onetrack

After having been scammed twice by exceptionally cunning scammers (one of whom actually called me in person), I spend a lot of time identifying scammers, and trying to shut them down. There are several things you can do, straight up, to find scammers, especially those selling items. One, search for their email address using Google Search. It will often come up, inserted into other forums, selling the same scam item/s, with different physical addresses, or different seller names, or different phone numbers. Two, do a Google Image search of the photos. 9 times out of 10, the photos come up on other sites, being sold by genuine people. The scammers also steal eBay photos and re-use them. Sometime they get clever and crop the photos. But you can verify the item by requesting photos taken from specific angles and on a certain plain colour background. If the scammer can't produce those new photos, they haven't got the item they're selling. Thirdly, make phone contact with the person and speak to them directly. Getting a phone number is a good method for ensuring traceability, if things go sour. Speaking to someone usually establishes how genuine they are, using your shrewd judgement skills. Weigh up their circumstances and look for holes in their story - and be cautious about giving out bank details or other useful information until you've established a baseline character judgement about the person. Remember that some people are actually genuine, but they're hopeless organisers, financially inept, and a hassle to deal with. It pays to be wary of these type of genuine buyers and sellers, as well. KR Aviator, I'd suggest your boat purchaser falls into the latter category, and he's probably a bit of a rabbit, and an exercise in time wasting. Move onto to a genuine buyer with the money, who is properly organised. FB is full of scammers and FB does nothing about them, they're good for driving FB sales income. You can find an obvious scammer on FB and report them and the message always comes back the same - "We have investigated and found no reason to suspend this account". Pigs bum they've investigated them, it's just a bot answering your request. FB don't care one iota about scammers on their site, despite all the mealy-mouthed corporate bleatings about keeping the site free from scams.

Just to refresh peoples memories, here is the link to the ATSB crash investigation. The last paragraph is probably the important one. https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/investigation_reports/2021/aair/ao-2021-054-1

There is no strict legal requirement requiring unsafe aircraft operation to be reported. However, it is a citizens sensible civic duty to arouse authorities to their need to take interest in aviation activities that are not compliant with aviation laws, rules and regulations. But it IS a legal requirement to report aviation crashes, and aviation incidents that are safety related, to the ATSB. The list of incidents affecting aircraft safety, that are classed as "Reportable", are defined clearly under the TSI regulations. https://www.casa.gov.au/rules/compliance-and-enforcement/reporting-unsafe-behaviour#Anonymousandconfidentialreporting https://www.atsb.gov.au/aviation-reporting-requirements https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2021L01248/2023-01-01/text

More than 20% of YouTube videos are "AI slop", study finds ...... yer not wrong there, Narelle! https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/27/more-than-20-of-videos-shown-to-new-youtube-users-are-ai-slop-study-finds

.....deny everything, and blame all the Nations problems on the Liberal Party and all their previous policies and actions". But the instant they started putting on their red shirts, the bulls in the adjoining paddock sighted them, and started to charge. This led to.........

Good questions, Skippy. But CASA operatives can't be everywhere at once, the same as police can't be everywhere at once. As with most criminal activities, the authorities rely a lot of people advising them of bad things going on, that's where Crimestoppers comes in. Very few people realise just how important Crimestoppers is, in the initiation of investigations into illegal and criminal behaviour. It seems obvious to me, that numerous people would have known this pilot was operating outside aviation regulations, and actively choosing to do so, and those "in the know", turned a blind eye. In the words of the Chief of the Army, Lieutenant-General David Morrison - "The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept".

As I understand it (and I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not giving legal advice), the time limit for personal injury claims is 3 years. The pilot involved in this case has been charged with 17 aviation offences, but he has failed to enter a plea. As I understand the position, he will return to court at some date in 2026 (that date has not been published - and that may be, because the court system moves dates around, as cases extend unexpectedly, or others fall over) - and at that court hearing, he will be asked how he pleads to the charges, so the case charges can proceed. As the pilot in question has a clear record of refusing to obey any laws, rules or regulations, or court-ordered instructions, it will be interesting to see how the charges proceed. If the pilot in question continues to avoid following court-ordered instructions, it's likely he will be jailed on that basis alone. In W.A., people claiming to be "sovereign citizens" and refusing to participate in our current law-enforcement system, have been jailed (for contempt of court), and will continue to be jailed, as judges become more fed up with these peoples attitudes - and the threat they pose to a civil and safe society, which we largely have, due to the extensive development of our legal frameworks over several hundred years. It's not just a few morons claiming that the countrys laws, rules and regulations don't apply to them - it's the fact that these people also actively continue to advertise and promote their false and dangerous ideas of legal non-compliance, and pseudo-legal arguments (which do not withstand scrutiny), and they encourage others to join them. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-23/sovereign-citizens-western-australia-jailed/105448650

And that would be US$, too? 🙄

Oui, oui, we have problem weeth pee-lots wanting toi-luts!! Sacre blue, do these Europeans not understand English?? 😄

Be assured. MS and Google always have your best interests at heart, and would never expose you to something that wasn't good for you.

The Apex seals in the Mazda Rotary are their weak point. Plus, their dreadful thirst - not what you want when you have limited fuel-carrying ability.

Peter, it's Naked Gyrocopter Girl - make sure you get it right, or no-one will be able to find the video. 😄

He doesn't even look like he's Nigerian, to be able to claim he built a plane out of scrapyard junk!

That's just that dodgy pilot, ripping off his rego decals, so he can't be caught, for recent low-level flying. 😄

I must say I'm a little surprised we didn't get shown an important makeup check and eyeliner touchup, as part of the emergency landing. After all, as an "Instagram pilot", one has to make sure ones makeup is still perfect, when one is being dragged from the wreckage, no? 😄

I can't wait for Blancolirio's dissection of all the primary causes behind this dreadful crash. W&B not recorded, no AwC, a total lack of logbooks (apart from one found that seems to detail non-aviation-related problems, as in a list of naughty boys and girls), the use of uncertified propulsion units with untested power outputs, controls authority unable to be verified due to some dubious control systems used, no definitive flight plan lodged (apart from some reference found in the wreckage that details a flight path roughly from the Arctic Circle, around the world, and back to the start point) - and finally, fuel quantity and type unable to be verified. The FAA and NTSB are going to have their work cut out here.

Here's a hint as regards getting those vinyl decals off - from someone who did it all wrong. Use a hairdryer or heat gun on low temperature to soften the vinyl, then peel back a corner with a sharp plastic scraper (some people say an old credit card, but I don't keep old credit cards lying around). Lift and peel the decal at about 120° angle, keeping the hairdryer/heat gun warmth on it steadily (without getting it too hot). Clean up the adhesive residue with citrus oil cleaner. If you're lucky, the decals won't have been on long enough or subject to enough sun heat to meld into the underlying paint. I had that problem with my Hilux, 10 years of Alice Springs sun fairly welded them to the underlying paint.

Great news! Now you're all set to start your glazing business, servicing Cue and surrounding areas! 😄

.......and even Donald Trump and Putin look-alikes. This was primarily led by the huge demand and generous renumeration for body doubles, for these two leaders - although the remake did come with some risks - even when those people weren't being employed as body doubles. It wasn't a lot different to having a bullseye tattooed on your face, actually. And speaking of tattoos - of course, Turbo rapidly realised there were those clients who preferred to avoid plastic surgery, but were happy to get large numbers of tattoos - thus meaning they could blend in better with the vast majority of the 21st century, general population of Australia. Accordingly, Turbo always ensured that TFPS had a subsidiary business, Turbine Terrifying Tattoos, located next door to every TFPS surgery. One would think that having "Terrifying" in ones trading name would turn people away - but No, Turbo knew that people who wanted tattoos, would understand that the "Terrifying" part of the name would mean that they would come out of the tattoo parlour looked even more terrifying, than when they went in - which is the whole aim of tattoos, of course, as anyone in the underworld knows. It was while Tony Mokbel was getting a new tattoo in the TTT parlour, however, that the problems started. Everyone knows you don't mess with Tony, and even more so, when Tony is unhappy. When Tony realised his new tattoo had been misspelled, things got ugly very quickly. Tony jumped out of his chair, screaming, "You.........

Once you get into the farming country, it will be pink and grey galahs, corellas, and ringneck parrots feeding by the roadside on spilt grain, that will be decorating your grille! Good to hear the trip is going O.K. Is the Christmas traffic heavy? When I lived alongside the Coolgardie-Norseman Rd at Higginsville, the traffic levels built up enormously before Christmas Day - then on Christmas Day itself, we could hold a party in the middle of the highway, with hardly a vehicle to be seen! Even 50 years ago, traffic levels reached nearly 1,000 vehicles a day going through Norseman. I believe the numbers haven't altered greatly in 50 years, with a reported average of 700 vehicles a day through Norseman, and 2/3rds of them, East-West trucks. Cheap airline fares killed driving the East-West route. The drive still gives you an appreciation of the vastness of Australia, same as driving the Great Central Road does. 11 years ago, I bought a good used 2WD petrol Hilux traytop at auction in Alice Springs. When I went to arrange a flight to Alice Springs from Perth, I couldn't fly direct, there were no flights! So, I ended up flying to Sydney, then back to Alice Springs! The fares were actually quite cheap, back then. I got into Alice Springs mid-afternoon, picked up the Hilux, fuelled it, got some food and water and a couple of jerrycans, and took off for the West that afternoon. I just camped on the tray of the Hilux at a suitable spot the first night - although I did pull into Warakurna Roadhouse/Caravan Park the second night, for the showers and camp kitchen. The third night, I softened up, and camped in the White House Hotel in Leonora. I pulled into Kalgoorlie early the next day, licenced the Hilux for W.A., and was home that night! I put up some photos of my trip, it was a good trip, and the road was well maintained over nearly all of its length. Running into numerous Indigenes and assisting with their car (and fuel) problems was all part of the trip excitement! I've still got the Hilux, it's a backup vehicle, although I don't really need it now. https://pbase.com/onetrack/tjukaruru_rd__grt_central_road

They're designing a new horse to prevent the motor car from taking over. The future is not in complex, high maintenance, fossil-fuelled engines - the future is in electric motors and batteries. YASA, a Mercedes Benz subsidiary, is now producing axial-flux, lightweight electric motors - that are being designed and utilised as wheel motors in EV's. They are going into high-end machines at present, such as Lamborghinis and Ferraris, but very soon, you will see your average EV comprising a drive train that consists only of 4 wheel motors. The weight-saving is predicted to be around 500kg for the average redesigned EV in the future. The axial-flux motor design has been perfected by a British scientist, and YASA now has a U.K. factory producing these motors, and YASA is actively looking for more uses for them - with Defence and Military use on their radar. Aviation use is a no-brainer for these axial flux motors. How does a continuous 500HP from a 13kg motor sound? That makes for plenty of weight saving for more batteries for the power source. Battery charging technology is now down to 10 mins to get to 80% recharge. The future is electric, despite what Trump wants to see. https://yasa.com/about/ https://yasa.com/news/yasa-smashes-own-unofficial-power-density-world-record-pushing-state-of-the-art-electric-motor-to-staggering-new-59kw-kg-benchmark/ Soft Magnetic Composite Material is the secret sauce that is rapidly advancing electric motive power, it really is a game-changer.

......lining up to get their slanted eyes pulled into "round eye" shape. Naturally, Turbo had been quick off the mark, with Turbine Facial Plastic Surgery Inc, opening up in multiple locations faster than TKD. However, there were some downsides to the plastic surgery that many Tasmanians failed to understand until after the surgery. First off, Turbo actually used real plastic in his plastic surgeries. When journalists started querying this process, Turbo loftily replied, "The use of plastic in our plastic surgeries is due to our clean and green credentials. With such a huge oversupply of recyclable plastic available, that no-one knows what to do with, it simply makes good economic and environmental sense, to use some of that available plastic in our surgical procedures! Besides, it IS called "plastic surgery", isn't it? What did these people expect?" However, as the rumblings, and then the loud complaints, of unhappy TFPS customers started to rapidly increase, Turbo was forced into some fast decision making. Did he continue on with the business in Tasmania - where adverse pressures against him were happening, or did he move to China, where "the sky was the limit" for client numbers. It was a no-brainer, and before long.........

That bloke has definitely missed his lifes calling - as a Sign Language interpreter beside the news reader! That new engine produces no worthy advances in IC-engine design - it merely contains all the problem of a piston engine, along with all the problems of a rotary engine!

SWMBO told me recently that her ex-hubby, before he married, bought a used van that had been a washing machine repairmans van. It was still plastered with the repairmans signwriting, advertising washing machine repairs. She said he took a couple of mates and drove across the Nullarbor to the East Coast, and up to N Qld in it, for a grand holiday tour - but whenever they stopped, people would regularly come out of nowhere, asking the blokes if they could fix their broken-down washing machine! 😄 Moneybox has jagged one huge advantage in his trip across the Long Paddock - a huge high pressure system is setting up in the Bight, with fine weather and a handy SE tailwind all the way. That makes a big difference when traversing that route, as against fighting strong Westerly headwinds all the way. Fuel costs get pretty astronomical across the Nullarbor, I paid $2.55 for diesel at Mundrabilla in May 2024. I hope Moneybox bought some jerrycans to extend his range. Diesel is $2.92 today at Nullarbor Roadhouse.

Brendan, it's Moneybox's eyes that will be glazed, after the next two thousand kays! 😄