onetrack

One of the reasons I would never purchase a vehicle that requires a website subscription to operate it, or even to access "further features". Yet, many manufacturers say this is what they are aiming for in the future. Not only an additional cost burden, but the wireless link is the weak point. Already, many cars are being stolen as thieves clone remote car keys simply by standing next to people who have their remote in their pocket. They operate in pairs to fool the car into thinking the owner (via his remote key) is nearby, and then use a portable device to generate a spoofed radio signal to unlock it. They can place tracking tags on the car, and then find out where it's being homed or parked, and then come back and drive it away. One reason the experts say you should always carry your remote in a RFID-blocking case. https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/subscription-overload-the-car-features-you-may-have-to-pay-for-monthly/ https://www.wired.com/2017/04/just-pair-11-radio-gadgets-can-steal-car/

A distinct failure of ATC, I would opine. Isn't ATC there primarily to ensure the safety of the travelling public on commercial flights?

........engine sounds like a Victa lawnmower running on methanol! This nasty Wheels criticism of French cars almost led to a major political rumpus, with the French winemakers declaring they would refuse to sell French wines to Australia, as it was obviously run by French-hating British descendants. Rene Claude de Maupassant, the designer of the 2CV, became enraged at the Wheels review of the 2CV, declaring the poor brakes were necessary, as the 2CV was designed to GO! - not STOP! And the seats were designed to resemble tractor seats, because the main aim of the 2CV was that French farmers could plough their fields with it, in between winning major races. Rene pointed out that 2 cylinders was all anyone needed to go anywhere, and to also win races - sneering, in the finest French style, at the Americans propensity for 8 cyl engines, and as for crash-worthiness? - why would anyone want to crash, unless it was to "crash through" and .................

It's a Shorts Sturgeon S.B.3, a submarine hunter aircraft. The "Elephant Man" nose contained the sub-hunting radar, and room for two radar operators. Sadly, the Shorts Sturgeon started off a quite a nice-looking Naval torpedo bomber and then a Naval recce/attack aircraft. But Shorts were big losers in the aircraft design race because it was very late in WW2, the military requested designs and proposals changed monthly, and Shorts struggled to win any contracts. They won an order for 30 of the original nice-looking Sturgeons, then the order was cancelled as the War ended. “I am not an animal…”; The Short S.B.3 - Forgotten Aircraft - Military Matters MILITARYMATTERS.ONLINE An...unusual looking...design, the S.B.3 was what can happen when you keep messing with a design to try to meet changing requirements.

Yes, a lot of forums use that process, but as most moderators are unpaid volunteers, it can sometimes take 2 or 3 days to get approved to post. Then they limit your postings of images until you've made several postings, which is a reasonable attempt to identify genuine posters. One of the common traits of spammers is their use of nonsense usernames, as they run out of ideas for usernames, and can't think up common-sounding names. However, the FB Marketplace spammers like to use innocuous-sounding common Anglo names, and that can be a giveaway.

WD-40 is great for keeping rubber items soft and supple. The manufacturers recommend using it on weatherstrips to stop them from going hard.

I've seen a bloke in a Tiger Moth (many many years ago), in the S.W. of W.A., take off from the apron directly in front of the hangars! He was airborne before he reached the runway!

They always seem to start spamming as I go to bed about 10:00PM WST. That's midnight EST, so I get the job of trying to delete them! But I can only report them, I'm not a moderator, and as result, Red750's mailbox filled up with my dozens and dozens of spam reports, as he was up and trying to delete them, too! As fast as I reported them, there'd be several more added. Plus, it takes a while to go through the spam reporting process. There must be some way to slow them down, such as limiting the number of posts in, say, a 10 minute period, to perhaps just 5 or 6 posts? I wondered if someone had set up a bot to keep posting the crap. Some people must have pathetic lives, if that's all they can do is spam websites.

Blame pmccarthy - he was the one who showed power pylons, and a transmission line from the air! 🙂

Yeah, they usually run the high tension powerlines at 132Kv, but unsurprisingly (when you think about it), the amperage is very low, they only have something like 5A fuses for the HT lines. I wasn't aware the HT lines heated up all that much, this is the first time I've heard it mentioned. One would expect cables carrying high amperage would heat up, but not low amperage cables.

Plenty of new suburbs have underground power and in the older suburbs in my neck of the woods, the councils are generally aiming to underground power in the long term. The residents have to pay for it, though. The councils offer loans to help the residents deal with the cost. It increases the value of the housing where power lines are underground. At least with underground power you don't have powerlines coming down when some clown hits a power pole. And the removal of power poles reduces the amount of crashes.

A weak solution of phosphoric acid works good on cleaning up aluminium alloy. Mag wheel cleaners usually contain a mild solution of phosphoric acid.

I find it amazing that not a single piece of wreckage has washed up anywhere and been found. Maybe something did wash up on an isolated and remote beach, and hasn't been found. One would expect that the sizeable number of boaties who traverse Bass Strait would have sighted something. On that basis, it would appear the aircraft went down relatively slowly and horizontally, and did not break up substantially on impact with the ocean. One would expect that a high speed dive at a steep angle of descent into the ocean, would create quite a debris field. I trust that one day, someone finds something, that gets to the bottom of this puzzling mystery.

Red, recheck your story title, Borroloola is not in W.A.

Was the oil pump replaced? A worn oil pump will make the oil pressure drop as the oil warms, and especially as the engine RPM's reduce. A lot of people think it's O.K. to re-use an old oil pump, "because it looks good". But only careful measuring and checking for scores in the housing/s can provide the information needed, as to whether the oil pump is within specifications or not.

Unpowered Wingsuits are a spinoff from Base Jumping - one of the most dangerous extreme sports you could pick to indulge in. There's been a recorded 180 deaths from Base Jumping, and 38 deaths from Wingsuit flying. Of course, the craze started back in the early 20th century, and I think Franz Reichelt was possibly the first fatality of many. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Reichelt Personally, (if I was much younger and keener) I'd prefer the jet powered Wingsuits as pioneered by Yves Rossy. However, in 2022, Peter Salzmann collaborated with BMW to fly an electric-powered Wingsuit.

.......good place to disappear. Of course, many of those who disappeared, had no idea they were going to disappear, and this was a very useful feature of a trip to the Cayman Islands, especially when the the potential disappearee gleefully accepted a free trip to a glorious Western Caribbean island destination. Of course, one doesn't have to visit the Cayman Islands to just disappear, as Harold Holt proved to us. Returning to the talking prawn story, we have learnt that one night, whilst boozing heavily with bull, the talking prawn let slip that he actually was Harold Holt. Bull was stunned at the news. "How could this come about", he asked the prawn. "It's a long and convoluted story", the prawn sighed. "You recall how the story got around that I was picked up by a Russian submarine? The story is true - and what's more, few people know, that at that time, the Russians were way ahead of the Americans in the field of transmogrification. It was all to do with their skills at spying, and being able to turn oneself into whatever shape or creature one desired to become, to trick the enemy. Unfortunately, the night I stepped into the Russian transmogrifier, some drunken fool had left the control setting on 'prawn', and of course, the rest is now history". Bull was even more staggered by this news. The Russians possessed fully operational transmogrifiers, and no-one has ever found out? An idea formed in bulls mind. What if he............... (and dear NES readers, we have further evidence of transmogrifiers, many thanks to Bill Watterson, and Calvin & Hobbes, below......)

It's not just a grammatical error, the difference between the two descriptions is a major and important difference. Aircraft certification is divided into many categories of certification. https://www.casa.gov.au/aircraft-airworthiness-certification-categories-and-designations-explained

Ian - FYI, there are three separate types of knock sensors fitted to automotive engines. 1. Acoustic sensors that use piezoelectric units to detect vibrations in the engine block directly. 2. Ion sensors that measure electrical activity between the spark plug electrodes, post ignition. 3. Direct combustion pressure sensors that are fitted to the ends of injectors or glowplugs, that measure combustion pressure levels. As far as I understand, acoustic sensors and ion sensors are becoming less common in engine design, and are being superseded by direct combustion pressure sensors. Porsche fitted acoustic sensors to some of their engines, so it's technically feasible for air cooled engines. The argument that air cooled engines are too noisy is not true, because an acoustic sensor on a water-cooled engine must be made more sensitive, as it has to detect vibrations through two thicknesses of metal with water sandwiched between them. https://www.vehicleservicepros.com/service-repair/underhood/article/21174614/making-sense-of-ion-sense-technology There are aftermarket knock sensors available, but they aren't cheap, especially when you consider that you have to install them and wire them up, as well as purchase them. https://bdn-automotive.com/products/pressure-sensors

This raptor researcher in the Outback of W.A. has fitted trackers to wedgetail eagles, and has recorded them going to 21,300 feet!! One would ask why, and as the researcher says, "because they can, and because they obviously enjoy soaring". Biologist discovers wedge-tailed eagles fly more than six kilometres off the ground - ABC News WWW.ABC.NET.AU A biologist has discovered wedge-tailed eagles in Western Australia's outback are flying at extraordinary heights.

Attempting to set land use conditions on a parcel of land, long after you sold it (or donated it), is not something I would expect to be enforceable, unless there was a substantial and comprehensive binding agreement put in place as part of the sale/donation agreement, and signed by all parties involved.

Moneybox, isn't the free version of Fusion only good for 3 years?

........a talking prawn!! I can't believe my luck!! This is my life-changing moment! I'm going to save this little fella from being eaten, run away from this rotten prawn-trawler skippering job - join a circus, dress this little fella in a suit, sit him on my knee, and let him talk and talk!! I can advertise as "Come and see bull and the Talking Politician Prawn!" - as prawns are mostly full of sh**, the same as politicians - and they wear suits, too, so people will love the analogy - and being able to actually ask him questions, and get mostly BS replies (same as a politician), the crowds will love it, and I'll make a million overnight, in the easiest way possible!! However, the prawn had listened to all this planning, and he had different ideas. He wasn't about to.........

I just hate it when you have a breakdown, and you have to call in a tilt tray! 😄

The pilot has been confirmed as deceased and his body was recovered from the wreckage at around 2:00PM yesterday. The media report below indicates the "distress signal" was from an ELB. https://www.ulladullatimes.com.au/story/9069975/body-recovered-after-plane-crash-in-national-park/