Worcestershire Sauce Lawn Bowls Radio
Its name can be a bit of a tongue-twister-- "wuss-te-shire" sauce, "woos-ter-sheer" sauce, "wuss-te-sure" sauce. All those pronunciations are acceptable, as are the endless ways to use this condiment, from flavoring beef recipes and salad dressings to joining tomato juice and vodka in a bloody mary. In the early 1800s, an english nobleman in the county of worcester hired two local chemists, john lea and william perrins, to duplicate a sauce he had tasted while traveling in india. The resulting concoction was unpalatable, so they relegated it to the cellar. Years later, they came across it during a cellar cleanup and gave it another taste. Lo and behold, the sauce had matured and was now delicious. They christened their creation "worcestershire sauce" and went into business. Today, more than 170 years later, that same company produces that very recipe, the specifics of which remain a closely-guarded secret. The process begins with onions and garlic pickled in malt vinegar for one to two years. Inside the pickling barrels, the bulbs slowly liquefy, their flavor infusing the liquid. Other barrels contain anchovies cured in salt for several months. Additional ingredients include salt, sugar, white vinegar... Malt vinegar... Tamarind concentrate... Molasses... And a top-secret blend of flavorings and spices. Starting with the two vinegars, workers pour the ingredients one at a time into gigantic blending tanks. There goes the tamarind concentrate. Now the anchovies. The ingredient proportions are top secret, as is the prescribed mixing time between ingredients. Now the pickled onions and garlic... Sugar and salt... And that secret blend of flavorings and spices. Next, they pump the mixture into maturation tanks. There, over the course of several months, the ingredients age and interact with each other, undergoing complex changes in their natural chemistry which produce the sauce's distinctive flavor. Agitators rotate intermittently to keep the ingredients well-blended. The sauce then goes through a sieve, then through a press, followed by another cycle of blending and straining. The sauce is a smooth liquid by the time it progresses to the next phase--  pasteurization. This process heats the sauce to kill off organisms, ensuring optimal flavor for at least 18 months. The sauce needs no artificial preservatives whatsoever because the vinegars it contains are natural antimicrobial agents. The bottling process is entirely automated. The factory produces different formats. This one is modeled after the original bottle from the 1830s. The machinery closes each bottle with a one-piece, plastic flip-top cap. Inside, there's a small hole to ensure the sauce dispenses at the right flow rate. This prevents accidentally pouring too much sauce. As each bottle enters the labeling machine, an arm descends onto the cap. The machine applies glue to a label, slaps it on the bottle, then the arm spins the bottle against brushes that push the edges of the label flat. Then, depending on the format they're packaging, the equipment groups 6 or 12 bottles together and, from underneath, folds a carton around them. Then it shrink-wraps the carton, which then joins others on a pallet. The production process and recipe have remained essentially the same since worcestershire sauce was first bottled in 1835. Lawn bowling is a quiet, civilized game, not something you'd expect to be outlawed. But in 16th-century england, henry viii banned lawn bowling among commoners because it was a distraction from work. It took a couple of centuries before his ban was lifted, and the game became completely legit. In lawn bowling, the path to victory is not straight. The bowl is designed to roll in a curve towards the object ball-- the smaller yellow one called the jack. For many years, lawn bowls were made of a tropical hardwood called lignum vitae, but as this wood has become increasingly rare, manufacturers have turned to melamine. And unlike wood, melamine doesn't change shape with temperature and humidity fluctuations. Production begins with melamine granules that have been pre-dyed in a variety of colors to appeal to individual preferences. An employee scoops the granules into a tub and weighs them. Lawn bowls come in a range of sizes to fit different hands, so the weight varies accordingly. He drapes a cloth over the melamine granules and holds it in place with pieces of wood. Then it's into a machine called a pre-heater. It uses high-frequency radio waves to melt the plastic into putty. The cloth absorbs moisture generated in the process. All those melamine bits have now merged into a malleable mass. He squeezes it to reshape it a bit so it can be inserted into a molding press. This 150-ton press forces the plastic dough into a hot mold to shape it into a lawn bowl. This lawn bowl may look round, but it's not a perfect sphere. This slightly irregular shape will cause it to roll into a curve. He marks the size and other information onto it, and then it's over to a computerized lathe. It spins the lawn bowl while the blade carves it to perfect that asymmetrical shape. Other tools then etch two rows of half-moons onto the surface. This engraved pattern makes the lawn bowl easier to grip. The next blade slices off the nubs used to spin the lawn bowl in the lathe. It also smoothes the surface until all evidence of the nubs disappears. This receptacle uses suction power to hold the lawn bowl steady while a carousel moves it forward to undergo a vigorous polishing. The polisher rubs paste onto the surface to buff the lawn bowl to an even sheen. A robot then turns the lawn bowl upside down to expose the unpolished side... Then puts it back in the receptacle so the polisher can buff this side of the lawn bowl. The entire lawn bowl now gleams, and an unpolished bowl next to it looks dull by comparison. But there's more polishing to come. The next machine spins the lawn bowl against another polisher. This one applies a finer-grade compound to it. Down the line, lasers move in unison to engrave the same emblem onto four bowls. It's a scottish thistle, one of over 4,000 team insignias available in this production facility. Each lawn bowl then goes for another spin, and an employee paints over all the detail work. He wipes the paint from the surface, but it remains in the engravings to accentuate them. Some lawn bowls get two-tone paint jobs. The worker brushes red paint into a hawk engraving, which provides a nice contrast to the yellow detail work. Then it's over to the testing department, where they roll each bowl down a chute and check its swerve. They also verify that each bowl lands in approximately the same spot as the master bowl, which means they're all equal and they conform to world standards. Including cooling time between processes, it takes about two days to make a lawn bowl. But once the work is done, it's all fun and games. Radio-controlled model jets first flew onto the radar in the 1970s and have since evolved into sophisticated flying machines. Many have turbine engines and use real jet fuel. They allow people who would otherwise never pilot a jet to experience the thrill of flight with both feet on the ground. Radio-controlled model jets can roll and dive like actual jets. And they can reach speeds of up to 280 miles an hour. Operating one isn't child's play. It takes practice and skill to pilot this kind of model aircraft. It also takes money because they cost up to $20,000. Making a model jet begins with the paint job. They airbrush designs directly into the molds that will be used to shape various parts. This particular mold will be used to make one half of a wing shell. When the paint dries, they roll epoxy resin into the mold... Then put down a layer of fiberglass. They reinforce the fiberglass with superstrong carbon fiber, then brush on more epoxy resin. The next layer is balsa, a lightweight wood from south america. They apply carbon fiber to sections of the wing where parts are to be attached. Another sheet of fiberglass, and epoxy is the final layer. Now they add a layer of absorbent material, then sandwich the mold in plastic film. They install a connector for a vacuum hose and hook it up. The vacuum pulls out the air, squeezing the layers together. Then they bake the unit, which activates the epoxy, fusing the materials together. Next, they assemble the wooden framework for the wings. They reinforce it with strips of carbon fiber and apply epoxy on the edges. The model makers carefully install the framework on the wing shell. They apply an extra rib along the wing tip... Slide aluminum cylinders into tubes in the framework, then bead more epoxy along the wing shell's perimeter. They use high-strength adhesive in strategic parts of the framework to attach the other half of the molded wing. They bolt the molds together and set the assembly aside to allow the epoxy to cure. After a few hours, they extract the wing, its artwork nicely transferred from the inside surface of the mold. Machinery then cuts holes in the wing for installing landing gear and motors called servos. This router is computer programmed to make perfect cuts without damaging the internal framework. This is critical because just a fraction of an inch off, and the router would destroy the carefully crafted wing. The modeler now perforates the fiberglass layer of the wing. He's creating a hinged section called an aileron. It's a control surface that will cause the plane to turn or roll. The ailerons and other control surfaces will be powered by servomotors. The front fuselage shell has been molded and is now ready to be revealed. Like the wings, the body of this model jet needs a supporting framework along with brackets for attachments. Another computerized router carves them out of multilayered carbon-fiber board. The modeler glues these parts inside the fuselage and the tail of the jet. Coming up next, this model jet gets its wings and prepares for takeoff. Controlling one of these jets is challenging and requires concentration. These are expensive toys, and the learning curve is steep. One bad landing, and this model jet could end up in a crumpled heap. It's why flyers hone their skills at airfields and test them in international competitions. Back at the factory, the molded pieces of this model jet are coming together. They attach the wings to the fuselage using the cylinders installed earlier. Then the modeler moves to the aircraft's tail and attaches the stabilizers... The rudder... And the vertical fin. Super-strength glue cements the assembly. Next, they build the motor. This one is a ducted-fan electric system, a type used in smaller jets. The modeler first assembles the casing that will hold the fan and its motor. He slides airfoils into the casing to create four ducts, which will properly channel the flow of air. He slides the electric motor into the aluminum hub... Then anchors the assembly with a screw from the other side. The next part is a speed-control mechanism. He solders its wires to those protruding from the motor. He encloses the mechanism in a vented tube, then sets the assembly aside temporarily. Now focus turns to the fan, which he hooks up to a testing device. As the fan spins, the machine analyzes it for vibrations that would indicate the blades are out of balance. The gauge shows it's vibrating slightly, so he makes adjustments, and then it's ready to install. He attaches the fan to the motor shaft and secures it with a bolt in the center. It's now time to power up this motor at a test station. he brings it up to full throttle and measures the thrust it generates. It passes the test, so he installs it in the model jet's fuselage. Later, this ducted fan motor will be connected to a battery pack. Now he moves on to the landing gear and attaches air cylinders to the front and rear wheels. Pumping air into these cylinders will cause the wheels to retract after takeoff. This system will also cause the wheels to engage for landing. Next, a sheet of clear thermoplastic is transformed into cockpit-canopy parts. A machine heats the plastic, then vacuum-shrinks it to two molds. The plastic hardens in seconds to create two clear plastic bubbles for the jet canopy. They mold the cockpit shell in two sections using the same technique. With the cockpit now installed and a doll for a pilot, this '50s-era korean war jet replica is in fighting form. All that's left is to install the radio-control system, which will be done by the operator after purchase. From nose to tail, the attention to detail isimpressive. Some of these model jets even have gas-turbine engines for added authenticity. With radio controls installed, this turbine model jet is ready to taxi down the runway. The operator does one last check of the control surfaces, then it's time for takeoff. Miniature turbine engines sound and work like those of a big jet. These jets rumble and soar and can be made to perform many aerobatic stunts. Of course, it all hinges on both the skill of the operator and a job well done at the factory. But this looks like another successful landing.