old man emu

Had intended to go on a Pink Ribbon Charity ride with my son today on our bikes, but mine ceased to function while I was puttering along the Freeway. After doing all the usual checks for dumb-arsed mistakes, and then checking spark and fuel, I concluded that I couldn't get back going from where I was, so called for a recovery vehicle.

Got the bike back home and started digging in. Cleaned and gapped the plugs and that didn't do any good. So I started in on the carby. Pulled the air filter off and immediately saw the problem. The choke plate was closed over the intake port. Further investigation found that a the grub screw which secures the choke plate shaft to the choke lever had gone walkabout, so the job wasn't being done. No chance of locating one anywhere handy (QED Hardware is closed on the weekends), so out with the baling wire. A few deft twists later and the lever was on the shaft as tight as a bogan at Octoberfest. Hooked a nice thick rubber band around the end of the lever and secured it so now the lever swings back to the fully open position when I want to ride.

Luckily, while I was messing about with the carby, I discovered that the two big nuts that secure the intake manifold to the heads were loose. So out with the Yankee spanner and cold chisel and after a few healthy blows the manifold is nice and tight. Started the bike and all was well. Even managed to adjust the idle speed, so now I can sit at the lights and the bike will pop away like an old Lister shearing shed engine.

The lesson to be learned here is that vibration will cause more annoying problems than catastrophic failures of major components. If you own your own plane, you owe it to yourself to frequently spend an hour or two with a handful of spanners and a few screwdrivers making sure your nuts are tight and you've given everything else a good screw.

OME

I used all the Brasso on my chrome nuts.

OME

We were so poor ...

Church mice used to pass the hat around for us.

OME

We were so poor when I was a kid, my dad couldn't afford a Man Cave. He just had a rocky overhang.

OME

Probably some barbed comments after a strained landing.

And it looks like the student shat themself on the way out

OME

Local Camden flying school plane. Brownlow Hill is within the Camden circuit area.

OME

Thanks a lot everyone. Being a tight ars e, I'll try the toothpaste.

Ipana, Pepsident, Colgate or Sensidyne?

OME

I'm slightly off topic here as I'm not dealing with planes, but ....

I've noticed a few fine scratches in the perspex of my bike's windshield. I suspect they have been caused by wiping wet dust over it when getting rid of dew. They are not deep gouges, and can't really be seen unless you get up close, but, to me, they detract from the appearance of the bike.

Can anyone suggest a method to polish out these small scratches?

OME

Phil,

If it will save you money that could be better spent on aviation, I'll send you some of those reusable ones that you get from Tesco, ASDA and M&S. The wife collected a sh!t load of them on our last visit to the Old Dart. Sory, no Waitrose ones, and she won't part with the Harrod's one.

OME

My understanding is fuel stored in a sealed container like a drum will last much longer than fuel in a fuel tank that is vented (such as in the aircraft or car tank). There is a good article here http://www.autospeed.com/cms/article.html?&title=The-Life-of-Fuel&A=112237

The reason that the light-weight components evaporate from a container is due to the Partial Pressure of the fuel/air mixture at the surface boundary of the liquid. The molecules can leave the liquid phase and float off in the atmosphere when the Partial Pressure of the liquid mixture at the surface is equal to the atmospheric pressure of the environment. (Temperature of the liquid and air has an effect, too, but I'm considering a situation where the liquid and air are at the same temperature.

The only way to stop the evaporation is to raise the atmospheric pressure to stop the molecules in the liquid from jumping off the surface. In a sealed container, this is done by increasing the pressure of the air in the space above the liquid. That's why you can store paint in a pressure pak for ages.

To keep fuel 'fresh' - pressurise the fuel drum.

OME

"Lingus" as in "Aer Lingus" is derived from the Irish 'aer loingeas' meaning" air fleet".

Later reports say that five commercial-sized packages of Speed were found on the man's body. I wonder if he was travelling to Iceland?

OME

I remember the time during the "Troubles" an IRA bloke died from third degree burns to the lips.

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Seems his mission was to blow up a London Bus, and his lips stuck to the exhaust pipe.

OME

Last time I suggested whipped cream to Old Ma Emu, I got a clip across the back of the head and the cold shoulder for a week.

The video says any sealant that will take up to 100 psi. Some blokes cut the valve stem shaft out of the rubber and solder the shaft to the tin can. I got a tube of this from Supercheap

I used it to bodgy up a broken corner of an engine part on my bike, and it's remained intact for ages. I reckon it would do to seal a valve stem into a can.

OME

Just an addendum to my Post #25 above.

If you have any empty paint spray cans, start the conversion to refillable, then give the can a really wash out with an appropriate solvent until the can is good and clean. After that, proceed with inserting the tyre valve stem as depicted in the video. Using a valve core tool, remove the valve. Fill the can 3/4 full with the type and colour of paint that you would need to touch up your plane's paint work. Refit the vale core and pressurized the can to 80 - 90 psi. With that level of pressure in the can, the liquid won't dry out. Solids in the paint will fall to the bottom of the can over time. That's why you have the mixing balls in paint cans.

If you can get bulk penetrating oil like WD40, or liquid lanolin lubricant, you can make yourself some refillable pressure cans for these liquids, too.

OME

PS: Why doesn't the paint in a pressure can dry out? It is all to do with the relationship of a liquid's vapour pressure and the pressure of the gas above the surface of the liquid in a container. Interesting sideline reading.

Wonder how you can get 4 psi air pressure into a fuel container? It's simple. Watch this video, and then adapt the process to the container you have.

If you are filling from a 200 litre drum, put the valve in the small bung. Four (4) psi is not much pressure, so you can pressurise your container with a car tyre pump (foot or hand operated), or a push bike tyre pump. You've probably got one of those kicking around the hangar. The push bike pump wold be a good addition to your on-board tool kit so you could inflate your landing gear tyres if needed.

The beauty of this is that the pressurizing system is not dependent on electricity for power, so it's fire safe. However - always be wary of static electricity and ground the whole system.

1. Pump to earthing point

2. Drum to earthing point

3. Airplane to earthing point

Some car speaker cable makes good, light-weight earthing cable, and one of your tie-down pegs connects the whole shebang to Mother Earth.

OME

They still go flat on the bottom when you land with your feet on the brakes.

OME

Noise nuisance: Claytons bikies all decked out in black leathers giving their glossy Harleys full twist in residential areas.

Most of 'em wouldn't know a gudgeon pin from a hat pin. Ooo! Look at me! I'm dress up big and tough and make lots of noise because I'm phallically deficient.

OME

Look at the sidebar "Aircraft Hours Trends" It seems that a 1:1 ratio between take-offs and landings still has not been reached. Is this because pilots are counting each landing bounce as a completed landing, or are there some pilots who refuse to come down?

Commercial pilots - blockheads!

I was down at Darling Harbour, Sydney a few Saturday nights ago and could not help but think what people of 100 yeas ago would have thought of some of the outfits the young ladies were getting about in now. Some were wearing such diaphanous garments that they looked as though they were in their "ninon over none-on".

OME

Ninon: a sheer,crisp,usu.plain-weave fabric,used esp.for women's undergarments and gowns.

Hornbag - A Melbourne-dialogue Bogan word for sexy woman.

OME

Going Off Topic ...

Isn't it amazing that we find the possibility of a glimpse of knicker more exciting than bikini-clad beach volley ball players.

OME

Geez! If I was going to the south of France, I'd take a hornbag and tell the missus I needed a safety observer.

OME

"

The teacher acted quickly and dismissed the children ... She then walked up to litle Tommy, put her arm around his shoulders ...

C'mon ... I'm making a light of it.