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When a female climber slipped and fell while scrambling on the cliffs of Craig Yr Ysfa below Carnedd Llewelyn in Snowdonia, the rescuers who were first on the scene recognized that her leg injuries required immediate treatment. Fortunately for her, help was at hand in the form of RAF 22 Squadron's Sea King helicopter, and she was in hospital in Bangor within the hour.

Snowdonia in North Wales contains some of the best mountain walking and climbing areas in the UK. Besides Snowdon itself, there are several other peaks above the 3000 ft mark, and these are surrounded by steep crags and sheer cliff faces which are often the site of accidents, either as a result of fallen climbers, or walkers who have slipped from a path. When accidents occur, members of the Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue team are called out, and if they require assistance to move the casualty quickly to hospital, a Sea King Mark 3 SAR (Search and Rescue) helicopter from RAF Valley on the Isle of Anglesey can be on the scene within 20 minutes.

The Sea Kings are operated by C Flight 22 Squadron (C Flt), one of the busiest SAR flights in the UK, carrying out around 300 rescue missions every year, and since the Flight formed at Valley in 1956, over 6000 rescue missions have been flown. Sea Kings have been operated by 22 Squadron since 1997, replacing the Wessex which took over from the Westland Whirlwind in 1976, and provide increased range and load capacity, plus enhanced night and bad weather performance. Helicopters are on standby 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and can be airborne within 15 minutes. Although their main function is to perform search and rescue missions for RAF aircrew, the bulk of their activity is centered on civilian rescues, often assisting mountain rescue teams across the UK.

The Sea King is manufactured by AgustaWestland in the UK, and is powered by two Rolls-Royce H1400 1T turboshaft engines, providing 2,700shp. It has accommodation for a 4-man crew, and up to 19 passengers, or nine stretchers and two medical officers. The Mark 3A is equipped with advanced all-weather radar, navigation and Global Positioning Systems, and when hovering can be controlled by the winch operator, who can position the rescue harness directly above the casualty. The winch operator also controls the hydraulic hoist, rated at 600lb. The Sea King has a range of 280 nautical miles, with a maximum speed of 143 mph at sea level, and helicopters from 22 Squadron, who are based at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall, carry out rescue operations all around the United Kingdom, as well as mountain rescues in Snowdonia.

The Sea Kings are a familiar sight to hill walkers and climbers, and its a comforting thought to anyone who ventures into the mountains that should the worst happen, the big yellow helicopter will quickly be on the scene.

Simon Kirwan is a photographer with a passion for the outdoors. He spends as much time as possible visiting the mountains and wild places of Britain and the world. After visiting Nepal and photographing the Himalayas in 1999, Simon was named 'Observer Outdoor Photographer of the Year 2000'. He has since travelled overland across East africa visiting Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe; in addition, he has photographed the mountain ranges of Europe including the Spanish Pyrenees, the French and Italian Alps, and the Polish Tatras.

Despite his love of travel and the excitement of visiting new destinations, Simon is equally happy to wander the hills and mountains of Britain's countryside, especially Snowdonia, the Peak District and the Lake District where he can indulge his love of mountain walking and scrambling as well as photographing the ever-changing landscape.

www.aerial-photographer.co.uk Aerial Photography by Simon Kirwan
http://www.the-lightbox.com Travel Photography by Simon Kirwan

# posted by 27164 : 11:15 PM  0 comments

Taps drip. It's inevitable, like death and taxes. Traditional taps seal using a rubber ring screwed down over the end of a metal pipe. Sooner or later the rubber is going to go hard, split or just wear away and it will no longer seal. Then water seeps through, and the tap starts dripping. Left alone the problem gets worse as the water wears away the valve seat. Then you'll have to either re-grind the valve seat(Do you own a valve seat re-grinder? Who would?) or replace the tap. Tedious in either case. But, it need not happen. Many taps now use ceramic discs.

Method of Operation
Instead of creating a seal by forcing a rubber washer onto the end of the water feed pipe, they use two ceramic discs each with matching slots in them. These are held over the end of the water feed pipe. The lower disc doesn't move while the upper disc is turned over the lower disc by the tap head. water will only flow when the upper and lower slots match up.

Advantages
There are a number of benefits to this arrangement. The most obvious is that ceramic discs are much harder than rubber and much more resistant to erosion by water seepage. Hence they have a much longer life before needing replacement. Additionally, because the water flows between the two discs, the discs erode not the metal of the valve. Also, because of the way the discs are arranged, the taps go fully on with only one quarter of a turn and tap needs only light pressure to operate. This light action has the advantage that they are easy to operate with the back of the hand if your hands are dirty and for people with restricted movement.

Where they are Used
The ease of operation and the long life mean that most good quality sink mixer taps have been made using ceramic discs for a while, but basin taps with ceramic discs are surprisingly less common. The more use a tap gets, the more attractive the use of ceramic disc technology becomes. This is doubly true in hard water areas, which can be murder on traditional taps.

Disadvantages
Everything has it's downside, and there are cons to ceramic disc taps. They do eventually wear out and are more expensive than old style taps and are not suitable for very low water pressure. Unusually, many of the manufacturers seem to use standard sizes, so getting a replacement is often straightforward. Because taps on basins can be either handed or not not, one can't always be sure which way to turn each tap on, this can be annoying! Lastly, unlike traditional style taps, which take a number of turns to be on full, you may easily turn the water flow on far more than meant. The unexpectedly vigorous water flow and splashing can cause water going everywhere, including over your clothes. Not Good!

Bob Plum is the owner of BuyPlumbing co uk Ltd. If you live in Britain then the link http://www.buyplumbing.co.uk gives you access to a wide range of competitively priced bathroom goods and plumbing fittings.

# posted by 27164 : 10:58 AM  0 comments

You're tapping furiously away at your keyboard in the hopes of getting the forecast for next week because the Cancun Mexico weather considerations are weighing heavily on your mind. There's nothing more unpredictable than Mother Nature and there's nothing more unpredictable than her temperament. That's why you're sitting here in your office staring out the window and at the miserable day beyond it.

It's your lunch break but because of freak storms you're stuck inside with no way to get outside and smell the roses. You might be going on an extended break but it certainly doesn't feel like it, just now what with the pouring rain to mar your days. You wait eagerly for your vacation to come around and can hardly contain your impatience. Finally after all this time you're going to go on vacation and it looks like there might be serious weather conditions to blacken your days.

Generally speaking the Cancun Mexico weather conditions are near perfect with sunny days and cool ocean breezes to keep you happy. But you're really not surprised with this turn of events as its just par for the course with your unhappy streak of vacation disasters. That's why you chose Cancun Mexico in the first place, because you thought that you could escape from the problems that generally beset your vacation getaways.

It doesn't look like you're going to have any such luck this time either, and all you can do is to wait and see. The day of your vacation dawns bright and clear and you cross fingers and hope that no threatening black clouds will come around to ruin everything. Happily you put on the radio and listen to the weather forecast. It sounds promising. Still not hoping too much you check out the Cancun Mexico weather conditions and find to your relief that it's nice and a sunny there and a balmy seventy four degrees there.

Naturally you hold your breath until you get to Cancun Mexico weather considerations were never favorable for you but when your plane lands in near perfect weather conditions you could all but cry with joy. Theres nothing left to do now but to enjoy your Cancun Mexico vacations.

As you near your hotel you naturally look towards the ocean hoping that your luck will still be with you and you will be able to enjoy a late afternoon ocean swim on your first day in Cancun. The sky and Mother Nature seem inclined to work your favor and let you enjoy a marvelous holiday with very favorable Cancun Mexico weather conditions.

Bowe provides free information to the online public. Visit his Cancun site and gather information on Cancun resorts, vacation packages, cancun weather and much, much more.

# posted by 27164 : 1:03 AM  0 comments