Ever wondered about those little exhaust pipes protruding from the tails of many jets and turboprops?
An "APU" (Auxiliary Power Unit) is a small turbine engine installed to provide supplementary power. Often found in the tails of larger jets and turboprops, APUs serve several useful purposes.
APU generators provide auxiliary electrical power for running aircraft systems on the ground when the main engines aren't running and no ground electrical power is available. Applications include powering environmental systems for pre-cooling or preheating the cabin, and providing power for crew functions such as preflight, cabin cleanup, and galley (kitchen) operation. Many aircraft APUs can also be operated in flight, providing backup power for the main engine generators.
On larger aircraft, APUs also generate auxiliary "bleed air", referring to pneumatic pressure drawn from the engine's compressor section. That's because large jet engines like those on airliners must be started using pneumatic power. Unless a ground pneumatic source is available, the only way to start large turbine engines is from an operating APU (unless another engine is already running, of course). To accomplish this, the small APU engine is first started using an electric motor (often doing double duty as the generator). Once up and running, APU bleed air is routed to pneumatic starters on the plane's main engines. Those, in turn, spin up the engine compressors for starting.
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14 Best Things to Do, Attractions, & Best Places to Live in Largo, Florida!
If you’re visiting Largo, we invite you to take a moment to enjoy the parks, cultural facilities and shops that call Largo home. Stop for dinner at one of the restaurants in our downtown corridor, browse the local antique shops, catch a show at the Central Park Performing Arts Center, stop by and visit the owls at McGough Nature Park or take a peaceful stroll through Largo Central Park.
Largo, Florida
The City hosts a wide variety of concerts, art shows and family events throughout the year right here in the heart of Pinellas County. And the beach is just minutes away. You’ll love it here.
Largo is a laid-back seaside city set on a peninsula along the Gulf of Mexico with a rich history rooted in citrus farming and an Old Florida feel. Located opposite Tampa in Pinella County, Largo is home to spectacular white sandy beaches, beautifully preserved historic structures dating back to the 19th century, inspiring botanical gardens, and world-class championship golf courses. Largo’s downtown development features great shops, quaint cafés, buzzing bars, and top restaurants, and a friendly, relaxed vibe.
The Florida Botanical Gardens is a 182-acre urban oasis with beautifully manicured gardens, interpretive nature trails, and a diverse variety of natural habitats. Located on Ulmerton Road, the sun-kissed acres arboretum features over 25 display gardens ranging from bromeliads and roses to herbs and hibiscus. The gardens are also home to over 150 species of birds and mammals, including gopher tortoises, bald eagles, and Sherman fox squirrels and offers a range of educational programs for children of all ages, nature walks, and special botanical garden-related events.
Largo Central Park is a beautiful, 70-acre recreational area and urban park with a community center, several playgrounds for children, and a military court of honor. The park features grassy lawns, rolling gardens, water features and fountains, and a landmark clock tower, and eight picnic pavilions have tables and benches, and plenty of space for gatherings of all sizes. The Rainbow Rotary Playground is an accessible play area for disabled visitors, and the outdoor Fit Zone has a variety of workout stations for a great full-body workout.
101 Central Park Dr, Largo, FL 33771, Phone: 727-586-7415
Based in the Pinewood Cultural Park, the Heritage Village and Historic Museum is a living museum with indoor and outdoor exhibits that documents the history of Largo and the region. The museum features over 20 acres of land on which more than 30 historic structures are built, including several historic homes and schools, a railroad station, a church, and a greengrocer. Visitors can stroll through the historic village on a journey back in time, enjoy live re-enactments, and get a feel for life in the 19th century. The Pinellas County Historical Museum is home to a 3,500-volume library and a collection of artifacts and objects about the history of Pinellas County.
The George C. McGough Nature Park, also known as ‘Turtle Park,’ for being home to a large population of turtles, is a beautiful urban oasis in the heart of Largo that offers a range of nature programs and outdoor activities. Set along the Intracoastal Waterway, the park has mangroves, shady oak hammocks, a butterfly garden, and picnic pavilions, and boardwalk with a turtle deck winds its way through the park for visitors to enjoy the scenery. Other facilities in the park include the Narrows Nature Center with several live animal exhibits, interpretive displays, and an array of hands-on activities for children, as well as a nature trail for hiking and mountain biking, birds of prey enclosures, a children’s playground, a canoe launch.
11901 146th St N, Largo, FL 33774, Phone: 727-518-3047
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Eagle Lake Park is a 163-acre recreational area with beautiful landscapes of rolling grasslands, dense woodlands, tranquil lakes stocked with fish. The park offers a wealth of public facilities with a lemon-grove theme and recreational activities, including a paved 12-foot wide multi-use trail for walking and cycling and over 2,000 feet of boardwalks that wind through the park’s restored wetlands. Other facilities in the park include a dedicated dog park, a playground for children, six shady picnic shelters, modern restrooms, and three vending stations. The lake allows catch-and-release fishing from designated areas only.
The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a 45-mile multiuse rail trail used for walking, jogging, and cycling that stretches the length of Pinellas County from Tarpon Springs to St. Petersburg, passing through Largo. The paved trail follows the bed of the former Atlantic Coast Line, connecting communities through the county and offering green spaces for the public to enjoy outdoor recreational activities year-round.
Located in the Highland Recreation Complex, the Highland Family Aquatic Center is a family-friendly recreation center and waterpark with a large multi-purpose swimming pool, a zero-depth section with play structures, and water sprays. The pool also has a double slide for visitors of all ages, a 214-foot corkscrew water slide, a three-story speed slide, and a variety of water toys. The center offers a range of activities, such as private and open swimming lessons, water aerobics, open swim sessions, sand and water volleyball, and special events throughout the year. Facilities at the park include sun loungers and umbrellas, hammocks, a snack bar, bathhouses, modern restrooms with a family changing area, and individual lockers.
John R. Bonner Nature Park is a small park on 143rd Street North overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway that has dense woodland of cool, shady hammock that attracts a diverse migratory population of songbirds. The park is a hotspot on the Great Florida Birding Trail due to its wealth of bird species such as hermit thrushes and hooded warblers and features a boardwalk with birding lookouts, shady picnic spots, a covered pavilion, several nature trails, and a playground for young children.
14444 143rd St N, Largo, FL 33774, Phone: 727-518-3047
Located in the Teakwood Village, the Roosterfish Grill is a laid-back, waterfront restaurant with comfortable indoor and outdoor seating that has been serving a range of freshly prepared New American cuisine and fresh seafood for over 60 years. The restaurant specializes in fresh seafood, including locally caught fish, shellfish, and fresh oysters, along with grilled steaks and baby back ribs, burgers, handmade pasta dishes, fresh salads, and vegetarian options. The bar offers a range of libations from craft brews, casual wines, and a selection of sodas. The Roosterfish Grill is open for lunch and dinner, daily.
776 Missouri Ave N, Largo, FL 33770, Phone: 727-584-5888
Savory Restaurant is a family-owned and operated restaurant that serves traditional homestyle Italian, Greek, and American food in a relaxed, laid-back atmosphere. Located on the Walsingham Commons, the restaurant is owned by the Lagoudakis family who has been serving delicious home-cooked food for over 45 years. Savory Restaurant was opened in 2006 and offers diners an innovative menu of freshly prepared from-scratch fare, exceptional service, and a warm and homey vibe. Signature dishes range from succulent steaks and grilled chops to handmade pasta and pizza and fresh salads, and the food is accompanied by a selection of casual wines, craft beers, and non-alcoholic beverages. Savory Restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday.
Speggtacular is a long-standing, family-owned and operated restaurant that is renowned for its hearty American breakfasts and brunches and stacks of mouth-watering pancakes, waffles, and crêpes. The relaxed diner specializes in egg dishes with a menu featuring scrambles, omelets, benedicts, corned beef hash and eggs, and steak and eggs. Lunch dishes range from gourmet and club sandwiches, fresh salads, burgers and wraps, tacos, fish and chips, and quesadillas. Speggtacular is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, daily.
John’s Pass Village and Boardwalk is a turn-of-the-century, quaint fishing village turned popular tourist attraction in Pinellas County. Situated along the waterfront of Johns Pass, more than 100 merchants are located in the Village, including an array of restaurants, unique retail shops, jet skiing, parasailing, boat rentals, shelling and dolphin watching tours, and a local fishing fleet. John’s Pass Village is considered to be an “outdoor shopping paradise” near Largo, Florida, featuring more than fifty shops. The beach is also just a short walk away from the boardwalk and there is plentiful parking available at John’s Pass Village. More day trips from Fort Lauderdale
Sky Zone Trampoline Park boasts the title of the first indoor trampoline park in the world and consider themselves to be the “inventors of fun fitness,” combining great workouts with “awesome and healthy fun.” The Ninja Warrior Course challenges guests to test their agility, strength, and speed against family and friends, while Ultimate Dodgeball brings a trampoline element to the classic game. The Freestyle Jump area of Sky Zone offers wall-to-wall trampoline fun for all ages, the Foam Zone allows guests to get huge air without fear with soft foam landings, and Skyslam puts a spin on basketball.
The family-owned and operated Escape FLA Escape Room in Largo, Florida offers an immersive and fully interactive escape room experience for group gaming near St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Clearwater. Guests enter a room at Escape FLA and must work together using teamwork, resourcefulness, creativing, problem solving, and logic to find a way out in sixty minutes or less. The escape room features mysteries, gadgets, mind tricks, riddles, and more designed to impede the progress of players. Escape FLA is great for friends or family having a night out, team building events, birthday celebrations, or just wanting a distraction from daily life.
2480 E Bay Dr, Largo, FL 33771, 727-648-4625
Megawatt Star Rihanna Is Selling One of Her Glittering Beverly Hills Homes for $10.5M
According to Mansion Global, megastar Rihanna, whose given name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, is looking to offload one of her Beverly Hills, CA, homes for $10,495,000.
It seems the singer and beauty entrepreneur barely had time to unpack her makeup kit in this lovely home, which she added to her real estate portfolio in 2021 for $10 million.
She still retains ownership of a nearby mansion that she snapped up in 2020 for $13.7 million.
Here’s more on the four-bedroom, five-bath mansion she’s letting go.
Sitting behind gates on one of the most coveted streets in Beverly Hills, Rihanna’s pretty property is everything a Cali home should be. The 5,100-square-foot abode has solid bones (built in 1939), an attractive color palette, and a traditional interior design that should appeal to many.
There are weathered wood floors, cozy fireplaces in the living room, and vaulted ceilings. The steel-blue kitchen island offers seating for three, and there’s a sunny breakfast nook, too. The main bedroom has a mini living space plus windowed seats for curling up with a good book.
Outside, stately trees, lush lawns, and a vegetable garden await, along with a pool and patio spaces. There’s even a half-basketball court for pickup games.
Rihanna’s talent knows few bounds as she’s branched out widely from her early days as a pop artist. The billionaire Barbadian is the founder of the makeup brand Fenty Beauty, and she’s the force behind the fashion house with the same name, which is under the luxury conglomerate LVMH.
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