onetrack

Photo courtesy of John at DOG Aviation ...

......"You're in the wrong saloon and the wrong movie, pardner! You need to be in Alice Springs, and featuring in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert!" Turbine Jones was horrified to receive this response, and immediately fired back, "I can't believe I'm receiving treatment from a saloon in this manner! I know my rights, and I'm going to sue you (utilising Turbine Legal, of course) for refusing to serve me, based on my appearance, my gender, and the product I asked for! If it's good enough for President Trump to sue every time he gets offended, then it's good enough for me to.............

Skippy, many coolant overflow reservoirs have a sealed cap on the reservoir, but an overflow drain tube from below the cap, venting excess pressure to the atmosphere.

That Tenzing-Hillarys airstrip at Lukla in Nepal is not something I'd like to visit. An EFATO there and you'd be unlikely to survive. No weather radar, no nav aids, and clouds that can sweep in in minutes, means VFR only there. https://www.himalayanglacier.com/facts-about-lukla-airport/ I'd guess a lot of PNG Highland strips aren't a lot different - apart from not even being sealed! I often wonder how they got the equipment and materials in there to build the runways. This a photo from WW2 (from "Pacific Wrecks") showing troops manhandling a small towed scraper through a C-47 doorway to build airstrips from scratch in tiger country.

This one could warrant investigation - it's a proper Dayco coolant overflow cap. All the regular bottle caps have dubious construction qualities for use in cooling systems. Dayco Radiator Caps - Coolant Expansion Tank Cap - DRC021 - 2 Years/40,000km WWW.GSSAUTOPARTS.COM.AU Shop the DRC021 Dayco Coolant Expansion / Recovery Tank Cap at GSS Auto Parts. With a 2-year warranty, this cap seals your cooling system to prevent coolant loss. Find the right fit for your vehicle at...

.......make a startling announcement that Don will have to buy Greenland off him, not the Greenlanders, as Cappy now has the title deeds to Greenland, after quickly making the balance payment. Of course, the mere mention of "Title Deeds" is enough to make any American land-grabber see red, and Don is no different. He ordered that Cappy be detained by his ICE teams (also known as American Brownshirts), as it was obvious that Cappy wasn't entitled to those title deeds, as America ALWAYS wanted to own Greenland, and Don was going to make sure of that. So Cappy was then trussed up like a Christmas turkey, a gun placed at his head, and he was ordered to hand over the title deeds to the Greenland Ranch. Ray Stevens actually sang a song about this terrifying episode, and it was only due to the sudden appearance of Turbine Jones, that Cappy still ............. (Dear NES readers, please note how Cappy squealed like a girl when he was threatened, and those dreadlocks he's resorted to, do nothing more than make him look like a girl.....)

She was obviously greatly concerned that you'd only fly it in the nude, constantly looking for nude gyro girls.

I thought I'd start a new discussion here, as we kind of messed up the Knob Engine discussion with a rapid twist to electric developments, and the new, promising Donut Labs solid state battery that DL is promising huge and extraordinary things from. I'm very sceptical of the Donut Labs claims and promises, and this young bloke (below), who runs a YouTube channel on electric developments, has visited the latest Donut Labs display stand at CES 26, and tried to extract more details about their new battery, than Donut Labs is currently prepared to release. As always, he gained little by way of productive or informative discussions, as Donut Labs are holding all their cards tightly to their chest. However, he has done some scouting around, and dug up who DL has partnered with, to try and define the direction that DL is heading. DL has partnered with another Finnish outfit called Nordic Nano who are developing solid state battery technology - but many are questioning whether Nordic Nano is simply developing supercapacitors, and calling them batteries. The generally-accepted problem with supercapacitor design, is trying to develop a supercapacitor that can release its energy in a controlled manner over a lengthy period of time. All the supercapacitor technology I know about, is all about releasing a lot of energy in a short time frame - which can be useful for spurts where substantial extra power is needed - but which is not really a viable source of steady power over a lengthy period of time. This young bloke ends up, like myself, being sceptical of DL's claims and promises, and especially so, as they promise a huge jump in lifespan, charging cycles, charging speed, and energy levels, with their new solid state battery. We will need to see someone opening up one of DL's new and amazing batteries, once it becomes readily available, so the design and technology can truly be examined with an independent eye.

AND, you can fly them in the nude, too! (especially if you're a girl). 😄

The reason Holden used a water heated intake manifold on the red motors was to produce smoother cold weather idling and running, and better fuel atomisation. The warm manifold prevented liquid petrol from pooling in the intake manifold below the carburettor.

I believe the Donut electric engine is being produced and is available in working versions, but long-term reliability is yet to be proven, and the cost could be an issue for those with modest funds. As far as the Knob engine goes, I see a great deal of complexity despite the claims of a simpler design. Sealing of rotary-style engines is always a source of major problems, especially when it comes to extended use/high hours.

That was the dreadful Chicago O'Hare DC-10 crash on the 25th May, 1979, America's worst-ever air disaster. It was caused by a forklift that was left supporting the replacement engine during a shift change, having a leaking mast cylinder, which slowly dropped during the extended period of the shift changeover, and this movement overstressed the pylon lugs. The incident was worsened due to the fact that the airline involved didn't follow the aircraft manufacturers maintenance instructions to remove the engine and the engine pylon separately. The airline tried to save maintenance time by installing the pylon and engine together. This short-cut procedure allowed overstress of the pylon lugs at the best of times, but it was the forklift carriage slowly drifting down during the shift changeover, that did the major damage.

Moneybox, despite all the glitzy presentation work by Donut Labs, regarding their new battery, no-one actually has one of those batteries in their hand, and no-one has produced an independent and constructive report on the batterys construction, performance, or alignment with the manufacturer claims. All the batteries shown by Donut Labs are display versions, just as car manufacturers show off prototype models that can't be driven, because they contain a large amount of non-working parts. I have no doubt Donut Labs are working furiously to come to a final design and manufacture of their wondrous-performance battery - but I'm of the opinion there's a major disconnect between their current claims, and what you can actually purchase from them today - just as builders promise you can move into your new house next month, and you're still waiting two years later, to see the house actually completed. As to the reliability of Lithium batteries, I think we have got to the stage where they have an acceptable level of reliability. Remember, we still have petrol engines bursting into flames due to system failures, so there's a risk incurred anywhere you have stored energy and ignition systems in close proximity. Boeing found that a stainless steel sealed battery case was necessary to prevent Lithium battery fires on their aircraft from developing into disasters, and their research identified manufacturing faults in early Lithium batteries on the Dreamliner that were addressed by the battery manufacturer (GS Yuasa), and these steps eliminated the Lithium battery fires that appeared in several incidents on Dreamliners around 2013. Lithium battery design and manufacture has been greatly improved since that time, and it's only the cheap Lithium consumer batteries that still pose a problem. There have been consumer Lithium battery fires on aircraft that did not bring down the aircraft. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-lithium-ion-batteries-grounded-the-dreamliner/

The Donut battery is 100% marketing hype. Every single statistic the promoter produces is a battery output or manufacturing "target", not something that can be produced, right now.

.....he will make Donalds takeover of Venezuela look like a kids kindergarten party. Of course, Bulls (note the use of Capitals, now that Bull is a fully qualified Dicktater) use of his prawn trawler boat as the primary landing craft, was instrumental in all the takeover landings, as no-one expected a beat-up old prawn trawler from the Gulf, to spearhead a full-scale invasion force. In fact, everywhere that Bull pulled up to a wharf with his prawn trawler, the locals fell about laughing - so that was a good enough start to make them drop their defences, and once their defences were dropped, it took little extra effort to drop their.....

I'd have to opine that modern oils do a far better job of lubing and protecting surfaces than they did even 30 years ago. There has been a lot of R&D into new additives, and a lot of new chemical compounds found in the last 30 years, that are added to current oils - which all make the oil perform better, cope with higher heat levels, and cope with higher levels of contamination and by-products from combustion, than older oils could.

I think the photo angle is a bit deceiving, and that filter will come off easily. The filter only has to move out less than 20mm, and it's then totally unscrewed, and can be angled in any direction. Z418 is the same filter the 3.0L diesel Hilux uses. On my Hilux, there's plenty of other crap in the way when taking the filter off, but it comes off easily due to being able to be angled quickly, once undone. I'm in agreement with Nev, a heat shield would be a necessary improvement. One can be fabricated that clamps around the pipe and which follows the pipe contours.

Nev, many acacia varieties of shrubby bushes are referred to as "kerosine bush", because they will burst into flame with a bit of heat applied, even when green. They contain a lot of volatile ingredients.

Yes, Moneybox - spinifex contains a resin that's like bitumen and it burns like bitumen, too. Many a four-wheel-driver has lost their 4WD to spinifex caught up in the exhaust system. You can carry and use a fire extinguisher, or even a 5L sprayer on it (the sprayer is supposed to be more effective), but when you think you've put the spinifex fire out, it promptly flares up again.

No, a bit later in the century than Clydes era, rgmwa! I STR it was in the late 1990's or early 2000's, and in the NW/Eastern Goldfields region of W.A., a way out from Laverton, W.A.

Who recalls the pilot who crash-landed successfully in W.A.'s outback, and who then lit a fire to attract attention to his plight? The only problem was, the spinifex was tinder dry, and located all around and under the aircraft - and the fire got out of control, and he burnt his machine to a crisp!!

Race cars no longer have major fires after crashing, because of the development of 5 main features in them - 1. Fuel tanks that are bladders made from rubberised Kevlar. They're almost puncture-proof, and they feature self-sealing valves that prevent major fuel loss, a primary cause of fire after a crash. 2. On-board fire suppression systems. They can be activated by the driver or race marshals to spray a fire suppressant around, which reduces the chance of a major fire taking hold. 3. Inertia-activated fuel cut-offs. They operate when a certain level of impact is detected, to prevent fuel being pumped onto the ground or onto a fire that is starting. 4. Fire-resistant clothing and protective equipment. This stuff provides a major level of protection from burns, if a fire does start. 5. Protective chassis/driver cockpit design. A cage around the driver helps protect the driver from impact injuries and a cage around the fuel cells helps prevent fuel cell ruptures. A lot of race car fire-proofing ideas could be transferred to aircraft, but weight is always an issue in aircraft. I'd have to opine one of the important fire-proofing features is to have a protective structure around the battery, which is often where the fire propagates from. Metal parts crushed onto unprotected battery terminals starts arcing, which ignites any fuel spilled. You can have spilled fuel with no problem, as long as ignition sources are removed. One of the first things you should do after any crash, is disconnect the battery as fast as you can get to it, or bend mangled metal materials away from it, so you can disconnect it. That process is applicable to any petrol-powered machine involved in a crash, aeroplanes or cars.

No, it was a "Darwin Award" offence. Rules and regulations are in place to prevent stupid people killing themselves, and creating a huge mess for others to clean up, and adding serious levels of costs onto others.

Antonov AN-2.