Snowmobile
A snowmobile known as a motor sled, motor sledge, snowscooter, or snowmachine, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not require a road or trail, but most are driven on open terrain or trails. Snowmobiling is a sport. Older snowmobiles could accommodate two people. Snowmobiles built with the ability to accommodate two people are referred to as "2-up" snowmobiles or'touring' models and make up an small share of the market. Snowmobiles do not have any enclosures, except for a windshield, their engines drive a continuous track at the rear. Skis at the front provide directional control. Early snowmobiles used rubber tracks, but modern snowmobiles' tracks are made of a Kevlar composite. Snowmobiles were powered by two-stroke gasoline internal combustion engines and since the mid-2000s four-stroke engines have entered the market; the second half of the 20th century saw the rise of recreational snowmobiling, whose riders are called snowmobilers or sledders.
Recreational riding is known as snowcross/racing, trail riding, boondocking and grass drags. In the summertime snowmobilers can drag race on grass, asphalt strips, or across water. Snowmobiles are sometimes modified to compete in long-distance off-road races. In 1911 a 24 year old, Harold J. Kalenze, patented the Vehicle Propeller in Brandon, Canada. In 1915 Ray H. Muscott of Waters, received the Canadian patent for his motor sleigh, or "traineau automobile", on June 27, 1916, he received the first United States patent for a snow-vehicle using the now recognized format of rear track and front skis. Many individuals modified Ford Model Ts with the undercarriage replaced by tracks and skis following this design, they were popular for rural mail delivery for a time. The common name for these conversion of cars and small trucks was Snowflyers. In 1935 Joseph Bombardier assembled and tested the first snowmobile, it was a vehicle with a sprocket wheel and a track drive system, it was steered by skis.
The challenges of cross-country transportation in the winter led to the invention of the snowmobile, an all-terrain vehicle designed for travel across deep snow where other vehicles floundered. During the 20th century evolving designs produced machines that were two-person tracked vehicles powered by gas engines that enabled them to tow a sled or travel at low-to-moderate speeds, depending on snow conditions and obstacles protruding above the snow like brush and trees. Where early designs had 10 horsepower two-stroke engines, there has been a move toward newer style two and four-stroke gasoline engines, some with over 200 hp; the origin of the snowmobile is not the work of any one inventor but more a process of advances in engines for the propulsion of vehicles and supporting devices over snow. It parallels the development of the automobile and aviation inventors using the same components for a different use. Wisconsinites experimented with over-snow vehicles before 1900, experimenting with bicycles equipped with runners and gripping fins.
A patent for the Sled-Propeller design, without a model, was submitted on Sept. 5, 1895 by inventors William J. Culman and William B. Follis of Brule, Wisconsin. In the first races held near Three Lakes in 1926, 104 of these "snowbuggies" started. Carl Eliason of Sayner developed the prototype of the modern snowmobile in the 1920s when he mounted a two-cylinder motorcycle engine on a long sled, steered it with skis under the front, propelled it with single, endless track. Eliason made 40 snowmobiles, patented in 1927. Upon receiving an order for 200 from Finland, he sold his patent to the FWD Company of Clintonville, they made 300 for military use transferred the patent to a Canadian subsidiary. The American Motor Sleigh was a short-lived novelty vehicle produced in Boston in 1905. Designed for travel on snow, it consisted of a sleigh body mounted on a framework that held an engine, a drive-shaft system, runners. Although considered an interesting novelty, sales were low and production ceased in 1906.
The Aerosani, propeller-driven and running on skis, was built in 1909–1910 by Russian inventor Igor Sikorsky of helicopter fame. Aerosanis were used by the Soviet Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. There is some dispute over whether Aerosanis count as snowmobiles because they were not propelled by tracks. Adolphe Kégresse designed an original caterpillar tracks system, called the Kégresse track, while working for Tsar Nicholas II of Russia between 1906 and 1916; these used a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments and could be fitted to a conventional car or truck to turn it into a half-track, suitable for use over soft ground, including snow. Conventional front wheels and steering were used but the wheel could be fitted with skis as seen in the upper right image, he applied it to several cars in the Royal garage including Packard trucks. Although this was not a snowmobile, it is an ancestor of the modern concept; the dry snow conditions of the United States Midwest suited the converted Ford Model Ts and other like vehicles, but they were not suitable for humid snow areas such as southern Quebec and New England.
This led Joseph-Armand Bombardier from the small town of Valcourt, Quebec, to invent a different caterpilla
All-terrain vehicle
An all-terrain vehicle known as a quad, three-wheeler, four-track, four-wheeler, or quadricycle, as defined by the American National Standards Institute is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat, straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control. As the name implies, it is designed to handle a wider variety of terrain than most other vehicles. Although it is a street-legal vehicle in some countries, it is not street-legal within most states and provinces of Australia, the United States or Canada. By the current ANSI definition, ATVs are intended for use by a single operator, although some companies have developed ATVs intended for use by the operator and one passenger; the passenger is not required to have a helmet. These ATVs are referred to as tandem ATVs; the rider sits on and operates these vehicles like a motorcycle, but the extra wheels give more stability at slower speeds. Dirt bikes are considered to be ATVs as that they were designed for off road use only.
Although most are equipped with three or four wheels, six-wheel models exist for specialized applications. Engine sizes of ATVs for sale in the United States, range from 49 to 1,000 cc. Royal Enfield built and sold the first powered quadracycle in 1893, it had many bicycle components, including handle bars. The Royal Enfield resembles a modern ATV-style quad bike but was designed as a form of horseless carriage for road use; the term "ATV" was coined to refer to non-straddle ridden six-wheeled amphibious ATVs such as the Jiger produced by the Jiger Corporation, the Amphicat produced by Mobility Unlimited Inc, the Terra Tiger produced by the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company in the mid 1960s and early 1970s. With the introduction of straddle ridden ATVs, the term AATV was introduced to define the original amphibious ATV category; the first three-wheeled ATV was the Sperry-Rand Tricart. It was designed in 1967 as a graduate project of John Plessinger at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts near Detroit.
The Tricart was straddle-ridden with a sit-in rather than sit-on style. In 1968 Plessinger sold the Tricart patents and design rights to Sperry-Rand New Holland who manufactured them commercially. Numerous small American manufacturers of 3-wheelers followed; these small manufacturers were unable to compete when larger motorcycle companies like Honda entered the market in 1969. Honda introduced their first sit-on straddle-ridden three-wheeled ATVs in 1969, which were famously portrayed in the James Bond movie, Diamonds Are Forever and other TV shows such as Magnum, P. I. and Hart to Hart. These were dubbed the US90. Influenced by earlier ATVs, it featured large balloon tires instead of a mechanical suspension. By the early 1980s, suspension and lower-profile tires were introduced; the 1982 Honda ATC200E Big Red was a landmark model. It featured both suspension and racks, making it the first utility three-wheeled ATV; the ability to go anywhere on terrain that most other vehicles could not cross soon made them popular with US and Canadian hunters, those just looking for a good trail ride.
Soon other manufacturers introduced their own models. Sales of utility machines skyrocketed. Sport models were developed by Honda, which had a virtual monopoly in the market due to effective patents on design and engine placement; the 1981 ATC250R was the first high-performance three-wheeler, featuring full suspension, a 248 cc air cooled two-stroke engine, a five-speed transmission with manual clutch, a front disc brake. For the sporting trail rider, the 1983 ATC200X was another landmark machine, it used an easy-to-handle 192 cc four-stroke, ideal for new participants in the sport. The ATC200X was the first high-performance four-stroke ATV that featured full suspension and rear disc brakes with single piston calipers, an 18-horsepower engine, sporty looks and is considered one of the best ATVs produced. Today, ATC200Xs can be found on the market in all conditions and prices, is still regarded and followed by the aftermarket community. In 1985, Honda introduced the new ATC350X; the ATC350X was another high-performance three-wheeler, similar to the ATC200X, but as an new machine.
The 350X featured a 26-horsepower oil cooled 350 cc four-stroke engine with a 4-valve head. The engine was so good, it found its way into many hybrid race four-wheelers in years; the engine was a torque monster, Honda wasn't afraid to call the 350X "the King of the Hill" in its marketing of the machine. The suspension was a step in between the all new ATC250R and the ATC200X, with 8.5 inches of travel in the front forks. The 350X featured disc brakes with dual piston brake calipers for superb stopping power. However, the 350X suffered in handling with an underbuilt chassis which made the machine unpopular with racers, except for those who chose to be different by racing a four-stroke machine as two-strokes were the engine of choice at the time; the aftermarket came out with a custom gusset kit that strengthens the frame at its weakest points for riders that wish to build a race machine. In 1986, the ATC200X got a complete redesign; the machine shared nothing in common with its predecessor than the name.
It got an all new 199 cc four-stroke engine, wh
Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport
Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport or Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, in Ottawa, Canada is an international airport named after the Canadian statesmen and two of the "founding fathers of Canada", Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier. Located in the south end of the city, 5.5 nautical miles south of downtown Ottawa, it is Canada's sixth-busiest airport, Ontario's second-busiest airport by airline passenger traffic, Canada's sixth-busiest by aircraft movements, with 4,839,677 passengers and 150,815 aircraft movements in 2017. The airport is the home base for First Air; the airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada, is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. The airport is one of eight Canadian airports that have United States border preclearance facilities; the airport used to be a military base known as CFB Ottawa South/CFB Uplands. Although it is no longer a Canadian Forces Base, it is still home to the Royal Canadian Air Force's 412 Transport Squadron, which provides air transport for Canadian and foreign government officials.
On July 2, 1927, twelve P-1 airplanes under command of Major Thomas G. Lanphier, Air Corps, proceeded from Selfridge Field to Ottawa, acting as Special Escort for Colonel Charles Lindbergh, to attend at the opening of the Dominion Jubilee. First Lieutenant J. Thad Johnson, Air Corps, commanding 27th Pursuit Squadron, was killed in an unsuccessful parachute jump after a collision with another plane of formation in demonstration on arrival over Ottawa. There is now a street leading to the airport industrial section named after the aviator; the airport was opened at Uplands on a high plateau south of Ottawa by the Ottawa Flying Club, which still operates from the field. During World War II, when it was known as Uplands, the airport hosted No. 2 Service Flying Training School for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, providing advanced pilot training in Harvard and Yale aircraft. In 1950, to allow for a southward expansion of the airport, the nearby farming community of Bowesville, settled from 1821, was expropriated.
The last residents left and the village school was torn down in 1951. The current main airport terminal now stands on the site of the crossroads at the centre of the village; the road to the south of the airport still bears the name "Bowesville Road". During the 1950s, while the airport was still named Uplands and a joint-use civilian/military field, it was the busiest airport in Canada by takeoffs and landings, reaching a peak of 307,079 aircraft movements in 1959, nearly double its current traffic. At the time, the airport had scheduled airline flights by Trans-Canada Air Lines, Trans Air, Eastern Air Lines. With the arrival of civilian jet travel, the Canadian government built a new field south of the original one, with two much longer runways and a new terminal building designed to handle up to 900,000 passengers/year; the terminal building had been scheduled to open in 1959, but during the opening ceremonies, a United States Air Force F-104 Starfighter went supersonic during a low pass over the airport, the resultant sonic boom shattered most of the glass in the airport and damaged ceiling tiles and window frames, structural beams.
As a result, the opening was delayed until April 1960. The original terminal building and Trans-Canada Airways/DOT hangar continued in private use on the airport's north field until the Fall 2011 when it was demolished; the airport was renamed "Ottawa International Airport" in 1964. It became "Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport" in 1993. In 2017, the Canadian Border Services Agency started to use facial recognition technology to process incoming international travellers. All international passengers are directed to Primary Inspection Kiosks before seeing a Border Services Officer and are no longer required to fill out a declaration card; the airport consists of two distinct airfields connected by a taxiway. The smaller north field referred to as Uplands, was founded by the Ottawa Flying Club in the late 1920s and used by Trans-Canada Air Lines, the predecessor of Air Canada; this was the area used by No. 2 Service Flying Training School. Several hangars were all demolished by the early 2000s.
The north field is still popular for general aviation, although only one of its runways, 04/22, is still in use. There are a number of aircraft component repair facilities located within the same grouping of buildings as the Ottawa Flying Club; the south field consists of 07/25 and 14/32, designed for jet airliners. The public passenger terminal is tucked into the north side of the intersection of the two runways, while the two general aviation FBOs for the south field are nearer to the threshold of runway 25. Customs services for private aircraft are available at the two fixed-base operators, Shell Aerocentre and Esso, on the south field. There are a number of aviation component repair facilities on airport grounds in the Esso Avitat complex; the Government of Canada operates a number of hangars, including the Canada Reception Centre, used to greet visiting dignitaries. The National Research Council operates two facilities on the north side of the grounds, including a wind tunnel. Transport Canada operates two facilities on airport grounds, one which houses training equipment, including flight simulators, a hangar for maintenance and storage of government owned aircraft.
At the turn of the millennium, the Ottawa Airport Authority announced plans to build
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings is the home of the Parliament of Canada and has architectural elements of national symbolic importance. Parliament Hill attracts 3 million visitors each year. Law enforcement on Parliament Hill and in the parliamentary precinct is the responsibility of the Parliamentary Protective Service; the site of a military base in the 18th and early 19th centuries, development of the area into a governmental precinct began in 1859, after Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada. Following a number of extensions to the parliament and departmental buildings and a fire in 1916 that destroyed the Centre Block, Parliament Hill took on its present form with the completion of the Peace Tower in 1927. Since 2002, an extensive $1 billion renovation and rehabilitation project has been underway throughout all of the precinct's buildings.
Parliament Hill is a limestone outcrop with a sloping top, covered in primeval forest of beech and hemlock. For hundreds of years, the hill served as a landmark on the Ottawa River for First Nations and European traders and industrialists, to mark their journey to the interior of the continent. After Ottawa—then called Bytown—was founded, the builders of the Rideau Canal used the hill as a location for a military base, naming it Barrack Hill. A large fortress was planned for the site, but was never built, by the mid 19th century the hill had lost its strategic importance. In 1858, Queen Victoria selected Ottawa as the capital of the Province of Canada, Barrack Hill was chosen as the site for the new parliament buildings, given its prominence over both the town and the river, as well as the fact that it was owned by the Crown. On 7 May, the Department of Public Works issued a call for design proposals for the new parliament buildings to be erected on Barrack Hill, answered with 298 submitted drawings.
After the entries were narrowed down to three, Governor General Sir Edmund Walker Head was approached to break the stalemate, the winners were announced on August 29, 1859. The Centre Block, departmental buildings, a new residence for the governor general were each awarded separately, the team of Thomas Fuller and Chilion Jones, under the pseudonym of Semper Paratus, winning the prize for the first category with their Victorian High Gothic scheme of a formal, symmetrical front facing a quadrangle, a more rustic, picturesque back facing the escarpment overlooking the Ottawa River; the team of Thomas Stent and Augustus Laver, under the pseudonym of Stat nomen in umbra, won the prize for the second category, which included the East and West Blocks. These proposals were selected for their sophisticated use of Gothic architecture, thought to remind people of parliamentary democracy's history, would contradict the republican Neoclassicism of the United States' capital, would be suited to the rugged surroundings while being stately.
$300,000 was allocated for the main building, $120,000 for each of the departmental buildings. Ground was broken on December 20, 1859, the first stones laid on April 16 of the following year, Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, laid the cornerstone of the Centre Block on September 1; the construction of Parliament Hill became the largest project undertaken in North America to that date. However, workers hit bedrock earlier than expected, necessitating blasting in order to complete the foundations, altered by the architects in order to sit 5.25 metres deeper than planned. By early 1861, Public Works reported that $1,424,882.55 had been spent on the venture, leading to the site being closed in September and the unfinished structures covered in tarpaulins until 1863, when construction resumed following a commission of inquiry. Two years the unfinished site hosted a celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday, further cementing the area's position as the central place for national outpouring; the site was still incomplete when three of the British North American colonies entered Confederation in 1867, with Ottawa remaining the capital of the new country.
Within four years Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, the North-West Territories were added and, along with the associated bureaucracy, the first three required representation be added in parliament. Thus, the offices of parliament spread to buildings beyond Parliament Hill at that early date; the British military gave a nine-pound naval cannon to the British army garrison stationed in Ottawa in 1854. It was purchased by the Canadian government in 1869 and fired on Parliament Hill for many years as the "Noonday Gun". By 1876, the structures of Parliament Hill were finished, along with the surrounding fence and gates. However, the grounds had yet to be properly designed. Vaux completed a layout for the landscape of Parliament Hill, including the present day driveways and main lawn, while Scott created the more informal grounds to the sides of and behind the buildings. In 1901 they were the site of both mourning for, celebration of, Queen Victoria, when the Queen's death was mourned in official ceremonies in January of that year, when, in late September, Victoria's grandson, Pr
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of type and size. Ships are distinguished from boats based on their larger size and cargo or passenger capacity, their ability to carry boats. Small boats are found on inland waterways such as rivers and lakes, or in protected coastal areas. However, some boats, such as the whaleboat, were intended for use in an offshore environment. In modern naval terms, a boat is a vessel small enough to be carried aboard a ship. Anomalous definitions exist, as bulk freighters 1,000 feet long on the Great Lakes being known as oreboats. Boats vary in proportion and construction methods due to their intended purpose, available materials, or local traditions. Canoes have been used since prehistoric times and remain in use throughout the world for transportation and sport. Fishing boats vary in style to match local conditions. Pleasure craft used in recreational boating include ski boats, pontoon boats, sailboats. House boats may be used for long-term residence. Lighters are used to convey cargo to and from large ships unable to get close to shore.
Lifeboats have safety functions. Boats can be propelled by manpower and motor. Boats have served as transportation since the earliest times. Circumstantial evidence, such as the early settlement of Australia over 40,000 years ago, findings in Crete dated 130,000 years ago, in Flores dated to 900,000 years ago, suggest that boats have been used since prehistoric times; the earliest boats are thought to have been dugouts, the oldest boats found by archaeological excavation date from around 7,000–10,000 years ago. The oldest recovered boat in the world, the Pesse canoe, found in the Netherlands, is a dugout made from the hollowed tree trunk of a Pinus sylvestris, constructed somewhere between 8200 and 7600 BC; this canoe is exhibited in the Drents Museum in Netherlands. Other old dugout boats have been recovered. Rafts have operated for at least 8,000 years. A 7,000-year-old seagoing reed. Boats were used between 4000 and 3000 BC in the Indian Ocean. Boats played an important role in the commerce between the Indus Valley Civilization and Mesopotamia.
Evidence of varying models of boats has been discovered at various Indus Valley archaeological sites. Uru craft originate in Beypore, a village in south Calicut, Kerala, in southwestern India; this type of mammoth wooden ship was constructed of teak, with a transport capacity of 400 tonnes. The ancient Arabs and Greeks used such boats as trading vessels; the historians Herodotus, Pliny the Elder and Strabo record the use of boats for commerce and military purposes. Boats can be categorized into three main types: human-powered. Unpowered craft include rafts meant for one-way downstream travel. Human-powered boats include canoes, kayaks and boats propelled by poles like a punt. Sailboats, propelled by means of sails. Motorboats, propelled by mechanical means, such as engines; the hull is the main, in some cases only, structural component of a boat. It provides both buoyancy; the keel is a boat's "backbone", a lengthwise structural member to which the perpendicular frames are fixed. On most boats a deck covers the hull, in whole.
While a ship has several decks, a boat is unlikely to have more than one. Above the deck are lifelines connected to stanchions, bulwarks topped by gunnels, or some combination of the two. A cabin may protrude above the deck forward, along the centerline, or covering much of the length of the boat. Vertical structures dividing the internal spaces are known as bulkheads; the forward end of a boat is called the aft end the stern. Facing forward the right side is referred to as starboard and the left side as port; until the mid-19th century most boats were made of natural materials wood, although reed and animal skins were used. Early boats include the bound-reed style of boat seen in Ancient Egypt, the birch bark canoe, the animal hide-covered kayak and coracle and the dugout canoe made from a single log. By the mid-19th century, many boats had been built with iron or steel frames but still planked in wood. In 1855 ferro-cement boat construction was patented by the French, who coined the name "ferciment".
This is a system by which a steel or iron wire framework is built in the shape of a boat's hull and covered over with cement. Reinforced with bulkheads and other internal structure it is strong but heavy repaired, and, if sealed properly, will not leak or corrode; these materials and methods were copied all over the world and have faded in and out of popularity to the present time. As the forests of Britain and Europe continued to be over-harvested to supply the keels of larger wooden boats, the Bessemer process cheapened the cost of steel, steel ships and boats began to be more common. By the 1930s boats built of steel from frames to plating were seen replacing wooden boats in many industrial uses and fishing fleets. Private recreational boats of steel remain uncommon. In 1895 WH Mullins produced steel boats of galvanized iron and by 1930 became the world's largest producer of pleasure boats. Mullins offered boats in aluminum from 1895 through 1899 and once again in the 1920s, but it wasn't until the mid-20th century that aluminium gained widespread popularity.
Though much more expensive than steel, aluminum alloys exist that do not corrode in salt water, allowing a similar load carrying capacity to steel at much less weight. Around the mid-1960s, boats made of fiberglass became pop
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary in size and configuration. Commercial trucks can be large and powerful, may be configured to mount specialized equipment, such as in the case of fire trucks, concrete mixers, suction excavators. Modern trucks are powered by diesel engines, although small to medium size trucks with gasoline engines exist in the US, Mexico. In the European Union, vehicles with a gross combination mass of up to 3.5 t are known as light commercial vehicles, those over as large goods vehicles. Trucks and cars have a common ancestor: the steam-powered fardier Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built in 1769. However, steam wagons were not common until the mid-1800s; the roads of the time, built for horse and carriages, limited these vehicles to short hauls from a factory to the nearest railway station. The first semi-trailer appeared in 1881, towed by a steam tractor manufactured by De Dion-Bouton. Steam-powered wagons were sold in France and the United States until the eve of World War I, 1935 in the United Kingdom, when a change in road tax rules made them uneconomic against the new diesel lorries.
In 1895 Karl Benz designed and built the first truck in history using the internal combustion engine. That year some of Benz's trucks were modified to become the first bus by the Netphener, the first motorbus company in history. A year in 1896, another internal combustion engine truck was built by Gottlieb Daimler. Other companies, such as Peugeot, Renault and Büssing built their own versions; the first truck in the United States was built by Autocar in 1899 and was available with optional 5 or 8 horsepower motors. Trucks of the era used two-cylinder engines and had a carrying capacity of 3,300 to 4,400 lb. In 1904, 700 heavy trucks were built in the United States, 1000 in 1907, 6000 in 1910, 25000 in 1914. After World War I, several advances were made: pneumatic tires replaced the common full rubber versions. Electric starters, power brakes, 4, 6, 8 cylinder engines, closed cabs, electric lighting followed; the first modern semi-trailer trucks appeared. Touring car builders such as Ford and Renault entered the heavy truck market.
Although it had been invented in 1897, the diesel engine did not appear in production trucks until Benz introduced it in 1923. The diesel engine was not common in trucks in Europe until the 1930s. In the United States, Autocar introduced engines for heavy applications in the mid-1930s. Demand was high enough Autocar launched the "DC" model in 1939. However, it took much longer for diesel engines to be broadly accepted in the US: gasoline engines were still in use on heavy trucks in the 1970s. Truck is used in American English, is common in Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and South Africa, while lorry is the equivalent in British English, is the usual term in countries like the United Kingdom, Malaysia and India; the word "truck" might come from a back-formation of "truckle", meaning "small wheel" or "pulley", from Middle English trokell, in turn from Latin trochlea. Another possible source is the Latin trochus, meaning "iron hoop". In turn, both sources emanate from trekhein; the first known usage of "truck" was in 1611, when it referred to the small strong wheels on ships' cannon carriages.
In its extended usage it came to refer to carts for carrying heavy loads, a meaning known since 1771. Its expanded application to "motor-powered load carrier" has been in usage since 1930, shortened from "motor truck", which dates back to 1901."Lorry" has a more uncertain origin, but has its roots in the rail transport industry, where the word is known to have been used in 1838 to refer to a type of truck a large flat wagon. It derives from the verb lurry of uncertain origin, its expanded meaning, "self-propelled vehicle for carrying goods", has been in usage since 1911. Before that, the word "lorry" was used for a sort of big horse-drawn goods wagon. In the United States and the Philippines "truck" is reserved for commercial vehicles larger than normal cars, includes pickups and other vehicles having an open load bed. In Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the word "truck" is reserved for larger vehicles. In the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong lorry is used instead of truck, but only for the medium and heavy types.
Produced as variations of golf cars, with internal combustion or battery electric drive, these are used for off-highway use on estates, golf courses, parks. While not suitable for highway use some variations may be licensed as slow speed vehicles for operation on streets as a body variation of a neighborhood electric vehicle. A few manufactures produce specialized chassis for this type of vehicle, while Zap Motors markets a version of their xebra electric tricycle. Popular in Europe and Asia, many mini trucks are factory redesigns of light automobiles with monocoque bodies. Specialized designs with substantial frames such as the Italian Piaggio shown here are based upon Japanese designs and are popular for use in "old town" sections of European cities that have narrow alleyways. Regardless of name, these smal
Ford Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a range of SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company. Introduced in 1990 for the 1991 model year, the Explorer was the first four-door SUV produced by Ford, replacing the two-door Bronco II. Five generations of the Explorer have been produced; as with the Ranger, the Explorer derives its name from a trim package used on the F-Series, used from 1968 to 1986. Slotted below the full-size Bronco in the Ford truck line, the current Explorer is slotted between the Escape/Kuga and standard-wheelbase Expedition. For its first two generations, the Explorer was produced in both two-door and four-door configurations. Upon the introduction of the third generation, the Explorer was produced as a four-door SUV; the Sport name was resurrected in 2013, but as a performance version of the standard four-door Explorer. The Explorer has been offered with a number of powertrain layouts during its production; the first four generations offered rear-wheel drive as standard, with part-time four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive options.
During its production, numerous variants of the Explorer have been marketed, with Lincoln-Mercury selling the four-door Explorer as the Mercury Mountaineer and the Lincoln Aviator. The Explorer Sport Trac is a mid-size pickup truck derived from the four-door Explorer. For police use, Ford developed the Ford Police Interceptor Utility from the fifth-generation Explorer; the Ford Explorer was introduced in March 1990 for the 1991 model year. To better compete against the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer and Jeep Cherokee mid-size sport-utility vehicles, Ford sought to replace the Ford Bronco II with a vehicle sized closer to its competitors. In an effort to attract family buyers, a four-door version was developed alongside the two-door; as with the Ford Bronco II, the first-generation Ford Explorer shares its chassis and underpinnings with the first-generation Ford Ranger. In comparison to the Bronco II, the Explorer is far larger, with the two-door Explorer Sport gaining 12.6 inches in length and 2.1 inches of width.
As with its predecessor, the Ford Explorer has a large degree of commonality with the Ford Ranger, sharing its front bumper, headlights and wheels. In a major change from the Bronco II, the Explorer was given its own front door stampings. In addition for creating a four-door layout, the lack of commonality with the Ranger allowed for two major aerodynamic improvements. Sharing its engine with the Ranger and four-wheel drive Ford Aerostar, the Explorer was fitted with a German-produced 155 hp 4.0 L Cologne V6 as the sole engine offering, replacing the previous 2.9 L V6. A Mazda M5OD 5-speed manual was the standard transmission offering, with the option of the Ford 4-speed A4LD overdrive automatic transmission. For 1993, the engine output was increased to 160 hp. Along with the standard rear-wheel drive powertrain, at its launch, the Explorer was offered with various configurations of part-time four-wheel drive, powered by a Borg Warner 13–54 transfer case. In addition to a manually shifted transfer case, Ford offered "Touch Drive" electronic push-button shifting.
All Explorers were equipped with the Ford 8.8 axle in either a limited slip differential, or open version with a variety of available gear ratios. Four-wheel-drive front axles were the TTB Dana 35 with some Dana 44-spec components. At its launch, the Ford Explorer followed the Aerostar, Econoline, F-Series, Ranger in model trim; the XL was sold as the base trim, with XLT as the upper range, with the outdoors-themed Eddie Bauer trim as the top trim. The XL was distinguished by a black grille with steel wheels, while the XLT offered a chrome grille and alloy wheels; the Ford Explorer Sport was offered on the two-door body style. Offering black lower bodywork and grille and alloy wheels, the Sport was intended as a replacement for the Bronco II. From 1990 to 1994, Mazda marketed the two-door Ford Explorer as the Mazda Navajo; the Ford Explorer Limited was introduced for 1993 as a luxury-trim model slotted above the Eddie Bauer. Introduced as a competitor to the Oldsmobile Bravada, the Explorer Limited was offered only as a four-door with an automatic transmission.
Distinguished by its color-matched grille, headlight trim, model-specific bodywork and wheels, the Limited was offered with several model-specific features, including automatic headlights, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, and
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