turboplanner

Just because it can be done, doesn't mean we should.I think that you'll find Japan's immigration policy somewhat stricter than ours also. Why might that be?

I reckon our extreme immigration policy is ignoring the laws of physics as well as biology and common-sense.How are they all going to be fed in 50 years?Surely there should be a plan B which doesn't involve impossible things.

 

There are some people who think Star Wars is a peep into the future. Just count how many times the laws of physics are broken in that show.

The pictures taken at night show clearly the plane wasn't pushed to one side, as it should have been, and asap.There is plenty of room to the left side of the craft, maybe it was very boggy over there, maybe they could have put some planks down first. At the minimum they could have pushed it onto the verge and closed one lane only.

I've just seen too many times where the Police have taken absolutely ridiculous measures without seeing the big picture, and how their actions affect a greater number of people, as you have exampled.

Plane landed about 5pm, Police closed the road somewhere after 6, plane was still there during the night. Might still be there, doubt if they started looking at it until next morning, and had to get the right people there first..

So how was the engine(s) problem fixed? Put some fuel in? Nev

One of the worlds most famous open mic incidents occurred during the assassination of President Kennedy. Dallas Police Radio Channel 1 was jammed from about a minute before the assassination, so all police communications were hamstrung during and in the immediate aftermath of the assassination.

The Dallas police motorcyles at the time had a two way mic switch, so you had to switch it off after you transmitted, and eventually it was found that one of the riders had forgotten to switch his off, just at the critical time.

Nothing was done about it for years, until a researcher decided to see if the original Dallas Police log was still around. It was, and expert analysts found (from memory) 11 shots had been fired, and on further analysis matched claims that Chuck Nicoletti fired from the Daltex building and James Files fired from the grassy knoll.

The House Select Committee on Assassinations used it as evidence of a conspiracy to kill the president, their findings were rebutted by more experts and more experts rebutted those experts etc. etc.

This is not a bad summary of events which unfolded afterwards: JFK MURDER SOLVED - Reward

The results are in: there are 2 young people coming up through the ranks.

If you look at the RAA training centres (CFI list), there's a good geographic coverage, with the exception of the Capital Cities (due to the problem of airfield availability).

Comparing RAA with BMX Australia, BMX has about the same membership, but more locations.

It has a distinct spread of divisions, each with specific purposes.

Mini Wheelers

These ride balance bikes (no pedals), aged up to five years old.

This is the start of the journey up through the ages, and brings numbers of parents in.

Sprocket Rockets

Up to 8 years old, designed for building skills; there are winners, but often trophies are given to all participants, so they get the feeling of achievements.

There aren't too many sports where six year olds can win an 800 mm high trophy like this - tends to build the desire to try even harder.

Open

This membership covers anywhere in Australia, with competition classes available right up through the ages to 50 and over.

Four month licence

This allows a new rider to experience BMX as a trial

Club Membership

This allows riding at the home club only

Freestyle

This covers riding at skate parks and other council approved facilities.

These are riders who just want to mess around locally, but gives them training.

Volunteer

Membership is free of charge for volunteers, officials, coaches of all levels.

It provided public liability, professional indemnity and personal accident cover.

This system has incentives to draw members in starting at around 4 years of age, right through to the point where they can't ride a bike any more.

It builds peer groups of around the same age, who often mix with each other for life.

And it provides the necessary 21st century administration at every event.

A very impressive organisation.

A little while ago I watched a rather bulky small turbo jet land at Bankstown. I wonder if ATC issued a warning for wake turbulence to the Foxbats and Jabirus on Finals after it.

Effective electric motive power for light aircraft, by way of lightweight, powerful batteries, and new styles of electric motor design, coupled with advanced electronic control mechanisms, promise to reduce the cost of flying substantially.It's highly likely "drone style" new aircraft designs with multiple small electric motors, will provide air transport much more cheaply, than the current designs of aerofoil wing design being pulled or pushed through the air by a propellor.However, it's not likely that these new designs will make any serious impact on the light aircraft market for at least 5 to 10 years. The current design of light aircraft powered by an IC engine, still has a lot of life left in it.

Aerofoil wing type fits into the existing regulatory world very well.

"drone style" looks more like the flying freedom we all wanted.

What I can promise you is that the bureaucracy and regulation surrounding aviation and air transport will never get any less, it will only increase, and this factor will be a big factor in the permanent stifling of aviation.

A whole new "highway in the sky" or flight pathway map will be necessary if traffic volume increases exponentially.

Govts also have very good reason for tightly controlling any substantial or easy movement of their populations, on a large scale.One - they love taxing peoples movement -

One of the big breakthroughs in populating Australia would be the removal of all travel taxes, even if that amount was raised in a more central way.

and Two, they want movement control of people, because that is how populations are controlled, and grass-roots revolts and revolutions are nipped in the bud.Just ask the Nazis and Gestapo, they had the finest people-movement controls, and tracking records, that have ever existed. The Americans learnt an enormous amount from the Nazis, and the FBI and CIA still use many of their techniques today.

Irony is lost on some people

"Light plane"Cessna ConquestMTOW = 9850 lbs (Approx 4450 kg)

 

Empty Wt = 5682 lbs (Approx 2575 kg)

 

Puts it just outside RAAus weight limits.

Just lately there has been a small surge of healthy talk about the grass roots type of aircraft which grew to thousands, and is the backbone of RA.

That's a good trend, and shows there's still interest, and maybe one day someone with the right skills will come up with a simple design, develop it, and sell volume, and if that happens, you'll see affordable flying.

seems like there has been a lot of these type of accidents lately ' date=' this is a good bit of readingWhere Do Stall/Spin Accidents Happen The Most?

I was thinking the same thing, just looks all wrong! In some ways mankind hasn't changed a thing since the Wright Bros first left the ground!

Bex is right on the money re electric cars. Yes - Australia is a bit different from many other countries with the vast distances to travel (for some), but here in NZ 90% of drivers have a commute of less than 20 km. Even my Nissan Leaf with its range of 120 - 160 km is more than adequate for my needs. I charge in my garage overnight (on cheap night-rate power) - has no effect that I can discern on my monthly power bill. If you get caught out, charging stations are springing up everywhere at a very fast rate and I get a charge in 20 minutes (usually free). Running costs - almost nil - annual reg, warrant of fitness and tyres when they wear out. Thats it - even the brakes last almost forever due to the regen braking available. Its taking a while, but with the technology moving very quickly, even the dinosaur oil-burners out there will eventually come to understand that EV's are the way of the future. And yes - I would love a Tesla - acceleration that leaves virtually all other vehicles in its dust and a 500 km range - in almost complete silence. Whats not to like?

I've heard that from 2020, all EV's in America must be modified to make a noise. Too many people being hit by silent EV's. Too bad they can't do something about guns. A chap at the Men's Shed told us when he was in Europe recently, when he went to cross the road, his friend, a local, grabbed him by the arm and said, "Watch out, bus coming."

No way those small rudders will control much asymmetry. Is that thing for real? Nev

Impressive machine. Interesting that in the 70 years since the Spruce Goose was built we have only been able to increase wingspan by 20%

Mass is 67% heavier, but no doubt the performance from its 6 big engines will be way better than the 8 rather tiny piston engines in the Spruce Goose

This is the Commer TS3 diesel 2 stroke from the late 1940s to 1960s - 2 pistons sharing a common barrel with what looks like a very complicated arrangement of connecting the pistons to the crankshaft.......but it worked!

The age of the hybrid is well and truly already here.Porsche, BMW, Mercedes all make them as do Volvo to name a few. Most have committed to hybrid as the norm by 2020.

 

A proper hybrid does fine outback as you still have a engine when needed.

We could well have an EV for our second car. The wife's car. It rarely does more than 20k in a day.There are a lot like us around, some even more so. A neighbor sometimes has 9 cars parked at his place overnight.

To come down to the farm ( 450K) with a trailer certainly would not suit an electric car. Maybe a hybrid would be ok.

However, for the farm, a diesel powered commercial is likely to be around for quite some time yet.

The diesel engines which power our freight industry, these days only burn 35% of the fuel per tonne they burnt in 1975, and have reduced NoX and particulate emissions by close to 100%, and are still receiving billions of dollars per year for research.

There has been a change in the outlook of people over the last couple of decades or so.

The wine industry has grabbed a chunk of the weekly budget.

To a degree, this is offset by a reduction of cigarettes, but when you look at the weekly spend of a smoker these days, that group is pretty much out of affording most hobbies.

Now the relaxation upmarket cafes have grabbed a slice of income big enough to prevent buying a home Millionaire tells millennials: if you want a house, stop buying avocado toast

People have choices, but compared with the reality you pointed out Geoff_H, it's easier just to roll out of bed, jump in the car, and drive a couple of blocks down to the nearest coffee shop for an hour or so.

Woolworths initiative of cooking chickens in-Supermarket, along with smart marketing from the chicken industry is having a serious effect on he sheep and cattle industries.

The financial mix has shifted, with new competition for our dollars.

There's an old marketing saying: "Sell the sizzle, not the steak"

When was the last time you read, heard or saw any sizzle promoting going out there and flying?

Getting back on to concept engines, the German Goggomobile was supposed to be a rebirth of the People's Wagon, it had a two cylinder two stroke engine, and was advertised as cheap to repair because of its simplicity of:

No camshaft

No camshaft bearings

No camshaft gear

No pushrods

No rockers

No valves

No valve springs

No valve guides

and so on..

The Wankel design is close; I’d like to see more design work done. I bought a Mazda RX2 just when Ford put the 302 in the Falcon; did a lot of highway work and the Falcon drivers would take offense if I passed them, and a accelerate to about 107 mph before they ran out of power. That coincided with the maximum power band of the Mazda which would spin the rear wheels out to 130 mph and disappear into the distance. The power was all above 4000 rpm though so suburban travel was very gutless. On long trips the silicon seals would burn out if there was a strong head wind and you wanted to travel fast. Not difficult to replace though, I’d usually start on a Saturday morning, pull the engine out and have it running again on Sunday afternoon.

The rotor tip seals never needed replacing, but the combustion flame would creep down the gap which held the silicon seal and slowly burn it away. A 350 mm dia bellville type washer, or ceramic ring to form a flame barrier might be all it needs.

Aside from inflexibility around town it would really chew through t

Problem is a number of countries are mandating and going straight to full EV by 2050, petrol vehicles will be illegal in China then for example, so this will not likely come to fruition. Hybrid is a stop gap so I don't believe you will see anything more than basic 'normal' small engines powering gennies.Our smallish city will have 9000 public chargers fitted by 2020.

If your mains supply is coal based, then CO2 produced will be 3 to 3.8 times that produced by a modern diesel engine.

A friend of mine who works in the total - infrastructure area of the transport industry recently told me that in addition to the two key targets for electric vehicles, Power for reasonable performance, range for reasonable journeys there were some other issues which have not yet been resolved:

• If the mains supply is coal based, then CO2 produced will be 3 to 3.8 times that produced by a modern diesel engine
   
   
  
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• For a 100% solar house, with an oversized system including batteries and inverters, then after you’ve calculated - in, the 10 year life of batteries and inverters, and the 25 year panel life, your electricity is expensive, and you are limited to about 45% of the range of your vehicle from home
   
   
  
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• Quietness is dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists.
   
   
  
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• Recycling Li house and car batteries is a problem.
   
   
  

I'm sure the Chinese will overcome most of these, but remember, LP Gas didn't make it, LNG didn't make it, Gas Turbines didn't make it - you just have to be in awe of the people who developed the internal combustion engine.