May 7, 2008

Beriev 200 - the world’s top firefighter jet and Miss Atom

With a larger carrying capacity than any other plane designed to deliver and drop water, the Beriev-200 is alone in its class.

The multipurpose amphibian jet fills up eight containers with a total of 12 tonnes of water in just 18 seconds. It has inside four 200-litre containers with chemical substances which increase the efficiency of firefighting, when mixed with water.

“The plane is also easy to manoeuvre. Its steering wheel is like a joystick - the plane can be flown using just one hand unlike other jets, where the system is much harder,” says Maksim, a Beriev-200 pilot.

When the airplane is full of water, it weighs 43 tonnes, which is considered to be heavy for an amphibian. Even so, it can fly at more than 500 kilometres per hour. (Russia Today) click for video

And from the it could only happen in Russia Department, the Russian nuclear industry holds an annual beauty contest for its female workers. Prizes are awarded every year on Woman’s Day (March 8).

The contest idea has been designed by Nuclear.Ru (www.nuclear.ru), Russia’s leading electronic media on nuclear industry.

The contestants may be girls working at Rosatom’s enterprises and organizations, nuclear power plants, nuclear entities of former USSR states, research institutes, students and post-graduates of nuclear educational institutions.

Admission age is 18 to 35 years old.

The Miss Atom-2008 Beauty Contest is carried out in two stages. First, the contestants are to place their pictures and answers to a brief questionnaire on the Contest website: miss2008.nuclear.ru.

From February 20 till March 6 the Miss Atom-2008 website visitors can vote on-line for candidates. The Contestants will be rated and winners determined by the voting results.

The Miss Atom-2008 winners will get valuable prizes:

1st place – Luxury Tour to Italy for 2 Persons

2nd place – Privilege Debit Card

3rd place – 3-year Certificate for Brand Perfumes & Cosmetics Chain Stores