record for the largest event was set in 2009 with 2,136 motorcyclists benefiting the Fallen Firefighter Survivors Foundation (FFSF). The record for the largest single venue event was set in 2012, with 586 motorcyclists raising money for Prostate Cancer research in Ottawa, Canada. Variations Poker runs usually require a fee to enter and some for each additional hand; in some events a small part of the fee may go to funding the event, including the prizes, while the rest goes to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Train Seizure
The ''Night Train'' drug seizure was a December 1977 seizure of 54 tons of marijuana by the United States Coast Guard off the southeastern coast of Florida which marked the beginning of ''Operation Stopgap'', a United States federal law enforcement inter-agency drug interdiction operation focusing on interdicting drugs from Colombian cartels and other illicit Central and South American drug sources. The Night Train seizure was the largest single drug seizure in history at the time it occurred, and it remains one of the largest marijuana seizures made in the territorial waters of the United States. ''Operation Stopgap'' was one of the first inter-agency law enforcement efforts focused on the interdiction of illegal drugs from Central and South America, and it featured personnel of the Coast Guard, DEA and US Federal Marshals Service working together, as well as the resources of the Intelligence Section of the Drug Enforcement Administration and Coast Guard Intelligence (CGI). The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narco-submarine
A narco-submarine (also called a drug sub or narco sub) is a type of custom ocean-going self-propelled typically semi-submersible (sometimes fully- submersible) vessel built for smugglers. Newer submarines are 'nearly-fully' submersible to be difficult to detect visually, by radar, sonar, or infrared systems. Cargos are typically several tons. In 2015, the largest-known cargo of was seized on a semi-submersible. The capabilities of these craft are increasing (some are capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean); their operating places and circles are widening; and their numbers are growing. The drug trafficker Laureano Oubiña affirms the existence of a marine cemetery of narco-submarines near the Canary Islands (Spain). History During the 1980s, go-fast boats were the smuggling vessel of choice in many parts of the world, although these vessels could be detected by radar. As radar coverage improved, smugglers developed semi-submersibles to avoid radar detection. In 1988, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miami Vice (film)
''Miami Vice'' is a 2006 action crime film written, directed and co-produced by Michael Mann. An adaptation of the 1980s television series of the same name, on which Mann was an executive producer, it stars Colin Farrell as James "Sonny" Crockett and Jamie Foxx as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, MDPD detectives who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The ensemble supporting cast includes Gong Li, Naomie Harris, Barry Shabaka Henley, John Ortiz, Luis Tosar, Ciarán Hinds, Elizabeth Rodriguez, John Hawkes, Justin Theroux, Isaach De Bankolé, Eddie Marsan and Tom Towles. Foxx brought up the idea of a ''Miami Vice'' film to Mann during a party for ''Ali''. This led Mann to revisit the series he co-produced. Like ''Collateral'', which also starred Foxx, most of the film was shot with the Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera, while Super 35 was used for high-speed and underwater shots. ''Miami Vice'' premiered in Los Angeles on July 20, 2006. It was released in the United Stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Purpose Machine Gun
A general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) is an air-cooled, usually belt-fed machine gun that can be adapted flexibly to various tactical roles for light and medium machine guns. A GPMG typically features a quick-change barrel design calibered for various fully powered cartridges such as the 7.62×51mm NATO, 7.62×54mmR, 7.5×54mm French, 7.5×55mm Swiss and 7.92×57mm Mauser, and be configured for mounting to different stabilizing platforms from bipods and tripods to vehicles, aircraft, boats and fortifications, usually as an infantry support weapon or squad automatic weapon. History The general-purpose machine gun (GPMG) originated with the MG 34, designed in 1934 by Heinrich Vollmer of Mauser on the commission of Nazi Germany to circumvent the restrictions on machine guns imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. It was introduced into the Wehrmacht as an entirely new concept in automatic firepower, dubbed the ''Einheitsmaschinengewehr'', meaning "universal machine gun" in Germ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M240 Machine Gun
The M240 – officially the Machine Gun, 7.62 mm, M240 – is the U.S. military designation for the FN MAG, a family of belt-fed, gas-operated medium machine guns that chamber the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge. The M240 has been used by the United States Armed Forces since the late 1970s. It is used extensively by infantry, most often in rifle companies, as well as on ground vehicles, watercraft and aircraft. Though it is heavier than some comparable weapons, it is highly regarded for reliability and its standardization among NATO members is a major advantage. All variants are fed from disintegrating belts and are capable of firing most types of 7.62 mm (.30/.308 cal) NATO ammunition. M240 variants can be converted to use non-disintegrating belts. There are significant differences in weight and some features among some versions which restrict the interchangeability of parts. The M240s used by the U.S. military are currently manufactured by FN America, the American s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-lethal Weapon
Non-lethal weapons, also called nonlethal weapons, less-lethal weapons, less-than-lethal weapons, non-deadly weapons, compliance weapons, or pain-inducing weapons are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than conventional weapons such as knives and firearms with live ammunition. It is often understood that unintended or incidental casualties are risked wherever force is applied, but non-lethal weapons try to minimise the risk of casualties (e.g. serious/permanent injuries or death) as much as possible. Non-lethal weapons are used in policing and combat situations to limit the escalation of conflict where employment of lethal force is prohibited or undesirable, where rules of engagement require minimum casualties, or where policy restricts the use of conventional force. These weapons occasionally cause serious injuries or death; the term "less-lethal" has been preferred by some organizations as it describes the risks of death more accurately than the term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rigid-hulled Inflatable Boat
A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are inflated with air to a high pressure so as to give the sides resilient rigidity along the boat's topsides. The design is stable, light, fast and seaworthy. The inflated collar acts as a life jacket, ensuring that the vessel retains its buoyancy, even if the boat is taking on water. The RIB is an evolutionary development of the inflatable boat with a rubberized fabric bottom that is stiffened with flat boards within the collar to form the deck or floor of the boat. History Origins in Wales The combination of rigid hull and large inflatable buoyancy tubes had been conceived by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) team working under Inspector of Lifeboats Dag Pike in 1964 as a means of reducing the wear and tear of the fabric botto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
