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Curta

The Curta is a hand-held mechanical calculator designed by Curt Herzstark. It is known for its extremely compact design: a small cylinder that fits in the palm of the hand. It was affectionately known as the "pepper grinder" or "peppermill" due to its shape and means of operation; its superficial resemblance to a certain type of hand grenade also earned it the nickname "math grenade".

Curtas were considered the best portable calculators available until they were displaced by electronic calculators in the 1970s.

History
The Curta was conceived by Curt Herzstark in the 1930s in Vienna, Austria. By 1938, he had filed a key patent, covering his complemented stepped drum. This single drum replaced the multiple drums, typically around 10 or so, of contemporary calculators, and it enabled not only addition, but subtraction through nines complement math, essentially subtracting by adding. The nines' complement math breakthrough eliminated the significant mechanical complexity created when "borrowing" during subtraction. This drum was the key to miniaturizing the Curta.

His work on the pocket calculator stopped in 1938 when the Nazis forced him and his company to concentrate on manufacturing precision instruments for the German army.

Herzstark, the son of a Catholic mother and Jewish father, was taken into custody in 1943 and eventually sent to Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was encouraged to continue his earlier research:

"While I was imprisoned inside Buchenwald I had, after a few days, told the [people] in the work production scheduling department of my ideas. The head of the department, Mr. Munich said, 'See, Herzstark, I understand you've been working on a new thing, a small calculating machine. Do you know, I can give you a tip. We will allow you to make and draw everything. If it is really worth something, then we will give it to the Führer as a present after we win the war. Then, surely, you will be made an Aryan.' For me, that was the first time I thought to myself, my God, if you do this, you can extend your life. And then and there I started to draw the CURTA, the way I had imagined it."

In the camp, Herzstark was able to develop working drawings for a manufacturable device. Buchenwald was liberated by U.S. troops on 11 April 1945, and by November Herzstark had located a factory in Sommertal, near Weimar, whose machinists were skilled enough to produce three working prototypes.

Soviet forces had arrived in July, and Herzstark feared being sent to Russia, so, later that same month, he fled to Austria. He began to look for financial backers, at the same time filing continuing patents as well as several additional patents to protect his work. Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein eventually showed interest in the manufacture of the device, and soon a newly formed company, Contina AG Mauren, began production in Liechtenstein.

It was not long before Herzstark's financial backers, thinking they had got from him all they needed, conspired to force him out by reducing the value of all of the company's existing stock to zero, including his one-third interest. These were the same people who had earlier elected not to have Herzstark transfer ownership of his patents to the company, so that, should anyone sue, they would be suing Herzstark, not the company, thereby protecting themselves at Herzstark's expense. This ploy now backfired: without the patent rights, they could manufacture nothing. Herzstark was able to negotiate a new agreement, and money continued to flow to him.

Curtas were considered the best portable calculators available until they were displaced by electronic calculators in the 1970s. The Curta, however, lives on, being a highly popular collectible, with thousands of machines working just as smoothly as they did at the time of their manufacture.

An estimated 140,000 Curta calculators were made (80,000 Type I and 60,000 Type II). According to Curt Herzstark, the last Curta was produced in 1972.

Cost
The Curta Type I was sold for $125 in the later years of production, and the Type II was sold for $175. While only 3% of Curtas were returned to the factory for warranty repair, a small, but significant number of buyers returned their Curtas in pieces, having attempted to disassemble them. Reassembling the machine was more difficult, requiring intimate knowledge of the orientation of, and installation order for, each part and sub-assembly, plus special guides designed to hold the pieces in place during assembly. Many identical-looking parts, each with slightly different dimensions, required test fitting and selection as well as special tools to adjust to design tolerances.

The machines have a high curiosity value; in 2016 they sold for around US$1,000, but buyers paid as much as US$1,900 for models in pristine condition with notable serial numbers.

Design
The Curta's design is a descendant of Gottfried Leibniz's Stepped Reckoner and Charles Thomas's Arithmometer, accumulating values on cogs, which are added or complemented by a stepped drum mechanism.

Numbers are entered using slides (one slide per digit) on the side of the device. The revolution counter and result counter reside around the shiftable carriage, at the top of the machine. A single turn of the crank adds the input number to the result counter, at any carriage position, and increments the corresponding digit of the revolution counter. Pulling the crank upwards slightly before turning performs a subtraction instead of an addition. Multiplication, division, and other functions require a series of crank and carriage-shifting operations.

Models
The Type I Curta has eight digits for data entry (known as "setting sliders"), a six-digit revolution counter, and an eleven-digit result counter. According to the advertising literature, it weighs only 8 oz. Serial number 70154, produced in 1969, weighs 245 g.

The larger Type II Curta, introduced in 1954, has eleven digits for data entry, an eight-digit revolution counter, and a fifteen-digit result counter.

Uses
The Curta was popular among contestants in sports car rallies during the 1960s, 1970s and into the 1980s. Even after the introduction of the electronic calculator for other purposes, they were used in time-speed-distance (TSD) rallies to aid in computation of times to checkpoints, distances off-course and so on, since the early electronic calculators did not fare well with the bounces and jolts of rallying.

The Curta was also favored by commercial and general-aviation pilots before the advent of electronic calculators because of its precision and the user's ability to confirm the accuracy of their manipulations via the revolution counter. Because calculations such as weight and balance are critical for safe flight, precise results free of pilot error are essential.

Collections
The Curta calculator is very popular among collectors and can be purchased on many platforms. The Swiss entrepreneur and collector Peter Regenass holds a large collection of mechanical calculators, among them over 100 Curta calculators. A part of his collections is on display at the Enter Museum in Solothurn, Switzerland. In 2016 he donated a Curta calculator to the Yad Vashem Museum in Jerusalem.

Popular culture

The Curta plays a role in William Gibson's Pattern Recognition (2003) as a piece of historic computing machinery as well as a crucial "trade" item.

In 2016 a Curta was designed by Marcus Wu that could be produced on a 3D printer. The Curta's fine tolerances were beyond the ability of printer technology of 2017 to produce to scale, so the printed Curta was about the size of a coffee can and weighed about three pounds.

title: Curta


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Aizu

Aizu (会津) is the westernmost of the three regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, the other two regions being Nakadōri in the central area of the prefecture and Hamadōri in the east. As of October 1, 2010, it had a population of 291,838. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.

It was part of Mutsu Province; the area once was part of Iwase Province created during the reign of Empress Genshō. The Yōrō Ritsuryo established the Iwase Province in 718 through the division of the Michinoku Province (Mutsu Province). It was composed of five districts of Shirakawa (白河), Iwase (石背), Aizu (会津), Asaka (安積) and Shinobu (信夫). The area encompassed by the province reverted to Mutsu some time between 722 and 724.

During the Edo period, Aizu Domain (会津藩) was a feudal domain under the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled most of the region from Aizuwakamatsu Castle. Following the Meiji restoration, it became part of the short-lived Iwashiro Province before becoming a region of Fukushima Prefecture.

Although never an official province in its own right, Aizu has a very strong regional identity.

Notable people
(Listed alphabetized by Last Name/First Name in the Japanese convention for clarity)

 * Akizuki Teijirō (1824–1900), Aizu samurai, educator.
 * Dewa Shigetō (1856–1930), an admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy, elevated to the peerage with the title of danshaku (baron).
 * Shiba Gorō (1860–1945), prominent at the Siege of the Peking legations, 1900.
 * Noguchi Hideyo (1876–1928), a doctor who made considerable contributions to the fight against syphilis and yellow fever.
 * Ibuka Kajinosuke (1854–1935), former samurai turned Christian pastor, responsible for bringing the YMCA to Japan.
 * Ito Okei (1852-1871), Japanese woman who immigrated to America as part of the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Farm Colony, and subsequently the first to be buried on American soil.
 * Matsudaira Setsuko (1909–1995), daughter of Matsudaira Tsuneo; later married Prince Chichibu no Miya, Emperor Hirohito's brother.
 * Matsudaira Tsuneo (1877–1949), son of Matsudaira Katamori, ambassador to the U.S. and UK.
 * Matsudaira Teru (1832–1884), female warrior, she was an aristocrat during the late Edo, she participated in the siege of Aizuwakamatsu Castle.
 * Nakano Takeko (1847–1868), female warrior.
 * Niijima Yae (born: Yamamoto Yaeko, 1845–1932), female warrior, co-founder of Doshisha University, instructor in the women's division of Doshisha and wife of Niijima Jo (Joseph Hardy Neesima), nurse, tea master
 * Saigō Tanomo (1830–1903), former chief councilor of the Aizu clan; later, a teacher of Sōkaku Takeda and a chief priest of the Tōshōgū Shrine.
 * Saitō Kiyoshi (1907–1997), sōsaku-hanga artist.
 * Satō Kei (1928–2010), film actor
 * Takamine Hideo (1854–1910), former samurai, graduate of Oswego Normal School in New York State, Meiji-era educator and head of the Tokyo Normal School, Tokyo Art School, Tokyo Women's Normal School and Tokyo Music School. He is best known for introducing Pestallozian teaching methods to Japan and educational reform.
 * Takeda Sōkaku, a famous martial artist of Daito Ryu.
 * Tokugawa Tsunenari (1940– ), grandson of Matsudaira Tsuneo; current head of the main Tokugawa family.
 * Uryu Iwako (1829–1897), prominent social worker.
 * Yamakawa Futaba (1844–1909), a co-worker of Takamine Hideo, head administrator at the Tokyo Women's Normal School, she is best known for her support of women's education
 * Yamakawa Hiroshi (1845–1898) Brother of Kenjiro and Sutematsu, a notable military leader who defended the domain, later organized Aizu refugees, a key figure in the relief of Kumamoto Garrison during the Seinan War or Satsuma Rebellion and General in the Meiji Era
 * Yamamoto Kakuma (1828–1892), former samurai, co-founder of Doshisha University.
 * Yamakawa Kenjirō (1854–1931), graduate of Yale University, physicist, researcher, academic administrator, President of Tokyo University and Kyoto University
 * Yamakawa Sutematsu (1860–1919), graduate of Vassar College, after marriage to Oyama Iwao, she was known as Oyama Sutematsu, an organizer at the Rokumeikan, supporter of numerous organizations such as the Red-Cross in Japan and Women's Patriotic Society. She assisted in the founding of Tsuda College (which was organized by her close lifelong friend Tsuda Umeko)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Aizu


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Dourges

Dourges is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Geography
An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some 8 mi east of Lens, at junction 17 of the A21 and the A1 autoroutes. The canalized river Deûle flows through the commune.

Places of interest

 * The church of St.Piat, dating from the twentieth century.
 * Traces of an old castle and an ancient farm.
 * The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery.

title: Dourges


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SpaceShipOne

SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft with sub-orbital spaceflight capability at speeds of up to 3000 ft/s / 910 m/s using a hybrid rocket motor. The design features a unique "feathering" atmospheric reentry system where the rear half of the wing and the twin tail booms folds 70 degrees upward along a hinge running the length of the wing; this increases drag while retaining stability. SpaceShipOne completed the first crewed private spaceflight in 2004. That same year, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize and was immediately retired from active service. Its mother ship was named "White Knight". Both craft were developed and flown by Mojave Aerospace Ventures, which was a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company. Allen provided the funding of approximately US$25 million.

Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known as flight 15P, was piloted by Mike Melvill. A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut. The overall project name was "Tier One" which has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space.

The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to those of the X-15 than to those of orbiting spacecraft like the Space Shuttle. Accelerating a spacecraft to orbital speed requires more than 60 times as much energy as accelerating it to Mach 3. It would also require an elaborate heat shield to safely dissipate that energy during re-entry.

SpaceShipOne's official model designation is Scaled Composites Model 316.

Design goal
The Scaled Composites Model 316, known as SpaceShipOne, was a spaceplane designed to:
 * Carry three humans (one of them a pilot) in a sea-level pressurized cabin.
 * Be propelled by rocket from an altitude of 15 km to in excess of 100 km.
 * Reenter atmosphere and shed kinetic energy in an aerodynamically stable configuration.
 * Glide transonically and subsonically.
 * Land horizontally on a standard runway.

Vehicle description
The fuselage is cigar-shaped, with an overall diameter of about 1.52 m. The main structure is of a graphite/epoxy composite material. From front to back, it contains the crew cabin, oxidizer tank, fuel casing, and rocket nozzle. The craft has short, wide wings, with a span of 5 m and a chord of 3 m. Large vertical tailbooms are mounted on the end of each wing, with horizontal stabilizers protruding from the tailbooms. It has gear for horizontal landings.

The overall mass of the fully fueled craft is 3600 kg, of which 2700 kg is taken by the fully loaded rocket motor. Empty mass of the spacecraft is 1200 kg, including the 300 kg empty motor casing.

Originally the nozzle protruded from the back, but this turned out to be aerodynamically disadvantageous. In June 2004, between flights 14P and 15P, a fairing was added, smoothly extending the fuselage shape to meet the flared end of the nozzle. On flight 15P the new fairing overheated, due to being black on the inside and facing a hot, black nozzle. The fairing softened, and the lower part crumpled inwards during boost. Following that flight the interior of the fairing was painted white, and some small stiffening ribs were added.

The craft has a single unsteerable and unthrottleable hybrid rocket motor, a cold gas reaction control system, and aerodynamic control surfaces. All can be controlled manually. See the separate section below concerning the rocket engine.

The reaction control system is the only way to control spacecraft attitude outside the atmosphere. It consists of three sets of thrusters: thrusters at each wingtip control roll, at the top and bottom of the nose control pitch, and at the sides of the fuselage control yaw. All thrusters have redundant backups, so comprising twelve thrusters in all.

The aerodynamic control surfaces of SpaceShipOne are designed to operate in two distinct flight regimes, subsonic and supersonic. The supersonic flight regime is of primary interest during the boost phase of a flight, and the subsonic mode when gliding. The craft has separate upper and lower rudders, and elevons. These are controlled using aviation-style stick and pedals. In supersonic mode the trim tabs are controlled electrically, whereas the subsonic mode uses mechanical cable-and-rod linkage.

The wings of SpaceShipOne can be pneumatically tilted forwards into an aerodynamically stable high-drag "feathered" shape. This removes most of the need to control attitude actively during the early part of reentry: Scaled Composites refer to this as "care-free reentry". One of the early test flights actually performed re-entry inverted, demonstrating the flexibility and inherent stability of Burt Rutan's "shuttlecock" design. This feathered reentry mode is claimed to be inherently safer than the behavior at similar speeds of the Space Shuttle. The Shuttle undergoes enormous aerodynamic stresses and must be precisely steered in order to remain in a stable glide. (Although this is an interesting comparison of behavior, it is not an entirely fair comparison of design concepts: the Shuttle starts reentry at much higher speed than SpaceShipOne, and so has some very different requirements. SpaceShipOne is more similar to the X-15 vehicle.)

An early design called for a permanently shuttlecock-like shape, with a ring of feather-like stabilising fins. This would have made the spacecraft incapable of landing independently, requiring mid-air retrieval. This was deemed too risky, and the hybrid final design manages to incorporate the feathering capability into a craft that can land in a conventional manner. The tiltable rear sections of the wings and the tailbooms are collectively referred to as "the feather".

The landing gear consists of two widely separated main wheels and a nose skid. These are deployed using springs, assisted by gravity. Once deployed, they cannot be retracted inflight.

The spacecraft is incapable of independent takeoff from the ground. It requires a launch aircraft to carry it to launch altitude for an air launch.

The parts of the craft that experience the greatest heating, such as the leading edges of the wings, have about 6.5 kg of ablative thermal protection material applied. The main ingredient of this material was accidentally leaked to Air and Space. If it flew with no thermal protection, the spacecraft would survive reentry but would be damaged.

The spacecraft's aerodynamic design has an acknowledged "known deficiency" that makes it susceptible to roll excursions. This has been seen on SpaceShipOne flight 15P where wind shear caused a large roll immediately after ignition, and SpaceShipOne flight 16P where circumstances not yet fully understood caused multiple rapid rolls. This flaw is not considered dangerous, but in both of these flights led to the achievement of a much lower altitude than expected. The details of the flaw are not public.

Cabin
The spacecraft cabin, designed to hold three humans, is shaped as a short cylinder, diameter 1.52 m, with a pointed forward end. The pilot sits towards the front, and two passengers can be seated behind.

The cabin is pressurized, maintaining a sea level breathable atmosphere. Oxygen is introduced to the cabin from a bottle, and carbon dioxide and water vapor are removed by absorbers. The occupants do not wear spacesuits or breathing masks, because the cabin has been designed to maintain pressure in the face of faults: all windows and seals are doubled.

The cabin has sixteen round double-pane windows, positioned to provide a view of the horizon at all stages of flight. The windows are small compared to the gaps between them, but there are sufficiently many for human occupants to patch together a moderately good view.

The nose section can be removed, and there is also a hatch below the rear windows on the left side. Crew ingress and egress is possible by either route.

Spaceplane navigation
The core of the spacecraft avionics is the System Navigation Unit (SNU). Together with the Flight Director Display (FDD), it comprises the Flight Navigation Unit. The unit was developed jointly by Fundamental Technology Systems and Scaled Composites.

The SNU is a GPS-based inertial navigation system, which processes spacecraft sensor data and subsystem health data. It downlinks telemetry data by radio to mission control.

The FDD displays data from the SNU on a color LCD. It has several distinct display modes for different phases of flight, including the boost phase, coast, reentry, and gliding. The FDD is particularly important to the pilot during the boost and coast phase in order to "turn the corner" and null rates caused by asymmetric thrust. A mix of commercial and bespoke software is used in the FDD.

Hybrid rocket engine
Tier One uses a hybrid rocket engine supplied by SpaceDev, with solid hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB, or rubber) fuel and liquid nitrous oxide oxidizer. It generates 88 kN of thrust, and can burn for about 87 s.

The physical layout of the engine is novel. The oxidizer tank is a primary structural component, and is the only part of the engine that is structurally connected to the spacecraft: the tank is in fact an integral part of the spacecraft fuselage. The tank is a short cylinder of diameter approximately 1.52 m, with domed ends, and is the forwardmost part of the engine. The fuel casing is a narrow cylinder cantilevered to the tank, pointing backwards. The cantilevered design means that a variety of motor sizes can be accommodated without changing the interface or other components. The nozzle is a simple extension of the fuel casing; the casing and nozzle are actually a single component, referred to as the CTN (case, throat, and nozzle). Burt Rutan has applied for a patent on this engine configuration.

There is considerable use of composite materials in the engine design. The oxidizer tank consists of a composite liner with graphite/epoxy over-wrap and titanium interface flanges. The CTN uses a high-temperature composite insulator with a graphite/epoxy structure. Incorporating the solid fuel (and hence the main part of the engine) and the ablative nozzle into this single bonded component minimizes the possible leak paths.

The oxidizer tank and CTN are bolted together at the main valve bulkhead, which is integrated into the tank. There are O-rings at the interface to prevent leakage; this is the main potential leak path in the engine. The ignition system, main control valve, and injector are mounted on the valve bulkhead, inside the tank. Slosh baffles are also mounted on this bulkhead. Because the oxidizer is stored under pressure, no pump is required.

The tank liner and the fuel casing are built in-house by Scaled Composites. The tank over-wrap is supplied by Thiokol. The ablative nozzle is supplied by AAE Aerospace. The oxidizer fill, vent, and dump system is supplied by Environmental Aeroscience Corporation. The remaining components—the ignition system, main control valve, injector, tank bulkheads, electronic controls, and solid fuel casting—are supplied by SpaceDev.

The CTN must be replaced between firings. This is the only part of the craft, other than the fuel and oxidizer themselves, that must be replaced.

The solid fuel is cast with four holes. This has the disadvantage that it is possible for chunks of fuel between the holes to become detached during a burn and obstruct the flow of oxidizer and exhaust. Such situations tend to rapidly self-correct.

The oxidizer tank is filled and vented through its forward bulkhead, on the opposite side of the tank from the fuel and the rest of the engine. This improves safety. It is filled to a pressure of 4.8 MPa at room temperature.

The nozzle has an expansion ratio of 25:1, which is optimized for the upper part of the atmosphere. A different nozzle, with an expansion ratio of 10:1, is used for test firing on the ground. The nozzles are black on the outside, but for aerodynamic testing, red dummy nozzles are used instead.

The rocket is not throttleable. Once lit, the burn can be aborted, but the power output cannot otherwise be controlled. The thrust in fact varies, for two reasons. Firstly, as the pressure in the oxidizer tank decreases, the flow rate reduces, reducing thrust. Secondly, in the late stages of a burn the oxidizer tank contains a mixture of liquid and gaseous oxidizer, and the power output of the engine varies greatly depending on whether it is using liquid or gaseous oxidizer at a particular moment. (The liquid, being far denser, allows a greater burn rate.)

Both the fuel and oxidizer can be stored without special precautions, and they do not burn when brought together without a significant source of heat. This makes the rocket far safer than conventional liquid or solid rockets. The combustion products are water vapour, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

The engine was upgraded in September 2004, between flights 15P and 16P. The upgrade increased the oxidizer tank size, to provide greater thrust in the early part of the burn, allow a longer burn, and delay the onset of the variable thrust phase at the end of the burn. Prior to the upgrade the engine generated 76 kN of thrust and could burn for 76 s. After the upgrade it was capable of 88 kN thrust and an 87 s burn.

Launch aircraft
Tier One's launch aircraft, Scaled Composites Model 318, known as White Knight, is designed to take off and land horizontally and attain an altitude of about 15 km, all while carrying the Tier One spacecraft in a parasite aircraft configuration. Its propulsion is by twin turbojets: afterburning J-85-GE-5 engines, rated at 15.6 kN of thrust each.

It has the same cabin, avionics, and trim system as SpaceShipOne. This means it can flight-qualify almost all components of SpaceShipOne. It also has a high thrust-to-weight ratio and large speed brakes. These features combined allow it to be used as a high-fidelity moving platform flight simulator for SpaceShipOne. White Knight is also equipped with a trim system which (when activated) causes it to have the same glide profile as SpaceShipOne; this allows the pilots to practice for landing SpaceShipOne. The same pilots fly White Knight as fly SpaceShipOne.

The aircraft's distinctive shape features long, thin wings, in a flattened "W" shape, with a wingspan of 25 m, dual tailplanes, and four wheels (front and rear at each side). The rear wheels retract, but the front ones, which are steerable, are permanently deployed, with small fairings, referred to as "spats", in front. Another way to look at the overall shape is as two conventional planes, with very thin fuselages, side by side and joined at their wingtips, with the cockpit and engines mounted at the point of joining.

Although White Knight was developed for certain roles in the Tier One program, it is a very capable aircraft in its own right. Scaled Composites describe it as a "high-altitude research aircraft".

Flight profile
SpaceShipOne takes off from the ground, attached to White Knight in a parasite configuration, and under White Knight's power. The combination of SpaceShipOne and White Knight can take off, land, and fly under jet power to high altitude. A captive carry flight is one where the two craft land together without launching SpaceShipOne; this is one of the main abort modes available.

For launch, the combined craft flies to an altitude of around 14 km, which takes about an hour. SpaceShipOne is then drop-released, and briefly glides unpowered. Rocket ignition may take place immediately, or may be delayed. If the rocket is never lit then SpaceShipOne can glide down to the ground. This is another major abort mode, in addition to being flown deliberately in glide tests.

The rocket engine is ignited while the spacecraft is gliding. Once under power, it is raised into a 65° climb, which is further steepened in the higher part of the trajectory. The maximum acceleration during ascent was recorded at 1.70G.

By the end of the burn the craft is flying upwards at some multiple of the speed of sound, up to about 900 m/s and Mach 3.5, and it continues to coast upwards unpowered (i.e. ballistically). If the burn was long enough then it will exceed an altitude of 100 km, at which height the atmosphere presents no appreciable resistance, and the craft experiences free fall for a few minutes.

While at apogee the wings are reconfigured into high-drag mode. As the craft falls back it achieves high speeds comparable to those achieved on the way up; when it subsequently reenters the atmosphere it decelerates violently, up to 5.75G. At some altitude between 10 km and 20 km it reconfigures into low-drag glider mode, and glides down to a landing in about 20 minutes.

White Knight takes longer to descend, and typically lands a few minutes after SpaceShipOne.

Development and winning the X Prize
SpaceShipOne was developed by Mojave Aerospace Ventures (a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan's aviation company, in their Tier One program), without government funding. On June 21, 2004, it made the first privately funded human spaceflight. On October 4, it won the US$10 million Ansari X Prize, by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board and with no more than ten percent of the non-fuel weight of the spacecraft replaced between flights. Development costs were estimated to be US$25 million, funded completely by Paul Allen.

During its test program, SpaceShipOne set a number of important "firsts", including first privately funded aircraft to exceed Mach 2 and Mach 3, first privately funded crewed spacecraft to exceed 100km altitude, and first privately funded reusable crewed spacecraft.

SpaceShipOne was registered with the FAA as  N is the prefix for US-registered aircraft; 328KF was chosen by Scaled Composites to stand for 328 kilofeet (about 100 kilometers), the officially designated edge of space. The original choice of registry number, N100KM, was already taken. N328KF is registered as a glider, reflecting the fact that most of its independent flight is unpowered.

SpaceShipOne's first flight, 01C, was an uncrewed captive flight test on May 20, 2003. Glide tests followed, starting with flight 03G on August 7, 2003. Its first powered flight, flight 11P, was made on December 17, 2003, the 100th anniversary of the first powered flight.

On April 1, 2004, Scaled Composites received the first license for suborbital rocket flights to be issued by the US Office of Commercial Space Transportation. This license permitted the company to conduct powered test flights over the course of one year. On June 17, 2004, under the leadership of airport CEO Stuart O. Witt, Mojave Airport reclassified itself as the Mojave Air and Space Port.

Flight 15P on June 21, 2004, was SpaceShipOne's first spaceflight, and the first privately funded human spaceflight. There were a few control problems, but these were resolved prior to the Ansari X PRIZE flights that followed, with flight 17P to 112 km on October 4, 2004, winning the prize.

The SpaceShipOne Team was awarded the Space Achievement Award by the Space Foundation in 2005.

Flights
On 17 December 2003—on the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers first powered flight of an aircraft—SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie on Flight 11P, made its first rocket-powered flight and became the first privately built craft to achieve supersonic flight.

All of the flights of SpaceShipOne were from the Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center. Flights were numbered, starting with flight 01 on May 20, 2003. One or two letters are appended to the number to indicate the type of mission. An appended C indicates that the flight was a captive carry, G indicates an unpowered glide, and P indicates a powered flight. If the actual flight differs in category from the intended flight, two letters are appended: the first indicating the intended mission and the second the mission actually performed.

The flights were accompanied by two chase planes—an Extra 300 owned and flown by Chuck Coleman, and a Beechcraft Starship.

Astronauts
The SpaceShipOne pilots came from a variety of aerospace backgrounds. Mike Melvill is a test pilot, Brian Binnie is a former Navy pilot, and Peter Siebold is an engineer at Scaled Composites. They qualified to fly SpaceShipOne by training on the Tier One flight simulator and in White Knight and other Scaled Composites aircraft.

Retirement

SpaceShipOne's spaceflights were watched by large crowds at Mojave Spaceport. A fourth suborbital flight, Flight 18P, was originally scheduled for October 13, 2004. However, Burt Rutan decided not to risk damage to the historic craft, and cancelled it and all future flights.

On July 25, 2005, SpaceShipOne was taken to the Oshkosh Airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After the airshow, Mike Melvill and crew flew the White Knight, carrying SpaceShipOne, to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where Melvill spoke to a group of about 300 military and civilian personnel. Later in the evening, Melvill gave a presentation at the Dayton Engineers Club, entitled "Some Experiments in Space Flight", in honor of Wilbur Wright's now-famous presentation to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1901 entitled "Some Experiments in Flight." The White Knight then transported SpaceShipOne to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum to be put on display. It was unveiled on Wednesday October 5, 2005 in the Milestones of Flight gallery and is now on display to the public in the main atrium with the Spirit of St. Louis, the Bell X-1, and the Apollo 11 command module Columbia.

Commander Brian Binnie donated the flight suit and checklist used during his Ansari X Prize-winning flight to an auction benefitting Seattle's Museum of Flight. Entertainer and fundraising auctioneer Fred Northup Jr. purchased the flight suit and checklist book, and the flight suit is on display at the museum's Charles Simonyi Space Gallery.

A piece of SpaceShipOne's carbon fiber material was launched aboard the New Horizons mission to Pluto in 2006.

Replicas
A year after its appearance in the Oshkosh Airventure airshow, the Experimental Aircraft Association featured a full-scale replica of the spacecraft in a wing of its museum which housed other creations of Burt Rutan. Using the same fiberglass molds as the original, it was so exact in its replication—despite not having any doors or interior—that it was dubbed "Serial 2 Scaled" by Scaled Composites. Each detail in its appearance was matched, down to the N328KF registration number on its fuselage. It is so precise that, during a 7-minute video presentation held every hour on the half hour in the museum, it can display the two different modes of its 'feathering' ability, albeit through the aid of pulleys and wires (there is no machinery in the replica).

Other full-scale replicas are at the William Thomas Terminal at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield the Mojave Spaceport's Legacy Park alongside the original Roton Atmospheric Test Vehicle, the Flying Heritage Collection at Paine Field in Everett, and Google's Mountain View Campus.

SpaceShipOne was also made into a model rocket in 2004.

Subsequent spacecraft
With the success of Tier One meeting its project goals, a successor project started in 2004 was Tier 1b. The successor ships are named SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two. The name of the joint venture between Virgin Group and Scaled Composites is called The Spaceship Company, with a goal of carrying passengers under the name Virgin Galactic, a spaceliner with an initial target of a commercial fleet of five spacecraft.

In August 2005, Virgin Galactic stated that if the upcoming suborbital service with SpaceShipTwo would be successful, the follow-up would be known as SpaceShipThree.

On 13 December 2018, VSS Unity achieved the SpaceShipTwo project's first suborbital space flight, VSS Unity VP-03, with two pilots, reaching an altitude of 82.7 km, and officially entering outer space by US standards.

title: SpaceShipOne


text: User talk:205.160.208.29

title: User talk:205.160.208.29


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Équihen-Plage

Équihen-Plage (Ekingem) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Geography
A fishing port and farming village situated some 3 mi south of Boulogne, at the junction of the D236e and the D119 roads, on the English Channel coast.

Places of interest

 * The church of St. Pierre, rebuilt after World War II.
 * A village that uses upcycled boats as the roofs of homes.

title: Équihen-Plage


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Karl Harrer

Karl Harrer (8 October 1890 – 5 September 1926) was a German journalist and politician, one of the founding members of the German Workers' Party (DAP) in January 1919, the predecessor to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party – NSDAP), more commonly known as the Nazi Party.

Biography
Harrer was commissioned by the Thule Society to try to politically influence German workers in Munich after the end of World War I. At the time, Harrer was a reporter with a right-wing newspaper. Harrer convinced Anton Drexler and several others to form the Politischer Arbeiterzirkel (Political Workers' Circle) in 1918. The members met periodically for discussions with themes of nationalism and racism directed against the Jews. Although Harrer preferred that the small group remain a semi-secret nationalistic club, Drexler wanted to make it a political party. Thereafter, Drexler proposed the founding of the DAP in December 1918. On 5 January 1919, the DAP was formed in which not only Harrer and Drexler, but also Gottfried Feder and Dietrich Eckart were involved. With the DAP founding, Drexler was elected chairman and Harrer was made Reich Chairman, an honorary title.

Harrer became increasingly unhappy with the direction in which the party was going after Adolf Hitler became an influential force within it. Early in 1920, Hitler moved to sever the party's link with the Thule Society and to redefine the policies of the DAP. On 24 February 1920 in the Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München, Hitler for the first time enunciated the twenty-five points of the German Worker's Party's manifesto that had been drawn up by Drexler, Feder and Hitler. In addition, to increase its appeal to larger segments of the population, the DAP changed its name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party). Such was the significance of the move in expanding the party's public profile that Harrer resigned from the party in disagreement as he had always believed that it should be a semi-secret elite group rather than a mass popular movement. The Thule Society subsequently fell into decline and was dissolved about five years later, well before Hitler came to power.

Harrer died in Munich on 5 September 1926, just over a month shy of his 36th birthday.

title: Karl Harrer


text:
Holderness

Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with the Netherlands than with other parts of Yorkshire. To the north and west are the Yorkshire Wolds. Holderness generally refers to the area between the River Hull and the North Sea. The Prime Meridian passes through Holderness just to the east of Patrington and through Tunstall to the north.

Between 1974 and 1996, Holderness lay within the Borough of Holderness in Humberside. It gave its name to a wapentake until the 19th century, when its functions were replaced by other local government bodies, particularly after the Local Government Act 1888. The city of Kingston upon Hull lies in the south-west corner of Holderness and Bridlington borders the north-east but both are usually considered separately. The main towns include Withernsea, Hornsea and Hedon. The Holderness coast stretches from Flamborough Head to Spurn Head. The ancient market town of Beverley lies just to the west of the Holderness area, on the eastern slopes of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Because of its soft soil, the coastline is vulnerable to erosion, on average losing 6 ft a year. The coast and surrounding communities have had to implement managed retreat.

Location and transport
The area has boundaries which are clearly defined by the rising land of the Yorkshire Wolds to the north and west, the North Sea to the east and the Humber Estuary to the south.

There are no motorways in the area, however there is access to the national motorway network via the A63 from Hull. Links to the continent are also via Hull, from where a daily ferry service to Rotterdam departs . A-class roads centre upon Hull and the coastal resort of Bridlington. Otherwise the A1033 road which connects Withernsea on the south-east coast to inland areas is the only main route in the area.

The only remaining rail link is the Yorkshire Coast Line that runs between Hull in the south and Bridlington and it tends to skirt the area towards the west. Until the 1960s there were lines from Hull to both Hornsea and Withernsea, but these were closed by the Beeching cuts. Furthermore, in 1901 there was a proposal to construct the North Holderness Light Railway from Beverley to North Frodingham railway station, but this came to nothing.

Climate
As part of the United Kingdom, the Holderness area generally has cool summers and relatively mild winters. Weather conditions vary from day to day as well as from season to season. The latitude of the area means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter. The wind sometimes causes depositions to happen. Between depressions there are often small mobile anticyclones that bring periods of fair weather. In winter anticyclones bring cold dry weather. In summer the anticyclones tend to bring dry settled conditions which can lead to drought. For its latitude this area is mild in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Air temperature varies on a daily and seasonal basis. The temperature is usually lower at night and January is the coldest time of the year. The two dominant influences on the climate of the Holderness are the shelter against the worst of the moist westerly winds provided firstly by the Pennines and then the Yorkshire Wolds and the proximity of the North Sea. Generally, rainfall is 600 to 700 mm per year which is low compared with the national average rainfall of 1125 mm.

Geology and topography
Geologically, Holderness is underlain by Cretaceous chalk but in most places it is so deeply buried beneath glacial deposits that it has no influence on the landscape. The landscape is dominated by deposits of till, boulder clays and glacial lake clays. These were deposited during the Devensian glaciation. The glacial deposits form a more or less continuous lowland plain which has some peat filled depressions (known locally as meres) which mark the presence of former lake beds. There are other glacial landscape features such as drumlin mounds, ridges and kettle holes scattered throughout the area.

The well-drained glacial deposits provide fertile soils that can support intensive arable cultivation. Fields are generally large and bounded by drainage ditches. There is very little woodland in the area and this leads to a landscape that is essentially rural but very flat and exposed. The coast is subject to rapid marine erosion.

Erosion
The Holderness coastline suffers the highest rate of coastal erosion in Europe: 5 ft a year on average or 2 million tonnes of material a year. Some of this is transported by longshore drift with about three percent of material being deposited at Spurn Point spit, to the south. The growth of Spurn Point is demonstrated by a series of lighthouses that have been built on the point. It is thought that approximately 3 mi of land has been lost since the Roman era, including at least 23 towns/villages, including Ravenspurn.

The Holderness coastline is susceptible to erosion due to the long north-easterly fetch, allowing for powerful waves, and the softness of the geology that make up the cliffs. Holderness is also a former bay that was filled in during the ice age and is now made up of chalk/glacial compounds that are easily eroded such as boulder clay.

All the villages affected by the erosion are located on the north side of the Humber estuary. The area stretches from Flamborough Head (high chalk cliffs, just north of Bridlington) down to Spurn Point (sand spit, on above map). Villages such as Ravenser, which sent representatives to the parliament of Edward I, have totally disappeared.

The local authorities are endeavouring to prevent the effects of erosion. Hard defences in the form of a concrete seawall and timber groynes have given some protection. It has been suggested that a large underwater reef made of tyres could be built off the Holderness coast to mitigate this erosion, but it would be costly to build.

Other defences include sea walls, groynes, and gabions but business people say that if the erosion is not stopped then there will be millions of pounds of damage. However, one or more such groynes has had a detrimental effect further along the coast, in some areas resulting in erosion of up to 20 m per year initially, though over the long term erosion rates have been seen to revert to their original yearly average of closer to 2 m a year.

Drainage
The Holderness area is drained by the River Hull and its tributaries and a number of coastal streams. The valley of the River Hull is broad and shallow and in its lower reaches the river is contained within flood banks. The River Hull Tidal Surge Barrier at the mouth of the river can be used to prevent surge tides overwhelming the flood defences. Large areas of Holderness are too flat and low to drain naturally so in these areas a low level drainage system operates to collect the water. In the middle and lower reaches of the River Hull water is pumped from the low level drains into a high level system. This system consists of elevated water courses bounded by embankments. It drains by gravity into the sea. The main drain is the Holderness Drain, begun in 1764 by the engineer John Grundy Jr.

In the east and south-east of Holderness there is a complex network of drains and streams that flow south into the Humber or east into the North Sea. To mitigate the effects of high tides stopping the water flow from these outlets, several have had pumping stations constructed at their outfalls.

Natural history
For the purpose of describing the natural history the area can be divided into three parts:-

The River Hull valley dominates the western landscape of Holderness. The river and its associated wetland habitats support a diverse range of plants and animals. The upper tributaries of the river originate on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds before entering the area of glacial and alluvial deposits of Holderness. The river bed varies in composition reflecting the underlying geology. In the upper reaches of the river water crowfoot, lesser water parsnip, mare's-tail and spiked water-milfoil may be found in the main channel whilst the marginal vegetation is composed of branched bur-reed, common reed and reed sweetgrass.
 * The valley of the River Hull

Otters have recently recolonised the upper reaches of the river, yet the European water vole is now confined to a few isolated populations. Notable species of invertebrates include uncommon mayflies. There is a diverse breeding bird community including lapwing, snipe and common redshank. Wildfowl such as mallard and mute swans may also be seen, along with yellow wagtail, sedge warbler, reed warbler and reed bunting.

Further south towards Hull the river becomes tidal and saline. In the lower reaches it is enclosed by flood banks with little associated natural habitat remaining. The majority of the formerly extensive wetlands have been subject to drainage schemes and agricultural improvement. However some small remnants remain along the Hull valley between Driffield and Wansford. Plants that are typical of these habitats including a variety of reeds, rushes and sedges as well as yellow flag, valerian and meadowsweet may be found.

There are few surviving areas of woodland among the open farmland which supports golden plover and lapwing and a flora of arable weeds.

 *  The Coast

The coast from Bridlington in the north to Spurn Point is an interesting complex of coastal processes. The soft cliffs of Holderness are subject to rapid erosion whilst the eroded material is being deposited on the Spurn peninsula. The speed of erosion along the glacial till cliffs prohibits colonisation of anything but sparse ruderal vegetation. Coltsfoot is particularly common and sand martin colonies have become established in places.

Hornsea Mere is the largest natural lake in Yorkshire at 120 hectares. It has, besides the open fresh water habitat, marginal habitats of reed swamp, species-rich fen and carr woodland. It regularly supports populations of wintering wildfowl and the reed beds provide breeding sites for reed warblers. Characteristic plants include milk parsley, greater water parsnip and lesser reedmace.

The intertidal system of the Humber estuary has local seagrass beds that provide feeding and wintering areas for over 133,000 waders and wildfowl. It is rich in invertebrate communities. The estuary also provides for breeding birds, grey seals and natterjack toads.
 * The Humber Estuary

Spurn Point at the tip of the Spurn peninsula is made of hard glacial moraine so is less liable to erosion than areas further north on the Holderness coast. The Spurn peninsula is a beach with dunes which moves in response to the action of the waves. The wave action removes sand from the east of the beach and deposits it on the western side. The coast is influenced mainly by wave action but in the estuary the processes are driven by the power of the tides. The incoming tidal currents carry more sediment into the estuary than the ebb tides carry out.

The estuary is shallow because of this constant deposition. Isostatic recoil is, however, causing the area to sink at the rate of 3 mm annually and global warming is making the sea level rise. The combined effects of these processes mean that the sea in the estuary may be half a metre higher by the year 2050. A large area around the estuary consists of land which lies below the present high-water mark. Flood defences offer only a short-term and local answer and may actually increase the long-term risks. Managed realignment of the coast by setting back the coastal defences will provide new intertidal habitats and harness natural equalising processes and is the preferred long-term solution.

Prehistory
There is archaeological evidence to suggest that the first settlers in Holderness arrived in the Neolithic era when the plain was still very wet and most likely consisted of a mixture of marshes, lakes, islands and woodland. As the sea level changed and the area became drier it was progressively cleared of trees and the higher drier parts were initially favoured for settlement.

Anglo-Saxon
The Domesday survey reveals that in the reign of Edward the Confessor there were 45 different freeholders having land in Holderness. The name of Holderness may be derived from the Danish "hold" which was the name given in that language to a nobleman with considerable territorial possessions. The "ness" part generally refers to a promontory, or nose-shape, either in a river or jutting from a coastline.

Medieval
After the Norman Conquest of England the extensive Lordship of Holderness was given by King William I to Drogo de la Beuvrière, a Flemish supporter. This Drogo built a castle at Skipsea before 1087 when his estates were confiscated by the king.

The area was then given to Adelaide of Normandy, and the title to her husband, Odo, but this was taken from him when he rebelled against the King William II in 1095. It was returned to her son Stephen of Aumale in 1102. The Honour or Lordship of Holderness then descended to successive Earls (or Counts) of Aumale:
 * William le Gros 1127–1179
 * Hawise of Aumale 1179–1194 with her husbands as Counts jure uxoris:
 * William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex 1180–1189
 * William de Forz 1189–1194
 * Baldwin of Bethune 1195–1212
 * William de Forz, 3rd Earl of Albemarle (died 1242), son of the 2nd Countess by her second husband William de Forz
 * William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle (died 1260), son of the 3rd Earl

William de Forz, 4th Earl, was survived by his widow Isabella de Forz. She was given custody of her children Thomas and William, but outlived them and also her daughter Aveline, who married Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (son of Henry III), but died aged 15. The Honour of Holderness then escheated to the crown.

The coastal trading town of Ravenser Odd, represented in the 13th century model parliament, was lost to the sea through storm and coastal erosion. Its seaport role was eventually taken over by the new town of Kingston upon Hull but until about 1400 by Hedon and Beverley as Hull was isolated by the surrounding marshes.

Robin of Redesdale was responsible for raising the northern shires against King Edward IV in the spring of 1469. The uprising led by Robin of Redesdale provided the opportunity for Robin of Holderness to lead a separate rebellion relating to a corn tax. Both men submitted to Edward IV  in March 1470 following the failure of Warwick's rebellion.

Large estates in Holderness were held by the Bishop of Durham and the Archbishop of York. Other large landowners in the area included the abbeys of Meaux and Thornton and the priories of Swine, Nunkeeling and Bridlington. This land was confiscated and became crown property when Henry VIII ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century.

Tudor and Stuart
The Aumale lordship had also passed to the crown and was obtained along with some former monastic lands by the Constable family of Burton Constable in the 16th century. Other large estates created from former monastic holdings were sold by the crown to private landowners in the 17th and 18th centuries. Piecemeal attempts were made to improve the poor drainage of the area and with the formation of drainage boards in the later 18th century flooding began to be controlled. The remaining wastes were added to farm land and the meres, fluctuating lakes, disappeared.

19th and 20th centuries
The opening of railways from Hull accelerated the growth of first Withernsea in 1854 and Hornsea in 1864 as coastal resorts and commuter towns of Hull. Many of the other settlements grew and changed their character from agricultural villages to become dormitory settlements of Hull, Beverley, Bridlington and Driffield. Sales of large landed estates have reduced many of the large agricultural holdings that were in private ownership but some still remain and some have been used to create large farming agri-businesses which manage considerable areas with few farms. The rail links to both Withernsea and Hornsea closed to passengers in 1964 and closed completely in 1965.

Demography
Administratively and politically the Holderness area now lies within a number of different divisions. The Beverley and Holderness parliamentary constituency statistics have been used to provide a representative picture of the area.

In 2004 there were 95,077 people living in the area in 41,224 households. Of these people 4.7% were aged below 25 years, 52.6% were aged between 25 and 55 years and 42.8% were 55 years old or more. The population density was in 2001 was 1.25 persons per hectare and 78% of households were privately owned compared with a national average of 68%.

There was a relatively low unemployment rate of 1.7% compared with a national average of 2.3%.

Economy
In Holderness the average household income in 2004 was £27,958 compared with a national average of £30,081. The area provides adequate shopping and market facilities for its residents and visitors. The three small towns of Hedon, Hornsea and Withernsea offer a range of facilities and the bigger local centres of Bridlington and Beverley are regularly used by Holderness people. Hull is the largest commercial centre which is regularly used and it provides employment for a significant proportion of the population.

Agriculture is the traditional employment of the area and there is a substantial area of horticultural development on the flat fertile land in the south-west. Animal husbandry, particularly pig rearing, is a major part of the agricultural scene. In 2001 agriculture employed 4.5% of the working population.

Industrial activity ranges from small workshop units in Hornsea and Withernsea to the Easington and Dimlington gas terminals on the east coast. These terminals process gas from the North Sea gas fields. The British Petroleum chemical works at Saltend uses condensates from the gas refining process and is a major employer in the area.

Tourism makes a significant contribution to the economy of Hornsea and Withernsea with Hornsea Pottery and Freeport attracting around a million visitors each year.

Fiction
"The Adventure of the Priory School", a Sherlock Holmes mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, takes place mostly in Holderness. Also one of the main characters is the Duke of Holderness, who resides in the area at the fictional Holderness Hall. Other works of fiction based in, or around, Holderness include The Summoner's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer and South Riding by Winifred Holtby. In "Spurn Head," part three of Will Self's Walking to Hollywood, the rapid erosion of the Holderness Coast is used as a metaphor for the effects of Alzheimer's disease.

title: Holderness


text:
National Congress Party

National Congress Party may refer to:

 * National Congress Party (Sudan), the ruling political party in Sudan from 1998 until 2019.
 * National Ittihadi Congress
 * Indian National Congress, a major political party in India
 * Nationalist Congress Party of India, based in the state of Maharashtra
 * Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar Faction)

title: National Congress Party


text:
Liberty Meadows

Liberty Meadows is an American comic strip and comic book series created, written and illustrated by Frank Cho. It relates the comedic activities of the staff and denizens of the eponymous animal sanctuary/rehabilitation clinic. The comic strip launched on March 31, 1997, and ran until December 30, 2001.

Publication history
Liberty Meadows is the evolution of University² (University Squared), a strip Cho wrote during his college years for The Diamondback, the student newspaper at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Originally, it was syndicated and appeared in many newspapers, while also being collected in comic books produced by Insight Studios. At the end of 2001, Cho ceased syndication, partly because editors kept censoring it, and announced he would publish it directly in comic book format.

Cho self-published the comic book at first, with Image Comics taking over printing and distribution with issue #27. The comic book went on a hiatus in early 2004, after issue #36. June 2006 saw the publication of issue #37, and Cho commented at the time that he would be "trying to have a couple of issues of Liberty Meadows out per year". Issue #37 was the first issue that did not contain material previously published in newspapers, also being the last issue published to date.

From around 2008 until May 2011, the rights to Liberty Meadows were in the hands of Sony Pictures Digital which wanted to develop it as a downloadable series, and then Sony Pictures Television which wanted to develop it as an animated television series. After a change in executives at Sony the projects went inactive, and the rights reverted to Cho, who in May 2011 announced plans to publish issue #38. On February 5, 2012, Frank Cho stated that work on Liberty Meadows had effectively stopped due to other commitments. "I thought I could do Liberty Meadows and my Marvel and outside work but I can't. I have a mortgage and child support that I have to pay each month. As much as I want to do Liberty Meadows (believe me I want to), the other jobs pay better".

Style
Cho makes references to and parodies other comic strips, such as Dilbert, Cathy and Peanuts.

The humans

 * Brandy Carter – A beautiful animal psychiatrist. Her appearance is based on that of actress Lynda Carter, Bettie Page, and women Cho was attracted to in his youth.
 * Frank Melisch – A nerdy veterinarian. Frank is in love with Brandy but afraid to tell her.
 * Tony – An accident-prone maintenance man.
 * Julius – The owner of Liberty Meadows animal sanctuary and an avid fisherman.
 * Jen – Brandy's roommate, a sexy rocket scientist who enjoys toying with men.
 * Al – Owner of Al's Treetop Tavern, the local bar where many of the other characters hang out. An educated man and believer in various conspiracies.
 * Roger – Brandy's ex-fiancé who's trying to win her back.
 * Barbara Carter – Brandy's controlling, malevolent mother. She hates Frank, and is constantly scheming to fix Brandy up with Roger.
 * John Carter – Brandy's doting father. The complete opposite of Brandy's mother.
 * Evil Brandy – Brandy's evil twin from a mirror universe. A megalomaniacal criminal mastermind. In volume 3, she tied up Brandy, duct-taped her mouth shut, and shoved her in a closet in an attempt to impersonate her and kill Frank.
 * Alternate Frank / "Ace" – Frank's super-studly twin from a mirror universe. The most feared lawman in the world and Evil Brandy's nemesis.

The animals

 * Ralph – A midget circus bear with a perpetual squint and a penchant for inventing dangerous gadgets.
 * Dean – A former fraternity house mascot rescued by Brandy, Dean is a lecherous, sexist pig with a drinking problem and an addiction to cigarettes. Dean is at the clinic for detox but keeps breaking the rule forbidding smoking. A recurring segment has him hitting on various women in bars, only to have them beat him for his boorishness.
 * Leslie - A dim-witted frog with hypochondria, and Ralph's friend.
 * Truman – A cute, naive young duck who always addresses the humans as "sir" and "ma'am."
 * Oscar – A mischievous dachshund and Truman's best friend. Oscar is the only animal in the strip who is not anthropomorphized, and does not speak aside from typical canine vocalizations.
 * The Cow – A psychotic villain who suffers from mad cow disease.
 * Khan – A giant catfish who serves as Julius' constant nemesis. He appears in strips that depict the characters fishing.
 * Mike – A raccoon with obsessive–compulsive disorder.

The author

 * Frank Cho, aka "Monkey Boy" – Creator of the strip. Appears in the strip as a chimpanzee to break the fourth wall.

Collected editions
The comics collecting the daily strips have themselves been collected into a series of books:

Awards
Frank Cho has won many awards, including: the prestigious National Cartoonists Society’s Awards for Best Book Illustration (2001) and Best Comic Book (2001), the 2008 Eagle Award, the 1994 Charles M. Schulz Award for Excellence in Cartooning, College Media Association for Cartooning, and Germany’s Max & Moritz Prize for Best International Comic Strip. He was also nominated for the coveted Harvey and Eisner Awards.

title: Liberty Meadows


text:
Frank Cho

Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho (born 1971), is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series Liberty Meadows, as well as for books such as Shanna the She-Devil, Mighty Avengers and Hulk for Marvel Comics, and Jungle Girl for Dynamite Entertainment. Cho is noted for his figure drawing, precise lines, and depictions of curvaceous women.

Early life
Frank Cho was born near Seoul, South Korea in 1971 to Kyu Hyuk Cho and Bok Hee Cho. He has two brothers, Rino and Austin. The family moved to the United States when he was six in search of better economic opportunities. Cho was raised in Beltsville, Maryland.

His parents had college degrees, but because they did not speak English well, they took whatever jobs they could to support the family. His mother worked in a shoe factory, and his father was a carpenter during the day and a janitor at a Greyhound Bus station at night. Because money was scarce, Cho, who describes his latchkey childhood as "rough", was relegated to finding his own extracurricular entertainment. When Cho was ten, his older brother, Rino, brought some comic books home, and Cho started copying the art. When a friend saw that Cho could reproduce the artwork without tracing it, he urged Cho to illustrate comics for a living. Cho refined his abilities without formal training beyond some basic art classes. He found inspiration in Depression-era comics such as Prince Valiant and Li'l Abner, and in the work of artists such as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Andrew Loomis, Al Williamson and Frank Frazetta.

After graduating from High Point High School in 1990, he attended Prince George's Community College and was offered a scholarship to the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, which he declined because he disliked the school's academic focus. Cho's parents were not particularly supportive of Cho's interest in art, so he placated them by transferring to the University of Maryland School of Nursing, which he says was his parents' idea. Cho graduated with a B.S. in Nursing in 1996.

1990s
Cho wrote and drew a cartoon strip called Everything but the Kitchen Sink in the weekly Prince George's Community College newspaper The Owl, where he was also comics editor. At the University of Maryland, College Park, he drew the daily strip University2 for The Diamondback, the student newspaper.

During his final year in college, in 1994 or 1995, Cho received his first professional comic book assignment, doing short stories for Penthouse Comix with Al Gross and Mark Wheatley. The trio conceived of a six-part "raunchy sci-fi fantasy romp" called The Body, centering on an intergalactic female merchant, Katy Wyndon, who can transfer her mind into any of her "wardrobe bodies", empty mindless vessels that she occupies to best suit her negotiations with the local alien races that she encounters while traveling the galaxy trading and seeking riches. The story was never published for a number of reasons.

After graduation, Cho adapted elements of University2 for use in a professionally syndicated strip, Liberty Meadows. Cho signed a 15-year contract with Creators Syndicate, which he later realized was unusually long and, perhaps jokingly, blamed on having a bad lawyer. After five years of doing Liberty Meadows, Cho grew weary of the arguments with his editor over the censorship of the strip, as well as the pressure of the daily deadlines, and pulled the strip from syndication in December 2001, though he continued to print it uncensored in book form.

In 1999, Cho attracted controversy when, while serving as one of the jurors for the third annual Ignatz Awards, which are awarded to small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers, he nominated his own book Liberty Meadows. Writer Ed Brubaker, one of the original jurors and developers of the award, criticized that year's jury for their lack of support and acknowledgment of independent works, and for allowing self-nomination. Brubaker also questioned whether the guidelines he and Expo board member Chris Oarr had developed for the Awards were provided to that year's judges. The Comics Journal reacted to this by saying that this revealed some flaws in the Ignatz nomination system, but Cho defended his decision, stating that in his opinion few of the submissions he received as a judge were deserving of nomination, and that the Ignatz coordinator he consulted instructed him to use his own judgment, as there were no rules against self-nomination. Cho eventually won two Ignatz Awards that year for Outstanding Artist and Outstanding Comic, and although he did not cast the winning vote, he called his self-nomination a mistake he would not repeat.

2000s
As he worked on Liberty Meadows, he also did occasional cover work or anthology work for other publishers. These included Ultimate Spider-Man Super Special for Marvel Comics in 2000, The Savage Dragon #100 and The Amazing Spider-Man #46 in 2002, Hellboy: Weird Tales #6 in 2003 and Invincible #14 in 2004. he then began doing full interior work on other Spider-Man books for Marvel, including issues #5 and 8 of Marvel Knights Spider-Man in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and The Astonishing Spider-Man #123, also in 2005.

Marvel Comics' then-senior editor Axel Alonso, who had been impressed by Liberty Meadows, approached Cho about revamping the third-string character Shanna the She-Devil, a scantily clad jungle lady who first appeared in the early 1970s, as a college-educated defender of wildlife and opponent of firearms. Cho, seeing possibilities, recast Shanna in a seven-issue, 2005 miniseries as an Amazonian naïf, the product of a Nazi experiment with the power to kill dinosaurs with her bare hands but an unpredictable lack of morality. The miniseries was originally meant to feature uncensored nude drawings of the heroine, but Marvel later decided against this, and had Cho censor his already completed pages for the first five issues. However, Cho has indicated on his website that Marvel plans to release a hardcover collection under its MAX imprint which will contain the uncensored artwork.

Cho then penciled issues 14 and 15 of Marvel's New Avengers in 2006, and illustrated the first six issues of Marvel Comics' 2007 relaunch of Mighty Avengers with writer Brian Bendis. He is the plotter and cover artist of Dynamite Entertainment's Jungle Girl. Cho drew issues 7–9 of Hulk, which were published in 2009. In 2010–2011, Cho illustrated writer Jeph Loeb's run on New Ultimates for Marvel Comics. In 2011 he worked on the miniseries X-Men: Schism with writer Jason Aaron.

2010s
In January 2013, as an expansion of the Marvel NOW! initiative, Marvel premiered Savage Wolverine, a series written and illustrated by Cho that stars both Wolverine and co-stars Shanna the She-Devil and Amadeus Cho. The "Lost World"–type story that comprises the first five issues is intended to evoke a "classic adventure feel", and is inspired by the Indiana Jones films and the pulp horror of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos.

In April 2015, Cho posted on his website an image he had drawn on a sketch cover of Spider-Gwen of that character on all fours, with her rear end pointing upward, which mirrored a Spider-Woman cover by Milo Manara that had caused a controversy the previous November. The Cho image drew criticism from Spider-Gwen writer Robbi Rodriguez, who, while expressing appreciation of Manara's work, feared that such an image might drive away prospective female readers. Sam Maggs of The Mary Sue also criticized Cho because the character Spider-Gwen is a teenager. Other artists like J. Scott Campbell and Rob Liefeld defended Cho. Cho parodied the controversy by drawing the character Harley Quinn in the same pose on a sketch cover of that character's series. In April the following year, Cho revisited the controversy by illustrating the character Cammy in the same type of pose on the cover of Udon Studios' Street Fighter Legends #1. When asked if these controversies hurt his career, Cho replied that the publicity tripled the traffic on his website, increased attention given to him by convention organizers and convention attendees, and led to an increase in job offers.

In February 2016, Marvel premiered Totally Awesome Hulk, a series written by Greg Pak and drawn by Cho which sees teenager Amadeus Cho become the newest incarnation of the Hulk. Cho drew the first four issues of the series, his final page of which represented the end of his 14-year exclusivity contract with Marvel. He was then hired by DC Comics to draw variant covers of the first 24 issues of Wonder Woman as part of the company's Rebirth initiative. However, Cho quit the project in July following the completion of the sixth issue's cover, due to conflicts with series writer Greg Rucka, who objected to the sexualized manner in which Wonder Woman was depicted in Cho's illustrations.

As of May 2016, Cho was writing and drawing Skybourne for Boom! Studios, a five-issue creator-owned miniseries that Cho describes as "a cross between Highlander, Game of Death, and Cthulhu." The story focuses on a god trying to find the one weapon that can kill him, the mythical sword Excalibur, before it is found by others. At the time Cho was also writing and drawing another creator-owned book, World of Payne with his co-creator, Tom Sniegoski, for Flesk Publications. World of Payne stars Lockwood Payne, a psychic private investigator, and modern day sorcerer from an ancient society of witches and wizards who with his urgent care expert friend Doctor Hurt, and the beautiful witch-in-training Michelle, find themselves embroiled in strange misadventures in the world of the occult. Cho describes the book part prose novel and part comic, and "a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Harry Potter with a dash of Hellblazer." Skybourne #1 was published September 7, while World of Payne was set to premiere in late 2016.

Technique and materials
Cho produces his artwork on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Pad, which has a vellum surface. To pencil his artwork, Cho uses a Pentel mechanical pencil with 0.7mm HB lead. To ink his work, he uses black Micron Pigma pens, sizes 01 and 08. For erasure, he uses both a Vanish eraser and a kneaded eraser.

Personal life
Cho met his first wife, Cari Guthrie, when they served together on a student residence council at the University of Maryland. They were married in 1999. Their first child, Adam, was born in 2001 and their second Samantha in 2004. They lived in Ellicott City, Maryland. Cho and Cari separated in 2008 and divorced in 2009, after which Cho temporarily moved to a nearby apartment to be close to his two children, and began dating Mara Rose, a film major he first met when she cared for his kids.

Cho identifies as a "life-long liberal Democrat and advocate for free speech and equal rights."

Awards

 * 1994 College Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz Award
 * 1999 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Artist (for Liberty Meadows #1)
 * 1999 Ignatz Award for Outstanding Comic (for Liberty Meadows #1)
 * 2001 National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Comic Book
 * 2001 National Cartoonists Society's Award for Best Book Illustration
 * 2002 Max & Moritz Medal for Best International Comic Strip
 * 2006 Haxtur Award for Best Artist
 * 2006 Haxtur Award for Best In Show
 * 2006 Eagle Award for Best Artist (for Liberty Meadows and Shanna the She-Devil)
 * 2006 Eagle Award for Best Artist for Best In Show (for Liberty Meadows and Shanna the She-Devil)
 * 2008 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Artist: Pencils
 * 2011 The Emmy Award for the documentary Creating Frank Cho's World
 * 2011 The Daily Record Influential Marylander Award for Communications
 * 2017 Ringo Award for Best Cover Artist
 * 2023 Doylean Honors for Best Illustration

Nominations

 * 2000 Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist
 * 2006 Harvey Award for Best Artist
 * 2006 Harvey Award for Best Cartoonist
 * 2006 Harvey Award for Best Cover Artist
 * 2006 Haxtur Award for Best Cover Artist
 * 2006 Haxtur Award for Best Humor

DC

 * Superman and Batman: World's Funnest, one-shot (among other artists) (2000)
 * The Many Worlds of Tesla Strong, one-shot (among other artists) (2003)

Marvel

 * Ultimate Spider-Man Special #1 (among other artists) (2002)
 * Marvel Knights Spider-Man #5, 8 (artist) (2004–05)
 * Shanna, the She-Devil, miniseries, #1–7 (writer, artist) (2005)
 * New Avengers #14–15 (artist) (2006)
 * Mighty Avengers #1–6 (artist) (2007–08)
 * Hulk, vol. 3, #7–9, King-Size #1 (artist) (2008–09)
 * New Ultimates, miniseries, #1–5 (artist) (2010–11)
 * X-Men: Schism, miniseries, #2 (artist) (2011)
 * X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 (artist, with Stuart Immonen) (2013)
 * Avengers vs. X-Men, #0 (artist) (2012)
 * Savage Wolverine #1–5 (writer, artist) (2013)
 * The Totally Awesome Hulk #1–4 (artist) (2015–16)

Other publishers

 * University2 (writer, artist; in The Diamondback, University of Maryland 1994–1995)
 * Liberty Meadows #1–26 (writer, artist; Insight Studios, 1999–2002)
 * Liberty Meadows #27–37 (writer, artist; Image Comics, 2002–2006)
 * Greyshirt: Indigo Sunset #6 (artist; America's Best Comics, 2001)
 * More Fund Comics: "Road to Home", graphic novel (writer, artist; Sky Dog Press, 2003)
 * Zombie King #0 (writer, artist; Image Comics, 2005)
 * 50 Girls 50 #1–4 (co-writer, designer; Image, 2011)
 * Skybourne #1–5 (writer, artist; BOOM Studios, 2016–2018)
 * Fight Girls #1–5 (writer, artist; AWA/Upshot Studios, 2021)

Cover art

 * Cavewoman: Jungle Tales #1 (Basement, 1998)
 * Jingle Belle's All Star Holiday Hullabaloo #1 (Oni Press, 2000)
 * Hammer of the Gods #1 (Insight Studios, 2001)
 * Blue Line Pro's Sketch #12 (Blue Line Pro, 2001)
 * Codename: Knockout #1 (Vertigo, 2001)
 * Cavewoman: Pangaean Sea #1 (Basement, 2001)
 * Footman 15: Fairy Fire #1 (Bald Guy Studios, 2002)
 * The Amazing Spider-Man v2 #46–48 (Marvel, 2002–2003)
 * Opposite Forces #4 (Funny Pages Press, 2003)
 * PvP #1–2, 16 (Image, 2003–2005)
 * Trouble #1 (Marvel, 2003)
 * Hellboy: Weird Tales #6 (Dark Horse, 2003)
 * Invincible #14 (Image, 2004)
 * Even More Fund Comics (Sky Dog Press, 2004)
 * Witchblade #80 (Top Cow, 2004)
 * Marvel Knights 4 #13 (Marvel, 2005)
 * Black Panther #3, 8, 18 (Marvel, 2005–2006)
 * Uncanny X-Men #461 (Marvel, 2005)
 * Nodwick #30 (Henchman, 2005)
 * Image Holiday Special '05 (Image, 2005)
 * Ms. Marvel #1–5 (Marvel, 2006)
 * Red Sonja #13 (Dynamite, 2006)
 * Savage Red Sonja: Queen of the Frozen Wastes #1–4 (Dynamite, 2006)
 * Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #1 (Dark Horse, 2007)
 * The Irredeemable Ant-Man #7 (Marvel, 2007)
 * Jungle Girl #0–5 (Dynamite, 2007–2008)
 * Killing Girl #1 (Image, 2007)
 * Ultimates 3 #3 (Marvel, 2008)
 * Conan the Cimmerian #1–9 (Dark Horse, 2008–2009)
 * Captain America #41 (Marvel, 2008)
 * Secret Invasion #6 (Marvel, 2008)
 * Jungle Girl Season 2 #1–5 (Dynamite, 2008–2009)
 * Fantastic Four #561 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Masquerade #1 (Dynamite, 2009)
 * Jennifer's Body (Boom! Studios, 2009)
 * The Astounding Wolf-Man #18 (Image, 2009)
 * War Heroes #3 (Image, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – Avengers #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – Daredevil #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – X-Men #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – Hulk #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – Punisher #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – Secret Warriors #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – Wolverine #1 (Marvel, 2009)
 * Dark Reign: The List – The Amazing Spider-Man #1(Marvel, 2010)
 * Hit-Monkey #1 (Marvel, 2010)
 * Hulk #21 (Marvel, 2010)
 * The Incredible Hulk #608 (Marvel, 2010)
 * Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 (Marvel, 2010)
 * Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates #1, 3, 5 (Marvel, 2011)
 * 50 Girls 50 #1–4 (Image, 2011)
 * The Incredible Hulks #629 (Marvel, 2011)
 * The Amazing Spider-Man #663–664 (Marvel, 2011)
 * Ultimate Spider-Man #159 (Marvel, 2011)
 * X-Men: Schism #1, 3–5 (Marvel, 2011)
 * Wolverine & the X-Men #1 (Marvel, 2011)
 * Uncanny X-Men v2 #1 (Marvel, 2011)
 * Miracleman #2 (Marvel, 2015)
 * Wonder Woman #1–6 (DC, 2016)
 * Trinity #2 (DC, 2016)
 * Harley and Her Gang of Harleys #4–6 (DC, 2016)
 * Harley Quinn: Harley Loves Joker #1–2 (DC, 2018)
 * Reborn #1 (variant) (Image, 2016)
 * Harley Quinn #8–56, 60–75 (DC, 2017–2020)
 * Dejah Thoris #1 (Dynamite Entertainment, 2018)
 * Amazing Spider-Man #799–800 (Marvel, 2018)
 * The Incredible Hulk #717 (Marvel, 2018)
 * Batman #48,50,71 (DC, 2018, 2019)
 * Extermination #2 (Marvel, 2018)
 * Punisher #1 (Marvel, 2018)
 * Venom #7 (Marvel, 2018)
 * The War of the Realms  #1 (Marvel, 2019)
 * Red Sonja #1 (Dynamite Entertainment, 2019)
 * Vampirella #1 (Dynamite Entertainment, 2019)
 * Black Cat #3 (Marvel, 2019)
 * Catwoman: 80th Anniversary (DC, 2020)
 * Action Comics #1026 (Wonder Woman 1984 variant) (DC, 2020)
 * Punchline #1 (DC, 2020)
 * Iron Man #5 (Marvel, 2021)
 * Eternals #1 (Marvel, 2021)
 * Wonder Woman Black & Gold #1 (DC, 2021)
 * ET:ER #2 (Upshot/AWA Studios, 2022)
 * Redemption #1 (Upshot/AWA Studios, 2022)
 * Moon Knight:Black White & Blood #1 (Marvel, 2022)
 * She-Hulk Omnibus #3 (Marvel, 2022)
 * Absolution #1 (Upshot/AWA Studios, 2022)
 * Ascencia #13 (Wake Entertainment, 2022)
 * Harley Quinn 30th Anniversary Special #1 (DC, 2022)
 * Poison Ivy #1 (DC, 2022)
 * Daredevil #7 (Marvel, 2023)
 * Thor #30 (Marvel, 2023)
 * 300: 25th Anniversary #1 (Dark Horse, 2023)
 * Batman #134 (DC, 2023)
 * Batman: The Brave and The Bold #1 (DC, 2023)
 * Catwoman #55 (DC, 2023)
 * Green Arrow #1 (DC, 2023)
 * Poison Ivy #13 (DC, 2023)

Books

 * University Squared: The Angry Years, Insight Studios Group, 1996 (author, artist)
 * Frank Cho Illustrator, Insight Studios, 2000 (author, artist)
 * Liberty Meadows, Big Book of Love, Insight Studios, 2001 (author, artist)
 * Liberty Meadows Book 1, Eden, Image, 2003 (author, artist)
 * Liberty Meadows Book 2, Creature Comforts, Image, 2003 (author, artist)
 * Liberty Meadows Book 3, Summer of Love, Image, 2004 (author, artist)
 * Liberty Meadows Book 4, Cold, Cold Heart, Image, 2005 (author, artist)
 * Women: Selected Drawings & Illustrations, Image, 2006 (author, artist)
 * Modern Masters Volume 14: Frank Cho, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2007
 * Jungle Queens Art Book, Brand Studio Press, 2008 (author, artist)
 * Mars Maidens Art Book, Brand Studio Press, 2008 (author, artist)
 * Apes and Babes Volume 1, Image, 2009 (author, artist)
 * Liberty Meadows Sundays Book 1, Image, 2012 (author, artist)
 * Women Book 2: Selected Drawings & Illustrations, Image, 2013 (author, artist)
 * Drawing Beautiful Women: The Frank Cho Method, Flesk Publications, 2014 (author, artist)
 * Frank Cho's Savage Wolverine, Artist Edition, IDW 2018 (author, artist)
 * Ballpoint Beauties, Flesk Publications, 2019 (author, artist)
 * Marvel Monograph: The Art of Frank Cho, Marvel, 2020 (artist)
 * The Art of Frank Cho: Twenty Year Retrospective, Flesk Publications, 2020 (author, artist)
 * Outrage, Book 1, Comic Sketch Art, 2021 (author, artist)
 * Outrage, Book 2: More Outrage, Comic Sketch Art, 2022 (author, artist)
 * What Child Is This?, HarperCollins, 2022 (artist)

title: Frank Cho