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Simha Arom

Simha Arom (born 16 August 1930) is a French-Israeli ethnomusicologist who is recognized as a world expert on the music of central Africa, especially that of the Central African Republic. His books include African Polyphony and Polyrhythm: Musical Structure and Methodology (1991) ISBN 0-521-24160-X. He also made some historical field recordings of the Aka Pygmy music.

In the 1960s, Arom was sent by the Government of Israel to establish a brass band in the Central African Republic. He became fascinated by the traditional music of this country, especially the vocal polyphonies of the Aka Pygmies. He entered the CNRS in 1968 and in 1984 he received its Silver Medal. He did field work every year from 1971 to 1991, accompanied by ethnolinguists and students, to record this music to study it and preserve it. Arom was awarded a First Prize for French Horn at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique of Paris before becoming an ethnomusicologist. Using interactive experiments, he has worked on uncovering implicit musical systems and the way in which cultures build cognitive categories as attested in their music. His work is based on the postulate that, in order for it to be valid, data collected in the field must be corroborated by cognitive data specific to the holders of the culture studied. His research topics include the temporal organization of music, musical scales, polyphonic techniques, music in the social system and the elaboration of conceptual tools for the categorization, analysis and modeling of traditional music. From a mostly descriptive discipline, he has tried to build a science in the full sense of the word, with all of its attributes: experimentation, verification, validation, modeling, conceptualization and reconstitution by means of synthesis. He has been a Visiting Professor at many universities – particularly Montreal, UCLA, Vancouver, M.I.T., Cambridge (U.K.), Tel-Aviv, Bar-Ilan, Haifa, Basel, Zurich, Siena, and Venice, and his work has inspired contemporary composers such as Luciano Berio (Coro), György Ligeti, Steve Reich, Fabien Lévy and Fabian Panisello. Arom is Research Director Emeritus at the CNRS, a founding member of the Société française d'ethnomusicologie, the Société française d'analyse musicale, the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM) and the European Seminar in Ethnomusicology; he is also a member of the Société française de musicologie and the Board of directors of The Universe of Music project (UNESCO). His sound archives were deposited in 2011 at the sound library of the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Arom was the subject of the 2014 documentary SIMHA by Jerome Blumberg.

Awards

 * 1971 : Grand Prix International du Disque, Académie Charles Cros
 * 1978 : Grand Prix International du Disque, Académie Charles Cros, Mention In Honorem, "Prix du Président de la République"
 * 1984 : Médaille d'Argent du C.N.R.S.
 * 1985 : Grand Prix International du Disque, Académie Charles Cros, "Prix André Schaeffner"
 * 1988 : Grand Prix du Disque, Nouvelle Académie du Disque, ‘Palmarès des palmarès’
 * 1992 : ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers), Deems Taylor Award for Excellence in Music literature, New York
 * 1998 :
 * Prix Moebius International
 * Grand Prix Investigation et publication scientifique, 3ème Festival du Film de Chercheur, Nancy
 * 7e Prix Möbius France, Multimédia, Sciences, Cultures, Éducation
 * Honorary life member, European Seminar in Ethnomusicology
 * 1999 : Prix Spécial “Cédéroms”, 4ème Festival du Film de Chercheur, Nancy
 * 2007 : Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
 * 2008 :
 * 20th Annual Koizumi Fumio Prize for Ethnomusicology (Tokyo)
 * Prix International de la Fondation Fyssen (Paris)
 * 2012 : Honorary Member, International Musicological Society.
 * 2014 :
 * Prix Francine et Antoine Bernheim pour les sciences (Paris)
 * Honorary Professor, State Conservatoire, Tbilisi (Georgia)
 * 2017 : Honorary member, Association française du cor (Paris)
 * 2020 : Dr. Honoris Causa, HfMT-University of Music Hamburg (Germany)

Tributes

 * Analyse Musicale 23 (1991) "Analyse et expérimentation – En hommage à Simha Arom et à son équipe"
 * « Ndroje balendro ». Musiques, terrains et disciplines, Textes offerts à Simha Arom (V. Dehoux, S. Fürniss, S. Le Bomin, E. Olivier, H. Rivière, F. Voisin, éd.), 1995, Louvain-Paris, Peeters
 * Bibliothèque nationale de France : « Journée en Hommage à Simha Arom », 9 juin 2011
 * Honorary Professorship, Tbilisi State Conservatory (Georgia), 2014

Books

 * Conte et chantefables ngbaka-ma'bo (République centrafricaine), Paris, Selaf, "Bibliothèque" 21–22, 1970, 238 p.
 * Les mimbo, génies du piégeage et le monde surnaturel des Ngbaka-Ma'bo (République centrafricaine), Paris, Selaf, "Bibliothèque" 44–45, 1975, 153 p. (en collaboration avec Jacqueline M. C. Thomas)
 * Polyphonies instrumentales d'Afrique centrale : structure et méthodologie, Paris, Selaf, "Collection Ethnomusicologie" 1, 1985, 2 vol., 905 p.
 * African Polyphony and Polyrhythm. Structure and Methodology (Préface de Györgi Ligeti), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004 [1991], 668 p.
 * Précis d'ethnomusicologie, Paris, CNRS éditions, 2007, 173 p. (en collaboration avec Frank Alvarez-Péreyre)
 * La boîte à outils d'un ethnomusicologue (textes réunis et préfacés par Nathalie Fernando), Les Presses de l'Université de Montréal, 2007, 421 p.
 * La fanfare de Bangui, Paris, Éditions La Découverte, 2009, 208 p.

Articles (selection)

 * « Essai d'une notation des monodies à des fins d'analyse », Revue de Musicologie 55, 1969, pp. 172–216.
 * « The Use of Play-Back Techniques in the Study of Oral Polyphonies », Ethnomusicology 20, 1976, pp. 483–519.
 * « New Perspectives for the Description of Orally Transmitted Music », The World of Music XXIII/2, 1981, pp. 40–60.
 * « Musiques d'ici et d'ailleurs ». In Cl. Samuel éd., Éclats/Boulez,  Paris, Centre  Pompidou, 1986, pp. 90–97.
 * « Modélisation et modèles dans les musiques de tradition orale », Analyse Musicale 22, 1991, pp. 67–78.
 * « A synthesizer in the Central African bush. A Method of Interactive Exploration of Musical Scales ». In Für Ligeti. Die Referate des Ligeti-Kongresses Hamburg 1988, Laaber, Laaber-Verlag, 1991, pp. 163–178.
 * « L'étude des échelles dans les musiques traditionnelles : une approche interactive », Analyse Musicale 23 : “Analyse et expérimentation – En hommage à Simha Arom et à son équipe”, 1991, pp. 21–29.
 * « Une parenté inattendue : polyphonies médiévales et polyphonies africaines ». In M. Huglo & M. Pérès éds, Polyphonies de tradition orale : histoire  et traditions vivantes. Paris,  Créaphis, 1994, pp. 133–148.
 * « Intelligence in Traditional Music ». In J. Khalfa ed., What is Intelligence? (‘Darwin College Lectures 1992’), Cambridge and New York, Cambridge  University Press, 1994, pp. 137–160.
 * « La musique africaine : un savoir qui s’ignore ? ». In A. Sureau éd., Qu’est-ce qu’on ne sait pas ? : Les rencontres philosophiques de l’UNESCO, collection « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 306). Paris: Gallimard, 1995, pp. 48–55.
 * « Le ‘syndrome’ du pentatonisme africain », Musicae Scientiae. The Journal of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music – Forum de discussion I/2, 1997, pp. 139–161.
 * « Une raison en acte. Pensée formelle et systématique musicale dans les sociétés de tradition orale », Revue de Musicologie 84/1, (in collab. with J. Khalfa), 1998, pp. 5–17.
 * « ‘L’arbre qui cachait la forêt’ » : principes métriques et rythmiques en Centrafrique », Liber Amicorum Célestin Deliège, Revue belge de  Musicologie 52, 1999, pp. 179–195.
 * « ‘Descartes en Afrique’ : les musiques traditionnelles, domaine privilégié d’étude de la rationalité ». In V. Gomez-Pin, éd., Descartes. Lo racional y lo real. EnraHonar, Quaderns de Filosofia – Numero extraordinari (in collab. with J. Khalfa), 1999 pp. 317–322.
 * « La musique comme pensée pure », Les temps modernes 609 (in collab. with J. Khalfa), 2000, pp. 307–325.
 * « Prolegomena to a Biomusicology », In N. L. Wallin, B. Merker, S. Brown eds, The Origins of Music, Cambridge (MA), M.I.T. Press, 2000, pp. 27–31.
 * « ‘En busca del tiempo perdido’ : la metrica y el ritmo en la musica », Quodlibet. Revista de especializacion musical 16, 2000, pp. 3–14.
 * « L’ethnomusicologie est-elle condamnée à rester une science ‘molle’ » ? In J.-M. Chouvel & F. Lévy éds, Observation, analyse, modèles : peut-on parler d’art avec les outils de la science ?, Paris, L’Harmattan / Ircam, (in collab. with N. Fernando), 2002, pp. 427–450.
 * « L’aksak. Principes et typologie », Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles 17 : “Formes musicales”, 2005, pp. 11–48.
 * « L’organisation du temps musical : essai de typologie ». In J.-J. Nattiez éd., Musiques. Une encyclopédie pour le XXIe siècle, vol. V. Paris, Actes Sud / Cité de la Musique, 2007, pp. 927–941.
 * « Typologie des techniques polyphoniques ». In J.-J. Nattiez éd., Musiques. Une encyclopédie pour le XXIe siècle, vol. V. Paris, Actes Sud / Cité de la Musique (in collab. with N. Fernando, S. Fürniss, S. Le Bomin, F. Marandola, E. Olivier, H. Rivière, O. Tourny), 2007, pp. 1088–1109.
 * « ‘À plusieurs voix’. La conception wébérienne de la plurivocalité vue par un ethnomusicologue », Revue de Synthèse, tome 129, 6e série, n° 2, 2008, pp. 285–296.
 * « La catégorisation des patrimoines musicaux dans les sociétés de tradition orale ». In F. Alvarez-Pereyre éd.,  Catégories et Catégorisation. Perspectives interdisciplinaires, Paris, Peeters (in collab. with N. Fernando, S. Fürniss, S. Le Bomin, F. Marandola, J. Molino), 2009, pp. 273–313.
 * « Entre parole et musique. Les languages tambourinés d’Afrique subsaharienne ». In S. Dehaene & Ch. Petit éds, Parole et musique. Aux origines du dialogue humain (Colloque 2008). Paris, Odile Jacob (‘Collection du Collège de France’), 2009, pp. 183–199.
 * « Towards a Theory of the Chord Syntax in Georgian Polyphony ». In J. Jordania & R. Tsurtsumia eds, Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony, Tbilissi. Tbilissi State Conservatoire. (in collab. with P. Vallejo), 2010, pp. 309–335.
 * « Corroborating external observation by cognitive data in the description and modelling of traditional music ». In Musicae Scientiae Special Issue 2010 – “Understanding musical structure and form : Papers in honour of Irène Deliège, 2010, pp. 295–306.
 * « Comprendre la musique : une nouvelle voie ». In Académie des Beaux-Arts – Communications 2009–2010 (Séance du 2 juin 2010).  Paris, Institut de France, 2010, pp. 55–60.
 * « Polifonias de tradicion oral : Africa subsahariana ». In F. Jarauta ed., Forma y tiempos de la musica. Santander, Fundacion Botin (in collab. with P. Vallejo), 2011, pp. 87–123.
 * « Gespräch mit Simha Arom ». In M.-A. Dittrich & R. Kapp eds, Anklaenge 2010 – Wiener Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft, 2011, pp. 29–44.
 * « A Kinship Foreseen : Ligeti and African Music ». In L. Duchesneau & W. Marx eds, György Ligeti – Of Foreign Lands and Strange Sounds. Woodbridge, Boydell & Brewer, 2011, pp. 107–122.
 * « ‘Combining Sounds to Reinvent the World’. World Music, Sociology and Musical Analysis ». In M. Tenzer & J. Roeder eds, Analytical and Cross-Cultural Studies in World Music, New York, Oxford University Press (in collab. with D.-C. Martin), 2011, pp. 388–413.

Discography (selection)

 * Musiques de la République Centrafricaine, 1966 ;
 * Musiques Banda, 1971 (Grand Prix du Disque de l'Académie Charles-Cros) ;
 * Aka Pygmy Music, 1994 [1973] ;
 * Rondes et jeux chantés Banda-Linda (République Centrafricaine), 1974 ;
 * Ceremonial Music from Northern Dahomey, 1975 ;
 * The Fulani, 1988 [1976] ;
 * Banda Polyphonies, 1992 [1976] ;
 * Bénin. Musiques Bariba et Somba, 1994 [1977];
 * Cameroon. Baka Pygmy Music, 1990 [1977];
 * Anthologie de la musique des Pygmées Aka ('Prix du Président de la République', Académie Charles Cros), 2003  [1978, 1988] ;
 * Central African Republic, 1989 [1984] ;
 * Grèce. Bouzouki. 'Hommage à Tsitsanis' (with Tatiana Yannopoulos), ('Prix André Schaeffner', Académie Charles Cros), 1983 ;
 * Liturgies juives d’Éthiopie (with Frank Alvarez-Pereyre), 1990 ;
 * Grèce. Épire 'Takoutsia', Musiciens de Zagori (with Tatiana Yannopoulos), 1990 ;
 * Polyphonies vocales des Pygmées Mbenzele' (with Denis-Constant Martin), 1992 ;
 * Greece. Vocal Monodies (with Tatiana Yannopoulos), 1994 ;
 * Ligeti / Reich / Aka Pygmies: African Rhythms (with Pierre-Laurent Aimard), 2003 ;
 * Géorgie. Polyphonies sacrées et profanes (with Polo Vallejo), 2012.

Filmography

 * L'arc musical ngbaka, 16 mm, black and white, 1970, CNRS-Comité du film ethnographique (11 minutes)
 * Les enfants de la danse, 16 mm, color, 1970, CNRS-Comité du film ethnographique (with Geneviève Dournon) (13 minutes)
 * Ango : une leçon de musique africaine, 1997, CNRS Images/Média (36 minutes), Grand-Prix du Festival du Film de Chercheur, Nancy 1998.

title: Simha Arom


text:
Yakovlev Yak-25

The Yakovlev Yak-25 (NATO designation Flashlight-A/Mandrake) was a swept wing, turbojet-powered interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft built by Yakovlev and used by the Soviet Union.

Design and development
The Yak-25 originated from a need for long-range Interceptor aircraft to protect the USSR's northern and eastern territory. The specification for a two-seat, twin-engine jet fighter and a related reconnaissance aircraft was issued by Joseph Stalin on 6 August 1951.

Yak-120
Yakovlev began developing a two-seat, twin-engine patrol interceptor, designated the Yak-120 by the design bureau, in 1951. It received official authorization by a directive of the Council of Ministers on 10 August of that year. In a break from previous Yakovlev designs, the Yak-120's thin, mid-set wings were swept back at a 45 degree angle with large two-section flaps. To provide more directional stability, a ventral fin was attached below the swept cruciform tail. The aircraft was powered by two Mikulin AM-5 turbojets, mounted in nacelles that were attached directly to the undersurface of the wing.

The design maximized fuel capacity to provide greater endurance, resulting in the usage of a bicycle undercarriage with a single-wheel nose unit and a two-wheel main unit, augmented by outrigger struts mounted under the wingtips. The Yak-120 was configured to carry a conformal drop tank on the centerline of the fuselage to provide additional endurance.

The aircraft included an RP-6 Sokol radar in its nose, with the radar antenna dish enclosed by a bullet-shaped glass fiber radome. The Sokol could detect four engine bombers at 25 km and fighters at 16 km distance. It carried two crewmen, a pilot and a radar intercept operator, seated in tandem below a shared aft-sliding canopy. The radar intercept operator handled target searching and assisted the pilot in guiding the aircraft towards the target in unfavorable weather, and was able to fly the aircraft when required due to the aircraft's dual controls, decreasing pilot fatigue on lengthy missions. The aircraft's fixed windshield included a 105 mm-thick bulletproof glass panel, while the rest of the aircraft was protected by 10 mm all-round armor plates.

The aircraft was armed with two 37 mm NL-37L cannon, mounted low on the sides of the center fuselage. A supply of 50 rounds per gun was typically carried, although the ammunition boxes could contain twice as much. Under the wings was provision for two 212 mm ARS-212 unguided rockets. The aircraft's avionics allowed it to navigate and intercept its targets in all weather conditions at altitudes up to its service ceiling. As well as the radar, the aircraft was equipped with an SRO-1 IFF transponder, an RSIU-3 Klyon VHF radio, and an AP-28 autopilot. To set up an automatic landing approach in bad weather, the Yak included a Materik (Russian for continent) Instrument landing system. The Pozitron-1 system completed the aircraft's avionics systems, and was likely a command link system.

The aircraft's wings, tail unit, and air intakes were equipped with hot air de-icing, while the foreign object damage protection screens and intake center-bodies of the engines were de-iced electrically, enabling the Yak to remain at colder high altitudes for longer times and to operate in regions with a cold climate. Despite its complex and heavy avionics, the aircraft had a lightweight airframe for a twin-engined fighter, due to a design that reduced structural weight to the minimum. Two prototypes and a static test mockup were built by Yakovlev. The first prototype flew on 19 June 1952, piloted by Yakovlev test pilot Valentin Volkov. Manufacturer testing continued until November.

The Yak-120 exceeded the Air Force specific operational requirements in all aspects except for speed and range. Its 3-hour and 45 minute endurance without a drop tank (4 hours and 15 minutes with tank) and 2,800 km range on internal fuel at 12,000 m altitude allowed it to fly long-range patrols. Being smaller and lighter, it surpassed the performance of the competing Lavochkin La-200B. However, the aircraft could not be submitted for state acceptance trials due to delays in the development of the RP-6 radar. As a result, the RP-1 Izumrood radar was fitted as a temporary substitute in early December. The Yak-120 was tested at the Scientific Research Institute of the Air Force (NII VVS) with the RP-1 between May and June 1953. With mostly positive results, the aircraft was authorized for production with the service designation Yak-25. The test results from the NII VVS were approved as specifications for the Yak-25 by a Council of Ministers directive on 8 September.

Production and Yak-25M
The Yak-25s were built at Factory No. 292 in Saratov, with the first aircraft completed in September 1954. Due to slight modifications, the radar of these aircraft was known as the RP-1D. However, very few aircraft were built to the original standards, due to the fact that the RP-6 had been fully developed by the end of 1953. In April 1954, a Yak-120 prototype with the RP-6 passed its state acceptance trials, and on 13 May the Council of Ministers approved the production of the modified version with the designation Yak-25M. In addition to the radar, this version also incorporated several changes – the AM-5A Srs 1 turbojets were replaced with RD-5A (AM-5A) Srs 2 engines with the same rating, the wheelbase was increased by moving the nose gear unit 33 cm forward to improve directional stability during takeoff and landing, and the cannons were fitted with muzzle brakes. 406 Yak-25Ms were built at the Saratov factory, with deliveries beginning in January 1955. RAF RPF ELINT flights from October 1956 indicated that the Yak-25M had entered service, but that height-finding by ground-based radars was poor and so interception was ineffective above 35,000 feet.

Further Yak-120 development
In September 1953, after the first stage of the Yak-120's state acceptance trials concluded, the second Yak-120 prototype was re-engined with the new Mikulin AM-9A turbojet, an improved version of the AM-5. Rocket pods for 57 mm ARS-57 Skvorets folding-fin aircraft rockets were added, intended for use against enemy bomber formations. A modified RP-6 known as the Sokol-M was also to be added, and what was designated the Yak-120M was to begin its state acceptance trials in September 1954. Due to delays occasioned by the late delivery of the engines and lack of radar, the aircraft was not completed until the end of 1954, and was instead equipped with a standard RP-6. In November, the first stage of the state acceptance trials (with the standard RP-6 and no FFARs) was postponed until January 1955, but by March of that year the aircraft was planned to be ready for the second stage, with the Sokol-M and FFARs. The same directive that changed the schedule also specified that the 190 mm TRS-190 rocket be used as alternate armament. To allow for the increased weight of the rockets, lighter 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannons replaced the N-37Ls.

The first stage of the state acceptance trials of the Yak-120M were completed on schedule in January 1955; the second stage began in March and concluded in late April. However, the aircraft's performance was slightly short of the operational requirements, and the failure to complete the Sokol-M, coupled with a need for supersonic interceptors, forced abandonment of the Yak-120M. The prototype was used as a testbed for RD-9F engines under the designation Yak-120MF.

In 1955 and 1956 several Yak-25Ms were refitted as testbeds for air-to-air missile armament.

Yak-125, Yak-25R, and Yak-25MR
A two-seat tactical reconnaissance aircraft prototype, the Yak-125, was developed in tandem with the Yak-120. In order to make room for two AKAFU automatic tilting camera mounts installed next to each other, the radar was removed and the nose extended slightly. The mounts carried AFA-33/100M, AFA-33/75M, or AFA-33/50M vertical photographic cameras. A flexible oblique camera mount with an AFA-33/75M or AFA-22/50M camera was positioned forward in order to cover the port and starboard areas. The ports were protected by hinged doors during take-off and landing; ports and cameras were controlled by the reconnaissance systems operator in the rear cockpit. The twin cannon of the Yak-120 were replaced by a single NR-23 with 80 rounds, positioned on the starboard side of the fuselage. The Yak-125's internal fuel capacity was increased to 3925 l.

The prototype was finished in August 1952, making its first flight on 26 August, with Volkov at its controls. It completed manufacturer flight tests in October 1953, and conducted state acceptance trials between December 1953 and February 1954. The Yak-125 outperformed the production Ilyushin Il-28R and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15bisR, but the state commission recommended modifications and directed the construction of a small pre-production batch for service trials due to pilot and reconnaissance systems operator visibility limitations caused by the longer nose in the case of the former and the small ventral window for the latter.

As a result of the state commission's comments, the Yak-125's forward fuselage was redesigned. The reconnaissance systems operator was moved to a compartment in the nose, in which oblique and vertical cameras were installed in front of the seat. Cameras were also located in the center fuselage, although the remainder of the aircraft was unchanged from the Yak-125. The modified aircraft was designated the Yak-25R. By a Council of Ministers directive of 10 March 1955, which was followed on the next day by an order of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, Yakovlev and Factory No. 292 in Saratov were tasked with building ten pre-production aircraft. The aircraft did not enter production, however, due to its obsolescence, Yakovlev's later supersonic reconnaissance aircraft, which was ready for testing, and the introduction of the Il-28R as the main reconnaissance aircraft of the Soviet Air Forces.

Yakovlev was tasked by a Council of Ministers Directive of 18 September 1954 and a Ministry of Aircraft Production order issued three days later with developing a fast maritime reconnaissance version of the Yak-25, designated the Yak-25MR. The aircraft was to fill a requirement for a maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Soviet Naval Aviation, and was required to match or exceed Yak-25 performance, commencing State acceptance trials in February 1955.

Yak-125B
Yakovlev was tasked with developing a high-speed nuclear bomber using the basic Yak-125 design, the Yak-125B, by a special joint directive of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Council of Ministers. The Yak-125B was intended to break through enemy air defenses and conduct a nuclear strike against strategic targets in the enemy rear. It had a crew of two; the navigator, who doubled as the bombardier, was seated in a compartment in the extreme nose. The nuclear bomb was housed in a bomb bay near the aircraft's center of gravity, which resulted in the nose unit of the undercarriage receiving twin wheels of similar size to the main unit, which was moved just aft of the bomb bay. This arrangement was later used on Yakovlev tactical bombers, including the Yak-28. Yak-125B was the first Yakovlev aircraft to include a 360-degree ground mapping and bomb-aiming radar, the RMM-2 Rubidiy, located in a radome directly below the cockpit. The aircraft entered flight testing in 1955, and the production version was planned to be designated the Yak-25B. However, it never entered production due to obsolescence and Yakovlev's testing of a superior supersonic nuclear bomber, the Yak-26.

Yak-25RV
A reconnaissance derivative of the Yak-25, the Yak-25RV (Razvedchick Vysotnyj, "high-altitude reconnaissance"), was developed in 1959 (NATO codename 'Mandrake'). It had a completely new, long-span straight wing of 23.4 meters (more than twice that of the Yak-25M interceptor) with a total area of 55 square meters. Camera and sensor packs were added in the fuselage. Some versions may have retained one cannon.

Despite its low wing loading, the 'Mandrake's' altitude performance was marginal at best, with considerable engine problems at high altitudes, excessive vibration, and primitive equipment that imposed high workloads for the crews. The Soviet Air Force nevertheless kept the Yak-25RV in service until 1974. A few were used in the late 1970s for monitoring of radioactive contamination, with specialized sensors; these were designated Yak-25RRV. Efforts in 1971 to develop the 'Mandrake' as a high-altitude interceptor (Yak-25PA) proved unsuccessful.

In 1961 a series of lightened 'Mandrakes' were produced as high-altitude target drones. The Yak-25RV-I was used as a manned target for unarmed (no live fire) interception practice, the Yak-25RV-II as a remote-piloted drone.

Yak-26
The derivative Yak-26 was developed as a bomber, but only nine were built.

Operational history
The Yak-25 was first displayed at Tushino Airfield in July 1955, and received the NATO reporting name Flashlight, which was subsequently changed to Flashlight-A when the Yak-26 and Yak-27 were reported. They started to equip air defence units from 1955. They were considered easy to fly and popular among the crews. Engine breakdowns were quite common, mostly due to the low engine position when on the ground, which demanded clean airfields, but thanks to twin-engine arrangement, few such failures were fatal.

Due to its twin engines and radar intercept operator, pilots gained more confidence on long missions in the remote northern and eastern areas of the Soviet Union.

In 1955, 108 pilots and 95 ground crewmen finished conversion training on the Yak-25M at the Savasleyka PVO Training and Methodical Center. As it was intended for low-altitude flying, the Yak-25's service ceiling was too low to intercept the American RB-47 Stratojet, which often flew reconnaissance missions over Soviet territory.

Their withdrawal started in 1963. The last Yak-25 interceptors were retired by 1967; the 'Mandrake' reconnaissance version soldiered on in various roles through the late 1970s. Like many other PVO interceptors of the Cold War era, the Yak-25M was not exported to the Warsaw Pact or other nations.

Variants

 * Yak-25
 * First production version equipped with the RP-1D "Izumrud" radar. 67 aircraft built.

 * Yak-25B
 * Projected production version of Yak-125 tactical nuclear bomber prototype.

 * Yak-25M
 * Basic production version with some minor improvements, upgraded AM-5A engines and new RP-6 "Sokol" radar. 406 aircraft built.

 * Yak-25MG
 * Some Yak-25M aircraft refitted with the 'Gorizont-1' system to allow them to be flown (via autopilot) by ground stations for ground control interception missions. According to aviation historian Yefim Gordon, this designation was used for Yak-25Ms upgraded to the newer Granat radar later in their careers.

 * Yak-25RV NATO reporting name Mandrake
 * (Razvedchick Vysotnyj, "high-altitude reconnaissance")High-altitude reconnaissance version with new wing and camera and sensor packs in the fuselage. 155 aircraft built.

 * Yak-25RR
 * (Radiatsionyy Razvedchik - radiation reconnaissance aircraft) Yak-25RV equipped with specialized sensors for monitoring radioactive contamination.

 * Yak-25RRV
 * (Rahdiotekhnicheskiy Razvedchik Vysotnyy - high altitude electronic intelligence aircraft) Yak-25RV equipped with specialized SIGINT sensors.

 * Yak-25RV-I
 * Manned target version for unarmed (no live fire) interception practice.

 * Yak-25RV-II
 * Remote-piloted drone for armed (live fire) interception practice.

 * Yak-25PA
 * (perekhvahtchik aerostahtov - balloon interceptor) Balloon interceptor version of the Yak-25RV, probably armed with a single cannon; one built / converted.

Yak-25 family prototypes and projects

 * Yak-2AM-11
 * Reconnaissance and tactical reconnaissance projects powered by 2 x Mikulin AM-11(Tumansky R-11), cancelled as production of Tumansky R-11 allocated to MiG-21.

 * Yak-13
 * immediate predecessor of Yak-120, not built (re-use of designation from light tourer of 1946).

 * Yak-25K
 * Yak-25M with removed cannon, equipped Yak-25K-5 weapon system consisting of the "Izumrud" radar and four RS-1U (NATO AA-1 "Alkali") beam-riding missiles on the wings inboard of the engine pods. Small number built.

 * Yak-25K-7L
 * Yak-25K testbed for K-7L missiles. This version did not enter service and the aircraft version was abandoned.

 * Yak-25K-75
 * Yak-25M testbed for K-75 missiles. This weapon did not enter service and the aircraft version was abandoned.

 * Yak-25K-8 (Yak-25S K-8)
 * Two Yak-25K converted to Yak-25K-8 weapons system testbeds with two K-8 (NATO AA-3 'Anab') missiles. Two Yak-25M aircraft (Yak-25S K-8) were modified for carriage trials of the K-8 missile. Terminated in favor of the upcoming Yak-28P.

 * Yak-25L (letayuschchaya laboritoriya - flying laboratory)
 * Ejection seat testbed.

 * Yak-25MR (morskoy razvedchik - maritime reconnaissance aircraft)
 * Maritime reconnaissance aircraft prototype.

 * Yak-25MSh
 * Prototype of Radio controlled target drone, no production but many were converted to drones after service, but did not have MSh designation.

 * Yak-25R
 * Reconnaissance version with glazed nose for second crewman (navigator) and two cameras. Aircraft armed with 23mm cannon, 10 pre-production aircraft built.

 * Yak-26
 * Tactical nuclear bomber development, 9 aircraft built.

 * Yak-120M
 * Yak-120 re-engined with Mikulin AM-9A (AM-5 with 0stage added to compressor, can-annular combustion chamber and afterburning and improvements to armament and avionics.

 * Yak-120MF
 * Yak-120M converted to RD-9F engine testbed.

 * Yak-122
 * Tactical reconnaissance aircraft prototype evolved from the Yak-25 and the Yak2AM-11 project, powered by two RD-9F turbojets. This aircraft was converted into the Yak-27R tactical reconnaissance prototype.

 * Yak-123
 * prototype for Yak-26 tactical nuclear bomber.

 * Yak-125B
 * OKB designation for Yak-25B tactical nuclear strike aircraft prototype, carrying 1 x (spetspodveska - special slung load)

 * Yak-SM-6
 * Two production Yak-25s modified for testing K-6 AAMs, missile cancelled used for other test tasks.

Operators

 * Soviet Air Force
 * Soviet Anti-Air Defense
 * Soviet Anti-Air Defense

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

title: Yakovlev Yak-25


text:
Chilcotin Group

The Chilcotin Group, also called the Chilcotin Plateau Basalts, is a large area of basaltic lava that forms a volcanic plateau running parallel with the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt in south-central British Columbia, Canada.

Predominantly, during Miocene and Pliocene times, a medium-sized volcanic field of overlapping vents occurred in British Columbia's Interior Plateau. The distribution is assumed to engulf up to 50,000 km2 of the Pacific Northwest, forming a medium-sized large igneous province, of volume 3300 km3. Volcanism occurred as late as Oligocene time, but continues sporadically up to present. Eruptions were most vigorous 6-10 million years ago and 2-3 million years ago, when most of the basalt was released. Less extensive eruptions continued 0.01 to 1.6 million years ago.

These lava flows have been dominantly exposed by erosion resulting from the great floods that flowed in this region throughout the past ice ages, which laid bare many layers of the basalt flows along the Fraser Canyon from Soda Creek south to Canoe Creek elsewhere along the Chilcotin, Chilko, Chilanko and Taseko Rivers, and also to the east of the Fraser River at Chasm Provincial Park and along the Upper Deadman River. Prior to Late Pleistocene glacial erosion these centers formed a series of coalesced, low-profile shield volcanoes of unknown volume and distribution.

The Chilcotin Group were thought to potentially be linked to the partly coeval Columbia River Basalt Group. However, its morphology and geochemistry have been proven much similar to other volcanic plateaus such as the Snake River Plain in Idaho and parts of Iceland (Bevier, 1983).

Formation of the Chilcotin Plateau Basalts
The distribution and volume of the Chilcotin Group is unknown due to extensive Pleistocene glacial cover. This presumably glacial "drift" is very thick, and in most regions completely obscures the volcanism. Individual vents for basalt volcanism include small cinder cones, volcanic plugs, and gabbroic feeders, which locally crosscut lava flows. Recent studies indicate that the volume of the Chilcotin Group is much less than previously thought, and that the "Plateau" is likely Eocene in age. This means that the Chilcotin is likely composed of many local volcanic vents, that were of small volumes that fed into the paleo-landscape, and subsequently are found in the major river systems that we see at present.

Prior to 16 million years ago, the western Cascade Volcanic Arc stratovolcanoes erupted with periodic regularity for over 27 million years, even as they do today. The ultimate cause of this volcanism is still up for debate, however, the most widely accepted idea is that a back-arc basin behind the Cascadia subduction zone initiated the widespread and voluminous basaltic volcanism. Some centers erupted along pre-existing brittle fault systems while volcanism along its northern portion is most widely believed to have been related to a center of upwelling magma called the Anahim hotspot (similar to that associated with present-day Hawaii), creating the Rainbow, Ilgachuz and Itcha Range shield volcanoes which also in turn form part of the Anahim Volcanic Belt. The exact nature of the relationship between the Anahim hotspot and the Chilcotin Group is, however, unknown.

Notable vents
Volcanoes of the Chilcotin Group include:

 * Alixton Creek
 * Browns Lake
 * Crows Bar
 * Prentice Gulch
 * Thaddeus Lake
 * Alkali Lake
 * Canoe Creek
 * Dog Creek
 * Leon Creek
 * Lambly Creek
 * Missezula Lake
 * Nicola (Chester)
 * Quilchena Creek
 * West Kettle River
 * Hydraulic Lake
 * Chilcotin Creek Cone
 * Lightning Peak
 * Black Dome Mountain
 * Skoatl Point
 * Alasla Mountain
 * Tin Cup Mountain
 * Mount Begbie
 * Forestry Hill
 * Lone Butte

title: Chilcotin Group


text:
Talk:Murtala

I'ved made the names of Military rulers links; now we need redirects from their common names to the entries—and most have entries. —iFaqeer | Talk to me! 20:05, Oct 6, 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Murtala