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Nuffield Guppy
The Nuffield Guppy was a small military vehicle designed by Sir Alec Issigonis while he worked for the Nuffield Organization in the early 1940s. The vehicle was designed to be parachute-droppable and was intended to assist paratroops to transport loads up to at walking speeds and to be amphibious. The vehicle resembled the DUKW but was only about long. It had large balloon tyres and an outboard motor at the rear. It was capable of carrying one person with equipment, or being used as a motorised wheelbarrow by someone walking alongside the vehicle. The war in Europe ended before the Guppy saw service. The similar name "Nuffield Gutty" was subsequently used for several unrelated prototype vehicles. See also * Mini Moke * Austin Ant * Austin Champ The Austin Champ was a military and civilian jeep-like vehicle made by the Austin Motor Company in the 1950s. The army version was officially known as "Truck, 1/4 ton, CT, 4×4, Cargo & FFW, Austin Mk.1" however the civilian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alec Issigonis
Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis (18 November 1906 – 2 October 1988) was a British-Greek automotive designer. He designed the Mini, launched by the British Motor Corporation in 1959, and voted the second Car of the Century, most influential car of the 20th century in 1999. Early life and education Issigonis was born on 18 November 1906 in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman port city of Smyrna, the only child of Constantine Issigonis and Hulda Prokopp. His paternal grandfather, Demosthenis, had migrated to Smyrna from the Greek island of Paros in the 1830s and Constantine was a successful and wealthy shipbuilding engineer. His maternal ancestors originated in the Kingdom of Württemberg. It was through his mother's kinships that Issigonis was a first cousin once removed to BMW and Volkswagen director Bernd Pischetsrieder. As British subjects - his father having naturalised whilst studying engineering in London in 1897 - Issigonis and his parents were evacuated t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuffield Organization
Nuffield Organization was the unincorporated umbrella-name or promotional name used for the charitable and commercial interests of owner and donor, William Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield. The name was assumed following Nuffield's gift made to form his Nuffield Foundation in 1943, it linked his business interests to his existing very generous philanthropy. The same enterprises had previously been referred to as the Morris Organizations and at first described itself as The Nuffield Organization, A Cornerstone of Britain's Industrial Structure."Morris Motors Limited and its associated companies, which together form what is now generally known as the Nuffield Organization."Morris Motors Limited. Statement by the Vice-Chairman, Sir Miles Thomas, D.F.C. circulated with the report and accounts. ''The Times'', Saturday, 7 June 1947; pg. 7; Issue 50781 Productive members of the Nuffield Organization The productive businesses were owned by Morris Motors Limited and this corporate structu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachute
A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who can exit from an aircraft at height and descend safely to earth. A parachute is usually made of a light, strong fabric. Early parachutes were made of silk. The most common fabric today is nylon. A parachute's canopy is typically dome-shaped, but some are rectangles, inverted domes, and other shapes. A variety of loads are attached to parachutes, including people, food, equipment, space capsules, and bombs. History Middle Ages In 852, in Córdoba, Spain, the Moorish man Armen Firman attempted unsuccessfully to fly by jumping from a tower while wearing a large cloak. It was recorded that "there was enough air in the folds of his cloak to prevent great injury when he reached the ground." Early Renaissance The earliest evidence f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paratrooper
A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World War II for troop distribution and transportation. Paratroopers are often used in surprise attacks, to seize strategic objectives such as airfields or bridges. Overview Paratroopers jump out of airplanes and use parachutes to land safely on the ground. This is one of the three types of "forced entry" strategic techniques for entering a theater of war; the other two being by land and by water. Their tactical advantage of entering the battlefield from the air is that they can attack areas not directly accessible by other transport. The ability of air assault to enter the battlefield from any location allows paratroopers to evade emplaced fortifications that guard from attack from a specific direction. The possible use of paratrooper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amphibious Vehicle
An amphibious vehicle (or simply amphibian), is a vehicle that is a means of transport viable on land as well as on or under water. Amphibious vehicles include amphibious bicycles, ATVs, cars, buses, trucks, railway vehicles, combat vehicles and hovercraft. Classic landing craft are not amphibious vehicles as they do not offer any real land transportation at all, although they are part of amphibious warfare. Ground effect vehicles, such as ''ekranoplans'', will likely crash on any but the flattest of landmasses so are also not considered to be amphibious vehicles. General technical notes Apart from the distinction in sizes mentioned above, two main categories of amphibious vehicles are immediately apparent: those that travel on an air-cushion ( Hovercraft) and those that do not. Amongst the latter, many designs were prompted by the desire to expand the off-road capabilities of land-vehicles to an "all-terrain" ability, in some cases not only focused on creating a tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DUKW
The DUKW (colloquially known as Duck) is a six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of the -ton CCKW trucks used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War. Designed by a partnership under military auspices of Sparkman & Stephens and General Motors Corporation (GMC), the DUKW was used for the transportation of goods and troops over land and water. Excelling at approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious warfare attacks, it was intended only to last long enough to meet the demands of combat. Surviving DUKWs have since found popularity as tourist craft in marine environments. Etymology The name DUKW comes from General Motors Corporation model nomenclature: * D, 1942 production series * U, Utility * K, front wheel drive * W, tandem rear axles, both driven Decades later, the designation was explained erroneously by writers such as Donald Clarke, who wrote in 1978 that it was an initialism for "Duplex Universal Karrier, Wheeled". The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), traction on the surface over which the wheel travels. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, are pneumatically inflated structures, which also provide a flexible cushion that absorbs shock as the tire rolls over rough features on the surface. Tires provide a footprint, called a contact patch, that is designed to match the weight of the vehicle with the bearing strength of the surface that it rolls over by providing a bearing pressure that will not deform the surface excessively. The materials of modern pneumatic tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric, and wire, along with carbon black and other chemical compounds. They consist of a tire tread, tread and a body. The tread provides Traction (engineering), traction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outboard Motor
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method of propelling small watercraft. As well as providing propulsion, outboards provide steering control, as they are designed to pivot over their mountings and thus control the direction of thrust. The skeg also acts as a rudder when the engine is not running. Unlike inboard motors, outboard motors can be easily removed for storage or repairs. In order to eliminate the chances of hitting bottom with an outboard motor, the motor can be tilted up to an elevated position either electronically or manually. This helps when traveling through shallow waters where there may be debris that could potentially damage the motor as well as the propeller. If the electric motor required to move the pistons which raise or lower the engine is malfunctioni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a derivation of the Old English "barew" which was a device used for carrying loads. The wheelbarrow is designed to distribute the weight of its load between the wheel and the operator, so enabling the convenient carriage of heavier and bulkier loads than would be possible were the weight carried entirely by the operator. As such it is a second-class lever. Traditional Chinese wheelbarrows, however, had a central wheel supporting the whole load. Use of wheelbarrows is common in the construction industry and in gardening. Typical capacity is approximately of material. A two-wheel type is more stable on level ground, while the almost universal one-wheel type has better maneuverability in s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuffield Gutty
The name Nuffield Gutty was used for three prototype vehicles built in 1947 in an attempt to meet a British War Department specification for a light field car to replace the American Jeep that was in service in large numbers following the war. This vehicle featured a horizontally opposed 4-cylinder engine similar to that designed for the planned small post-war car to be called the Morris Mosquito, that eventually appeared (with a conventional vertical side-valve engine) as the Morris Minor. The Gutty was not directly successful but is regarded as the predecessor of the FV1800 Wolseley Mudlark which was in turn the immediate predecessor of the Austin Champ. One of the three prototype vehicles has survived and was formerly on display at the Museum of Army Transport in Beverley, Yorkshire (closed 2003) and was in storage until 2011 when it was transferred to the Heritage Motor Centre. The confusingly similar name " Nuffield Guppy" had previously been used for an unrelated prototy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mini Moke
The Mini Moke (styled "MOKE") is a small, front-wheel-drive utility and recreational convertible, conceived and manufactured as a lightweight military vehicle by British Motor Corporation (BMC), and subsequently marketed for civilian use under the Austin, Morris, Leyland, and Moke brands. The name "Mini Moke" combines ''Mini'' with ''Moke'', an archaic term for "mule". The Moke is known for its simple, straightforward, doorless design, and for its adaptability. The first Mokes were manufactured at BMC's Longbridge, Birmingham plant, with 14,518 produced in the UK between 1964 and 1968. 26,000 were manufactured in Australia between 1966 and 1981, and 10,000 in Portugal between 1980 and 1993 when, after a nearly 30-year run, production ended. In 2013, in a joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover, Chinese automaker Chery Automobile started production of a new car called Moke in China. MOKE America distributes the Moke in the United States. British production by MOKE Internation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austin Ant
__NOTOC__ The Austin Ant (development code ADO19) is a small four-wheel drive vehicle that was designed by Sir Alec Issigonis for the motor manufacturer Austin. Although the Ant is widely regarded as a military vehicle, some sources suggest it was conceived with civilian use in mind as well.Article "Ant Hill Mob" in ''Classic and Sports Car'' magazine, March 2007, published by Haymarket Publishing Ltd., United Kingdom In its military role, it was a potential successor to the military version of an earlier Issigonis design, the Mini Moke. The Ant was cancelled in 1968 before full-scale production began, during the period when BMC became part of the British Leyland (BL) conglomerate; the merger caused several overlaps in model ranges, and the Ant was regarded as too close a competitor for the Land Rover range. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
