The Brooklyn Bridge is located in New York City and is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River.
The Bald Eagle is a North American bird, known for its white head and tail feathers. Subsisting on a diet of mainly fish, this raptor will swoop down and capture prey with its large talons. As a symbol of the United States of America, the Bald Eagle appears on the nation’s Great Seal.
The Space Needle, built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, officially opened April 21, 1962. The fair attracted over 2.3 million visitors, with nearly 20,000 people a day using the elevators to reach the tower’s 520’ observation deck, offering views of downtown Seattle, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, and the Cascades and Olympic mountain ranges. Standing at 605 feet high, it remains a major landmark of Seattle and of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
The Lockheed Martin F-22® Raptor® is a single-seat twin-engine fifth-generation super-maneuverable fighter aircraft that uses stealth, speed, agility, precision and situational awareness, combined with air-to-air and air-to-ground combat capabilities, makes it the best overall fighter in the world today.
The F-86 Sabre is a United States transonic jet fighter, first deployed during the Korean War. As the first US swept-wing fighter, the F-86 Sabre was engineered to counter the Soviet MiG-15. Produced by North American Aviation, the F-86 was considered one of the most important combat aircraft during the early 1950s.
Giraffes are the tallest living animals in the world. These herbivores inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, using their markedly long necks to obtain leaves, flowers and fruits that other animals cannot reach. The main predators of giraffes include lions, leopards, hyenas and crocodiles.
The Great Sphinx of Giza lies on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River. Representing the mythological creature with the head of a human and body of a lion, the Sphinx was created circa 2550 BC during the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. The Great Sphinx is approximately 240’ long, 66’ high and is the oldest monumental sculpture in Egypt.
On July 20, 1969, Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. Their NASA space suits allowed these astronauts to explore the lunar surface for over two hours in temperatures ranging from -183 to 106 degrees Celsius. Armstrong and Aldrin then boarded the lunar module, rejoined fellow astronaut Michael Collins aboard their command module, and returned safely to Earth.
The PBY Catalina was one of the most widely flown amphibious aircraft during WWII. During the war, it was used in anti-submarine warfare and as a long-range patrol bomber, a convoy escort, and a cargo transport. Our model is based on the airworthy Catalina, Miss Pick Up, which is located in the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, UK. It represents a U.S. Army Air Forces aircraft lost to enemy action in Europe at the end of March 1945.
To learn more about her, go to catalina.org.uk
The Golden Gate is an art deco suspension bridge that stretches across San Francisco Bay and is one of the most enduring symbols of the city. Its construction arose from the need to get from San Francisco to Marin County, California and the ferry traffic in San Francisco Bay had become just too heavy. Construction on the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1933, and was completed in 1937.
Dragons are magical creatures from myth and legend. European Dragons are featured as having large, reptilian bodies with bat-like wings. Steel Dragons are said to embody the traits of nobility and justice.
The Mitsubishi Zero was considered to be the most capable carrier-based fighter aircraft in the world when it first entered combat in 1940. Its superior capabilities were in part due to its amazingly light weight that made it one of the fastest, most maneuverable and one of the longest-ranged single-engine fighter aircraft of World War II. However, that tradeoff in weight was at the price of not having self-sealing fuel tanks which made it prone to catching fire and exploding when struck by enemy fire, and no armor protection for either the pilot or the engine.
The name from Greek means 3 horned face. This dinosaur was about 30 feet long, 10 feet tall and weighed 4 to 6 tons. Stout limbs supported its girth but it was unlikely the dinosaur could move very quickly. Like a modern-day rhinoceros, it probably spent much of its time grazing on plant matter.
The Tyrannosaurus rex lived throughout what is now western North America around 68 to 66 million years ago. It was by far the largest carnivore in its environment measuring 40 feet in length and 13 feet tall with a weight of more than 7 tons. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before a sudden mass extinction wiped out three-quarters of the plant and animal species on Earth.
The Hughes H-4 Hercules nicknamed the Spruce Goose by critics, was designed as a transatlantic transport plane for use during World War II though it was not completed until after the war. Due to restrictions during the war on the use of aluminum and also concerns about weight, the plane was built almost entirely of birch wood. It was the largest amphibious plane to ever fly though that was only one brief flight on November 2, 1947. The aircraft remains in good condition and is currently on display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, USA.
The London Tower Bridge, built in 1886-1894 over the River Thames, is both a suspension and a drawbridge. It has become an iconic symbol of London and was featured in many films such as the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie. This 244 meter bridge consists of two towers (65 meters high) tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways.