onetrack

I don't understand why you wouldn't use 316 stainless in those cables. The corrosion levels there are horrendous.

.........really long, hard nights, when I accidentally positioned the swag on top of a few of the biggest roots around, at the B&S Ball. It made for a very uncomfortable night, especially with several roots, all vying for attention in the swag. It was only after I got up.......................

......said, "This is nothing, compared to some of the roots I've dug up, at past B&S Balls! Some of them, I needed at least a dozen additional blokes, to help me get....................

Matt Wright has been sentenced to 10 mths in jail, suspended after 5 mths served, after being found guilty on two counts of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. He was placed on a good behaviour bond for a further 2 years. He was also fined $5000 for lying to police in relation to the amount of fuel in the crashed helicopters fuel tank. The tank was empty, but Wright told NT Police there was still fuel in it, when he first arrived at the crash site. The judge also commented about Wrights company Helibrook, disobeying aviation safety requirements as regards logging correct hours run in its helicopters. He stated it was likely the crashed helicopter had exceeded its 2,200 hr time to overhaul limit, as a result of hour meters being disconnected when being operated - a "system" that Wright claimed was widespread in the helicopter industry. Just claiming the "hour-meter-doctoring" system was widespread thoughout the helicopter industry, is not a valid, nor even a logical response. I can recall at least one helicopter crash in W.A. where the pilot/owner was killed due to rotor failure, caused by ignoring the rotor overhaul time limit. The investigation proved that the crashed helicopter had accumulated a lot more hours than the hour meter read, because the investigators went through the helicopters fuel purchase/consumption records, and the helicopters fuel use did not jell with the hour meter reading, at the time of the crash. Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright sentenced to 10 months’ jail after fatal helicopter crash | Northern Territory | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM Reality TV star jailed for trying to cover up evidence after the 2022 crash that killed co-star Chris ‘Willow’ Wilson

......was intent on a more attention-grabbing headline. He found it, when Turbo sought out and found the biggest root around - and it was something that Turbo had been looking for, ever since he was a pimply-faced 14 yr old, reading those naughty "girlie" books in the thunderbox, that all contained pictures of near-naked girls. Once Turbo found his biggest and best root in the Mallee, he had to put it on display - and the Pravda journalist was absolutely delighted to produce the following photo, along with the story about how Turbo had........

.......worship at the altar of wooden gods, rather than worshipping at the altar of Saint Thomas More. Albo had always thought that the "More" actually stood for his renumeration, and was quite surprised after many years of worshipping, to find that Saint Thomas More was actually a politician himself. But furthermore, when Albo found out that Thomas More had lost his head in politics, he decided it was a far wiser move to change religion, and worship wooden gods instead. However, there was the constant problem of splinters when worshipping wooden gods, so Albo set out to....................................

I often wonder about what would happen when a chopper has an engine failure when doing aerial rescue, and the rescued person and a crew member are on the winch. I would guess this is the reason most rescue choppers are turbine. But the bottom line is, you're only going one direction, when you forget to fuel up.

Here is an earlier ABC News article (dated Sept 2025), outlining Wrights five grounds of appeal against his conviction. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, all the grounds he listed were rejected today. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-27/matt-wright-five-grounds-of-appeal-revealed/105824618

Matt Wright, who was found guilty on two charges of conspiring to pervert the course of justice, after a four week trial, back in August 2025, has lost his appeal against the guilty verdicts. In another blow for Wright, he lodged a complaint with the NT Police Professional Standards Command, over comments made by a NT police officer who was involved in the crash investigation. Wright, through his lawyer, claimed that Detective Senior Sergeant Corey Borton made "potentially defamatory statements" about Wright and his wife in a media interview. The NTPPSC reviewed Bortons comments and rejected any NT Police liability or inference that Wright had been defamed. Ignore the lurid headlines, the story below is reasonably accurate, but it does not report on the current outcome of Wrights double loss, on the charges appeal, and on the police statements complaint. Things have not turned out well for the Outback Wrangler, and he is yet to be sentenced for his convictions. As with all crashes resulting in fatality or fatalities, there are never any winners, and a lot of people always refuse to man up for their failings. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15303469/Outback-Wrangler-Matt-Wright.html

Despite looking like a fragile death trap, Ken Brock was very successful with his gyroplanes, and they were inherently safe. But he was very badly injured in the mid-1980's, when he was hit by a rotor blade from his own gyroplane, when he landed quickly and exited too fast, to try and help another aviator who had crashed. However, the greatest irony of Ken Brocks shortened career, was that he was killed in 2001, when the Thorp T-18 he had built, crashed on rollout at his private airstrip. An official investigation showed the tailwheel fork had broken due to corrosion, letting the tailwheel depart the aircraft and causing Ken to lose directional control. The Thorp left the airstrip and hit a vertical steel post on an adjoining property, tore off a wing, and went inverted. Ken was trapped in the aircraft, suspended in his harness, and his death was caused by asphyxiation, as he'd suffered blunt force injuries and he was trapped upside down with his head pressed sharply to one side, causing the asphyxiation. His wife was passenger in the aircraft and survived with only minor injuries. The investigators commented on the lack of a roll cage in the Thorp, which would possibly have prevented Kens death, or at least allowed him to be extracted, before he suffocated. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Brock_Manufacturing https://www.buildagyrocopter.com/sport-pilot-pioneer-ken-brock/ https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/53646/pdf

.............tuition in the fine legal art of screwing clients with no physical contact. However, the part of the prosecutors statement that raised eyebrows in the courtroom was the part that said, "Raj Withasmaran is charged with decorating his truck in the most un-Australian manner, with tassels, beads, images, symbols and signage, that not only blights our roads and dazzles other motorists, but these decorations are also illegal, unsafe and offensive to any transport inspector that patrols the Highways of Australia." "Furthermore, the logbooks are being filled out in Hindi, which is an offence under Section 14, Part 3, Sub-part 7 (a), Clause 17 (c) of the Heavy Vehicle National Law, which section states that............. (Dear NES'ers, further to the excellent photo posted by Turbo of one of Cappys finest motels, one has to add a photo of Raj Witharmarans heavily disguised Kenworth, traversing the Grong Grong Bypass on the Newell, with a load that is also raising suspicion amongst Transport Inspectors, due to its apparent illegality......)

.......over the lack of good Indian curries, Rogan Josh, Murgh Makhani, Murgh Kari, Chana Masala, Palak Paneer, Dal Makhani, Rajma Chawal and of course, not forgetting Beef Vindaloo, in Pie Face outlets. It was only after managers promised to get rid of the pies, and deliver the curries, that the beatings stopped. But for now, the truck drivers would have to find a suitable Indian cafe selling proper chaat. After search, aided by numerous Uber and DiDi drivers, the truck drivers were re-directed to the taxi drivers favourite spot - which place could be easily found by the overwhelming goat, rabbit and curry smells that ran for several blocks. The rabbit was for the Claypot Chicken, of course - but naturally, it was all marked "chicken" in big barrels, and nobody even dared to mouth the word "rabbit" near the kitchen. The Raj truck drivers blocked all the local streets with badly-parked trucks, while they all traipsed in and placed their orders. But it wasn't long before an officious-looking gent in a uniform and peaked cap, asked............

And there is a major difference between the ordinary fibreglass of the everyday kit build aircraft and the certified composite materials. Even the interior, non-load-bearing plastics inside the cabins of commercial aircraft must undergo extensive testing in relation to burn rate, heat release, smoke, and toxicity, under FAA rules. Plus, they must also meet durability tests as regards wear and tear.

It's a composite Airbus A350. Interestingly, all on board the Airbus survived - the fire only took hold slowly (due to design) and this enabled full evacuation. 2024 Haneda Airport runway collision - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

It's Otto the Bumblebee!!

I would have to say the commercial system has developed the licencing system it has over many decades, and many training upgrades, after crashes caused by inadequate training or knowledge. The transfer of knowledge via instructors is much more comprehensive than just learning from books and studying technical manuals. An instructor is watching for you making dangerous mistakes, doing character assessment to pick up on your weaknesses, and to try and strengthen those weaknesses. Plus, they will hand out tips that will not be in books or manuals. Finally, the flight tests to award you an ATPL is to judge how capable you are, and if you can make the grade on every aspect of flying commercially - all done by senior peers. Remember that flight crew have huge responsibilities besides just flying the aircraft, from the control of errant pax, right through to handling emergencies in a professional and capable manner. And the position of a qualified RPT captain is a position that is highly regarded, and brings with it great respect, and elevated social status. To try and make out you have an ATPL when you haven't, is treated as a serious criminal offence.

Brendan, Skippy is showing his age. "Fagend of a conversation" means the end of a conversation, mainly when the conversation is running out of topic, and has become unimportant. It probably came from the time when people had a discussion over a work break smoke session, and the conversation ended when the cigarette was finished, and everyone had to go back to work. Nothing to to do with the other "fags" (homos).

Marty - Did you know that hummingbirds can fly backwards?

This bloke has a very good 15 minute video of why he bought a Cozy MKIV Canard aircraft, and what the drawbacks are in their design. In essence, despite being promoted as "stall-proof", they're tricky to fly. A flapless wing (the design can't be fitted with flaps) makes for high speed takeoffs and landings, meaning a longer runway is needed. The tiny undercarriage and high landing/takeoff speeds means it is unsuitable for rough airstrips - and most importantly, a narrow C of G, and strict attention to load positioning, means you can't afford any mistakes in that load positioning. When he flies alone, he has two bags of shot that are required on board to balance the aircraft - and fat friends in the passenger seat, are out. So, not an aircraft that appeals to all, as it's quite unforgiving in numerous areas. Obviously, this bloke loves the advantages - high cruise speed, low fuel consumption, and a reduction in engine noise. He's a good presenter, with clear simple information and explanations - a lot of YouTubers would do well to copy his informative style.

I watched this yesterday and had a good laugh at his first job application, where he lied he'd previously been employed by Aladdin Airlines! LOL The bloke had more cheek than an elephants bum, asking to use the SAS Airlines flight simulator after hours! Imagine the response if one of us rang up Qantas or Virgin and asked to use their simulator when it wasn't occupied!?

.....more robust components, such as aileron hinges and control cable mounts. However, there were some things that weren't allowed in the foundry. Pork chops for one, and yelling out, "Hey, Raghead! Get that....... (Dear NES readers, Cappy has obviously been snooping around OT's workshop, and taking notes and photos of his specialised tools....)

......would give the Truster the necessary lugging torque to spin an oversize prop. "Speaking of props", interjected OT, "but I have a close business associate in the marine industry who is an expert on props, and all it takes is a little resizing and rejigging in his factory, and he'll be able to produce any size Truster prop required - provided that it's made from brass, of course, as his operation comprises a brass foundry. Furthermore, his pricing is competitive with any backyard factory in Gujurat, mainly because he imports many Raj's as indentured Indian labour, and provides them with all their workplace needs, such as mens frocks, factory-grade thongs, multiple large shifters with pipe extensions, and.................

......extending the truck manufacturing and truck repair businesses into aviation manufacturing and aviation repair (note the eventual turn to avref?), utilising all their highly trained staff and youthful apprentices to build the advanced design Turbine Aviation Industries "Truster". Note the clever use of slightly altered wording to make the product appear similar to another brand, whilst promoting trust in the aviation product itself, via word association? The production of the new TAI Truster increased rapidly, especially after Ahmed Bulbul Emir organised for a large supply of scrap aluminium for the aircraft castings, from surplus pots and pans gathered up by street collectors. However, there was a pressing problem that needed to be overcome, as regards the power plant. The specifications (drawn up on a large table napkin) showed a requirement for a lightweight flat six, two stroke, and turbocharged, and able to run on all fuels, including used cooking oil. Ahmed was flummoxed as to where he could find such a complex design. However, he had the number of a man in far-off Western Australia, who was skilled in all things mechanical and making anything from nothing, as he'd had to do all his life. He called up OT and said, "OT, I have an urgent need for a sizeable number of engines that have to be...........

And imagine the cost when someone falls off a machine, lands on their head, and is turned into a living vegetable? I can't count on both hands, the number of people I know, who have done just that. One bloke I know just fell off the back of a low-loader. He lives a miserable, spoon-fed life, and the cost of looking after him, runs into millions over his lifetime. The cost of what he's lost in life enjoyment, is immeasurable. I have a mate who was fixing the track on bi-fold doors on a superphosphate shed. He was working alone, in a remote rural area. He tied the doors against the low level of prevailing wind, and went up the ladder to fix the track. While he was up the top of the ladder, the wind rapidly reversed direction and gusted (you'd know all about this, as a pilot). The doors were driven back by the wind gust, the movement sent his ladder over backwards, he fell 4 metres onto concrete. He totally shattered his left femur (the big top bone in your leg), shattered his left elbow - and he laid there in agony for over 2 hrs until he could raise help with a weak phone signal. He ended up with a 10mm stainless steel rod through the full length of his femur, a stainless plate and a number of screws in his elbow, and he spent 3 mths in a wheelchair, and another 3 mths learning to walk properly again. The cost in medical/rescue terms would have run into hundreds of thousands. And the pain and lifestyle/work restrictions he's endured since, can't be measured. Yet, if you saw him before he started, taking steps along proper safety lines, with scaffolding, a fall-arrest harness, a safety and risk assessment, and assistance from others, I guess you'd just call him a safety wuss??