old man emu

I'd say that the TV show was a hodge podge of hero creating Yankie machismo. 

The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) was a reconnaissance and raiding unit founded in Egypt in June 1940.  At first the majority of the men were from New Zealand, but they were soon joined by Southern Rhodesian and British volunteers, whereupon new sub-units were formed and the name was changed to the better-known Long Range Desert Group (LRDG). The LRDG never numbered more than 350 men, all of whom were volunteers. There would have been no unit of the LRDG that comprised either Americans or Englishmen. It was mainly Kiwis.

The United States officially entered the war in December 1941 and began direct military assistance in North Africa on 11 May 1942, the Anglo-American landings (Operation Torch) in North-West Africa in November 1942.

Operation Torch in November 1942 was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the opportunity to engage in the fight against Nazi Germany on a limited scale. The operation was at the western end of the Mediterranean coat of Africa, nowhere near where the British and Commonwealth forces and the LRDG had been operating.

Unfortunately he died whilst training for fire fighting duty.

https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/478451/air-legends-fatal-flight/

Another example of the Yanks winning WWll: The Rat Patrol was an American action and adventure television series that aired on ABC between 1966 and 1968. The show follows the exploits of four Allied soldiers — three Americans and one Briton — who are part of a long-range desert patrol group in the North African campaign during World War II. The show was inspired by and loosely modeled on David Stirling's British Special Air Service (SAS),

which used modified Jeeps( No, they were Chevrolet 1-1/2 ton trucks  armed with machine guns as their transport through the treacherous desert terrain. Such units would not exist as part of the American military until after the Second World War. At the time of the original telecast, many British, Australian and New Zealand viewers took offense at the majority of American characters on the program, resulting in the show's being pulled from the BBC after six episodes. In Australia, the show was quickly relegated to a Saturday afternoon timeslot, when most people were out.

My friend Dave with his amazing Gere Sport.

 

Looks like the Gere would fit a bloke of my ample proportions.

How serviceable has that Rotec radial been?

Would you say that piloting is a "masculine" activity, and that any women who take it up are the types who are comfortable nudging the boundary?

I really hate it when journalists insist on taking on "and mother" when writing about a woman's achievements in society. Does it matter that a commercial pilot doing an intrastate run has in the past had one or two gestations? Does anyone comment if the pilot has been caused in one or two fertilizations?

There's age old sayings that are applicable to all sorts of construction activities: "measure twice, cut once". Also, "two heads are better than one". They are even written into aircraft maintenance manuals, usually in relation to flight controls: "If components of the control system have been separated, the restored connections have to be inspected by at least two people, one of whom did not do the job. (Dual inspection)".

If you follow the plans for your aircraft, and use the recommended materials, then you can reasonably expect any assembly to pass a dual inspection. If you are building your own aircraft, one would expect that the construction methods would not be slap-dash. If you are making a change to the materials originally specified, then some of the tests that Bex suggested should be carried out.

For example, if I had my druthers, I'd love to build a little biplane called the Gere Sport Biplane, a 1930's tube and rag plane. However, I want to use aluminium tubing instead of steel to make the airframe in a similar way to the Morgan types. I'd also make the wing spars from aluminium. Obviously, such a step away from the original would require testing and the input of experienced builders of aluminium airframe aircraft.

About time the Victoria Police caught up to the NSW Police, who have had drones for ages, except they are not called "drones". They are called Commissioned Officers.

QUOTE: {What Turbo said}

Just goes to show how little most of us know of how the Government works. Most of us would think that matters of governance were sorted out in the Chambers of the two Houses. Looks like things are examined and plans of actin are made in committee rooms. I suppose that doing things this way is efficient, saving the theatrics of both Houses to be performed during Question Time.

It's too bad that the politicians don't think it is worthwhile to ensure that the mechanics of government decision making are put out in the open so that the electors begin to learn what is involved in running the country.

I'm not criticising the committee room work, which I suppose is mainly non-partisan. I'm just lamenting the failure to explain how things are done.

34 road fatalities between 2012 and 2016 in one corner of South Australia. No mention of the serious, but not fatal injuries. How many non-commercial aviation-based fatalities. During 2017, there were 14 fatalities from 21 accidents in commercial air transport operations, 21 fatalities from 93 accidents in general aviation operations, and five fatalities from 53 accidents in recreational aviation operations. The source of that information did not say how many of those GA fatalities were from airwork or commercial non-transport. We do know that three were from the Mt Gambier Angel Flight.

This I find disgusting: 

Only Senators from The Greens, Centre Alliance and One Nation supported the motion along with Senator McDonald. All other National senators, plus traditional aviation supporters such as Senators Brockman, Fawcett and Sterle did not have their votes recorded or were absent from the senate when the vote was taken.

Also this gem: Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham from SA stated that the government would not over-ride advice given to them by CASA. Therefore, given our regulator's advice, the government does not support the disallowance motion before the Senate."

Is it any wonder that people have lost respect and trust in our politicians, and have come to realise that the un-elected Public Service is running the country.  Shades of Yes, Minister. 

This from the Belfast Telegraph:

Aer Lingus Introduces All-Leprechaun Flight Crew.

Former Aer Lingus trouble shooter, and current QANTAS CEO, Alan Joyce praised the move and lamented that no suitable types were available for Australian airlines to hire.

An old pair of gym boots laced together are cheaper- and reflective.

 

As long as you have the 'gear' you'll be OK. But watch out for crackheads passed out on the runway.

Thread Drift Alert!

Back when I was annoying motorists on the Hume Highway, some of my colleagues would waterproof the speed radar unit by putting a condom over it when there it was misty or raining. I remember one of these blokes as being of relatively slight build. You can imagine the snickering after he left the chemist's with a couple of extra large condoms.

I recently watch an episode of Selling Houses Australia in which the property was a former railway crossing keeper's cottage. Obviously it was right beside a double track section that carried both regular intra and inter-city passenger traffic and intercity freight traffic. The intrusion of the railway noise into the house was a negative selling factor. As part of the spruce up to sell the property, they installed what is called "secondary glazing" on the windows on the railway side of the house. After the fitting, the noise of the trains was virtually eliminated.

Here's some information about soundproofing by glazing: http://blog.thermawood.com.au/soundproof-windows-cost

However, I can live with the regular drone of an aero engine, but not the racket made by the Doof-Doof crowd's cars and bikes.

Et talis emptor rem non satis est quaerere quaestiones: tum quia anathema patiatur ob segnitiam

If the buyer does not ask enough questions, then let him suffer for his indolence

Whatever happened to caveat emptor? You don't try to establish a meditation centre beside a rail shunting yard, and you shouldn't develop residential land adjacent to the extended centre lines of runways and expect the sounds of silence.

What gets my goat is that these newcomers complain about aircraft noise, but say nothing about the noise from motor vehicles with dodgy silencing systems, or emphysemic turbochargers.

Consider this. The pilot of an aircraft taking off has the required power setting in place about an eighth of the distance into the take off run, and maintains it to at least 1000" (approx 300 metres). Therefore the noise that the engine makes is constant to at least 300 metres altitude and then it is likely to reduce. However, Harry the Hoon, in his V8 ute with non-standard muffler system can be heard revving the t!ts off his engine up to a kilometre away, even in residential areas.  What's worse? The occasional overflight giving rise to a constant hum, or frequent intermittent high decibel screams from motor vehicles?

Come to my place any weekend and see which causes the most disturbance.  

Who comes up with this stuff?

 

For those who refuse to believe in God, the human psyche requires something in God's place.

Not sure that this Forum has many pressurised bulldozer drivers reading it.

 

Even fewer pressurised bulldozer owner/builders.

Which is the better system for recording an aircraft's Total Time in Service (or pilot's flying time for that matter)?

There are at least two ways of recording an aircraft's TTIS - Tacho time or Hobbs Meter time. Although aiming for the same target, the two methods record different things.

Tacho time is a recording of the time an engine has been operating. It is linked to engine revolutions per minute (RPM). Tacho Time records the time at some specific RPM. It is most accurate at cruise RPM, and least accurate while taxiing or stationary with the engine running. At these times, the clock runs slower. That might be an accurate measurement of wear and tear as one would expect the engine components to be less stressed around idle speed.

Hobbs time is time recorded by an electrically powered clock. The Hobbs meter can be activated in a number of ways:

1. It can measure the time that the electrical system is on. This maximizes the recorded time.
    
   
2. It can be activated by oil pressure running into a pressure switch, and therefore runs while the engine is running. 
    
   
3. It can be activated by another switch, either an airspeed sensing vane under a wing  or a pressure switch attached to the landing gear. In these cases, the meter only measures the time the aircraft is actually flying.
    
   

With method 2, the Hobbs reading will be closest to the Tacho time, but will always be higher because  of the slower reading rate of the Tacho when the engine is at low revs. With method 3, the Hobbs meter records the time that the airframe was subjected to in-flight forces. With method 1, leave the Master turned ON when you hangar the plane and your maintenance period will be short, without any flying being done. 

What is the best way to record TTIS to balance the needs of good maintenance and economical running? Each method introduces inaccuracies. Perhaps the compromise is to wire the Hobbs meter to the oil pressure switch so that Hobbs time and Tacho time are more closely aligned. The Hobbs meter will account for the under reading of the Tacho on the ground to account for engine use, and allow for structural wear to the airframe during movement on the ground.

Perhaps the stats are produced to reflect only the amount of flying that is done in RAAus aircraft by RAAus certificate holders.

I can't see anything wrong with stats being reported in that way. For example, my motor vehicle driving is in two classes, private and professional. Add them together to get my total exposure to the road environment, but report them separately to show the difference between operating environments. 

Someone should a peel the decision.

Mmm my apple must be substandard!

 

That's the core of your problem

 

But it that’s the same for a number of rare things but you have to remember that by far and away the most common cause of medical incapacitation is food poisoning from eating something within hours of the flight and that is never ever going to be found in a medical conducted way before the flight. 

 

I wonder if being prone to airsickness is a pre-existing medical condition that would preclude PIC duties.

I wonder if the Instructor in that incident where the first lesson student had to land the plane had any forewarning that of the medical incident that would happen during that flight?

Was it just a case of "You never know when your number will come up"?