title: Constance Towers

text: Towers was first married to Eugene McGrath from 1959 until their divorce in 1966. In 1974, she married actor and former ambassador to Mexico John Gavin. She has two children from her first marriage. She also has two stepchildren from her marriage to Gavin. Gavin died on February 9, 2018, aged 86.


title: Constance Towers

text: Towers serves as chairwoman of the board of directors of the Blue Ribbon of the Los Angeles Music Center.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: The AGM-129 ACM (Advanced Cruise Missile) was a low-observable, subsonic, turbofan-powered, air-launched cruise missile originally designed and built by General Dynamics and eventually acquired by Raytheon Missile Systems. Prior to its withdrawal from service in 2012, the AGM-129A was carried exclusively by the US Air Force's B-52H Stratofortress bombers.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: In 1982 the US Air Force began studies for a new cruise missile with low-observable characteristics after it became clear that the AGM-86B cruise missile would have difficulty penetrating future air defense systems. The AGM-86B relied on low-altitude flight to penetrate the Soviet air defense system centered on surface to air missiles. The deployment of the airborne early warning systems, together with the Zaslon PESA radar on MiG-31 and Myech radar on Su-27 interceptors, all three "look-down/shoot-down" radars, reduced the likelihood that the low-altitude AGM-86B would reach its target.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: The solution was to incorporate various "low-observable" ('stealth') technologies into a new "Advanced Cruise Missile" system.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: In 1983 General Dynamics Convair Division (GD/C) was awarded a development contract for the AGM-129A (the losing design was Lockheed Corporation's Senior Prom). The AGM-129A incorporated body shaping and forward swept wings to reduce the missile's radar cross section. The engine air intake was flush mounted on the bottom of the missile to further improve radar cross section. The jet engine exhaust was shielded by the tail and cooled by a diffuser to reduce the infrared signature of the missile. To reduce electronic emissions from the missile, the radar used in the AGM-86B was replaced with a combination of inertial navigation and terrain contour matching (TERCOM) enhanced with highly accurate speed updates provided by a Lidar Doppler velocimeter.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: These changes made the AGM-129A more difficult to detect and allowed the missile to be flown at higher altitude. The newer Williams International F112-WR-100 turbofan engine increased range by about 50%. The newer guidance system, increased accuracy to a quoted figure of between 30 m (100 ft) and 90 m (300 ft).


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: The first test missile flew in July 1985, and the first production missiles were delivered to the US Air Force in 1987. The development program experienced some hardware 'quality control' problems and testing mishaps. The flight test program took place during a period of high tension between the machinists' union and GDC management, with a -week-long strike occurring in 1987. US Congressman Les Aspin called the ACM a procurement disaster with the worst problems of any of the eight strategic weapons programs his committee had reviewed. The US Congress zeroed out funding for the ACM program in 1989. Manufacturing 'quality' problems led the US Air Force to stop missile deliveries in 1989 and 1991. McDonnell Douglas was invited to qualify as a second source for missile production. In early 1989, the United States requested and received permission to test the AGM-129A in Canada.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: Plans called for producing enough missiles to replace the approximately 1,461 AGM-86B's at a rate of 200 missiles per year after full-rate production was achieved in 1993. In January 1992, the end of the Cold War led US President George H. W. Bush to announce a major cutback in total ACM procurement. The President determined that only 640 missiles were needed. The ACM program was later reduced still further to 460 missiles. In August 1992 General Dynamics sold its missile business to Hughes Aircraft Corporation. Five years later in 1997, Hughes Aircraft Corporation sold its aerospace and defense business to the final production contractor Raytheon.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: The US Air Force pushed for production of a AGM-129B variant for targets for which the AGM-129A was considered ineffective. The US Air Force submitted this requirement in 1985 and proposed to modify 120 missiles into the AGM-129B variant. In 1991 the US Congress denied the request and the US Air Force was forced to terminate the program. In 1992, the US Air Force was directed by the US Department of Defense to restart the program, an effort which was opposed by the General Accounting Office of the US Congress. Confusion exists as to precisely how this weapon is different from the original. The Department of Defense document DoD 4120.15-L "Model Designation of Military Aerospace Vehicles" states that the AGM-129B was an AGM-129A "modified with structural and software changes and an alternate nuclear warhead for accomplishing a classified cruise missile mission." However, Ozu states the AGM-129B was intended to be a non-nuclear version of the ACM, much as the nuclear AGM-86B led to the conventional AGM-86C. This role was instead filled by the AGM-158 JASSM.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: The B-52H bomber can carry up to six AGM-129A missiles on each of two external pylons for a total of 12 per aircraft. Originally, an additional 8 ACMs could be carried internally in the B-52 on Common Strategic Rotary Launchers, for a total of 20 per aircraft. The B-1B bomber was also slated to carry the AGM-129A, but that plan was ended after the cessation of the Cold War. The AGM-129A provides the B-52H bomber the ability to attack multiple targets without penetrating an air defense system.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: An AGM-129A impacted and damaged two unoccupied trailers, part of a cosmic ray observatory operated by the University of Utah and Tokyo University, located in the "hazardous operations" area of the United States Army Dugway Proving Ground on December 10, 1997. The AGM-129A was released over the Utah Test and Training Range from a B-52H bomber assigned to Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. The missile had flown for approximately 3.5 hours on its planned route and had fulfilled all test objectives prior to the mishap. The missile was carrying an inert test payload. Mission planners were unaware of the existence of the trailers.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: The Air Force in 2008 maintained an arsenal of 1,140 AGM-86 ALCMs and 460 AGM-129 ACMs. The B-52 is the only platform for these missiles. The reductions also include all but 528 nuclear-armed ALCMs and are in part a result of the SORT/Moscow Treaty (2002) requirement to get below 2,200 deployed nuclear weapons by 2012, with the ACM chosen because it has reliability issues and higher maintenance costs. In March 2007, despite a Service Life Extension program (SLEP) intended to extend its operational usefulness to 2030, the USAF made the final decision to decommission its entire inventory of AGM-129s with the last missile being destroyed in April 2012.


title: AGM-129 ACM

text: On August 30, 2007, twelve ACMs loaded on a B-52 were flown across the US from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana for decommissioning. The nuclear warheads which should have been removed before the flight were mistakenly left installed on six of the ACMs. For 36 hours the nuclear weapons were unaccounted for, which led to an official investigation of the incident.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (born August 6, 1982) is an American entrepreneur and musician. Bronfman is a strategic advisor and principal investor with Algae Systems, a carbon capture project and an associate managing director at Global Thermostat, a bio-fuel company. He was a member of rock band The Exit (going by the name Ben Brewer) and he is a member of the music collective Teachers and co-founder of the Green Owl record label.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: He is the second-eldest child of actress Sherry Brewer and Edgar Bronfman Jr. the former CEO of Warner Music Group. He and musician and activist Mathangi "M.I.A." Arulpragasam, better known under the stage name M.I.A., were engaged from 2009-2012 and have a son together.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: Bronfman was born in New York City, and then lived in London briefly, during his father's tenure as managing director of Seagram Distilleries Europe. The family returned in 1984, once his father became President of Seagram's U.S. marketing division. His mother is African-American and his father, Edgar Bronfman Jr., is Jewish American.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: Bronfman attended The Collegiate School in New York City, graduating in 2000. He enrolled in Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, where he studied Politics and Law before dropping out.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: Bronfman became interested in progressive environmental technologies & geo-engineering in 2007. Teaming with Columbia University economist Graciela Chichilinsky he embarked on a project to reduce the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: In 2007, he became associate managing director of Global Thermostat, Chichilinsky and fellow Columbia Professor, Peter Eisenberger's technology firm focused on developing a technology for direct air capture of carbon dioxide.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: The firm recently completed construction of its first pilot plant at The Stanford Research Institute. He was integral in convincing his father to invest in the firm, and thus the subsequent appointment of Edgar Bronfman Jr. as chairman. In 2010, Benjamin Bronfman was named Strategic Advisor of Global Thermostat.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: On November 13, 2010, Bronfman presented Global Thermostat's vision and process as a speaker at the TED Brooklyn Conference at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: In 2010, Bronfman also became a principal investor and advisor at Algae Systems, LLC, a third-generation bio-fuel company founded by Matthew Atwood that takes waste water from cities (using CO captured by GT) and generates jet fuel and diesel.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: Bronfman was guitarist for The Exit, an indie/punk/reggae rock band he started with Gunnar Olsen and Jeff DaRosa in 2000, while he attended Emerson College.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: During this time period, he went by Ben Brewer, using his mother's maiden name to avoid unnecessary associations between the band and his father. In 2007, shortly after the official announcement of The Exit's breakup, Bronfman founded Green Owl, an independent record label distributed by Warner Music Group, created to be the first environmentally conscious sustainable record label and apparel line.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: In 2010, he started a music collective known as Teachers (sometimes stylized TΣ∆CHΣRS) with Grey McMurray, Steve Borth, Matt Kranz, and Scottie Redix. The first single, "Gold", debuted on the website of the music editorial, The Fader, on July 12, 2010. Bronfman and Teachers worked with Kanye West and contributed to his single "Monster" featuring Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross and Bon Iver.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: In 2013, Teachers co-produced New Slaves, the first single out of Kanye's Yeezus album, earning Bronfman his first Grammy nomination.


title: Benjamin Bronfman

text: Bronfman met British rapper M.I.A. in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 2008. They became engaged and M.I.A gave birth to their son, Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman, on February 13, 2009. In February 2012, it was announced that the two had separated.


title: Joonas Suotamo

text: Joonas Viljami Suotamo (; born 3 October 1986) is a Finnish actor and former professional basketball player. He is best known for his role as Chewbacca in the "Star Wars" saga, taking over the role from Peter Mayhew, first as a body double, with "" (2015), and later as the lead in "" (2017), "" (2018) and in "" (2019).


title: Joonas Suotamo

text: Suotamo was born in Espoo. In his youth he performed roles as a stage actor. Suotamo attended Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and played the power forward and centre positions for the Penn State Nittany Lions. With childhood interests in music, arts, and movies he studied film and video at PSU. He was a strong academic performer at Penn State, where he was twice named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, and graduated in years with a Bachelor of Arts degree in December 2008 in order to fulfill his Finnish conscription service and to pursue a career in film.


title: Joonas Suotamo

text: Suotamo played seven seasons in Finland's basketball leagues, including four seasons in the top-tier Korisliiga. He has also had a career selling insurance.


title: Joonas Suotamo

text: Suotamo played three games for the Finnish national basketball team and 66 games for the junior national teams.


title: Joonas Suotamo

text: Suotamo is mostly known for his role as Chewbacca in the "Star Wars" franchise, a role in which he started out being a body double for the original actor Peter Mayhew in "" (2015), as Mayhew's age and worsening health was making it more difficult for him to fill the role. He went on to entirely replace Mayhew in "" (2017) as Chewbacca, with Mayhew as a consultant. He returned to the role in "" (2018) and "" (2019).


title: Calendar Girls

text: Calendar Girls is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research under the auspices of the Women's Institutes in April 1999 after the husband of one of their members dies from cancer. The film stars an ensemble cast headed by Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, with Linda Bassett, Annette Crosbie, Celia Imrie, Penelope Wilton, Geraldine James, Harriet Thorpe and Philip Glenister playing key supporting roles.


title: Calendar Girls

text: "Calendar Girls" premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and was later shown at Filmfest Hamburg, the Dinard Festival of British Cinema in France, the Warsaw Film Festival, the Tokyo International Film Festival and the UK Film Festival in Hong Kong. It garnered generally positive reactions by film critics, who compared it with another British comedy film "The Full Monty" (1997). At a budget of $10 million it also became a major commercial success, eventually grossing $93.4 million worldwide following its theatrical release in the U.S. In addition, the picture was awarded the British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film, and received ALFS Award, Empire Award and Satellite Award nominations for Mirren and Walters, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Mirren.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Annie Clarke and Chris Harper live in the village of Knapely, where they spend much time at the local Women's Institute and with each other. When Annie's husband, John, is diagnosed with terminal leukaemia, Chris regularly visits them at the hospital.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Chris complains about the uncomfortable couch in the waiting room. After noticing a "girlie" calendar in a local mechanics shop, she hits upon an idea to raise funds to buy a new sofa. She proposes producing a calendar featuring members of the Knapely branch of the Women's Institute discreetly posing nude while engaged in traditional WI activities, such as baking and knitting.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Chris's proposal initially is met with skepticism, but she eventually convinces nine additional women to participate in the project with her and Annie. They enlist Lawrence, a hospital worker and amateur photographer, to help with the project. The women are all quite shy, but they support each other, overcoming their fears.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The head of the local Women's Institute branch refuses to sanction the calendar, so Chris and Annie plead their case to the national congress of the Women's Institute in London. They are told the final decision rests with the local leader, who grudgingly agrees to the calendar's sale.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The initial printing of 500 quickly sells out and gains national and international media attention. The women are invited, all expenses paid, to appear on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in Los Angeles. Initially Chris is convinced to not go, to watch after her troubled teen by Annie, but a scandalous story about her in a gossip rag by a paparazzi-journalist causes her to follow them to L.A.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The publicity surrounding the calendar eventually takes a toll on their personal lives and, during a photo shoot, tension boils over, Chris and Annie angrily clash. Annie accuses Chris of ignoring her husband and son and the demands of the family business in favour of newfound celebrity; Chris believes Annie revels in her Mother Teresa-like status of catering to the ill and bereaved who have bombarded her with fan mail.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Before the credits, it is shown that they made over half a million pounds with the calendars and with the proceeds built a special leukemia wing on their local hospital.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The film's fellow calendar girls include Georgie Glen, Angela Curran, Rosalind March, Lesley Staples and Janet Howd as Kathy, May, Truday, Julia and Jenny respectively. "Calendar Girls" also cast Graham Crowden as Jessie's husband Richard, Belinda Everett as Cora's daughter Maya, Marc Pickering as Jem Harper's friend Gaz and Harriet Thorpe as WI president Brenda Mooney. Gillian Wright appears as Eddie Reynoldson's lover, while John Sharian plays an American commercial director named Danny. In addition actors and actresses Richard Braine, Ted Robbins, Alison Pargeter, Angus Barnett, John Sparkes, Elizabeth Bennett, Christa Ackroyd, Matt Malloy, Patton Oswalt and John Fortune appear in short roles. American television host Jay Leno appears as himself in the film during the ladies' visit to California; they also encounter the American heavy metal band Anthrax while relaxing by the pool.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The fundraising phenomenon of the Calendar Girls was inspired by the death of Angela Baker's husband John Richard Baker, an Assistant National Park Officer for the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, who died from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 54 in 1998. During his illness, Baker's friends began to raise money, initially with the aim of purchasing a sofa for the visitors' lounge in the hospital where John was treated. Nothing could have prepared them for the way their original calendar took off. To date, they have raised over £3 million for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, the UK's leading blood cancer charity.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The photos for the 2000 Alternative WI Calendar, as it was named, were taken by Terry Logan, a former professional photographer who was married to one of the models. It was released on 12 April 1999 and became a runaway success, selling out in the first week. 10,000 additional copies were printed, all of which were sold within three weeks. Nine months after its launch, the calendar had sold 88,000 copies. It then was adapted for a US version covering June 2000 – December 2001. The ladies were invited to appear with Jay Leno and Rosie O'Donnell on their respective talk shows. That year the calendar sold 202,000 copies, with its proceeds being used to fund lymphoma and leukaemia research in new laboratories at the University of Leeds.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Since 2000, the Calendar Girls have produced calendars for 2004, 2005, 2007 and a recipe calendar for 2008 with their favourite Yorkshire recipes on the back of each month. Ten years on, they launched a 2010 calendar with a new set of full colour images and the aim of raising £2 million for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. In addition, they have released a range of merchandise in aid of the charity throughout the years.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Six of the eleven women who were pictured in the original calendar sold the rights to their stories, including Angela Baker, Tricia Stewart, Beryl Bamforth, Lynda Logan, Christine Clancy and Ros Fawcett. Screenwriter Juliette Towhidi first came across the story when she was shown an article in "The Guardian", and she straight away took the idea to producer Suzanne Mackie. The two of them had been discussing ideas for a female-driven film for a while, and this struck them as the perfect project. They travelled up to Yorkshire together to meet the women, and were able to secure life story rights in the face of fierce competition, including from Hollywood. Towhidi then worked on multiple drafts of the screenplay, getting to know the women and developing the script over several years. In this time the film's working title switched from 'Calendar Girls' to 'Jam and Jerusalem' and back again. A first director was attached, but when he dropped out, so Nigel Cole, known for his screen debut "Saving Grace" starring Brenda Blethyn, was brought on board, quickly followed by screenwriter Tim Firth, who took over writing duties from Towhidi and worked on rewrites of the script up until production.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Cole reached out to Julie Walters and Helen Mirren to play the lead roles in the film. Both actresses had been aware of the WI calendar backstory. Based on Baker, Walters was Cole's first choice to play the "more quiet and sensitive" role of Annie. Known for her comedic roles, Walters initially thought Cole had accidentally offered her the wrong part, and although pleased to have been cast against stereotype, she considered the role "a difficult path to trap" while striking a balance between Annie's grief and humorous moments. As a result, she was heavily involved in the modification of several scenes. Mirren was initially hesitant to sign on to the project because she considered it "too English" and disliked the idea of a "poor woman's "Full Monty"." Upon learning that Walters and other colleagues had signed on, however, she rethought her original decision and accepted the offer. Modelled after Stewart, Mirren has described Chris as a "dash in"—character who shared similarities with Stewart but was actually not based on her real persona. Anne Reid was also offered a major role in "Calendar Girls", but choose to do Roger Michell's "The Mother" (2003) instead. With "Calendar Girls" being rare for a film to focus on middle-aged women, while not just portraying them as mothers or aunts, Cole experienced difficulties with casting the male roles: "several actors disliked the idea of being subsidiary to women."


title: Calendar Girls

text: Filming took place in the summer of 2002. Whereas the actual Calendar Girls were members of the Rylstone Women's Institute, much of the film was shot in and around the village of Kettlewell in North Yorkshire, some ten miles away, which stood in for the fictional village of Knapely. Additional locations include Buckden, Burnsall, Conistone, Ilkley, Settle, Linton, Malham, Skipton, Westminster and Ealing in London, and the beach in Santa Monica, USA. The penultimate shot of lead characters Chris and Annie walking down a street was filmed in Turville. Interiors were filmed in the Shepperton Studios in Surrey.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The pictures in the film-version calendar were taken by professional stills photographer Jaap Buitendijk. Filming of the nude scenes took a week. According to Cole, the actors were struck by group spirit when they met their real-life counterparts from the Women's Institute and experienced the supportive atmosphere that had got them all through the embarrassment of taking their clothes off to make a calendar. That same spirit started to show on set, with the cast becoming determined to be nude, even when it was not requested for filming, including face shots. While Cole and his team placed vegetables strategically for shooting, bits kept showing through and they had to reshoot several scenes. However, a young man from digital remastering had to spend four weeks removing all the private parts in post-production. The actors were very supportive of each other, with a bottle of champagne waiting whenever anyone finished their nude scene.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Hollywood Records was announced as the distributor of the soundtrack album for "Calendar Girls" which featured sixteen songs, including "You Upset Me Baby" performed by B.B. King, "Sloop John B" by the Beach Boys, "The Way You Do the Things You Do" by The Temptations, and "Comin' Home Baby" by Roland Kirk and Quincy Jones. It was released on 9 December 2003 in the United Kingdom.


title: Calendar Girls

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 74% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 126 reviews, with an average score of 6.5/10. Its consensus states "A charming, but clichéd comedy reminiscent of "The Full Monty"." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on reviews from 30 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A-" on scale of A to F.


title: Calendar Girls

text: Ruthe Stein, writing for "The San Francisco Chronicle", said it is "A charming movie [that] should appeal to fans of "The Full Monty" and "Waking Ned Devine" – and not just because they also featured nudity that made you smile instead of smirk. The films share a wonderfully British wry humor. They're not laugh-out-loud funny, but there's quite a bit to amuse you when thinking about the scenes later." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said, "It's the kind of sweet, good-humored comedy that used to star Margaret Rutherford, although Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, its daring top-liners, would have curled Dame Margaret's eyebrows [...] That the movie works, and it does, is mostly because of the charm of Mirren and Walters, who show their characters having so much fun that it becomes infectious."


title: Calendar Girls

text: In his review for "The New York Times", Elvis Mitchell called "minty-cool" Helen Mirren and "deft" Julie Walters "a graceful pair of troupers" and "a sunny, amusing team." He described the film as "yet another professionally acted and staged wry-crisp comedy about British modesty [...] that gets its laughs, but seems increasingly out of date [...] When the biggest compliment you can pay a picture is that it is professional and not smug, there's a little something missing, like invention." Manohla Dargis of the "Los Angeles Times" said the film "is closer in texture and consistency to individually wrapped American cheese than good, tangy English Cheddar. But even humble plastic-wrapped cheese has its virtues and so does this film [...] Chief among those graces are Helen Mirren and Julie Walters, two well-matched and criminally underused actresses [...] Although they have little to do but grin and bare it, Mirren and Walters are delightful company."


title: Calendar Girls

text: In "Entertainment Weekly", Lisa Schwarzbaum, who graded the film B+, compared "Calendar Girls" with other British comedy films such as "Billy Elliot" and "Saving Grace". She commented that "[It] is the first export from the light-comedy-steamroller division of the British film industry that avoids, for the most part, the kind of queasy class condescension such hell-bent charmers have relied on since unemployed steel-mill workers shook their groove thangs in "The Full Monty"." "Variety" critic Derek Elley wrote that the film "delivers very likable, if sometimes dramatically wobbly, results". He found that "though the film is never dull, and playing by the cast is spirited, it's actually a surprisingly gentle movie [...] The humor has a typically British, offhanded flavor, and the essentially simple story plays more as a multi-character rondo on a single idea. For every laugh-out-loud moment, or eccentric touch, there are equal moments of reflection and pause [...] Despite an uncertain start in establishing a consistent comic tone, pic builds into an engaging, light character comedy, played somewhere between the Ealing tradition and contempo regional comedy."


title: Calendar Girls

text: In "The Guardian", Peter Bradshaw rated the film three out of a possible five stars and added, "This genial comedy, directed by Nigel Cole, with an excellent, tightly constructed script by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, accentuates the positive. There's lots of wit and pluck and not much heartbreak," and Mark Kermode of "The Observer" said, "When the film succeeds, as it does magnificently in the first two-thirds, one can only marvel at the miracle of a world in which such plotlines could literally land on a producer's doorstep with the morning papers. When it fails, it is the film's acknowledgment of its own big-screen inevitability that is to blame. The result is half a great British screen comedy, twice as much as one usually expects from the genre nowadays ... Ultimately, however, this remains an immensely likeable and often impressive romp."


title: Calendar Girls

text: "Calendar Girls" is a 2008 stage play based on the film that was part of the Chichester Theatre Festival. It subsequently transferred to the West End.


title: Calendar Girls

text: "The Girls" is a 2015 musical based on the story of the film, written by Tim Firth and Gary Barlow. It premiered in Leeds and then transferred to the West End, opening at the Phoenix Theatre in February 2017.


title: Blue Chips

text: Blue Chips is a 1994 American sports drama film, directed by William Friedkin, written by Ron Shelton and starring Nick Nolte as a college coach trying to recruit a winning team. His players were portrayed by actors as well as real-life basketball stars Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and cameos include noted basketball figures Bob Knight, Rick Pitino, George Raveling, Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, Jerry Tarkanian, Matt Painter, Allan Houston, Dick Vitale, Jim Boeheim, Dan Dakich and Bobby Hurley, as well as actor Louis Gossett Jr.


title: Blue Chips

text: Pete Bell, a college basketball coach for the Western University Dolphins in Los Angeles, is under a lot of pressure. His team is not winning as often as it once did and his successful program needs to attract new star players. But the brightest stars of the future—the so-called "blue-chip" prospects—are secretly being paid by other schools.


title: Blue Chips

text: This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate after a losing season. A school booster, greedy "friend of the program" Happy, will stop at nothing to land these star high school players for Western's next season and gets the okay from the coach to do so. This includes offering a new car to the gigantic Neon Boudeaux (Shaq), a house and job to the mother of Butch McRae, and a tractor to the father of farmboy Ricky Roe, as well as a bag filled with cash.


title: Blue Chips

text: With sportswriter Ed suspecting a scandal, Pete continues to be contaminated by demands from the players and a dirty association with the booster. His estranged wife, a former guidance counselor, agrees to tutor Neon, who has below average grades, but she feels betrayed when Pete lies to her about the new athletes receiving illegal inducements to attend the school.


title: Blue Chips

text: Pete comes to realize that one of his senior players, Tony, a personal favorite, had "shaved points" in a game his freshman season, conspiring to beat a gambling point spread after carefully reviewing a video of the freshman season game depicting Tony's unusual behavior. Pete is disgusted at what he and his program have become.


title: Blue Chips

text: Western University has a big nationally televised game coming up versus Indiana, the #1 team in the country, coached by Bobby Knight. After winning the game, Pete cannot bear the guilt of having cheated. At a press conference, he confesses to the entire scandal and resigns as head coach. Leaving the press conference and the arena, Pete walks past a small playground with kids playing basketball—he approaches, then helps coaching them.


title: Blue Chips

text: An epilogue later reveals that the university would be suspended from tournament play for three years. Pete did continue to coach, but at the high school level; Tony graduated and played pro ball in Europe; Ricky Roe got injured and returned home to run the family farm, and Neon and Butch dropped out of college, but both now play in the NBA.


title: Blue Chips

text: "Blue Chips" was filmed in Frankfort, Indiana (arena interior) and French Lick, Indiana, as well as in Chicago and New Orleans and in Los Angeles on the campus of the University of Southern California.


title: Blue Chips

text: Nolte actually shadowed Bob Knight during many games in 1992 to research the role. Knight appears in the film as himself but has no scripted lines.


title: Blue Chips

text: French Lick is the hometown of Larry Bird, who plays a scene with Nolte at the outdoor court of Bird's home. This was actually the same court (located on the property that Bird had purchased in the early 1980s) that was used in a Converse television commercial in 1984 starring Bird and Magic Johnson.


title: Blue Chips

text: In a scene showing Nolte driving to French Lick, local radio station WSLM 98.9 FM can be heard in the car. In the final version, this scene was edited out.


title: Blue Chips

text: "Blue Chips" features several famous players and coaches playing themselves, Jerry Tarkanian, Rick Pitino, Matt Painter, and Jim Boeheim among them. Legendary Boston Celtics point guard and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Bob Cousy has a role as the athletic director of the college where Pete Bell is coach.


title: Blue Chips

text: "Blue Chips" was Friedkin's first film for Paramount Pictures since 1977's "Sorcerer", the production of which had strained his relationship with the studio for years. His next three films would also be released by Paramount. Some attributed this to his relationship with the head of Paramount Sherry Lansing.


title: Blue Chips

text: Filming alongside Hardaway led O'Neal to recommend to the Orlando Magic that they select Hardaway – which they eventually did at the 1993 NBA Draft when they traded No. 1 overall pick Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors for Hardaway and three future first-round draft picks. With both on their roster, the Magic recorded the best record in the Eastern Conference in the 1994-95 regular season and made the first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.


title: Blue Chips

text: The pep band that performed in the film was composed of students from Lafayette Jefferson High School, Frankfort High School and a small number of local professionals under the direction of Jeff Parthun.


title: Blue Chips

text: The film earned mixed reviews from critics. Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" panned the film, writing, "The ostensible subject here is the big business of college athletics, and, just as "The Program" tried to do with college football, the film's purpose is to expose the corruption behind the scenes of so-called amateur athletics that have transformed the sport into a desperate money grab. But, like "The Program," this strident, unconvincing bit of movie muckraking uses our national sports mania to decoy us into sitting through a dreary lecture about ethics and moral corner-cutting. What's most surprising here is that the assembled talent—from the worlds of basketball and movies—is so impressive and, still, the work is so tired. As the coach who exchanges his soul for a winning program, Nick Nolte struts and bellows in a desperate attempt to bring his character to life, and though he works up quite a lather, all he gets for the effort is sweat stains." "Blue Chips" currently holds a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews. Shaquille O'Neal was nominated for a Razzie Award for "Worst New Star". The film ranked No. 3 on Complex Magazine's "Best Basketball Movies" list.


title: Blue Chips

text: The film debuted at number 3 at the US box office. It went on to gross $23 million in the United States and Canada but only $3.7 million international for a worldwide total of $26.7 million.


title: Blue Chips

text: Friedkin later admitted the film was "weak at the box office. It's hard to capture in a sports film the excitement of a real game, with its own unpredictable dramatic structure and suspense. I couldn't overcome that."


title: The Great Santini

text: The Great Santini is a 1979 American drama film written and directed by Lewis John Carlino. It is based on the 1976 novel of the same name by Pat Conroy. The film stars Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, and Michael O'Keefe.


title: The Great Santini

text: A U.S. Marine Corps officer whose success as an F-4 Phantom military aviator contrasts with his shortcomings as a husband and father. The film, set in 1962, before widespread American involvement in the Vietnam War, explores the high price of heroism and self-sacrifice.


title: The Great Santini

text: A warrior without a war, Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum, a pilot also known as "the Great Santini" to his fellow Marines, moves his family to the military base town of Beaufort, South Carolina, in peacetime 1962. His wife Lillian is loyal and docile, tolerant of Meechum's temper and drinking. Their teenaged children, Ben and Mary Anne, are accustomed to his stern discipline and behave accordingly, while adapting to their new town and school.


title: The Great Santini

text: Ben's talent at basketball earns him a spot on the school team, and he becomes a dominant player on the court. During one-on-one games with Meechum at home, though, Meechum refuses to let Ben win, using unnecessarily rough physical tactics and humiliating insults and berating the rest of the family when they try to interfere. When Ben finally wins a game, Meechum unleashes a torrent of verbal abuse while bouncing the ball off his head. Later that night, Ben finds Meechum practicing basketball alone in the driveway; Lillian urges Ben not to be angry at him and explains that he is proud of Ben but struggling with a loss of control over things he used to master so easily. During a school game, Meechum orders Ben to strike back against a rival player who has committed a foul on him. Ben tackles the player and breaks his arm, getting himself ejected from the game and dismissed from the team.


title: The Great Santini

text: Ben befriends a young black man, Toomer Smalls, who is being harassed by bully Red Pettus. Toomer uses a beehive to get revenge on Red, but Red accidentally shoots him. Ignoring Meechum's orders, Ben leaves the house to help Toomer, but he arrives too late and Toomer dies. Meechum is angry for Ben's disobedience, but another Marine tells him that Ben showed courage by choosing to help his friend.


title: The Great Santini

text: Still unable or unwilling to appreciate Ben's sensitive nature, Meechum accepts one last aerial mission from which he does not return. His engines failing, he chooses to crash his plane into the sea rather than ejecting and letting the aircraft crash into a nearby town. The family leaves Beaufort after his funeral. Ben assumes Meechum's role as the leader of the household, as Bull had intended.


title: The Great Santini

text: Lewis John Carlino adapted the script from Conroy's novel. Carlino also directed the film. The title character, Lt. Col. Wilbur "Bull" Meechum, aka "The Great Santini", was based on Conroy's father.


title: The Great Santini

text: The story, for the most part, follows the book. The movie's major divergence is the absence of Ben Meechum's Jewish best friend Sammy. The spelling of the family's surname was also changed from Meecham to Meechum. Also changed is Meechum's aircraft; in the book, he flies and commands a squadron of F-8 Crusaders, while in the film the fighters shown are F-4 Phantom IIs.


title: The Great Santini

text: Much of the film was shot on location in Beaufort, South Carolina. Tidalholm, the 19th-century house used for the Meechum residence, later was used in "The Big Chill" (1983).


title: The Great Santini

text: The film was shot in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio but was only produced in that ratio in the LaserDisc format. Both the VHS and DVD releases are in 1.33:1, also known as or pan and scan. To date the film has not had a release in the Blu-ray format.


title: The Great Santini

text: Herman Raucher is often credited as a ghostwriter for the feature film. However, Raucher did no work on the film; the misconception arises from the fact that, in the 1980s, Raucher was hired to write a television pilot based on the movie; he only wrote "a couple of pieces," he explained.


title: The Great Santini

text: Raucher has stated that, into the 2000s, he continued to receive fan mail for "Santini" and that the volume of letters he received was surpassed only by those for "Summer of '42".


title: The Great Santini

text: Warner Bros. executives were concerned that the film's plot and lack of bankable actors would make it difficult to market. It made its world premiere in Beaufort in August 1979 and was soon released in North Carolina and South Carolina to empty cinemas. Believing the film's title, which implied it was about circus stunts, was the problem, it was tested with other titles: as "Sons and Heroes" in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as "Reaching Out" in Rockford, Illinois, and "The Ace" in Peoria, Illinois. As it tested better in Peoria, "The Ace" stuck. Even with its new title, the film performed poorly. Orion Pictures pulled the film and sold cable rights to HBO along with the airline rights to recoup its losses.


title: The Great Santini

text: Producer Charles A. Pratt still had faith in the film and raised enough money (some from Orion) to release "The Great Santini" in New York City under its original title. It received positive reviews, and business was steady. Two weeks later, it debuted on HBO, and audiences stopped coming. Orion executive Mike Medavoy blamed the film's box-office failure to a lack of a traditional release: screening it first in New York and expanding markets due to word-of-mouth.


title: The Great Santini

text: The film was well received by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 95% rating, based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" wrote: "Like almost all my favorite films, "The Great Santini" is about people more than it is about a story. It's a study of several characters, most unforgettably the Great Santini himself, played by Robert Duvall ... There are moments so unpredictable and yet so natural they feel just like the spontaneity of life itself." John Simon of "National Review" wrote that "The Great Santini" was "an uneven achievement that nevertheless contains enough of value to justify catching it".


title: The Great Santini

text: Movies and television have referred to the one-on-one basketball game from "The Great Santini" during which Bull Meechum repeatedly bounces the ball off of Ben's head while asking "You gonna cry?" Parodies of the scene appear in "" and in episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Roseanne". This movie was referred to in season 2 of the television series "King of the Hill" in the 17th episode "Hank's Dirty Laundry", in which Hank mentions that he had rented and returned this movie 23 times.


title: The Great Santini

text: The scene is invoked in the father–son tetherball match in "Kicking & Screaming", a comedy in which Robert Duvall plays a tough-love father reminiscent of Bull Meechum. Another reference appears in "Daddy's Home 2" in a scene featuring Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ) is the second generation of the Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle. Unveiled in Detroit, Michigan on June 16, 1998, production lasted until 2004. The WJ was completely overhauled from its ZJ predecessor, and was renowned for its off-road capability. Jeep marketed the (WJ) as "the most capable SUV ever."


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: Unveiled at Detroit, MI Cobo Hall on June 16, 1998, the redesigned WJ 1999 Grand Cherokee shared just 127 parts with its predecessor (mostly fasteners) and took 28 months to develop from its March 1996 design freeze (styling approval in Q3 1995). The spare tire was relocated from the side of the cargo compartment to under the floor. The two heavy pushrod V8 engines were replaced by Chrysler's then-new PowerTech. The new V8 engine produced less torque than the old pushrods, but was lighter, offered better fuel economy, and provided similar on road performance figures (the 23-gallon fuel tank was replaced with one of a 20.5-gallon capacity). The Inline 6 engine was also updated for MY1999. A redesign of the intake manifold added . While other Jeep vehicles used the Mopar 5 x 4.5 bolt circle, this was the first Jeep following the 1987 Chrysler buyout to receive a wider wheel bolt pattern: – 5 x 5 - (metric 5 x 127mm).


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: A notable feature available in this generation was the automatic four wheel drive option called "Quadra-Drive", which employed the New Venture Gear NV247 transfer case. This two-speed chain-driven transfer case uses a gerotor, a clutch pack coupled to a hydraulic pump, to transfer torque between the front and rear axles. The transfer case contains three modes, 4-All Time, Neutral, and 4-Lo. In 4-All Time, 100% of torque is sent to the rear axle in normal conditions. If the rear axle starts spinning at a higher rate than the front axle, hydraulic pressure builds up in the gerotor and causes the clutch pack to progressively transfer torque to the front axle until both axles return to the same speed. Neutral mode is intended for towing the vehicle. In 4-Lo, the front and rear axles are locked together through a 2.72 reduction gear ratio. The NV247 transfer case is mated to front and rear axles containing Jeep's Vari-Lok differentials. Vari-Lok differentials also use a gerotor to transfer torque between the wheels on either side of the axle. The major advantage of Quadra-Drive was that the combined transfer case and progressive locking differentials in each axle could automatically control traction between all four wheels. However, only the center differential could be permanently locked, and only in 4Lo. The Quadra-Trac II system included the NV247 transfer case with the standard open front and rear differentials.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The "45RFE" and "545RFE" automatic transmission in the WJ was notable. It included three planetary gear sets rather than the two normally used in a four-speed automatic. This gave it six theoretical speeds, and it would have been the first six-speed transmission ever produced in volume, but it was programmed to only use five of these ratios. Four were used for upshifts, with a different second gear for downshifts. Although five of the six ratios were used, Chrysler decided to call it a "4-speed automatic". In 2001, the programming was changed to make use of all six ratios. Rather than have six forward gears, the transmission was programmed to act as a five-speed with the alternate second gear for downshifts. The rpm at on a 545RFE is 2000 rpm, 200 rpm less than the 45RFE programming. 1999 and 2000 model year WJ owners can have their 45RFE transmission's programming flashed to enable the extra gear as both transmissions are physically the same. The 42RE 4-speed automatic remained the transmission for the Inline 6 engine. It had slight changes from the previous model Grand Cherokee.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The interior was also completely redesigned. The redesign allowed for larger rear doors, and more space for rear passengers. Controls for various items like headlights, heated seats, and rear wiper were moved to more convenient locations. The electronic Vehicle Information Center was moved from below the radio to above the windshield, and was standard on all 2000 and up models. Limited models included automatic dual-zone climate control. A 10 CD-Changer was also available with the Infinity Audio package.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: In addition to Jeep's UniFrame construction, Daimler Chrysler partnered with Porsche to further strengthen the frame. This was done to reduce NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness). UniFrame is an unusual construction scheme, it incorporates all of the strength and durability of a body-on-frame construction into a unitized construction. By adding stiffness and rigidity to the structure, they enhanced the ride and strengthened the network of steel beams, rails and pillars (or "safety cage") that surround and protect occupants. More than 70 percent of the underbody is high-strength steel. All Jeep Grand Cherokees feature UniFrame construction.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Grand Cherokee received a secondary minor facelift for 2004 including round fog lamps, a lower front fascia and a new body-color matched inset grille design.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The first-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) offered many new and class-exclusive features, and the second-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ continued to offer new features that were not yet available on its competitors, such as the Chevrolet Blazer and Ford Explorer.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: At the time of its release, the all-new 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ had many standard and optional features which were class-exclusive. HomeLink allowed the driver to program up to three devices such as garage door openers, estate gates, and other controlled access devices and operate those devices with buttons located in the overhead console. A state-of-the-art automatic dual-zone climate control system used infrared sensors located in the climate control panel to monitor the surface temperature of both driver and front passenger to automatically control the interior temperature for both front passengers. The Jeep Memory System allowed for two drivers to set their individual driver's seat, side mirror, and radio setting by using buttons located on the front driver's door interior panel to recall their preferred settings at the touch of a button, or upon insertion of the corresponding key into the ignition (the keyless entry remotes were color-coded either black or gray, and had either a '1' or '2' on the back of the remote to help the drivers easily identify their remote).


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: In 2002, the Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ added even more new features. These new features included power-adjustable foot pedals via a switch located on the driver's side near the steering wheel (the pedals also worked in conjunction with the Jeep Memory System to adjust automatically to a driver's preferred settings when a button on the front driver's door interior panel was depressed). Optional SRS Side Curtain Airbags for the front passengers were available on all Grand Cherokee models for added protection. The Uconnect hands-free Bluetooth telephone system allowed the driver to pair his or her Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone to the system and make and receive hands-free telephone calls without having to handle their phone, and the driver could even store frequently-called telephone numbers in the system's memory for automatic dialing via voice. The button panel for the system was located on the front driver's door interior panel. Sirius Satellite Radio was also available for the first time regardless of factory radio option. The Jeep Grand Cherokee was one of the first vehicles to offer these features from the factory.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: 1999- 1999 saw the introduction of the all-new, second-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ. While similar in dimensions and style to the first-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ), the WJ Grand Cherokee featured a more modern exterior design, and an all-new interior. While the 4.0L "Power-Tech" Inline Six-Cylinder (I6) engine and 42RE four-speed automatic transmission both carried over from the previous-generation model, the previous 5.2L "Magnum" V8 engine was replaced by an all-new 4.7L "Power-Tech" V8 engine, which was mated to the all-new 45RFE four-speed automatic transmission (the 5.9L "Magnum" V8 engine was dropped after the 1998 model year). The spare tire and wheel were relocated from the left side of the rear cargo area to underneath the cargo floor. This decreased on available cargo space, but made it easier to access the spare tire and wheel.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: 2000- Having been fully redesigned for the 1999 model year, the 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee received minimal changes. However, the 4.7L "Power-Tech" V8 engine's 45RFE four-speed automatic transmission was replaced by the 545RFE five-speed automatic transmission. Finally, the base Laredo "D" Package was discontinued, which meant that the Laredo model now included the Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC) with an overhead console as standard equipment.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: 2001- For 2001, a 60th Anniversary Edition Jeep Grand Cherokee, based on the Limited model, celebrated the Brand's sixtieth anniversary. A new New England Edition Package for the base Laredo added seventeen-inch tires and "Silverblade" aluminum-alloy wheels, a combination A/M-F/M stereo radio with cassette and CD players, and a power-adjustable front driver's seat to the base model. Another new package for the Laredo included the same feature content, but also added "Royale" leather-trimmed seating surfaces and an Infinity Gold premium audio system with a 180-watt amplifier. All models of the Grand Cherokee received new aluminum-alloy wheel options, and the Limited trim received new leather seating surfaces and revised burl rosewood interior trim (the Laredo model received simulated brushed aluminum interior trim, and now included a trim bezel around the radio). The steering wheel on all models also received a silver-finished 'Jeep' emblem.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: 2002- For 2002, an all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland model was introduced, as a new model positioned above the previously-top Limited model, including features such as extended leather seating surfaces and door panels, an Infinity Gold premium amplified audio system, as well as genuine wood-trimmed interior and steering wheel. The Laredo trim now included a six-way, power-adjustable front driver's seat and an A/M-F/M stereo radio with a single-disc CD player a standard equipment, as well as revised seat fabrics, and new "Silverblade" aluminum-alloy wheels. Midyear, a new Special Edition model was introduced based on the Laredo model that added color-keyed front and rear bumpers and body side cladding, an Infinity Gold 180-watt premium amplified audio system, and unique badging on the front doors of the vehicle. A new "High Output" 4.7L "Power-Tech" V8 engine became available, standard on Overland, and optional on Limited. All radios (aside from the base "RBK" A/M-F/M stereo radio) now included Radio Data System (RDS) capabilities, and side-impact airbags were now an option on all models.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: 2003- For 2003, the Jeep Grand Cherokee gained a new "Freedom Edition" model, based on the Laredo trim, while the Sport model was discontinued. The Laredo model now included high-back front bucket seats with integrated headrests as standard equipment, with low-back front bucket seats with separate headrests becoming an option (the low-back bucket seats were standard when the Laredo trim was ordered with the optional "Royale" leather-trimmed seating surfaces). New entertainment options, including a GPS navigation system radio and Sirius Satellite Radio were offered for the first time. The Special Edition model was temporarily discontinued for the 2003 model year, but would reappear for 2004. 2003 was a shortened model year, with 2004 model year production commencing in mid-2003.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: 2004- 2004 would mark the Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ's final model year of production. There was a new Columbia Edition model that was introduced as a partnership between Jeep and Columbia Sportswear, and included unique seat trim, larger aluminum-alloy wheels, and a complimentary Columbia parka (the Special Edition trim would also reappear for the 2004 model year). The Laredo trim was condensed to a single "E" Package, though all previously-available options were still available. All models received revised front fascias for 2004, and all four wheel drive models received Jeep's new "Trail Rated 4X4" certification, with a badge being placed on the front driver's side fender. Production concluded in April 2004, with the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK) being introduced in the same month at the New York International Auto Show.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Laredo served as the base Grand Cherokee trim level from August 1998 to 2004, and still continues to be the base Grand Cherokee trim level to this day. A very well-equipped model, the Laredo offered these features as standard equipment: the 4.0L Power-Tech Inline Six-Cylinder (I6) engine, a 4-speed automatic transmission, sixteen-inch (16") alloy wheels, an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD player (1998-2001) or CD players (2001-2004), wood interior trim (1998-2000) or aluminum interior trim (2000-2004), keyless entry, power windows and door locks, cloth seating surfaces, air conditioning, a split-folding 60/40 rear bench seat, gray-painted front and rear bumpers and body-side cladding trim panels, and more. After MY1999, the Laredo 26D Package was dropped, leaving the Laredo 26E/28E Packages as the base Grand Cherokee packages, and adding a standard overhead Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC/VIC) and overhead console. Many features that were available on the luxurious Limited trim could also be optioned on the base Laredo trim. For 2001 only, a New England Special Group was available for Grand Cherokees equipped with the 26E Package. The package, which was indicated by the sales code ACJ, added features to the base model Grand Cherokee such as P235/65R17 BSW all-season performance tires, seventeen-inch (17") sport alloy wheels (both options of which were also available with the 26S and 28S Packages), an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD players with integrated remote CD changer controls, and a 3.73 rear axle ratio. The New England Special Group was available exclusively in select Northeastern states.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Limited served as the top-of-the-line Grand Cherokee trim level from 1998 to 2001, and the more "luxurious" Grand Cherokee trim level from 2001 to 2004. It added these features: color-keyed body-side trim cladding panels and front and rear bumpers, a premium 180-watt Infinity Gold stereo system with 6 speakers, leather seating surfaces, dual power front bucket seats, a full-sized spare tire and spare wheel, a security alarm, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, steering wheel-mounted remote audio system controls, driver's 2-position memory (color-coded keyless entry remotes), wood interior trim, and more.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Sport was the lowest-priced trim level of the Grand Cherokee was introduced in November 2001, for MY2002. Offered only for 2002, the Sport was aimed at value-oriented customers who wanted a very well-equipped vehicle at a modest price point. It added these features to the base Laredo trim: dual power front heated bucket seats, leather seating surfaces, an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD players, a premium 180-watt Infinity Gold audio system with 6 speakers, a full-sized spare tire and spare wheel, a 'sport' emblem on the tailgate, a security alarm, a power sunroof, and more. Cloth seating surfaces, deleted heated front bucket seats, a deleted cassette player, and a deleted sunroof could be had for credit in place of the standard options they replaced.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Special Edition was a value-oriented trim level of the Grand Cherokee in 2002 and in 2004 (the model was put on hiatus for the 2003 model year). Based on the base Laredo trim, the Special Edition added these features: a full-sized spare tire/wheel, heated power dual front bucket seats, leather seating surfaces & leather-wrapped steering wheel, an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette, CD player, 10 disc rear mounted CD changer, color-keyed body-side cladding panels and front and rear bumpers, a security alarm, power sunroof, and 'Special Edition' emblems on both front doors (the 2004 model did not have heated power dual front bucket seats, leather seating surfaces & leather-wrapped steering wheel", only power seats. The power sunroof was an option)


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Freedom was a value-oriented trim level of the Grand Cherokee between March 2003 (SOP 2003/03/10) and 2004. Based on the base Laredo trim, the Freedom added these features: a full-sized spare tire and spare wheel, seventeen-inch (17") graphite-finish alloy wheels, unique cloth seating surfaces, dual power front bucket seats, an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD players, a premium 180-watt Infinity Gold audio system with 6 speakers, and 'Freedom' emblems on both front doors.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Columbia Edition, launched in November 2003 (2003/10/06 SOP) was a partnership between Jeep and sportswear manufacturer Columbia for MY2004. Based on the base Laredo trim, the Columbia Edition added these features: a full-sized spare tire and spare wheel, seventeen-inch (17") alloy wheels, unique two-toned cloth seating surfaces, dual power front bucket seats, an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD players, a premium 180-watt Infinity Gold audio system with 6 speakers, Bright Silver Metallic-painted body-side cladding panels and front and rear bumpers, and 'Columbia Edition' emblems on both front doors. Columbia Edition buyers also received a complimentary Columbia parka at the time of delivery of their new vehicle.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The Overland was the top-of-the-line Grand Cherokee trim level between August 2001 and 2004, first introduced for MY2002. It added these features to the already-luxurious Limited trim level: an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD players, a ten-disc remote rear-mounted CD changer, unique leather-and-suede seating surfaces, woodgrain (real redwood) for upper half of steering wheel and interior accents, dual power heated front bucket seats, Overland floor mats, 'Overland' emblems on both front doors, side curtain air bags, rain sense wipers, rock rails, Up Country Suspension (option was deleted for the MY2004 starting Sept 2003) Skid Plate Group with chrome tow hooks, unique seventeen-inch (17") chrome-plated alloy wheels with matching spare, a power sunroof, and the higher-output (265 hp) 4.7L Power-Tech V8 engine, which could also be had on the Limited trim.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The 60th Anniversary Edition was manufactured to commemorate Jeep's 60th anniversary in 2001. It added these features to the luxurious Limited trim level: unique seventeen-inch (17") "Rogue" chrome-plated alloy wheels, '60th Anniversary Edition' emblems on both upper front fenders, heated front bucket seats, a power sunroof, an A/M-F/M stereo with cassette and CD players, a matching spare wheel, '60th Anniversary Edition'-embroidered front bucket seats, along with special 60th Anniversary Edition floor mats.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: Beijing Jeep Corporation, Ltd. produced the XJ classic Cherokee from 1984 to 2005. Beijing Jeep bought the old tooling for the WJ Grand Cherokee when the WK was introduced for the U.S. as a 2005 model. The WJ was introduced in the end of 2004 for the Chinese market as the Jeep 4000 and 4700 Grand Cherokee and carries differing engine names compared to their foreign counterparts known as C698QA1 for the 6 cylinder and C8V93Q for the V8. A 4 speed automatic gearbox was standard on the 6 cylinder while V8 had a 5 speed automatic gearbox. Pricing ranges 358,000 and 496,000 yuan (53,480 to US$74,090) with four trim levels.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: It was their flagship model and nearly identical to the 2004 Grand Cherokee Limited in looks and equipment, including the solid axle suspension, choice of 4wd systems, body color cladding, alloy wheels, Chrysler sound systems, and Chrysler automatic climate controls. This is unlike the XJ Cherokee that was significantly modified by Beijing Jeep for the Chinese market.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: The 3.1 liter turbo-diesel on the 1999 Grand Cherokee was developed in conjunction with Detroit Diesel/VM Motori. It has an electronic injection pump, electronically controlled, vacuum-actuated exhaust gas recirculation, and a special catalyst to control oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Manufactured in Cento, Italy, at 13,000 units per year. It was available in European models and meets the European stage III emissions.


title: Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ)

text: On November 8, 2012, Chrysler announced the recall on certain model year 2002 though 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles manufactured February 13, 2001, through May 23, 2003. A component in the air bag control module may fail causing the front airbags, side curtain airbags, and/or seatbelt pretensioners to deploy inadvertently while the vehicle is being operated.


title: Night fighter

text: A night fighter (also known as all-weather fighter or all-weather interceptor for a period of time after the Second World War) is a fighter aircraft adapted for use at night or in other times of bad visibility. Night fighters began to be used in World War I and included types that were specifically modified to operate at night.


title: Night fighter

text: During the Second World War, night fighters were either purpose-built night fighter designs, or more commonly, heavy fighters or light bombers adapted for the mission, often employing radar or other systems for providing some sort of detection capability in low visibility. Many night fighters of the conflict also included instrument landing systems for landing at night, as turning on the runway lights made runways into an easy target for opposing intruders. Some experiments tested the use of day fighters on night missions, but these tended to work only under very favourable circumstances and were not widely successful.


title: Night fighter

text: Avionics systems were greatly miniaturised over time, allowing the addition of radar altimeter, terrain-following radar, improved instrument landing system, microwave landing system, Doppler weather radar, LORAN receivers, GEE, TACAN, inertial navigation system, GPS, and GNSS in aircraft. The addition of greatly improved landing and navigation equipment combined with radar led to the use of the term all-weather fighter or all-weather fighter attack, depending on the aircraft capabilities. The use of the term night fighter gradually faded away as a result of these improvements making the vast majority of fighters capable of night operation.


title: Night fighter

text: At the start of the First World War, most combatants had little capability of flying at night, and little need to do so. The only targets that could be attacked with any possibility of being hit in limited visibility would be cities, an unthinkable target at the time. The general assumption of a quick war meant no need existed for strategic attacks.


title: Night fighter

text: Things changed on 22 September and 8 October 1914, when the Royal Naval Air Service bombed the production line and hangars of the Zeppelin facilities in Cologne and Düsseldorf. Although defences had been set up, all of them proved woefully inadequate. As early as 1915, a number of B.E.2c aircraft (the infamous "Fokker Fodder") were modified into the first night fighters. After lack of success while using darts and small incendiary bombs to attack Zeppelins from above, ultimately a Lewis gun loaded with novel incendiary ammunition, was mounted at an angle of 45° to fire upwards, to attack the enemy from below. This technique proved to be very effective.


title: Night fighter

text: After over a year of night Zeppelin raids, on the night of 2–3 September 1916, a BE2c flown by Captain William Leefe Robinson downed the SL 11, the first German airship to be shot down over Britain. This action won the pilot a Victoria Cross and cash prizes totaling £3,500 put up by a number of individuals. This downing was not an isolated victory; five more German airships were similarly destroyed between October and December 1916, and caused the airship campaign to gradually be diminished over the next year with fewer raids mounted.


title: Night fighter

text: Because of airships' limitations, the "Luftstreitkräfte" began to introduce long-range heavy bombers, starting with the Gotha G.IV aircraft that gradually took over the offensive. While their early daylight raids in May 1917 were able to easily evade the weak defenses of London, the strengthening of the home defence fighter force led to the Germans switching to night raids from 3 September 1917. To counter night attacks, Sopwith Camel day fighters were deployed in the night fighter role. The Camels' Vickers guns were replaced by Lewis guns mounted over the wings, as the flash from the Vickers tended to dazzle the pilot when they were fired, and synchronised guns were considered unsafe for firing incendiary ammunition. Further modification led to the cockpit being moved rearwards. The modified aircraft were nicknamed the "Sopwith Comic". To provide suitable equipment for Home Defence squadrons in the north of the UK, Avro 504K trainers were converted to night fighters by removing the front cockpit and mounting a Lewis gun on the top wing.


title: Night fighter

text: With little money to spend on development, especially during the Great Depression, night-fighting techniques changed little until just prior to World War II.


title: Night fighter

text: In the meantime, aircraft performance had improved tremendously; compared to their First World War counterparts, modern bombers could fly about twice as fast, at over twice the altitude, with much greater bomb loads. They flew fast enough that the time between detecting them and the bombers reaching their targets left little time to launch interceptors to shoot them down. Antiaircraft guns were similarly affected by the altitudes at which they flew, which required extremely large and heavy guns to attack them, which limited the number available to the point of being rendered impotent. At night, or with limited visibility, these problems were compounded. The widespread conclusion was that "the bomber will always get through", and the Royal Air Force invested almost all of their efforts in developing a night bomber force, with the Central Flying School responsible for one of the most important developments in the period by introducing "blind flying" training.


title: Night fighter

text: The Spanish Republican Air Force used some Polikarpov I-15s as night fighters. Pilot José Falcó had equipped his fighter with a radio receiver for land-based guidance for interception. One of the I-15s configured for night operations, fitted with tracer and explosive .30 rounds, scored a daylight double victory against Bf 109s in the closing stages of the war.


title: Night fighter

text: Nevertheless, some new technologies appeared to offer potential ways to improve night-fighting capability. During the 1930s, considerable development of infrared detectors occurred among all of the major forces, but in practice, these proved almost unusable. The only such system to see any sort of widespread operational use was the Spanner Anlage system used on the Dornier Do 17Z night fighters of the Luftwaffe. These were often also fitted with a large IR searchlight to improve the amount of light being returned.


title: Night fighter

text: Immediately prior to the opening of the war, radar was introduced operationally for the first time. Initially, these systems were unwieldy, and development of IR systems continued. Realizing that radar was a far more practical solution to the problem, Robert Watson-Watt handed the task of developing a radar suitable for aircraft use to 'Taffy' Bowen in the mid-1930s. In September 1937, he gave a working demonstration of the concept when a test aircraft was able to detect three Home Fleet capital ships in the North Sea in bad weather.


title: Night fighter

text: The promising implications of the test were not lost on planners, who reorganised radar efforts and gave them increased priority. This led to efforts to develop an operational unit for airborne interception (AI). The size of these early AI radars required a large aircraft to lift them, and their complex controls required a multiperson crew to operate them. This naturally led to the use of light bombers as the preferred platform for airborne radars, and in May 1939, the first experimental flight took place, on a Fairey Battle.


title: Night fighter

text: The war opened on 1 September 1939, and by this time, the RAF were well advanced with plans to build a radar – then called 'RDF' in Britain – equipped night-fighter fleet. The Airborne Interception Mk. II radar (AI Mk. II) was being fit experimentally to a small number of Bristol Blenheim aircraft, having been selected for this role as its fuselage was sufficiently roomy to accommodate the additional crew member and radar apparatus; the first prototype system went into service in November 1939, long before the opening of major British operations. These early systems had significant practical problems, and while work was underway to correct these flaws, by the time the Blitz opened in August 1940, the night fighter fleet was still in its infancy.


title: Night fighter

text: Through this period, the RAF experimented with many other aircraft and interception methods in an effort to get a working night fighter force. One attempt to make up for the small number of working radars was to fit an AI to a Douglas Havoc bomber which also carried a searchlight in its nose. These Turbinlite aircraft were intended to find the targets and illuminate them with the searchlight, allowing Hurricanes adapted for night flying to shoot them down visually. This proved almost impossible to arrange in practice, and the Cat Eye fighters had little luck during the closing months of 1940. The Turbinlite squadrons were disbanded in early 1943.


title: Night fighter

text: By early 1941, the first examples of a production-quality radar, AI Mk. IV, were beginning to arrive. This coincided with the arrival of the Beaufighter, which offered significantly higher performance than the pre-war Blenheims; it was the highest performance aircraft capable of carrying the bulky early airborne interception radars used for night fighter operations, and quickly became invaluable as a night fighter. Over the next few months, more and more Beaufighters arrived and the success of the night fighters roughly doubled every month until May, when the "Luftwaffe" ended their bombing efforts. Although night bombing never ended, its intensity was greatly decreased, giving the RAF time to introduce the AI Mk. VIII radar working in the microwave band, and the de Havilland Mosquito to mount it. This combination remained the premier night fighter until the end of the war.


title: Night fighter

text: As the German effort wound down, the RAF's own bombing campaign was growing. The Mosquitos had little to do over the UK, so a number of squadrons were formed within No. 100 Group RAF and fit with special systems, such as Perfectos and Serrate, for homing-in on German night fighters. The British also experimented with mounting pilot-operated AI Mark 6 radar sets in single-seat fighters, and the Hurricane II C(NF), a dozen of which were produced in 1942, became the first radar-equipped, single-seat night fighter in the world. It served with 245 and 247 Squadrons briefly and unsuccessfully before being sent to India to 176 Squadron, with which it served until the end of 1943. A similarly radar-equipped Hawker Typhoon was also developed, but no production followed.


title: Night fighter

text: German airborne interception radar efforts at this point were about two years behind the British. Unlike in Britain, where the major targets lay only a few minutes' flight time from the coast, Germany was protected by large tracts of neutral territory that gave them long times to deal with intruding bombers. Instead of airborne radar, they relied on ground-based systems; the targets would first be picked up by radar assigned to a "cell", the radar would then direct a searchlight to "paint" the target, allowing the fighters to attack them without on-board aids. The searchlights were later supplanted with short-range radars that tracked both the fighters and bombers, allowing ground operators to direct the fighters to their targets. By July 1940, this system was well developed as the Kammhuber Line, and proved able to deal with the small raids by isolated bombers the RAF was carrying out at the time.


title: Night fighter

text: At the urging of R.V. Jones, the RAF changed their raid tactics to gather all of their bombers into a single "stream". This meant that the ground-based portion of the system was overwhelmed; with only one or two searchlights or radars available per "cell", the system was able to handle perhaps six interceptions per hour. By flying all of the bombers over a cell in a short period, the vast majority of the bombers flew right over them without ever having been plotted, let alone attacked. German success against the RAF plummeted, reaching a nadir on 30/31 May 1942, when the first 1,000-bomber raid attacked Cologne, losing only four aircraft to German night fighters.


title: Night fighter

text: In 1942, the Germans first started deploying the initial B/C low UHF-band version of the Lichtenstein radar, and in extremely limited numbers, using a 32-dipole element "Matratze" (mattress) antenna array. This late date, and slow introduction, combined with the capture of a Ju 88R-1 night fighter equipped with it in April 1943 when flown to RAF Dyce, Scotland, by a defecting Luftwaffe crew, allowed British radio engineers to develop jamming equipment to counter it. A race developed with the Germans attempting to introduce new sets and the British attempting to jam them. The early Lichtenstein B/C was replaced by the similar UHF-band Lichtenstein C-1, but when the German night fighter defected and landed in Scotland in April 1943, that radar was quickly jammed. The low VHF-band SN-2 unit that replaced the C-1 remained relatively secure until July 1944, but only at the cost of using huge, eight-dipole element "Hirschgeweih" (stag's antlers) antennae that slowed their fighters as much as 25 mph, making them easy prey for British night fighters that had turned to the offensive role. The capture in July 1944 of a Ju 88G-1 night fighter of NJG 2 equipped with an SN-2 Lichtenstein set, flown by mistake into RAF Woodbridge, revealed the secrets of the later, longer-wavelength replacement for the earlier B/C and C-1 sets.


title: Night fighter

text: The Luftwaffe also used single-engined aircraft in the night-fighter role, starting in 1939 with the Arado Ar 68 and early Messerschmitt Bf 109 models, which they later referred to as "Wilde Sau" (wild boar). In this case, the fighters, typically Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, were equipped only with a direction finder and landing lights to allow them to return to base at night. For the fighter to find their targets, other aircraft, which were guided from the ground, would drop strings of flares in front of the bombers. In other cases, the burning cities below provided enough light to see their targets. Messerschmitt Bf 109G variants had G6N and similar models fitted with FuG 350 "Naxos" "Z" radar receivers for homing in on the 3-gigahertz band H2S emissions of RAF bombers – the April 1944 combat debut of the American-designed H2X bomb-aiming radar, operating at a higher 10 GHz frequency for both RAF Pathfinder Mosquitos and USAAF B-24 Liberators that premiered their use over Europe, deployed a bombing radar that could not be detected by the German "Naxos" equipment. The Bf 109G series aircraft fitted with the "Naxos" radar detectors also were fitted with the low- to mid-VHF band FuG 217/218 "Neptun" active search radars, as were Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-6/R11 aircraft: these served as radar-equipped night-fighters with NJGr 10 and NJG 11. A sole Fw 190 A-6 Wk.Nr.550214 fitted with FuG 217 is a rare survivor.


title: Night fighter

text: The effective "Schräge Musik" offensive armament fitment was the German name given to installations of upward-firing autocannon mounted in large, twin-engined night fighters by the Luftwaffe and both the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and Imperial Japanese Army Air Service during World War II, with the first victories for the Luftwaffe and IJNAS each occurring in May 1943. This innovation allowed the night fighters to approach and attack bombers from below, where they were outside the bomber crew's field of view. Few bombers of that era carried defensive guns in the ventral position. An attack by a "Schräge Musik"-equipped fighter was typically a complete surprise to the bomber crew, who would only realise that a fighter was close by when they came under fire. Particularly in the initial stage of operational use until early 1944, the sudden fire from below was often attributed to ground fire rather than a fighter.


title: Night fighter

text: Rather than nighttime raids, the US Army Air Forces were dedicated to daytime bombing over Germany and Axis allies, that statistically were much more effective. The British night-bombing raids showed a success rate of only one out of 100 targets successfully hit. At the urging of the British, who were looking to purchase US-made aircraft, US day fighters were initially adapted to a night role, including the Douglas P-70 and later Lockheed P-38M "Night Lightning". The only purpose-built night fighter design deployed during the war, the American Northrop P-61 Black Widow was introduced first in Europe and then saw action in the Pacific, but it was given such a low priority that the British had ample supplies of their own designs by the time it was ready for production. The first USAAF unit using the P-61 did not move to Britain until February 1944; operational use did not start until the summer, and was limited throughout the war. Colonel Winston Kratz, director of night-fighter training in the USAAF, considered the P-61 as adequate in its role, "It was a good night fighter. It did not have enough speed".


title: Night fighter

text: The United States Navy (USN) Project Affirm was established at Naval Air Station Quonset Point on 18 April 1942 to develop night fighting equipment and tactics. Aircraft selection was limited to single-engine, single-seat planes by the requirement to be capable of operating from aircraft carriers. Urgency for the night-fighting role increased when Japanese aircraft successfully harassed naval forces on night raids in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese Navy had long screened new recruits for exceptional night vision, using the best on their ships and aircraft instead of developing new equipment for this role. VF(N)-75 was established as the first USN night fighter squadron on 10 April 1943. Six pilots with six aircraft were sent to the South Pacific on 1 August 1943. A Night Fighter Training Unit (NFTU) was established at Charlestown, Rhode Island, on 25 August 1943 using radar-equipped Douglas SBD Dauntless training aircraft to allow instructors to accompany student pilots. USN carrier-launched fighter combat missions began in January 1944 with six-plane detachments of single-engined Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair fighters fitted with compact, microwave-band radar sets in wing-mounted pods. The specially trained night fighter and torpedo planes of Night Air Group 41 (NAG-41) began flying from in August 1944. NAG-41 achieved full night status on 1 October 1944 in time to participate in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Night fighter patrols effectively countered "kamikaze" attacks timed to arrive during twilight conditions at dawn or dusk. In several cases these USN aircraft were used on raids of their own.


title: Night fighter

text: Even while the war raged, the jet engine so seriously upset aircraft design that the need for dedicated jet-powered night fighters became clear. Both the British and Germans spent some effort on the topic, but as the Germans were on the defensive, their work was given a much higher priority. The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first operational jet fighter in the world, was adapted to the role, such as the installation of on-board FuG 218 "Neptun" high-VHF band radar and "Hirschgeweih" ("stag's antlers") antennae; intercepts were generally or entirely made using "Wilde Sau" methods, rather than AI radar-controlled interception. Several Me 262 pilots were able to attain a high number of kills in the type such as Oberleutnant Kurt Welter, who claimed a total of 25 Mosquitos downed during nighttime missions.


title: Night fighter

text: Other forces did not have the pressing need to move to the jet engine; Britain and the US were facing enemies with aircraft of even lower performance than their existing night fighters. However, the need for new designs was evident, and some low-level work started in the closing stages of the war, including the US contract for the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. When the Soviet plans to build an atomic bomb became known in the west in 1948, this project was still long from being ready to produce even a prototype, and in March 1949, they started development of both the North American F-86D Sabre and Lockheed F-94 Starfire as stop-gap measures. All of these fighters entered service during the early 1950s. In the Korean War, after the Starfire proved to be ineffective against the latest Soviet-supplied aircraft, Marine Corps Douglas F3D Skyknights shot down six aircraft, including five Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s without loss, as the MiG-15s lacked radar to shoot down individual fighters, though they were effective against bomber formations at night.


title: Night fighter

text: During the immediate postwar era, the RAF launched studies into new fighter designs, but gave these projects relatively low priority. By the time of the Soviet bomb test, the night-fighter design was still strictly a paper project, and the existing Mosquito fleet was generally unable to successfully intercept the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber it was expected to face. This led to rushed programs to introduce new, interim night-fighter designs; these efforts led to several night-fighter versions of ubiquitous Gloster Meteor to replace the Mosquitos during the early 1950s. A similar conversion of the de Havilland Vampire was also introduced; this was originally developed by the company as a private venture and initially ordered by Egypt, instead the RAF took over the order to serve an interim measure between the retirement of the Mosquito night fighter and the Meteor night fighter's introduction. These types were also widely exported; Meteor night fighters were acquired by France, Syria, Egypt and Israel amongst others.


title: Night fighter

text: Both the Meteor and Vampire conversions were rapidly followed by a more capable night fighter in the form of the de Havilland Venom, the first model of which having been introduced during 1953. More advanced night fighter models of the Venom would follow, as well as of the navalised de Havilland Sea Venom, which served with the Royal Navy along with other operators. An advanced night-fighter design was eventually introduced to RAF service in 1956 in the form of the Gloster Javelin, a delta wing aircraft capable of performing rapid ascents and attaining an altitude of 45,000 feet. However, due to rapid advances in aircraft capabilities, the Javelin quickly became considered to be outdated and the type was retired during 1968. In Canada, Avro Canada developed its own night fighter, the CF-100 Canuck, which entered service with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during 1952.


title: Night fighter

text: Into the 1960s, night fighters still existed as a separate class of aircraft. However, as they continued to grow in capability, radar-equipped interceptors could take on the role of night fighters, thus the class went into decline. Examples of these latter-day interceptor/night-fighters include the Avro Arrow, Convair F-106 Delta Dart, and English Electric Lightning.


title: Night fighter

text: During this transition period, the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II was offered to the US Navy; at the time, the Vought F-8 Crusader had already been accepted as a "day" dogfighter, while the subsonic McDonnell F3H Demon was the Navy's all-weather fighter. The Phantom was developed as the Navy's first supersonic, all-weather, radar-equipped fighter armed with radar-guided missiles. However, compared to early air-superiority designs such as the F-100 or F-8, the massive Phantom, nevertheless, had enough raw power from its twin J79 engines to prove adaptable as the preferred platform for tangling with agile MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters over the skies of Vietnam, as well as replacing the US Air Force Convair F-102 Delta Dagger and Convair F-106 Delta Dart for continental interception duties and the Republic F-105 Thunderchief as a medium fighter-bomber. The need for close-in dogfighting spelled the end for the specialised Grumman F-111B, which was armed only with long-range AIM-54 Phoenix missiles for fleet defense against bombers. The Navy instead developed the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, which on top of the heavy Phoenix, retained the Phantom's versatility and improved agility for dogfighting. The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle was also an interceptor with enhanced agility, but did not carry the Phoenix in preference to the role of an air-superiority fighter.


title: Night fighter

text: The reduced size and costs of avionics have allowed even smaller modern fighters to have night-interception capability. In the US Air Force's lightweight fighter program, the F-16 was originally envisaged as inexpensive day fighter, but quickly converted to an all-weather role. The similar McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet in its CF-18 variant for the RCAF, was ordered with a 0.6 Mcd night-identification light to enhance its night-interception capabilities.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: The Buyid dynasty (), also spelled Buwayhid (), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coupled with the rise of other Iranian dynasties in the region, the approximate century of Buyid rule represents the period in Iranian history sometimes called the 'Iranian Intermezzo' since, after the Muslim conquest of Persia, it was an interlude between the rule of the Abbasid Caliphate and the Seljuk Empire.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: The Buyid dynasty was founded by 'Ali ibn Buya, who in 934 conquered Fars and made Shiraz his capital. His younger brother Hasan ibn Buya conquered parts of Jibal in the late 930s, and by 943 managed to capture Ray, which he made his capital. In 945, the youngest brother, Ahmad ibn Buya, conquered Iraq and made Baghdad his capital. He received the "laqab" or honorific title of "Mu'izz al-Dawla" ("Fortifier of the State"). The eldest, 'Ali, was given the title of "'Imad al-Dawla" ("Support of the State"), and Hasan was given the title of "Rukn al-Dawla" ("Pillar of the State").


title: Buyid dynasty

text: As Daylamite Iranians, the Buyids consciously revived symbols and practices of Iran's Sasanian Empire. Beginning with Imad al-Dawla, some of the Buyid rulers used the ancient Sasanian title of Shahanshah (), literally "king of kings". The Buyids had many inscriptions carved at the Achaemenid ruins of Persepolis, thus suggesting a form of veneration of the site, which the Buyids thought was built by the mythical Iranian king Jamshid.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: The Buyid dynasty reached its zenith under Adud al-Dawla (), who is remembered for his open-mindedness and building projects such as the Band-e Amir near Shiraz. Under him, the Buyid realm stretched from the Byzantine border in Syria in the west to the borders of Khorasan in the east.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: Although the Buyids were initially Zaydi Shi'a, for political advantages they became Twelver Shi'a following the Greater Occultation of the twelfth Imam in 941. Regardless, the Buyids were known for supporting the Sunni Abbasid caliphs and being tolerant of the Sunni population, who formed the majority of their realm. They were, however, unfriendly towards the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: Contrary to the Samanids, who ruled over a mostly Sunni Muslim population in Central Asia, the Buyid realm was populated by many Zoroastrians and Christians. Because of this, many records written under the Buyids were composed in Middle Persian, Syriac and Arabic.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: The word "Būya" (Arabic "Buwayh") is a Middle Persian name ending in the diminutive (Middle Persian "-ōē", modern Persian "-ūyeh", Arabic "-uwayh"). The Buyids were descendants of Panah-Khusrow, a Zoroastrian from Daylam. He had a son named Buya, who was a fisherman from Lahijan, and later left Zoroastrianism and converted to Islam. Buya later had three sons, named Ahmad, 'Ali, and Hasan, who would later carve out the Buyid kingdom together. The Buyids claimed royal lineage from Bahram V (), the King of Kings ("shahanshah") of the Sasanian Empire.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: The founder of the dynasty, 'Ali ibn Buya, was originally a soldier in the service of the Daylamite warlord Makan ibn Kaki, but later changed his adherence to the Iranian ruler Mardavij, who had established the Ziyarid dynasty, and was himself related to the ruling dynasty of Gilan, a region bordering Daylam. 'Ali was later joined by his two younger brothers, Hasan ibn Buya and Ahmad ibn Buya. In 932, 'Ali was given Karaj as his fief, and thus was able to enlist other Daylamites into his army. However, 'Ali's initiative proved too much for Mardavij, who planned to have him killed, but 'Ali was informed of Mardavij's plan by the latter's own "vizier". The brothers, with 400 of their Daylamite supporters, then fled to Fars, where they managed to take control of Arrajan. However, the Buyids and the Abbasid general Yaqut shortly fought for control of Fars, with the Buyids eventually emerging victorious. This victory opened the way for the conquest of the capital of Fars, Shiraz.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: 'Ali also allied with the landowners of Fars, which included the Fasanjas family, which would later produce many prominent statesmen for the Buyids. 'Ali also enlisted more soldiers—including Turks, who were made part of the cavalry. 'Ali then sent his brother Ahmad on an expedition to Kerman, but was forced to withdraw after opposition from the Baloch people and the Qafs. However, Mardavij, who sought to depose the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad and recreate a Zoroastrian Iranian Empire, shortly wrested Khuzestan from the Abbasids and forced 'Ali to recognize him as his suzerain.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: Luckily for the Buyids, Mardavij was assassinated shortly thereafter in 935, which caused chaos in the Ziyarid territories, a perfect situation for the Buyid brothers; Ali and Ahmad conquered Khuzistan, while Hasan captured the Ziyarid capital of Isfahan, and, in 943, captured Rey, which became his capital, thus conquering all of Jibal. In 945, Ahmad entered Iraq and made the Abbasid Caliph his vassal, at the same time receiving the laqab "Mu'izz ad-Dawla" ("Fortifier of the State"), while 'Ali was given the laqab "Imād al-Dawla" ("Support of the State"), and Hasan was given the laqab "Rukn al-Dawla" ("Pillar of the State").


title: Buyid dynasty

text: In addition to the other territories the Buyids had conquered, Kerman was conquered in 967, followed by Oman (967), the Jazira (979), Tabaristan (980), and Gorgan (981). After this, however, the Buyids went into a slow decline, with pieces of the confederation gradually breaking off and local dynasties under their rule becoming "de facto" independent.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: The death of Adud al-Dawla is considered the start of the decline of the Buyid dynasty; his son Abu Kalijar Marzuban, who was in Baghdad when he died, at first kept his death secret to ensure his succession and avoid civil war. When he eventually made the death of his father public, he was given the title of "Samsam al-Dawla". However, Adud's other son, Shirdil Abu'l-Fawaris, challenged his authority, and the feared civil war occurred anyway. Meanwhile, a Kurdish Marwanid chieftain named Badh ibn Dustak seized Diyabakr and forced Samsam al-Dawla to recognize him as the vassal ruler of the region. Furthermore, Mu'ayyad al-Dawla also died during this period, and he was succeeded by Fakhr al-Dawla, who, with the aid of Mu'ayyad al-Dawla's vizier Sahib ibn 'Abbad, became the ruler of Mu'ayyad al-Dawla's possessions. Another son of Adud al-Dawla, Abu Tahir Firuzshah, established himself as the ruler of Basra and took the title of "Diya' al-Dawla", while another son, Abu'l-Husain Ahmad, established himself as the ruler of Khuzistan, taking the title of "Taj al-Dawla".


title: Buyid dynasty

text: Shirdil Abu'l-Fawaris (known by his title of "Sharaf al-Dawla") quickly seized Oman from Samsam al-Dawla, and, in 983, the Turkic troops of Samsam al-Dawla mutinied against him and some left Iraq for Fars, but most of them were persuaded by his relative Ziyar ibn Shahrakawayh to stay in Iraq. However, Iraq was in a grim state, and several rebellions occurred, which he managed to suppress, the most dangerous being that of Asfar ibn Kurdawayh, who tried to make Abu Nasr Firuz Kharshadh (known by his title of "Baha' al-Dawla") the ruler of Iraq. During the same period, Samsam al-Dawla also managed to seize Basra and Khuzistan, forcing his two brothers to flee to Fakhr al-Dawla's territory.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: During the mid-11th century, the Buyid amirates gradually fell to the Ghaznavids and Seljuk Turks. In 1029, Majd al-Dawla, who was facing an uprising by his Daylami troops in Ray, requested assistance from Mahmud of Ghazna. When Sultan Mahmud arrived, he deposed Majd al-Dawla, replaced him with a Ghaznavid governor and ended the Buyid dynasty in Ray.


title: Buyid dynasty

text: In 1055, Tughril conquered Baghdad, the seat of the caliphate, and ousted the last of the Buyid rulers. Like the Buyids, the Seljuks kept the Abbasid caliphs as figureheads.