title: Urfa

text: Urfa was severely lacking in educational institutions during this period, and the opening of the Institute helped fill that need. At the time of its opening in 1944, there was only one other secondary school in the city. However, Turkey was under the wartime economy of World War II at the time, and lingering economic effects continued even after the war's end in 1945. The school's expansion into the Male Art Institute in 1947 was hindered by a lack of funds. In 1954, newspaper columnist Ekrem Erden wrote that the school was still unable to expand and was having tool shortages. As late as 1958, the school's carpentry workshop was still unfinished, forcing students to work in the halls.


title: Urfa

text: Today, the school's archive is part of the Urfa Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School ("Urfa Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi")'s archive.


title: Urfa

text: Şanlıurfa GAP Airport is located about 34 km (21 mi) northeast of the city and has direct flights to Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.


title: Urfa

text: Construction of the first phase of a planned four-route, 78 km network of trolleybus lines began in late 2017, and the first of 10 bi-articulated trolleybuses built by manufacturer Bozankaya was received in September 2018. However, work on additional vehicles was suspended because of various problems, and in 2020 the single vehicle delivered in 2018 remained the only trolleybus completed. A revised date for the eventual opening of the first line has yet to be set.


title: Urfa

text: Urfa has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: "Csa," Trewartha: "Cs"). During the summer months, temperatures often exceed while rainfall is almost non-existent. Winters are cool and relatively wet, frost is common along with very sporadic snowfall. Spring and autumn are warm and moderately dry.


title: Urfa

text: Urfa castle is located on the rocky heights south of the historical city center. It is long and thin because it crowns a ridge.


title: Urfa

text: The monumental walls surrounding the old town date from the Abbasid-era rebuilding in 812. The only major repairs to them took place during the early Ottoman period, in 1660-61, when there was restoration work done on the city's fortifications in general. The walls are made of large stone blocks over 30 cm tall all the way through (i.e. not just on the faces). The early Ottoman repairs are distinguished by their small size, white color, and light bossing. In many places, people have built private houses directly adjoining the city wall's inner face, so that it forms one side of the house. Because of Urfa's location, the east wall was always the most exposed to attack; large chunks of the surviving sections here consist of Ottoman repairs.


title: Urfa

text: According to legend, Balıklıgöl was formed by the prophet Abraham's confrontation with the tyrant Nimrod, who supposedly ruled over Urfa from the citadel above. When Abraham came of age, he destroyed Nimrod's idols, and in retaliation Nimrod "made a catapult out of the castle's twin pillars" and hurled Abraham into a pit of fire below. When Abraham landed, the flames miraculously turned into water, and the wood used to stoke the fire was turned into carp.


title: Urfa

text: The carp are now called "kutsal balıklar", or "sacred fish", and the spring water is believed to have healing properties. The fish are not eaten. According to legend, anyone who eats the carp will go blind.


title: Urfa

text: In ancient times, the pond and its carp were sacred to the fertility goddess Atargatis, or Tar'atha. With the shift in religion, the pond and its fish became associated with the prophet Abraham instead. This pond is mentioned in the late-4th-century account of the Christian pilgrim Egeria, who spent three days at Edessa and wrote that the fish were "shining and succulent". According to Drijvers, a temple to Atargatis once stood in this area.


title: Urfa

text: There was a major effort to renovate the Balıklıgöl complex in the 1990s and turn it into a cultural heritage site, clearing out "noisy vernacular elements" and making it into a tidy, organized space. Before, the complex was run-down and crowded in by makeshift houses, which the authorities considered "an eyesore and a safety hazard" and were expropriated and demolished.


title: Urfa

text: Balıklıgöl is associated with folk religious practices which, in recent decades, have become somewhat controversial with Muslim revivalists who "insist that such things have no place in Islam". For example, on Qadr Night ("Kadır Gecesi"), the night commemorating the first revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad, tens of thousands of Muslims come to Balıklıgöl to "spend the night awake in communal worship". This practice may have its origins in the Christian ritual of incubation that was practiced in Christian Edessa. The city's mufti also brings out a glass case that supposedly contains Muhammad's beard ("Sakal-ı Şerif"), and people crowd around and try to touch or kiss it. According to local tradition, spending Qadr Night at Balıklıgöl three years in a row is equivalent to one pilgrimage to Mecca - although such a claim tends to be frowned upon by Muslim clerics.


title: Urfa

text: The Halil ür-Rahman Cami, also called simply the Halil Cami, is a mosque and medrese located on the south side of the pool. Just south of the mosque is a cave which according to legend is where the prophet Abraham was born. Another tradition says that Abraham intended to sacrifice his son Isaac here, but sacrificed a goat instead; when he did, a spring gushed out, feeding the fish pool.


title: Urfa

text: The earliest part of the complex is the minaret, which was built in 1211-12 under Ayyubid rule. There was presumably a mosque with a prayer hall on the site of the present one, which was completely rebuilt in 1819-20 (but probably similar to the original one). The other major component is a series of medrese "cells", fronted by a portico, which were built in 1808-09 and then renovated in 1871-72. The original Ayyubid complex may have been built to serve as a medrese, but by Ottoman times it was being used as a tekke with kitchens, reception rooms, and guest rooms, which may have been on the same site as the medrese cells. The tekke complex was converted into a medrese in the 1800s, possibly as soon as the medrese cells were built.


title: Urfa

text: The mosque itself now serves as an antechamber where prayers can be said before entering the cave through a door on the south side. The mosque is entered through a domed vestibule on the west side. The prayer hall is a small squarish room with three aisles; two of them have groin-vaulted ceilings, while the middle one is topped with a dome. The mihrab is surrounded by an arch with squinches that seem to imitate Artukid style.


title: Urfa

text: The minaret is a square tower that is visually divided into thirds by three molded cornices, one of which is at the very top. The upper level has pairs of mullioned windows on all four sides. The tops of the windows form horseshoe-shaped arches.


title: Urfa

text: The medrese cells, now used as a Qur'an school, are elevated from the surrounding pavement. The cells are fronted by a portico with simple rounded arches. A balustrade with zigzag posts runs along the front of the portico. At the northwest corner of the pool is a five-sided room that projects out into the water on three sides. A restoration in the late 20th century extended the balustrade onto the top of the five-sided room.


title: Urfa

text: The pool of Ayn Zeliha, named after Nimrod's daughter, is located south of the main pool. It is shaded by trees and surrounded by cafés.


title: Urfa

text: The Haleplibahçe museum complex (Turkish: Haleplibahçe Müze Kompleksi) is located near Balıklıgöl and occupies a 40-hectare area. It consists of two museums: the Şanlıurfa Museum and the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum. The Şanlıurfa Museum was originally founded in 1965 and moved to its present location in 2015. With over 34,000 square meters of indoor space, it is the largest museum in Turkey. It has 14 exhibition halls and 33 animation areas and houses some 10,000 artifacts from the Paleolithic through Islamic times. This includes finds from Göbekli Tepe, Harran, and the areas now inundated by the Atatürk Dam. As for the Haleplibahçe Mosaic Museum, it was built "in situ" on the top of where the Haleplibahçe mosaics were originally found. Among the mosaics on display here is the oldest known mosaic to depict the Amazons.


title: Urfa

text: The 12th-century Ulu Cami, or congregational mosque, was probably built on the site of an earlier Christian church, in this case possibly one dedicated to St. Stephen. The courtyard's west and east walls contain some ancient masonry. Several arches on the north wall were either part of an arcade in the old church or part of an associated building. The Ulu Cami is located on Divan Caddesi.


title: Urfa

text: The courtyard itself is unusually elongated north-south. The main prayer hall is on the south side of the complex, while the minaret is at the northeast corner. A medrese is in the southeast corner, unusually projecting outward. The courtyard itself is slightly elevated and has two cemetery areas, both shaded by cypress trees.


title: Urfa

text: The main prayer hall was probably built sometime after Nur ad-Din Zengi captured the city in 1146. It was later renovated in 1779. The interior consists of three long east-west aisles separated by low, thick columns. Each aisle has cross-vaulted ceilings. The mihrab and the dome above it are slightly off-center. The whole north face of the structure is fronted by a portico, which is possibly a later addition to the structure. Its ceiling is also cross-vaulted; the supporting columns are irregularly spaced.


title: Urfa

text: The current medrese was built in the late 1700s on the site of an older one. The fountain at its southeast corner now contains an inscription commemmorating the old medrese's construction in 1191, when the Ayyubids were ruling Urfa. Its construction was begun one Umar ibn Shahan ibn Ayyub, who may have been Saladin's cousin. Construction was finished under Umar's son Muhammad. This inscription used to be on the medrese's north wall, but was apparently moved to the fountain sometime after 1930.


title: Urfa

text: The current medrese has its own mini-courtyard and consists of four rooms on the courtyard's south side plus a two-story building on the west side. This whole complex is now used as a school.


title: Urfa

text: The minaret, like the main prayer hall, was probably built in the mid-12th century. It is a tall eight-sided tower with large windows on each side of the top floor, giving a commanding view of the city. These windows start at floor level and are partly walled up to protect the muezzin or others from falling. Other windows, much smaller and narrower, are arranged in vertical rows on the north, west, south, and east faces. The top floor is reached by a circular staircase. The minaret's roof was originally flat, but there is now a cube-shaped addition on top, crowned by a lead cupola and with a clock on each side.


title: Urfa

text: An archaeological excavation in 1979 discovered a corridor underneath the Ulu Cami's prayer hall, beginning at its south face and extending north for about 6 or 7 meters before hitting a wall. The excavators hypothesized that this corridor would have then split into two parts and connected either to the old church's cellar or to underground catacombs.


title: Urfa

text: The Kapalı Çarşı is a "maze-like" covered bazaar area at the south end of Divan Caddesi, not far from Balıklıgöl. Its narrow streets are lined with shops and stalls selling a wide variety of goods: herbs and spices, many different types of fabric, "green Diyarbakır tobacco by the kilo", even guns. Household appliances are sometimes auctioned off here as well. The bazaar is covered are because of the climate: during the summer, the covers allow people to stay cool in the shade, while in winter they offer a bit of warmth.


title: Urfa

text: The Kapalı Çarşı is one of the busiest shopping areas in the city; it serves locals and tourists as well as people coming from the surrounding villages to buy things in the city. It remains popular in spite of the increasing number of shopping malls in the city.


title: Urfa

text: The Kapalı Çarşı is the most traditional marketplace in Urfa. Merchants gather and take part in a traditional prayer for "good and fruitful gain" two days per week when they open their shops as part of a "traders' prayer" that dates back to the culture of the Ahi guilds. Traditional artisans make goods for sale here, including shoes, saddles, and metal goods.


title: Urfa

text: Among the bazaars located within the area: Kazaz (Bedesten), Sipahi Pazarı, Kınacı Pazarı, Bakırcılar Çarşısı (coppersmiths' market), Eskici Pazarı, Kuyumcular Çarşısı (jewellers' market), Kunduracılar Pazarı (shoemakers' market). The coppersmiths' bazaar is located south of the bedesten, along with the Haci Kamil Hanı, while the Sipahi Pazarı and the Hüseyniye bazaar are located further west. In the coppersmiths' and tin-beaters' quarter, there is "a vaulted street with shops down either side."


title: Urfa

text: The Gümrük Hanı, or "customs caravanserai", is located in the middle of the Kapalı Çarşı. Variously dated to the late 16th century or the 18th or 19th centuries, it is a two-story building arranged around "a more or less square courtyard". The ground floor is occupied by shops opening up onto the courtyard. Above the shops on the upper level is a portico with access to rooms now used as private apartments. The shady courtyard is filled with tables belonging to teahouses and watch repairers. Just next door to the Gümrük Hanı is a bedestan.


title: Urfa

text: One of the most important markets in the Kapalı Çarşı is the bedesten, which is located just south of the Gümrük Hanı. Originally built in 1562, it is mentioned as "bezzazistan" in the waqf of Rızvan Ahmet Paşa in 1740. It was restored in 1998 by the Şanlıurfa Culture, Art, and Research Foundation (ŞURKAV). It has gates to 4 surrounding bazaars.


title: Urfa

text: The Tabakhane Cami, or "dyehouse mosque", dates from the 1700s or early 1800s. Its minaret, however, may be older - perhaps from the 15th or 16th centuries. The mosque's main prayer hall goes east-west, with a groin-vaulted portico on the north side. A rectangular courtyard surrounded by a high wall extends to the north. The main entrance to the whole complex is at the north end of the courtyard's west side, where there is a high and deep porch covered by a high semi-dome. The minaret is located at the east end of the portico; the "şerefe" at the top features carved designs interspersed with turquoise tiles.


title: Urfa

text: The Kara Meydanı is located at the north end of Divan Caddesi; north of here it becomes Sarayönü Caddesi. The 19th-century Yusuf Paşa Cami is located here, as is the old Haci Hafiz Efendi house, which is now restored and turned into an art gallery.


title: Russian passport

text: The Russian passport () is a booklet issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Russian citizens for international travel. This external Russian passport is distinct from the internal Russian passport, which is a mandatory identity document for travel and identification purposes within Russia. Russian citizens must use their Russian passports when leaving or entering Russia, unless traveling to/from a country where the Russian internal ID is recognised as a valid travel document.


title: Russian passport

text: After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet Union passport continued to be issued until 1997 with a validity of 5 years, when the first modern Russian passport are known to be issued. The first version of passports issued in 1997 was handwritten. Passports issued from 2000 to 2010 were machine-readable passports, had a validity of 5 years and included 36 pages. In 2006, Russia issued the first machine-readable biometric passports and in 2010, the design of the biometric passports was modified to include 46 pages and have a validity of 10 years.


title: Russian passport

text: Citizens under 18 traveling without either of their parents must have written consent of both parents allowing their departure from the country. When a child travels with one parent, consent of another parent is not required. Articles 20 and 21 of the Federal Law "On the entry in the Russian Federation and departure from the Russian Federation" govern only "departure from" Russia and have nothing to do with the requirements of other countries regarding "entry to" these countries.


title: Russian passport

text: In addition to regular passports there are two special-purpose types of passports for travelling abroad: diplomatic passports and service passports (issued to government employees abroad on official business).


title: Russian passport

text: Foreigners arriving in Russia were met with various restrictions during the Tsarist period; border magistrates would allow foreigners to pass within the state only with the permission of the senior government. Under Peter I, internal migration increased and as a result, the state introduced documents that travelers were required to keep so that they could track the movement of people and goods throughout the empire. The introduction of these documents also had a lot to do with the state's ability to impose proper conscription and head tax measures.


title: Russian passport

text: Under the legislation in force for the period of 1906 in Russia in the place of residence, as a general rule, the passport was not required. The capital and other cities which declared an emergency situation or enhanced protection were the exception. In addition, in areas that were subject to the rules on the supervision of industrial establishments, the workers of factories and plants were required to have a passport, and in the place of permanent residence. A passport was not needed when absent from the place of permanent residence: 1) within the district and outside it as recently as 50 vents and no more than 6 months, and 2) from the persons hired for rural work, in addition, within the townships adjacent to the county of residence, even if more than 6 months.


title: Russian passport

text: Law of June 10, 1902 the regulations on residence permits June 3, 1894 extended to the provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, with some modifications. Formed in 1902, the committee on the needs of the agricultural industry is recognized as desirable in the types of facilitating the movement of agricultural workers, the simplification of passport regulations. A special meeting of the needs of the agricultural industry has been entrusted to the Minister of Internal Affairs of the revision of statutes on residence permits, in the sense of saving for a passport solely value of an identity document. Elaborated on these grounds in 1905, a new draft statute was a passport to postpone consideration until the convocation of the State Duma.


title: Russian passport

text: Immediately after the Russian Revolution the Russian Republic not followed the emigration; Many disagreed with the new regime left the country since 1917 to the end of the 1920s left the country about 8,000 people, including about 500 scientists (for comparison, in the period from 1989 to 2004, according to various estimates from 25,000 to 80,000 scientists left Russia). In 1922, two flights so-called philosophical ship from Petrograd to Stettin and several ships from the territory of Ukraine and trains from Moscow on the personal instructions of Lenin were expelled 225 intellectuals (philosophers Berdyaev, Ilyin, Frank and Bulgakov). Of the emigrants only a small part returned, such as Marina Tsvetaeva and Alexei Tolstoy.


title: Russian passport

text: By the mid-1930s the Soviet government sealed the borders. Traveling to capitalist countries was only possible to employees of the Foreign Ministry, the nomenklatura and selected artists while most ordinary Soviet citizens had the opportunity to travel only in socialist countries with trade union tours.


title: Russian passport

text: The third and final wave of Soviet emigration coincided with the rupture of relations with Israel. June 10, 1968 the Central Committee received a joint letter to the leadership of the Foreign Ministry and the KGB signed by Andrey Gromyko and Yuri Andropov to the proposal to allow Soviet Jews to emigrate from the country. As a result, in the 1970s only about 4,000 people had left, many against their will, for example, such well-known dissidents as Brodsky, Aksenov, Aleshkovsky, Voinovich, Dovlatov, Gorenstein, Galich.


title: Russian passport

text: On May 20, 1991, a few months before the collapse of the USSR, the last Soviet law on the exit of citizens abroad was adopted, according to which citizens could leave at the request of the state, public and religious organisations and enterprises.


title: Russian passport

text: In 1993, exit visas were canceled and free issuing of passports was allowed. The right to freely leave the country was enshrined in a 1996 law. Passports with the symbols of the Soviet Union were issued to citizens of the Russian Federation until the end of 1997, to be replaced by machine-readable Russian passports. The last Soviet passports issued had an expiration date at the end of 2002, about 10 years after the dissolution of the Soviet state. Since 2001, Russian passports have been issued with a design which includes the emblem of Russia, a double-headed eagle. Since 2010, the application for the registration of a passport can be submitted via the website "www.gosuslugi.ru".


title: Russian passport

text: In 2006, biometric passports were introduced in Russia. Since 2009, in all regions of Russia there are points of issue of passport and visa documents of new generation (passports containing electronic media). The data of these items come in a single personalisation center. After 1 March 2010, biometric passport are valid for 10 years. The data on the chip Russian passports are protected by a technology access control BAC (basic access control), which allows producing read data only after entering the passport number, date of birth of the holder and the expiration date of the passport (usually by means of recognition of the machine readable zone of the passport), which excludes unauthorised access to data on the chip.


title: Russian passport

text: The holders of Russian Federation passports issued in Crimea and Sevastopol after their 2014 annexation, territory that is internationally recognized as a foreign-occupied part of Ukraine, do not have their passports recognized by the United States, and are denied European Schengen-zone visas (although Crimean residents who hold Ukrainian biometric passports can visit the EU visa-free). Canada and the United States are also refusing to recognize passports that Russia started issuing in 2019 to Ukrainians in the non-government-controlled Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, and the European Union was considering their non-recognition. Authorities in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson in southern Ukraine have handed out Russian passports to local residents during 2022 invasion.


title: Russian passport

text: Each passport has a data page and a signature page. A data page has a visual zone and a machine-readable zone. The visual zone has a digitized photograph of the passport holder, data about the passport, and data about the passport owner:


title: Russian passport

text: At the bottom of the data page is a machine-readable zone, which can be read both visually and by an optical scanner. The machine-readable zone consists of two lines. There are no blank spaces in either line. A space which does not contain a letter or a number is filled with "<".


title: Russian passport

text: The first line of the machine-readable zone contains a letter to denote the type of travel document ("P" for passport), the code for the issuing country ("RUS" for "Russian Federation"), and the name (surname first, then given names) of the passport holder.


title: Russian passport

text: The second line of the machine-readable zone contains the passport number (supplemented by a check digit), the code of the citizenship of the passport holder ("RUS" for "Russian Federation"), the date of birth of the passport holder (supplemented by a check digit), a notation of the sex/gender of the passport owner ("M" or "F"), the date of expiration of the passport (supplemented by a check digit), and, at the very end of the line, one or more overall check digits.


title: Russian passport

text: A signature page has a line for the signature of a passport holder. A passport is not valid unless it is signed by the passport owner (except for passport owners under age of 14).


title: Russian passport

text: Due to the fact that Russian visas (and Russian internal passports since 2011) are intended for use in Russia only, there are certain other Latin letters as well as other alphanumerical symbols used to transliterate the letter with no direct analogue in Latin script into the machine-readable zone. As an example, the letter "ч" is usually transcribed as "ch" in Russian travel documents, however, Russian visas and internal passports use "3" in the machine-readable zone instead. Another example is "Alexei" (travel passport) => "Алексей" (Cyrillic version) => "ALEKSEQ" (machine-readable version in an internal document)


title: Russian passport

text: Visa requirements for Russian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other countries placed on citizens of Russia. As of 11 January 2022, Russian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 119 countries and territories, ranking the Russian passport 46th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Palau Islands) according to the Henley visa restrictions index.


title: Russian passport

text: According to the national statistics these are the numbers of Russian visitors arriving to various countries per annum:


title: Russian passport

text: According to the federal law and the orders from 2012 and 2014 for the old 5-year laminated and the new 10-year biometric passport, respectively, either document has to be issued within one to four months,<ref name="http://www.rg.ru/1996/08/22/vjezd-vyezd-dok.html"></ref>


title: Russian passport

text: depending on circumstances, with the issue time being three months in case of an application being made to a consulate outside of Russia.


title: Russian passport

text: However, in practice, some consulates require an appointment to be made prior to the applicant being able to provide documents to apply for the passport, in some cases, appointments can only be available many months or even possibly years into the future, effectively undoing the upper limit for a timely issuance of the travel document.


title: Russian passport

text: Additionally, if passports are expired or lost, applications for the new passport are routinely declined to be accepted when abroad, prior to the verification of citizenship, for which the consuls require a separate application to be made, either in person or notarised by a notary public, with the processing times for verification itself often exceeding many months. Such practice of causing the extra costs for the applicant, however, seems to be in violation of point 23 of orders 10303 from 2012-06-28 and 3744 from 2014-03-19, which guarantee that no extra services are required in order to apply for a passport.


title: Caprica

text: Caprica is an American science fiction drama television series. A spin-off prequel of the re-imagined "Battlestar Galactica" taking place 58 years before the cataclysmic destruction of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol, focusing on the planet Caprica, the main planet of the Twelve Colonies. Caprica is the governmental seat of the Twelve Colonies, having also become the de facto seat of culture, art, science, and learning; the language of Caprica has become the standard language of the Twelve Colonies. "Caprica" shows how humanity first created the Cylon androids who would later turn against their human masters. Among "Caprica"'s main characters are the father and uncle of William Adama, the man who becomes the senior surviving military leader of the fleet which represents the remnants of the Twelve Colonies in "Battlestar Galactica".


title: Caprica

text: An extended version of the pilot premiered exclusively on DVD and digital download on April 21, 2009. The first season debuted on January 22, 2010, on Syfy in the U.S., Space in Canada, and Sky1 in the UK, running nine episodes, including the two-hour pilot, before going on a mid-season hiatus. The second half of the first season (Season 1.5) began airing on October 5, 2010, on Syfy and Space.


title: Caprica

text: On October 27, 2010, Syfy canceled the show, citing low ratings, and pulled the remaining five episodes of the series from its broadcast schedule. The series continued to air as scheduled on Space, finishing with the series finale on November 30, 2010. The remaining episodes were released on DVD in the U.S. on December 21, 2010 and aired on Syfy in a burn off marathon on January 4, 2011.


title: Caprica

text: The Twelve Colonies are at peace, 58 years before the rebooted series, when an act of religious fanaticism brings together Joseph Adama, a lawyer with ties to the criminal underworld, and wealthy technologist Daniel Graystone, both of whom lost family members. Grief-stricken by the loss of his daughter and fueled by obsession, Daniel sets out to bring her back, using his considerable wealth and sprawling technology corporation. Offered the chance of his own daughter being restored, Joseph wrestles with the notion until he comes face to face with its reality.


title: Caprica

text: "Caprica" differs significantly from its parent series. Ronald D. Moore had strong feelings on the matter, explaining his position that "...you don't try to repeat the formula," and going on to say, "...everything about "Caprica" was designed specifically to not repeat what we had done in "Galactica"." Although a critical success, "Galactica" had a predominantly male audience, and both Moore and the network felt the "war in space" backdrop was a major deterrent to female viewers. With these considerations, and "Caprica"'s storyline already focused on events taking place prior to the two Cylon Wars, the series has a different tone, content, and style. While "Caprica" contains references to elements of the "Battlestar" universe, the series was intended to be accessible to new fans.


title: Caprica

text: Whereas the dark, post-apocalyptic reimagined "Battlestar Galactica" series revolved around a final struggle for survival, "Caprica" is concerned with a world intoxicated by success. Ronald D. Moore states: "It's about a society that's running out of control with a wild-eyed glint in its eye." The Twelve Colonies are at their peak: self-involved, oblivious, and mesmerized by the seemingly unlimited promise of technology. Framed by the conflict between the Adamas and the Graystones over the resurrection of loved ones lost in an act of terrorism, the series was meant to explore ethical implications of advances in artificial intelligence and robotics.


title: Caprica

text: "Caprica" is grounded in urban locales rather than in space, and focuses on corporate, political, familial, and personal intrigue, similar in approach to a Greek tragedy. With wealth, corporate intrigue, and the troubled relationship between two families at its center, Moore himself has likened "Caprica" to the 1980s prime time soap opera "Dallas", Like "Battlestar Galactica", "Caprica" had a story arc format.


title: Caprica

text: During the second season of "Battlestar Galactica", series developer Ronald D. Moore and production partner David Eick started speculating about the "Battlestar Galactica" universe prior to the Cylons. Unable to dedicate serious time to the notion, it remained in the concept stage of development until in early 2006, screenwriter Remi Aubuchon, unaware of the ideas about a "Battlestar Galactica" prequel, proposed a film about artificial intelligence to Universal Pictures. Though Universal Pictures turned down the project as a movie, Universal Television executives felt Moore and Eick might be interested in Aubuchon's take on the subject and arranged a meeting. Merging the existing thoughts for a "Battlestar Galactica" prequel with those Aubuchon brought to the table, a general outline for a series emerged.


title: Caprica

text: While the Sci-Fi Channel management was enthusiastic about the idea, they had been engaged in a struggle with Moore about "Battlestar Galactica"'s long storylines, which the network felt kept new viewers from joining. Although Moore's subsequent retooling garnered negative criticism from fans and press alike, and the Sci-Fi Channel eventually admitted that standalone episodes did not work for the show, the network balked at the prospect of another series with a story-arc-heavy format and "Caprica" got stuck in "development hell".


title: Caprica

text: With Eick and Moore's announcement that "Battlestar Galactica" was going to end with its fourth season, and after a drawn out pre-development cycle, on March 18, 2008, the Sci-Fi Channel announced that "Caprica" had been picked up as a two-hour backdoor pilot event, indicating a possible commitment to a series, contingent on ratings. On July 20 of the same year, Sci-Fi announced it was considering picking up "Caprica" directly as a weekly series, and would make the pilot an extended season premiere. Finally, on December 2, Sci-Fi gave the go-ahead to expand the project into a full series. Production was resumed in July 2009 for an anticipated series premiere in early 2010. The series premiered on January 22, 2010.


title: Caprica

text: Universal Media Studios developed the show, in conjunction with Remi Aubuchon and the executive producers of "Battlestar Galactica", Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Aubuchon co-created the show and worked on the pilot, then left to become executive producer of "Persons Unknown". The pilot was directed by "Friday Night Lights" veteran Jeffrey Reiner. "Battlestar Galactica's" Jane Espenson, Michael Taylor, and Ryan Mottesheard, "Pushing Daisies"<nowiki>'</nowiki> Kath Lingenfelter, and "Friday Night Lights" Patrick Massett and John Zinman joined the writing staff. Moore ran the writers room initially, but handed off to Espenson, who was promoted to executive producer and was "Caprica"'s showrunner until November 15, 2009, when it was announced that Kevin Murphy, who had joined as executive producer in October, would assume the role.


title: Caprica

text: Eric Stoltz received the script while filming a movie, and he left it in his hotel room for several days without reading it. When it was stolen by a maid who had been paid off by a "Battlestar" fan, he realized how passionate the fandom was, and knew he had to read it. Paula Malcomson originally tested for the role of Sister Clarice Willow; however, Jeffrey Reiner felt she would make a great Amanda Graystone. On April 28, 2009, Sasha Roiz's role was expanded to full series regular. Brian Markinson was also upgraded from guest star to series regular after the pilot episode.


title: Caprica

text: The show was shot in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. In the pilot, exterior shots feature many regional landmarks, often augmented using CG imagery. Many of the external scenes were filmed in the Yaletown area of the city, including one distinctive shot of the old railway turntable next to the Roundhouse at Davie and Pacific. The city's library is also featured in one shot (when Daniel and Joseph meet for the first time), just as it was in scenes set in Caprica City in various episodes of "Battlestar Galactica".


title: Caprica

text: Vancouver's SkyTrain and one of its stations (Granville) feature in the sequence prior to the terrorist explosion. The production chose to keep the same font and sign style used by the real SkyTrain, but with rebadged signs featuring the name "Caprica City". Several structures found in the financial district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, have been digitally added to the images of Caprica City to enhance its futuristic look, including one of the Emirates Towers, the Khalifa Tower, and the Dubai Metro.


title: Caprica

text: The exterior shots of the school attended by Zoe Graystone, Lacy Rand and several other characters were filmed outside the Vancouver School of Theology, on the campus of the University of British Columbia.


title: Caprica

text: When Daniel takes Joseph and William to the Pyramid sports match, the colors of Caprica's team (the Buccaneers) are identical to those of Vancouver's real life hockey team, the Canucks. Navy and green stripes adorn the walls outside the team dressing room, suggesting that the scenes were filmed at Rogers Arena.


title: Caprica

text: One of the encounters between Daniel Graystone and Tomas Vergis was filmed in the University of British Columbia's Museum of Anthropology. The sculpture "The Raven and the First Men" was in the background.


title: Caprica

text: There was also significant filming at Central City Shopping Centre in Surrey, B.C., and much of the Simon Fraser University Surrey Campus was transformed to represent various locations in Caprica. For instance, the mezzanine and registrar's office at SFU were used to represent the Caprica Inter-colonial Space Port.


title: Caprica

text: The interior shots of Graystone Industries were almost exclusively filmed at BCIT's Aerospace Technology Campus in Richmond, B.C.


title: Caprica

text: The filming of "Little Tauron" was done in and around Vancouver's Chinatown district with a small number of stores in the area having Greek language signs (ancient and modern Greek was used as the language of the Taurons in "Caprica") while the rest of the shops retained their Chinese language signs for the duration of the filming.


title: Caprica

text: Bear McCreary served as the composer for "Caprica". His soundtrack for the show was almost entirely orchestral. As on "Battlestar Galactica", character themes are used extensively; however, world ethnic influences play a much smaller role. The full ethnic percussion ensemble, including taiko, frame drums, dumbeks, chang changs, tsuzumis and other instruments, was brought in, although used much more sparingly than on "Battlestar". The "Tauron Theme" draws inspiration from Russian folk music.


title: Caprica

text: Todd Fancey, best known as a long-time member of the popular indie band New Pornographers, composed "V-Club", a rhythm-intensive track that serves as the theme music for club scenes in the series. This theme was featured prominently in the first preview clip for the new series.


title: Caprica

text: The soundtrack for the "Caprica" pilot was released on June 16, 2009, by La-La Land Records, and contains 18 tracks. On July 30, 2013, La-La Land Records released a follow-up compilation of music from across the first (and only) season of the show.


title: Caprica

text: "Home Media Magazine's" John Latchem wrote that "Caprica" has "all the same dark overtones and richness of character that fans have come to expect from "Galactica."" He also wrote that the show "[evokes] a feeling similar to "Gattaca" in its depiction of a potential near future, while infusing elements of the "Matrix" and "Terminator" movies to set up a bridge to the events viewers know will unfold."


title: Caprica

text: "The Futon Critic's" Brian Ford Sullivan found the first fifteen minutes "A weird mix of teen angst, hedonism and virtual reality ... once established, the world of "Caprica" has the potential to be just as compelling, interesting and multi faceted as its "sequel" – minus of course the cool stuff blowing up in space. In just 92 minutes, "Caprica" manages to dish out a surprisingly dense, but not too overwhelming, array of plot threads."


title: Caprica

text: Rob Owen of the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" gave the pilot four out of four stars, stating, ""Caprica" gives a more forceful, potential-filled first impression than the "Battlestar Galactica" pilot/miniseries." "The Star-Ledger's" Alan Sepinwall found the story intriguing, and Stoltz's and Morales's performances excellent, while director Jeffrey Reiner "creates an absolutely gorgeous looking pilot episode."


title: Caprica

text: Joanna Weiss of "The Boston Globe" wrote that "if this episode is any indication, "Caprica" will be sinister [and] compelling" and "while the technology is inventive, human emotion still drives the plot." Mark A. Perigard of "Boston Herald" gave it a B+, stating that the pilot felt more like an intellectual puzzle and lacked the life-or-death intensity of "Battlestar Galactica". Lewis Wallace of "Wired News" rated the pilot an 8/10, saying that "Caprica" has inherited from Battlestar "the lean writing, the strong acting, the exceptional soundtrack by Bear McCreary", and that "the characters are richly drawn and ripe for further exploration."


title: Caprica

text: Maureen Ryan of "Chicago Tribune" gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars, with particular praise for the casting of Stoltz, Morales, Malcomson, and Walker. "The A.V. Club's" Noel Murray said of the show, "Some BSG stalwarts may have some difficulty with the muted science fiction/action elements, but it's a lovely piece of work on its own merits, imbued with real visual poetry by director Jeffrey Reiner."


title: Caprica

text: Ken Tucker from "Entertainment Weekly" called "Caprica" "One of the 10 Best Shows on Now", in March 2010.


title: Caprica

text: "The New York Times"' Mike Hale described "Caprica" as "the child of "Galactica"" that "hasn't yet developed enough humor or authentic domestic drama" to reach beyond "Battlestar Galactica"s fan base. Hale concluded that, compared to its predecessor, ""Caprica" is, almost by default, a more ordinary show."


title: Caprica

text: Metacritic listed the show as having a score of 72 from critics, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."


title: Caprica

text: The series earned generally modest ratings, peaking with 1.6 million viewers for the mid-season finale. Season 1.5 debuted with lower ratings, drawing fewer than 900,000 viewers for each episode. Citing these low ratings, Syfy canceled the program on October 27, 2010, and removed the remaining five episodes of the series from its broadcast schedule. The remaining five episodes aired as previously scheduled on Space in Canada, but were not broadcast in the United States until January 4, 2011.


title: Caprica

text: The rights to broadcast the series were picked up by Sky1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Space in Canada. "Caprica" commenced airing in Australia on free-to-air digital channel 7mate on September 30, 2010.


title: Caprica

text: On April 21, 2009, an uncut and unrated extended version of the pilot was released as a download from online digital media stores and as a complete DVD with commentary, deleted scenes, and video blogs.


title: Caprica

text: The first half of the first season ("Season 1.0") was released on DVD in region 1 on October 5, 2010, and the second half of the season ("Season 1.5") was released on December 21, 2010.


title: Caprica

text: The complete series was released on Blu-ray in France on October 25, 2011. The Region B Blu-ray set is presented in 1080p (the referenced page is incorrect, see their own back cover image) and contains all 18 episodes aired and a selection of bonus features. The set features an English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 track as well as an English and French Audio 3D one, and comes with English and French subtitles. The series was also released on Blu-ray in Germany and Scandinavia in 2015, and in the UK as part of the "Battlestar Galactica – Ultimate Collection" boxed set.


title: Graupel

text: Graupel (; ), also called soft hail, hominy snow, or snow pellets, is precipitation that forms when supercooled water droplets in air are collected and freeze on falling snowflakes, forming balls of crisp, opaque rime.


title: Graupel

text: Graupel is distinct from hail and ice pellets, in regards to their formation and appearance. However, both hail and graupel are common in thunderstorms with cumulonimbus clouds, though graupel also falls in winter storms, and at higher elevations as well. The METAR code for graupel is GS.


title: Graupel

text: Under some atmospheric conditions, snow crystals may encounter supercooled water droplets. These droplets, which have a diameter of about on average, can exist in the liquid state at temperatures as low as , far below the normal freezing point as long as above the homogeneous nucleation point of water. Contact between a snow crystal and the supercooled droplets results in freezing of the liquid droplets onto the surface of the crystal. This process of crystal growth is known as accretion. Crystals that exhibit frozen droplets on their surfaces are often referred to as rimed. When this process continues so that the shape of the original snow crystal is no longer identifiable and has become ball-like, the resulting crystal is referred to as graupel.


title: Graupel

text: Graupel was formerly referred to by meteorologists as "soft hail." However, graupel is easily distinguishable from hail in both the shape and strength of the pellet and in some cases, the circumstances in which it falls. Ice from hail is formed in hard, relatively uniform layers and usually falls only during thunderstorms. Graupel forms fragile, soft, oblong crystals and falls in place of typical snowflakes in wintry mix situations, often in concert with ice pellets. However, Graupel does also occur in thunderstorms. Graupel is also fragile enough that it will typically fall apart when pressed on.


title: Graupel

text: The frozen droplets on the surface of rimed crystals are difficult to see even when zoomed in, and the topography of a graupel particle is not easy to record with a light microscope because of the limited resolution and depth of field in the instrument.


title: Graupel

text: However, observations of snow crystals with a low-temperature scanning electron microscope (LT-SEM) clearly show frozen cloud droplets measuring up to on the surface of the crystals. The rime has been observed on all four basic forms of snow crystals, including plates, dendrites, columns and needles. As the riming process continues, the mass of frozen, accumulated cloud droplets eventually obscures the form of the original snow crystal, thereby giving rise to graupel.


title: Graupel

text: Graupel commonly forms in high-altitude climates and is both denser and more granular than ordinary snow, due to its rimed exterior and higher density. Macroscopically, graupel resembles small beads of polystyrene. The combination of density and low viscosity makes fresh layers of graupel unstable on slopes, and layers of or higher present a high risk of dangerous slab avalanches. In addition, thinner layers of graupel falling at low temperatures can act as ball bearings below subsequent falls of more naturally stable snow, rendering them also liable to avalanche or otherwise making surfaces slippery. Graupel tends to compact and stabilise ("weld") approximately one or two days after falling, depending on the temperature and the properties of the graupel.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: Sublime with Rome is a musical collaboration between Eric Wilson, formerly of the American ska punk band Sublime, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name is not only a reference to the singer's first name, but to the fact that they chiefly perform songs by the original Sublime, which was fronted by Bradley Nowell until his death in 1996.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: Ramirez began performing with Bud Gaugh (also formerly of Sublime) and Wilson in 2009, where they played under the name "Sublime", until Nowell's estate issued a legal challenge to the use of the trademarked name for a venture not including Nowell. As a result, they changed their name to "Sublime with Rome" in January 2010. The group played at the 2009 Smokeout Festival and embarked on their first tour in 2010, before releasing their debut album, "Yours Truly", on July 12, 2011. Gaugh left the band on December 10, 2011, and was replaced by Josh Freese. The lineup of Wilson, Ramirez and Freese recorded the group's second album "Sirens", which was released in 2015. Sublime with Rome's third lineup change took place in 2017, when Carlos Verdugo replaced Freese.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In May 2019, the new trio released their first album together, and the third for Sublime With Rome, titled "Blessings". The album, produced by Rob Cavallo, features the song "Wicked Heart" as the album's first single, reaching No. 34 on "Billboard"'s Alternative Songs chart.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In 1997 Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson started Long Beach Dub Allstars, their first project since Bradley Nowell's death. The band played Sublime songs as well as new material. After Long Beach Dub Allstars split up in 2002, Wilson went on to form Long Beach Shortbus, while Gaugh went on to form Eyes Adrift and Volcano (which both featured Meat Puppets guitarist/vocalist Curt Kirkwood).


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In February 2009 Gaugh and Wilson reunited for a show in Nevada and called themselves Sublime. They were joined by a new singer-guitarist whose identity was not announced; on March 1, 2009, Gaugh confirmed this was then-20-year-old Northern California native Rome Ramirez, who had previously collaborated with Wilson on RAWsession where he played Sublime songs such as "Saw Red" and "Boss DJ". The trio played another show at Cypress Hill's Smokeout Festival on October 24, 2009 in San Bernardino, California. The festival also featured performances from Kottonmouth Kings, Slipknot, Deftones, Bad Brains and Pennywise.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: On October 23, 2009, one day before the Smokeout Festival concert took place, Nowell's family and the executors of his estate threatened Gaugh and Wilson, along with Ramirez, with a lawsuit if the reconstituted band continued to use the Sublime moniker. The statement was posted to the band's official MySpace page and read as follows:


title: Sublime with Rome

text: On November 3, 2009, a Los Angeles judge shut down an effort by the new lineup of Sublime to perform under the name. Jeremiah Reynolds, who represents the estate of original Sublime singer Bradley Nowell commented on the case:


title: Sublime with Rome

text: As part of the preliminary injunction, the new lineup are said to be unable to perform or record under the name Sublime without approval and permission from the Nowell estate. A spokesman for Gaugh and Wilson declined to comment. Thomas Brackey, who represents the surviving Sublime members, did not return calls. The injunction is dependent upon a bond of $125,000 being posted in the event it is later determined that the defendants – the surviving Sublime members – suffered damages as a result of the ruling. Reynolds said the bond would be posted. Gaugh and Wilson issued the following statement:


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In January 2010, the case was dismissed and it was finally announced that the new lineup of Ramirez, Wilson and Gaugh would perform together under Sublime with Rome.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In February 2010, the band confirmed numerous North American dates, as well as plans to tour Europe in May. However, as of June 2010, a European tour in May never came to fruition. Sublime with Rome live shows include Todd Forman on sax and keyboards; Forman was the original sax player on past Sublime studio albums.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: Gaugh told Billboard.com that new material from Sublime with Rome was in the cards. The trio wrote three new songs when it first started playing together in February 2009, including one, "Panic", that was performed at all three shows they had done so far. He explained, "We're gonna continue working on material as we're on the road. It's not without question to have a studio in one of the buses while we're on tour. We do a lot of our best creativity on stage, so we'll be trying out new stuff for the fans, even before we go into the studio."


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In May 2010, Gaugh revealed to Billboard.com that Sublime with Rome would enter the studio in June for a week "and nail down some of the more worked-out songs, and possibly even finish one or two of them for a late summer radio release". The band was expected to have the album out in 2011. On February 5, 2011, Sublime with Rome announced on their official website that they were planning to enter the studio in March to begin recording their debut album, with Butthole Surfers guitarist Paul Leary producing. Ramirez had said several collaborations were being considered. "There will be special guests and some collaborations as well, like one with Aimee Allen."


title: Sublime with Rome

text: On February 21, 2011, the band posted a statement on their Facebook page saying that they had begun recording the album and would be posting "mad videos" to "let everyone know where to go for a behind the scenes look at the Sublime with Rome process." On April 14, 2011, Ramirez posted an update on Sublime with Rome's official website saying that the album was almost finished and projected a summer release. During the summer 2010 tour, Sublime with Rome performed their first new song "Panic" on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". It was also announced that Sublime with Rome officially signed to record label Fueled by Ramen and released their debut album "Yours Truly" on July 12, 2011.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: On December 10, 2011, at the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas, the band announced that it would be the last performance with drummer Bud Gaugh, who would be leaving the group to spend more time with his family as he was expecting a child. Josh Freese filled in for some performances on a temporary basis, before officially joining the band. On January 12, 2012, in an interview posted on budztv.com, Gaugh expressed regrets about touring and recording with Sublime with Rome stating:


title: Sublime with Rome

text: When asked if he saw the band reuniting in the future Gaugh replied, "No, I am done with SWR. I would be into playing music with Eric Wilson, however."


title: Sublime with Rome

text: When asked how it felt to play Sublime songs again, Gaugh said, "It was really good for the first few months, after that, it just felt wrong. Not playing the songs but playing them with the name Sublime, without Brad."


title: Sublime with Rome

text: By 2013, Sublime with Rome was expected to return to the studio to record their second album. On May 13, 2015, the first single from then-upcoming album "Sirens", titled "Wherever You Go", was released on YouTube. A second single was released on YouTube and iTunes, titled "Sirens (Feat. The Dirty Heads)", on June 29, 2015. "Sirens" was released on July 17, 2015.


title: Sublime with Rome

text: In early 2017, Josh Freese was replaced by former Tribal Seeds drummer Carlos Verdugo. Soon after, the band announced a North American summer tour with The Offspring and The Menzingers. The band's third album, "Blessings" was produced by Rob Cavallo and released through Red Music in 2019. Ramirez said of the album, "A lot of these songs really came from honestly me being in a spot where I wanted to just write all the lyrics upfront first and focus on what I wanted to say. I just got married, I was having my first child. Things were starting to change for my life; I stopped drinking hard alcohol. Everything was starting to come into focus for this for the next chapter."


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel Salvadore is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Grant Morrison and Ethan Van Sciver, the character first appeared in "New X-Men" #118 (November 2001). She belongs to the subspecies of humans called mutants, who are born with superhuman abilities. Angel is also known by her codename Tempest.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel Salvadore first appeared in "New X-Men" #118 (November 2001), created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Ethan Van Sciver. From 2001 to 2004 she appears sporadically in "New X-Men" #119–150. In 2003, she appears in "" #1 and #5. In 2004, she makes two appearances in "Exiles" with issues #46 and #48. One year later, she makes on appearance in volume 2 of "New X-Men" in issue #11. Then, she appears in the story "House of M: World Tour" in "Exiles" #69–71 and "The Day After" in "Decimation: House of M" #1 (January 2006).


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel Salvadore is depowered. From 2007 to 2009, under the codename Tempest, she appears in "New Warriors" #2–7 and #10–20.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: In 2011, she appears in "Heroic Age: X-Men" #1 (February 2011) and an alternate version appears in "Age of X: Universe" #2 (June 2011). Angel appears in "Vengeance", a six-issue 2011 miniseries by writer Joe Casey and penciller Nick Dragotta.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel Salvadore is fourteen years old when her mutation first manifests, and she is driven out of her home by her abusive step-father. The following morning, she wakes up in a cocoon. She emerges with a pair of insect wings. She is later captured by U-Men, humans who harvest mutants for their body parts for their own use. Wolverine rescues her from a mobile operating theater. He kills all the U-Men and offers to escort her to the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning. They stop at a diner along the way, but the owner becomes aggressive towards them because of his fear of mutants. The owner attacks them when he sees Angel digesting her food like a fly. Finally, Wolverine brings Angel to the Xavier Institute and they watch Jean Grey expel an army of U-Men from the school.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: At first Angel does not fit in well, especially with Emma Frost. However, Emma takes Angel's attitude to be a challenge, instead opting to take Angel under her wing as a mentor and mold Angel into a sophisticated young woman. Angel later helps the X-Men fight the menace of Cassandra Nova by working with the Stepford Cuckoos and stealing needed DNA samples.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: After accepting a bet to kiss Beak, her classmate in the Xavier Institute's Special Class, Angel grows close to him, and they begin to see each other romantically and sexually. Angel, Beak, and the other Special Class students are part of another confrontation with the U-Men, deep in the woods on the Xavier Mansion grounds. Angel is the only one to see Xorn brutally murder the U-Men. He convinces her to keep it their secret by bribing her with candy.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Emma and Angel's relationship deepens after Emma and the Stepford Cuckoos come to differences. During a shopping spree, Angel tries to tell a distracted Emma that she is pregnant. Angel and Beak's efforts are recognized in an awards ceremony held by the institute. The two sneak outside, not realizing they had any chance of winning, and Angel reveals to Beak she is pregnant, fearing that Emma will have them expelled. Due to her fly morphology, her pregnancy rate is accelerated, and she lays insect-like eggs in Wolverine's old shack. Her fear of their children being discovered and destroyed and of their possible expulsion make Angel a suspect in the "murder" of Emma Frost, who is found shattered in her diamond form by a diamond bullet. Angel is cleared of those suspicions when Emma is revived and names Esme as the perpetrator. In actuality, Esme had taken telepathic control of Angel.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Despite Angel and Beak's fears, the X-Men welcome their children, who look mostly human but with some of Angel's fly characteristics (such as insect-like wings) or Beak's chicken morphology (such as feathers or a beak).


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Shortly afterwards, Xorn, instructor of the Special Class, apparently reveals himself to be the mutant terrorist Magneto (later his true identity is retrospectively revised). He has been responsible for corrupting Esme, and he has been teaching the class pro-Magneto propaganda under the guise of Xorn all along.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel is convinced to serve as a member of his latest incarnation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The school is demolished and conquered. Manhattan itself is taken over by Magneto. Angel and her children come along as part of the Brotherhood. Beak rebels early on, not wanting to see captured humans killed. Beak is seemingly killed for his efforts, dropped from a levitating car. He survives and joins with the X-Men. Angel herself feels the need to rebel when Magneto threatens her classmate Martha. Beak leads the X-Men back to Magneto's stronghold, using the key nobody had bothered to take from him before he was attacked. Magneto/Xorn is swiftly defeated and decapitated by Wolverine.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Later, Beak is made an honorary X-Man, and he, Angel, and their children lived in a home on the Xavier property. Beak is unhinged from time and joins the Exiles, ostensibly to prepare him for a future event during which several worlds will be threatened. As a result of this displacement, he is for a time unable to interact with beings from his home timeline, and Angel and their family believed him to have run away. Only by serving with the Exiles could he win them back. According to a 2010 retcon, during this time period Angel served as a member of Beast's squad of X-Men trainees, the Exemplars Squad, though the identities of her teammates are currently unknown.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Following the House of M event, Angel, Beak (thanks to the Exiles now back to his base reality) and their children (except Tito) lose their powers and unusual appearance and are now able to live happily together once more.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel and Beak later resurface as members of the New Warriors. Now going by the name Tempest, Angel has gained fire, ice, and wind/flight powers given to her through technological means by Night Thrasher. Angel and Beak have an apartment and are still in custody of their six children. Despite losing her powers during the House of M event, Angel regained her mutant powers through unknown means.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: Angel is able to produce and vomit a corrosive acid that can melt most substances. With her insectoid wings, she has the ability to fly and vibrate them at high speeds to create powerful sonic blasts. Additionally, Angel uses a pair of gauntlets that can generate heat and cold. Her anti-gravity discs also grant her flight.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: In the "House of M" storyline, Angel was a famous supermodel. She was possessed and nearly killed by Proteus.


title: Angel Salvadore

text: In the Age of X storyline, Angel was depicted with her original powerset. She was tracked through the sewers with Dazzler and Velocidad before being teleported to Fortress X.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The third generation Pontiac Firebird was introduced in late 1981 by Pontiac alongside its corporate cousin, the Chevrolet Camaro for the 1982 model year. These were also the first Firebirds with factory fuel injection, four-speed automatic transmissions, five-speed manual transmissions, four-cylinder engines, 16-inch wheels, and hatchback bodies.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The third generation of Firebirds consisted of three models: Firebird, Firebird S/E, and Firebird Trans Am. The Firebird was the base model, equivalent to the Camaro Sport Coupe; the Firebird S/E was the luxury version; and the Trans Am, the high-performance version. For 1982, the new Firebird had been completely restyled, with the windshield slope set at a dramatic, more aerodynamic 62 degrees, (about 3 degrees steeper than anything GM had ever tried before), flush-mounted side glass, and for the first time, a large, glass-dominated rear hatchback. Electronically controlled retractable headlamps, and a rounded hoodline and front fenders were the primary characteristics that distinguished the Firebird from its Camaro sibling and its previous Firebird incarnations. The Firebird would retain hidden headlamps until the end of all production in 2002. Pontiac had also hoped to drop the "Trans Am" moniker from the redesigned cars to save royalties paid to the SCCA for use of the name. Early promotional cars were marked "T/A" as an alternative, however it was decided that doing so might cause more problems than it was worth and the "Trans Am" nameplate remained. Still, with its dimensions reduced, wheelbase shortened, and weight reduced, the third generation Firebird was also the closest yet in size to the original 1967 model. It won "Best Sports GT" category in the $11,000 to $14,000 range (also along with the Camaro). Road & Track called the fuel-injected Trans Am "a dramatic improvement on its predecessors," accelerating from 0–60 in 9.2 seconds.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The new Firebird shrank to a 101-inch wheelbase, losing more than 8 inches in overall length, measured about an inch narrower, and weighed nearly less than its 1981 predecessor. It also was the most aerodynamic production Firebird to date with a drag coefficient of 0.33. The new Trans Am took things a bit further, with a coefficient of .32. The Trans Am body would continue to improve aerodynamically over the years, and by 1985 would be the most aerodynamic vehicle to ever be released from General Motors with a 0.29 coefficient of drag. Wind tunnels were used to form the third generation F-Body's shape, and these aerodynamic developments were fully taken advantage of by Pontiac's design team. The sleek new car had a low slung front end which featured split grilles. They fed some air to the radiator but most of the air came from an air dam underneath the front bumper. Every piece of the car was designed to reduce drag. The newly designed side view mirror housings, made of light alloy metal, were almost cone shaped, with the point facing the wind. The windshield wipers were hidden under the hood with the air intake for the climate control system. It made for a smooth flow of air over the windshield. The retractable headlamps popped up from the leading edge of the hood. The cars tended to outlive the plastic gears for the headlight doors, and since the dealers charged several hundred dollars for the repair, it was common to see Firebirds driving around with one or both headlights stuck open during the day. Smooth wheelcovers were available on the Trans Am, attached to turbine finned alloy wheels. A frameless, flush mounted, compound curved rear glass hatchback decklid provided . of cargo space with the rear seats folded, and an optional wiper. It provided no disturbance to the airflow over the back of the car. All of these features combined to provide a low coefficient of drag.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The front end of the vehicle featured power disc brakes and were now standard on all Firebird models. Taking styling cues from the 1981 design, the new car had full width tail lights, complete with a Firebird emblem in the center. The all-new suspension design was more advanced and aggressive than anything Detroit had offered previously, easily rivaling the Corvette's handling abilities, (but not its sophistication). The front suspension utilized MacPherson struts, with inboard mounted coil springs and lower front control arms. In the rear, coil springs and shocks were positioned between the body and solid rear axle, with twin rear lower control arms/trailing links and a torsion bar, replacing the old-fashioned leaf springs design used previously in the 2nd generation Firebird. A huge torque arm was mounted from the transmissions tailshaft to the rear axle center to further stabilize the axle's tendency to twist.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The interior now featured aircraft inspired details and gauges, using both fake and real Torx head screws that fastened the dash and console trim panels. Optional Recaro seats were offered. The 1981, non-Formula 3-spoke steering wheel was reused and featured a Firebird logo mounted in the center of the horn pad, with optional leather grip. Many power options could be had. Special Viscount "PMD" bucket seats were optional, featuring a small opening in the headrest and a PMD logo in the center of the backrest. Leather seats were also available on both the standard seats and Viscount "PMD" seats. A standard locking rear glovebox was mounted on the rear driver's side of the cargo area and a mini spare tire was hidden behind the opposite panel on the passenger side. A lockable cargo door on the rear floor area and a retractable cargo area privacy shade were also available as options on all Firebirds.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird came standard with 14-inch steel wheels, with several wheel options available unique to the base model. 14-inch turbo cast aluminum wheels were standard on the S/E and Trans Am models and featured smooth plastic hubcaps with a Pontiac "Arrowhead" in the center. The WS6 performance package option, available on the S/E and Trans Am, included 4-wheel disc brakes, P215/65R15 Goodyear Eagle GT radials with 15-inch cast aluminum wheels, stiffer springs, thicker 32 mm front & 21 mm rear sway bars, a 12.7:1 quick-ratio steering box, and limited-slip rear differential. Also available was the WS7 option, which was the same as RPO WS6, but utilized rear drum brake. This option was created due to a shortage of rear disc brake components.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird S/E was Pontiac's attempt to lure buyers interested in more luxury features; it could be had with the basic fuel saving "Iron Duke" I-4 drivetrain, but offered more options. Even the Trans Am's WS6 suspension was available on the S/E. It was delineated from the base Firebird model by "S/E" script on the sail panels, in place of the standard Firebird decals, and the Trans Am's dark tinted tail lights. The interior featured color-coded plastics to match the exterior/interior paint scheme. On S/E models equipped with the 14-inch or 15-inch "Turbocast" rims, with "Bowling Ball" hubcaps were color-coded to match the car's exterior paint.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Trans Am came standard with a new incarnation of its traditional "Air Extractors" on the fenders. A dark-tinted version of the base Firebird's tail lights were fitted to the rear of the car and also featured a Silver or Gold "Phoenix" between them. Rubber "Mini-Spats" (stone deflectors) were mounted just before the front and rear wheels, and were toned down from the 70's design used on the earlier second generation Trans Am. Styled loosely after the earlier '80/'81 Turbo Trans Am, an optional "Turbo Bulge" hood was available on the Trans Am. Plans had originally been made to use a refined version of Pontiac's Turbo 4.9L engine. It was scrapped at the last minute, leaving many to speculate as to what could have been, had the engine been allowed to survive like its turbocharged companion, the Buick Turbo 3.8L V6. Despite this, the Turbo Bulge hood remained on the option list; on the Crossfire V-8, it was made functional, and even a lightweight aluminum version of this hood, "RPO T45", was available on the option list. It was a curved piece of pressed steel, and would be used in later years as the centerpiece of the Formula option. A new, smaller "Phoenix" was placed upon the Turbo Bulge hood or on the nose of flat hood equipped T/A's. The Trans Am came standard with one of the two 305 Chevy V8s. The well worn Borg-Warner 4-speed manual transmission came mated only to the weak 145 bhp LG4 305ci, while the Crossfire-injected LU5 305ci rated at 165 hp came with the TH-200c automatic 3-speed transmission.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The new version of the Trans Am Pontiac's "RPO Y84" Black and Gold Trans Am S/E, made famous by Burt Reynolds and Jackie Gleason in 1977's "Smokey and the Bandit", carried on into 1982 as the limited edition "Recaro T/A". The package added about 25% to the price of a Trans Am. Standard with a host of options, some features included charcoal Parella cloth Recaro seats, t-tops, a black exterior with gold trim, and black "Bowling Ball" hubcaps with special Gold Pontiac Arrowhead emblems on its center, mounted on gold-painted 15-inch aluminum wheels.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: Another Special Trans Am also returned: the Daytona 500 Pace Car Edition. These models are quite rare, and much is still unknown about how many were built or how they were optioned. All were bright red, with special NASCAR decals, similar to both the 1981 Daytona Pace Car and the 1983 Daytona Pace Car. 15-inch Aero Rims adorned with Black Bowling Ball hubcaps and a WS6 suspension. All had a black interior; it is not known if they included black Recaro seats. As it was Pontiac's debut of the still-fresh 3rd Generation 1982 Trans Am, it is possible that they would have been optioned with many of Pontiac's best amenities; however few are known to still exist at this time. Therefore, it is hard to ascertain what options they actually came with. These cars are featured in 1982 Daytona 500 race footage and in various advertisements.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: A modified 1982 third generation black Firebird Trans Am was designed and cast for the NBC made for television series "Knight Rider" (1982-1986) as the Knight Industries Two Thousand or "KITT", and voiced by William Daniels. It also served as an evil doppelganger called the Knight Automated Roving Robot or KARR, voiced by Peter Cullen, and later by Paul Frees. For the reunion movie "Knight Rider 2000", KITT underwent a makeover and became the "Knight Industries 4000," a vehicle resembling the Pontiac Banshee concept car, but it was actually built using a Dodge Stealth and not a Firebird Trans Am.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird remained basically unchanged from the previous model year. All automatic transmission Firebirds now received a T-handle shifter knob, and the shift indicator changed for the Automatic Overdrive 700-R4. Midyear, the L69 high output 305 was introduced. This carbureted 190 hp V8 was virtually identical to the L69 engine in the Camaro Z28, but used a different air cleaner assembly (instead of the Camaro's dual-snorkel air cleaner, the Trans Am received yet another functional cold air intake, designed to utilize the bulged hood).


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The S/E Firebirds now received the H/O (High Output) version of the 2.8-liter V6 engine introduced in the 1981 Chevrolet Citation X-11 as the standard engine. This model also received color changes from the 1982 model year; the WS6 special performance package continued to be available on the S/E.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The RPO "Y84" Recaro Edition Trans Am or "Recaro T/A", was revised for 1983. It was now built to the owner's tastes, including many more, or less options, and RPO "Y81" returned as the Recaro Edition Trans Am S/E without T-Tops. The LG4 was standard as was the WS6 package. The exterior remained virtually the same, except now the Firebird logo decals on the sail panels were replaced with Gold-plated Black and Gold Firebird Logo Medallions. The interior now featured Tan leather Recaro seats, carpeting, side panels, and the headliner.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: In its second year, the third generation Trans Am was again selected as the Daytona 500 Pace Car, and Pontiac offered a total of 2,500 Daytona Pace Car replicas through their dealerships. The exterior was painted with a two-tone white/charcoal paint scheme, "Official Pace Car" decals on the doors, "NASCAR" decals on the rear quarter panels, and "PONTIAC" decals on the front windshield and rear glass. Decorating the front fenders just above the "TRANS AM" script were "25th ANNIVERSARY DAYTONA 500" emblems. A new graphic adorned the power bulge of the pace car's hood, and these limited-edition cars were the first to feature a special RPO W62, full-body ground-effects package that extended around the entire car and molded plastic panels. "TRANS AM" script appeared on the right-hand panel, in place of the standard Firebird nose grilles. Two different set of wheels were offered: 1) 15-inch "AERO" wheels with White "Bowling Ball" hub caps, or 2) silver-finned wheels. The interior featured red gauge lighting, leather clad steering wheel, shifter knob, and brake handle, a special dash plaque, "Daytona 500" floor-mats, and two-tone grey leather/suede Recaro seats. 1,980 of these pace cars came with the LU5 Crossfire-injected 305 mated to the new 700R4 4-speed overdrive automatic; while 520 of them had the carbureted LG4 305 mated to the T-5 Borg-Warner 5-speed manual.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: Total production for Firebird models increased to 128,304 units, making this the best-selling year of the 3rd Generation Firebird.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird's interior options and design remained virtually unchanged for 1984, the only exceptions being a slightly revised dashpad, with screwed-in speaker grilles, an optional driver's knee pad bolster on the left side of the center console for manual cars, the T-tops were also redesigned to use a pin-mounting arrangement, rather than the earlier latch-based setup, and a new 1 piece horncap embossed with the Firebird logo replaced the earlier medallion version. Base model Firebird production increased to 62,621 units.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Trans Am's basic layout was very similar to the earlier 1983 Trans Am, except they were now available with the optional RPO W62 ground effects package, previously used on the 1983 Daytona Pace Car Edition. Another new for 1984 option was the "High-Tech" 15-inch, 20-slot, concave aluminum wheels, painted Gold or Silver, with Black plastic centercaps containing a Gold or Silver Firebird logo. The only drivetrain changes made for the 1984 model year were the deletion of the Trans Am only EFI Crossfire 305, a hydraulic clutch was now used on the T-5 Borg-Warner 5-speed transmission, and on L69 equipped cars, a lightweight flywheel and an aluminum belhousing were employed. L69 equipped Trans Ams also received an 8000 RPM tachometer, an 80 PSI oil pressure gauge, a high output single electric fan, a functional cold-air induction hood, a higher output mechanical fuel pump, and a secondary electric fuel pump to help prevent vapor lock. Trans Am production increased to 55,374 units.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The RPO "Y84" & "Y81" Recaro Edition Trans Am S/E's were slightly revised. The 305 H.O. L69 engine was now the only available engine. The exterior still featured a Black painted body, but gone was the Gold paint on the lower half of the body. All now featured Black painted, RPO W62 Aero package ground effects, the special "RECARO T/A" door handle inserts, the 1983 style Gold-plated Black and Gold Firebird Medallions on the sail panels, Gold painted High Tech 15-inch rims with a Black plastic center cap and Gold Firebird logo, WS6 package, functional cold air induction "Turbo Hood", with a Gold "fade" decal and Gold "5.0 Liter H.O." script on the turbo hood's bulge, Gold "TRANS AM" decals on the fenders and right side of the rear bumper, a special 3-row Gold pinstripe that wrapped around 98% of the lower area of the car, extending up, around the wheelwells, (similar to the 2nd Generaration Y84 S/E Trans Am's pinstripes). The interior still featured its namesake Tan leather Recaro seats. This was the swan song year for Pontiac's storied Black and Gold RPO "Y84" Trans Am S/E's, and 1321 Recaro T/A's were produced.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: For the 15th Anniversary of the Trans Am, Pontiac released a stunning, White and Blue Trans Am, following in the original 1969 Trams Am's striking color scheme for $3499 over the base $10,699, and limited to just 1500 units. It also only utilized the 305 H.O. L69, with 1000 automatics and only 500 with the T-5 Borg-Warner 5-speed. The exterior featured a White painted body, T-tops, White painted RPO W62 ground effects, special Blue "TRANS AM" decals on the lower rear half of the doors, Blue pinstripes similar to the Recaro T/A except they extend around the entire body, special Blue and White 15th ANNIVERSARY medallions on the sail panels, a functional cold air induction "Turbo Hood", with a Blue "fade" decal and Blue "5.0 Liter H.O." script on the turbo hood's bulge. The Black tinted Trans Am tail lights featured White paint on the horizontal bars, and a stunning Blue on White Firebird logo on the tail light center panel. Another special item featured only on the 15th Anniversary cars was the all new "Aero-Tech" 16-inch convex aluminum wheels, (front/rear specific). They wheels were painted White, with Blue pinstripes around the clear coated polished lip's outer perimeter, and were shod with Goodyear P245/50/VR16 "Gatorback" uni-directional tires (the new wheel/tire combo was very similar to the Corvette's P255/50/VR16 arrangement), marking the first appearance of 16 by 8-inch wheels on any F-body and a first for Pontiac. The WS6 package was standard with a 15th Anniversary Only 25 mm rear sway bar, (as opposed to the ordinary WS6's 23 mm bar). Interior features included: Off-White leather with grey cloth inserts Recaro seats with repeating "TRANS AM' script on the center portions, a special Off-White Leather-wrapped steering wheel with a special Blue and White 15th medallion inset in an Off-White Horn Button, Off-White leather shifter knob and parking brake handle, and Off-White pass-side map pocket w/ a Blue Firebird logo and Blue "TRANS AM" script.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: All Firebird models underwent redevelopment to boost sales as a number of power train improvements were introduced. The Firebird received a restyled nose with Black wrap-around inserts known as "bumperettes" to replace the grille inserts; wrap-around "bumperettes" were also added to the rear bumper. The tail lights remained unchanged from the previous "louvered" style design. The carbureted V6 was replaced with a new, multi-port fuel-injected 2.8L V6 making 135 hp. The interior evolved with a new dash design containing redesigned gauges that used a graph-patterned background, a slightly refined dashpad, new T-handle shifter for automatics; a padded and more ergonomic center console design, updated stereo and HVAC faceplates, and an optional version of the previous year's more ergonomic 15th Anniversary's steering wheel.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird S/E underwent some changes as well. It too used the new for '85 nose and rear bumper, but it now included some new items to set it apart. It received a new special hood, similar to the new Trans Am hood except with only the front vents, the new Trans Am tail light design, color-coded Firebird logo medallions on the sail panels, (similar to the '83/'84 Recaro version), and a color-coded rear Firebird logo on the center section of the tail lights. Cloth Recaro seats were also now available.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Trans Am also underwent changes. The LG4 & L69 continued on, but a new fuel-injected 305ci was now available in the Trans Am. The LB9 Tuned Port Injection (TPI) 305 was released, using a tuned runner design. The LB9 produced 210 hp, which brought it suitable attention from buyers despite being unavailable with a manual transmission. The "Turbo Bulge" hood was discontinued in favor of a new flat hood with twin louvered vents or "nostrils" that were functional, with heat exhaust vents on the rear edges. The Trans Am also received a restyled nose, integral fog lights, and newly redesigned ground effects. It utilized new "low density" taillight lenses with a grid-style pattern rather than the "louvered" pattern in use since 1981. The Trans Am came standard with the "High Tech" 15-inch concave aluminum wheels from the previous year, but it was also now available with the a version of the 15th Anniversary's WS6 suspension and its "Aero Tech" 16-inch aluminum wheels, but in finished Natural Silver. A Borg-Warner 9-bolt differential was made available for the first time, and was said to be stronger than the standard corporate 10 bolt axle. Further attempts to put the Trans Am into higher regard included overhead console from the Camaro lineup, which included several manually adjusted reminder wheels, a positionable map light, a removable flashlight with "FIREBIRD" script, and a small pocket for a garage door opener or sunglasses. The standard rear spoiler from previous years was still standard, but an optional wrap-around "Aero Spoiler" was now available in black and gave the car a new more modern look, (it is unique for 1985 & 1986 as it had a texture). The Trans Am drag coefficient was measured at 0.32 but was as low as 0.29 with the standard Aero wheels instead of the High-Tech turbo aluminum wheels. At the time, it was the most aerodynamically efficient car GM ever produced.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: All Firebirds received center, high-mounted stop lamps to comply with Federal legislation; these were placed on top of the back hatch window. All cars received restyled, more modern instrument gauges. New tail light lenses were now introduced on the base Firebird, completing the replacement of the "slit" or "louvered" taillight lenses that had been a Firebird signature since 1967. The 2.5L 4-cylinder engine was dropped, replaced by the multi-port fuel-injected 2.8L V6 as the standard engine. The Firebird S/E model was discontinued at the end of the year. The rubber–vinyl wrap-around rear wing became standard on Trans Am (available only in black; as these wings aged, these and those offered on subsequent model-year vehicles would suffer from cracking and splitting problems), the Wing spoiler was a credit option on the Trans Am, and mandatory if the louvered rear window was ordered. Midyear, Pontiac introduced a new light-weight, cross-lace wheel, available for the Trans Am.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: Only 26 Trans Ams with the 305 H.O. L69 were built in 1986; it was discontinued because of fuel vapor lock (boiling) problems. Some sources indicate the 305 TPI engine output was decreased from 210 hp to 190 hp caused by switching to a less aggressive camshaft profile, while others maintain it stayed at 210 hp. Paint RPO's were changed to reflect the new base-coat/clear-coat paint process. American Sunroof (ASC), licensed by Chevrolet to build the 1987 Camaro convertible, also built three 1986 Trans Am convertibles as a "design exercise".


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird body remained basically unchanged. All center, high-mounted stop lamps were relocated to a new position under the glass on the deck lid, and the large Firebird hood emblem disappeared forever. All V8s now received factory roller camshafts, and faced with consumer demands for more power, GM officially released the new 5.7L with tuned port fuel injection. Available only with an automatic transmission, it produced 215 hp and takes the top performance seat from the 5.0L TPI which was rated at 205HP. The 5.0L TPI, however, was available with a 5-speed manual transmission and, in fact, was quicker than the 5.7L TPI coupled with the automatic transmission. L69 production was stopped, leaving the LG4 as the only remaining carbureted V8 used in the F-body. Trans Am GTA (Gran Turismo Americano) was introduced, available with the LB9 305 TPI engine (which was returned to 205 hp) or the L98 350 TPI. Gold 16-inch, flat-mesh, diamond-spoke wheels were standard on GTA, with 16-inch, 20-slot wheels standard on Trans Am.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: Firebird Formula was re-introduced, available with a choice of V8s (LG4, LB9 305 TPI, or L98 350 TPI), 16-inch convex wheels, and the earlier Trans Am "Turbo Bulge" hood. The wrap-around wing was now made of fiberglass to reduce weight and became standard on Trans Am and Formula; the regular, flat-surfaced spoiler from earlier Trans Am models was now made standard on Firebird. Trans Am and Formula were also offered with an optional 140 mph speedometer.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: WS6 was standard equipment on the Formula and GTA from 1987 to 1992, and optional on the Trans Am. WS6 from 1987 thru 1992 included 36 mm front sway bars, 24 mm rear sway bars, quick ratio steering box, gas filled struts and 16-inch Wheels with 245/50R16 Tires. Later WS6 cars used ZR rated tires.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Trans Am GTA was Pontiac's pride and joy with a standard 5.7L 350 Tuned Port Injection (TPI). Many people like to say, incorrectly, that the engine itself was pulled directly out of the C4 Corvette, which itself began using the engine in 1985, but the heads on the Corvette were aluminum whereas the Firebird heads were cast Iron, although it did give the GTA performance numbers comparable to GM's flagship performance platform from whence it came. The GTA came with a standard TH-700R4 (4L60) automatic transmission, A/C, new seats with inflatable lumbar and side bolsters, special door panels, epoxy-filled emblems, body-colored ground effects, a special GTA horn button, and the WS6 performance handling package. All of these options were packaged into the Trans Am under the RPO code Y84, and the model was produced until the end of Third Generation F-body production in 1992.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: Dealerships could finally order a Firebird Convertible from a recognized coach builder that was already converting other GM products (though more than a dozen other companies had been converting F-bodies into convertibles since 1982 for Pontiac & Chevrolet dealers). ASC (American Sunroof Company, Later "American Specialty Cars") (of ASC McLaren fame) offered Pontiac Dealerships a Firebird/Formula/Trans Am/GTA convertible. ASC was contracted to convert all of the official Camaro Convertibles from 1987 to 1992. However, due to fuel economy restrictions mandated by the EPA, a convertible Firebird would have been assessed a $1200 Gas Guzzler Tax because the LB9 & L98 when paired with a Trans Am or GTA would have been lower than 22.5 average MPG. For this reason, Pontiac did not directly offer a convertible through dealers like the Camaro. However, these were not an official Pontiac offering, they are considered coach convertibles. The conversion of the Firebird was identical to the "factory" Camaros of the same model year. The exception was the obvious cosmetic changes, the rear quarter caps, spoiler (which was a base model spoiler cut off) and the high mount 3rd brake light were Firebird convertible specific.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: To order a Firebird Convertible, the dealership would order a T-top Firebird and have it drop shipped to ASC, One Sunroof Center, Southgate, MI 48195 for the conversion alongside "Factory" Camaros. Once complete, ASC would ship the now Firebird convertible to the participating dealership for delivery. This remained the procedure for dealerships through the 1989 model year. According to ASC, they did not convert any Firebirds for the 1990 model year. As popularity increased and car became lighter & more aerodynamic for the 1991 model year, the process was simplified as Pontiac offered a convertible through normal dealer ordering channels via RPO's. A Total of 173 Firebird Convertibles were reported by ASC for 1987.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The Firebird remained basically unchanged. The 170 hp LG4 carbureted 5.0L V8 was dropped in favor of the new 170 hp L03 5.0L V8 with throttle body injection. All V8 engines received serpentine belt systems and the A/C compressors were moved to the passenger's side of the engine, de-cluttering the engine compartment. The Firebird Formula received new high tech 16x8-inch aluminum wheels with distinctive silver "WS6" center caps. The GTA wheels were slightly restyled, and the convex 16-inch wheels were dropped as all Trans Ams received the 16x8" diamond-spoke aluminum wheels, available in different colors (white, red, charcoal, and black) in addition to the GTA's gold. The GTA received a new steering wheel with integral radio controls. The Trans Am was made available with body-colored ground effects like those on the GTA.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: The optional convertible model also carried over, and now optional on the GTA was a new "notchback" hatch: rather than the large, glass hatchback that had been common to the Third Generation Firebird, the optional notchback consisted of a fiberglass trunk lid with a small, flat, vertical glass window. The notchback also incorporated redesigned rear seatbacks with integral headrests. The notchback became popular with onlookers, who often assumed the notchback-equipped GTA was a Ferrari, thereby encouraging some owners of the type to dub their GTA the "Ferrari Back". Many Trans Am owners were unaware that the $800 notchback option was even available, and for those who were, the vehicle typically had to be ordered from the factory, on a six-month waiting list, as the notchback was retrofitted to the vehicle. In rare instances, a dealership would get a notchback-equipped GTA on their lot. Another reason for the relative obscurity of the notchback is that the sales information was not very well disseminated to Pontiac salespeople, so many of them had no idea it was available as an option. As attractive as the notchback was, GTA owners were constantly plagued with structural and cosmetic issues with the design. The fiberglass would blister, causing surface bubbles resembling a bad case of acne. The Pontiac repair solutions were simply to sand the notchback down and repaint it, but the problem would always return, and GTA owners could expect multiple trips in order to achieve a final repair of the problem, or to have a new notchback installed. The notchback was intended to carry over and be standard-issue on the 1989 20th Anniversary GTA, but the plan never materialized; the aforementioned quality control issues apparently caused GM not to carry it over to the next year..


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: ASC continued to offer a Convertible for dealerships in 1988. A total of 104 Firebird Convertibles are reported from ASC for Pontiac Dealerships.


title: Pontiac Firebird (third generation)

text: 1989 was the biggest year for Pontiac with respect to press coverage, promotions, and performance. It was not well known at the time, but in 1989, Pontiac produced the quickest and fastest American production car. The "Excitement Division" was also asked to provide a car to pace the 73rd running of the Indianapolis 500; sadly, it would be the final time a Pontiac would ever receive that honor. The Trans Am model was now 20 years old, and it was time for another anniversary edition, with this special 20th Anniversary Trans Am to be based on the existing Trans Am GTA. Through a unique partnership between Pontiac and an engineering firm called Prototype Automotive Services (PAS), the Trans Am GTA was equipped with a more powerful version of the turbocharged Buick 3.8L V6, originally developed for the Buick Regal Grand National, and the Turbo Trans Am (TTA) became the vehicle Pontiac supplied to pace the Indianapolis 500. Ultimately, 1,555 TTA replicas, rated at 250 hp, were produced for sale, five of those being test cars. But after "Car and Driver" magazine tested the car, logging a 0–60 mph run in 4.6 seconds, a standing quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds at 101 mph, and a top speed of 153 MPH, they called the 250 hp rating "exceedingly modest," estimating the actual output to be "closer to 300 hp". They also subsequently reported that it was the "quickest 0–60 sprinter available in any US production-car showroom – at any price". The "Car and Driver" evaluation produced the best acceleration performance of any mainstream publication to test a regular TTA press car from the Pontiac fleet, partly because "Car and Driver" realized that the turbo boost must be "preloaded" to get maximum performance figures. But short-distance sprinting was not all this car could do well. Early in 1989, "Motor Trend" ran their top speed test article "Flat-out Fastest American Cars II-the Sequel". During this test, the TTA did 162 mph, and was the fastest production car evaluated in the test. However, "Motor Trend" declared the winner to be a 1989 Corvette ZR-1, which went much faster, but was not a production car (it was a prototype that Chevrolet intended to release for production in 1989, but did not come out until 1990). So by a slight technicality, the TTA could be called the flat-out quickest (0–60 4.6 sec.) and fastest (162 mph) American production car in 1989. When PAS installed a ZF 6-speed manual transmission into one of their modified High Output test cars (featuring different axle gearing, a modified engine with upgraded pistons and head gaskets which was tuned for much higher boost than stock, and running on 100-octane racing fuel), they were able to reach 181 mph. Perhaps more importantly than the performance tests provided by the industry magazines was the fact that these cars were capable of much faster acceleration times – with minimal modifications. In fact, with $300 in new parts installed, 12.5-second quarter-mile runs were achievable – without manually shifting gears or the need to trailer the vehicle to the track. Because of this, the TTA has gained a cult following among amateur racing enthusiasts.