onetrack

Wow! Look out, everyone along the Nullarbor, for the Ratchet Strap Special! 😄 This gives me a whole new level of respect for Chinese ratchet straps!

Move to W.A.! - we don't have starlings, and even one sighting of a starling brings out an eradication campaign. They would cost W.A. hundreds of millions in agricultural losses if they ever managed to get established here. Bright flashing lights, loud noises, sharp spikes mounted at nesting or roosting positions, distress calls of the bird species, and the cries of predator birds, are the main things that deter unwanted birds. https://www.ebay.com/itm/404281383875

My Dad got paid £15 a week in 1957 as the resident painter in the Palace Hotel in Central Perth. He was quite pleased to get the job and the pay, after he threw in dairy farming, because dairy farming didn't even pay wages, it was actually a loss-making operation. The dairy farming looked good in 1951 when he started, then the State Govt tightened milk quotas around 1954, due to over-production, so that wrecked any possibility of making a profit. The milk quotas were introduced during the Great Depression (early 1930's). We have an old saying in rural areas - "You've never known real poverty, until you've been a dairy farmer!" https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46358586/3727394 £50 a week was a very good salary in 1955, and the pay rate of a Captain today is probably around 3-4 times the average salary, so the relationship to many things one has to purchase today, is similar. Cars are far cheaper today and much better equipped, but housing and property has gone ballistic, and skewed the relationship to many things. A Captain of a big commercial airliner today has a lot more technology to deal with, but weather forecasting is much improved since 1955 - communications and information levels are instant and enormous, and the flying conditions would be vastly more comfortable today, than the piston-engine, unpressurised, low altitude era. That was a very unhappy end to Captain Virtues career, and I trust he enjoyed the move into farming - but it would have been a lot harder, lower-paying work, even so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Virtue

Crime rate in Northam, Australia - RedSuburbs REDSUBURBS.COM.AU Crime rate profile of Northam

Moneybox, I trust you've got a list of friends or associates you can call on, along the route, if things go pear-shaped, and that Hyundai lets you down. The longest and loneliest section is Ceduna to Norseman. It's very hard to get anyone to stop out there, the truckies have their right foot glued to the floorboards and will not back off until they're forced to, and a lot of people in cars watched Wolfe Creek just before they left, and they'll floor it when they see someone standing by the roadside. Make sure you take a suit, and put it on if you break down. 😄

The companies that refuse to send to PO boxes, are using freight agents that are not part of Australia Post or Startrack, so they can't deliver to P.O. boxes, because AP has to handle the parcels to be able to put them in a P.O. box - which of course, are owned by AP. Handing the parcels over to AP for the final placement into P.O. boxes would double your freight/shipping costs. Officeworks started "Mailman" in 2015, which was a "post box" system for parcels, all located in Officeworks stores, where you could go to pick up your parcels, However, Mailman didn't last long, because AP have the monopoly on the postal box system. Mailman was wound up by Officeworks in 2020.

sfGnome, the AP contractors are hit-and-miss, some are good, some are useless. I reckon a lot of them can barely speak English, so they avoid face-to-face contact. The posties themselves are good, well-trained and efficient, but they can't handle the AP parcel volumes, so AP and Startrack are always hiring outside contractors with vans for final deliveries.

The average Aust Post contractor generally throws the delivery over the fence, into something like the bird bath, then runs away - even though it's listed as having to be signed for, on delivery.

Phil - I just re-checked, he's actually stuck at Border Village. He only needs to go to Pt Augusta. He's also got 2 people to go with it, that's often a deal killer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1140085680263008/user/100004714920031

Breaking down on the Nullarbor (correct spelling, Nev - Grammar Police here 😄) is one of the most expensive ways to break down - because of the vast distances, and because anyone who engages in vehicle recovery in remote areas sees it as a licence to print money. That's why all the servos on the East-West route are littered with abandoned cars. When I lived at Higginsville, 60 kms N of Norseman, in the early 1980's, a bloke travelling East in a '75 model V12 Daimler Sovereign broke down at the Widgiemooltha Roadhouse. He abandoned the Daimler at the Roadhouse and caught a Greyhound Bus to his destination in the East and never came back for the car. The roadhouse owner sold the Daimler to my neighbour Rick for $2500, Rick sorted out the problems with it (electrical, as most problems with Jags are), and Rick drove around in the Daimler for a few months, enjoying the British luxury car experience - until he realised he could easily take out a 'roo with it, and a new grille for the car was $1,200! So he sold it, and made some money out of it, and bought a 4WD! Someone on FB is currently broken down at Nullarbor Roadhouse in a Hyundai van and they're desperately trying to get it to S.A. It will probably cost them more than the van is worth.

I guess you realise that by now, there are another 16 very unhappy Sport Pilot members, who are going to have a devastating Christmas, without their copy of the mag?? 😄

My apologies, I thought Moneybox bought the Hyundai from Pickles, I should have rechecked his post. Manheim and Pickles are different unrelated corporations. I've bought off Manheim, too - they aren't much different to Pickles, as regards their attitude towards selling auction items. Manheims website security was so poor, they were hacked and their website locked up, and the hackers demanded $30M to unlock it. Manheim never paid the hackers anything, but had to start a whole new website from scratch. As with so many corporations, they came out with soothing responses like, "Never fear, your personal details are safe and the hackers didn't get them, because they were held in a separate area". What a lot of BS that was - after the Manheim hack, I was bombarded with scam and phishing emails for months and months, and all my personal details were almost certainly stolen.

I might add, I've been buying from Pickles for at least 35 years - and they're not getting any better. Buying at auction without close inspection is highly risky, and Pickles are reducing vehicle inspections to the absolute minimum - and with the likes of vehicle salvage, you cannot inspect the vehicle under any circumstances! Furthermore, they will tell you absolutely nothing about any vehicle they're auctioning, and lie whenever they can. I haven't bought a vehicle from Pickles for a long time, simply because I no longer trust them to do the right thing. They've taken money from my credit card fraudulently ($1,100), and it took 19 days for them to repay the stolen money, and I reckon that was only because I reported the fraud to my credit card provider. They've taken a couple of months to issue zero-balance invoices on goods I've bought through them, and overall, I rate them fairly low on the trustworthiness side when it comes to business dealings. Their admin is virtually uncontactable (try finding contact phone numbers or names on their site! - they're worse than a bank!), and vast amounts of their admin is done from third world countries. You're probably dealing with an Indian operating from an internet cafe in some smelly backstreet in Mumbai, when you get a rare email from Pickles. I would ensure that Hyundai is thoroughly checked over, before setting off. If you're lucky, the battery might get you to Bordertown. And all that duct tape on the grille definitely looks suss. The driver for the glass crowd has hit something solid with the front end, judging by that bumper displacement. I hope it was cheap.

I was under the impression Moneybox was getting the vehicle trucked across. Flying over, picking it up and driving it back, is generally a lot more costly and time consuming than having it transported. I must say, I have done it several times, but for additional reasons. Last year, I was in a bind moving 4 tonnes of parts from Melbourne to Perth. The Trans Line had been under water for 3 weeks, the Eyre Hwy went under water shortly after, and there were vehicle movement restrictions on the Eyre Hwy for days on end - and I could not get anyone to transport my parts for a reasonable price - the truckies were having a field day. Quotes ranged from $5,500 to $13,000 to get my stuff across. I flew one way to Melbourne (had enough Velocity points to cover the $200), got picked up by a mate from Echuca, picked up a cheap 4 tonne truck, and brought the parts back to W.A. myself for just over $1500 in fuel, and around $500 in accommodation and food. The truck will be sold for more than I paid for it (it was a private sale).

No air raid sirens, no factory bombing, no forced labour in sight, tools that aren't even connected to what they're supposed to be doing, starts off a radial engine, goes to a V12, then back to a radial?? Even the machine tools looks suspiciously dodgy and all too modern component handling systems. This AI video maker seems to think the Nazi manufacturing machine was superb - the bottom line was, they failed to come anywhere near the production output of the British and Allies, let alone the Americans.

Phil, this place might be worth a call, it's not far away from Pickles. https://storeroomselfstorage.com.au/ You're running close to the wind to get it across before Christmas on a truck. Someone with an open semi will be able to carry it, try some of the big earthmoving equipment or machinery transporters. A lot of these people have frames to carry vehicles above low profile, heavy items. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1140085680263008

O.K., so that explains a lot, it was a company based in Quebec, but it has been cancelled and is now inactive.

Red, there's no record of any company or organisation in Canada called J & J Aero Concept Inc - so they must be defunct as regards being currently in business. Either that, they are located in Quebec and have only a record available in the French language. The Quebecois like to consider themselves distinctly separate, rather than Canadian.

I don't cut and paste, I write everything I put up myself. If I do put up anyone elses work, I put it in quotation marks, which is the correct thing to do. I'm simply expressing my opinion, not making statements, and claiming them to be irrefutable. Feel free to disagree without rancour or snarkiness, that's the basis of all civilised discussion.

........chance of your energy plans succeeding, unless you factor mallee roots into the equation. Because, you should know that Turbine Roots Inc has an option on every mallee root left lying in farmers paddocks - and when my company employees gather them all up, I'll be in possession of enough thermal energy to fill the major gaps in your dubious long-term renewables energy plan, via burning those roots in those currently-coal-fired power stations, that are a real burr under your saddle!" "You see, dry seasoned mallee roots burn hot and clean, and have no nasty emissions, unlike coal. It's a win-win situation for everyone here, (especially me, muttered Turbo under his breath) - we clean up farmers paddocks, resulting in great farmer joy - we reduce emissions from coal to zero, because we no longer burn any coal - and you can keep the thermal power station supporters on board, by not dismantling those old coal-fired power stations!" "That is absolutely brilliant, Turbo!" cried Chris Bowen. "I'm going to propose a new 'Alternative Energy Commissioner' position for you to slide into, so you have full reign over the energy generation systems throughout the entire Eastern States!" (he purposely omitted mentioning or including W.A. - as like many East Coast residents, he fully believes that there's nothing but wasteland to the West of the S.A. Border). "That's extremely generous of you", said Turbo, "but I'm going to have to ask, what is...............

it's definitely not an Aero Concept Firekracker, but I have absolutely no idea what it is. I guess the puzzling part is, the weird combination of design ideas in it - from the German WW1 Maltese Cross symbols, right through to the a**-dragging underslung pilot seating position, and the radial engine cowling, which hides a horizontally opposed HKS engine. Then there's the fake bomb mounted between the landing gear - it obviously has military connotations. It's almost like the designer aimed to achieve a blend of historic and modern design, all in the one unit. I'd hazard a guess it probably flies quite well, and is inherently stable like a C172. But it must be a bit unnerving on landing to be nearly dragging your bum on the ground, like riding in a early Mini Minor. Plus, that huge obstruction in the form of the support directly in front of the pilot must be annoying, and even bordering on dangerous. I'll wager only one has been built. It kind of reminds of the 1929 McClary A Motor Glider - which seems to have no reports on whether it even got airborne, or if it did, how well it performed. https://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Shumaker/6191.htm

......Church of the Massive Root Disciples Filled With the Flame of Righteousness. The followers of this new and exciting religion were encouraged to seek out roots wherever they could be found, and to gather around those roots, to worship them as Gifts from God. Pastor Turbine adopted the classic religious clothing of long flowing purple robes, and this outfitting was enhanced by his glowing tanned complexion and carefully-coiffured, platinum-coloured hair. "Hallelujah!!", cried a number of his followers, when he appeared on stage at the rented factory, temporary gathering place - which site was simply being used while a new Temple was being built. Turbo encouraged his followers to give freely for Temple funding, because as he intoned, in his sonorous tones, "Only those who have contributed more than $1000 towards the Temple, will be given access to Heaven! Thus it is written in Antioch Chapter 23, Verse 13, of the Holy Book of the Massive Root Disciples!! Furthermore, we must be relentless in smiting our enemies, who seek to stop us from constantly looking for roots!" This intonement led the assembled gathering to hurry to find their Officeworks copies of the Holy Book, which comprised no less than..............

SWR needs a coating of lubricant/preservative to ensure it lasts, and performs properly. You can buy a sizeable range of spray or brush-on coatings/lubricants for SWR. The coating protection prevents rusting and the lubricant penetrates the cable strands, and prevents internal friction between the strands, and therefore reduces wear on the strands.

Blueadventures - Sorry, I have to disagree with you on the above point. Good quality 316 stainless steel with the specified levels of chrome and nickel content, is graded as high tensile, and its resistance to corrosion is excellent. Steel wire rope must be correctly sized for the intended use, and properly treated when in use. Kinks, flattened wire strands and overload situations are the killer of all steel wire ropes. Galvanised coatings are easily damaged and once damaged, corrosion of regular high tensile carbon steel wire starts rapidly, and continues unchecked. When the corrosion is deep in the cable strands, it is very hard to find. I do have substantial steel wire rope experience, I started using it the day I left school, and have used it extensively for 60 years. I have never heard of stainless steel wire failing to give indication of impending failure. The wire strands in SWR start to fracture independently and singly, and give adequate notice of failure, if heard or visually seen snapping - and total failure can be avoided if the load is released, and the SWR inspected accordingly to check for wire strand failure. Unfortunately, there is a lot of Asian-manufactured stainless steel that fails to meet globally-agreed specifications, and the use of this sub-standard stainless steel, has been behind numerous product failures involving stainless steel products.