onetrack

Marty, I'm sorry, I can't help with any round bar steel. I checked my steel stocks today, and the smallest I have in the high tensile hardened and ground round bar, is 10mm diameter.

Just a slight thread drift - but the Ukrainians have now confirmed that the AN-225 Mriya has been destroyed (burnt) in a Russian attack.

The Ukrainians were unable to move the aircraft away from the Ukraine, because it was undergoing maintenance.

They're pretty angry about it, and vowing to make the Russians pay for it - but good luck with that idea, I'd say.

https://ukroboronprom.com.ua/news/rosiyani-znishhili-an-225-mriya-vona-bude-vidnovlena-za-kosti-okupanta

We're still talking about batteries. We haven't deviated to motorbikes or horses yet.

I don't understand why the owners didn't move the aircraft out to higher ground when they became aware of the potential of heavy flooding.

It's not like they had no warning, and no time to shift the aircraft, and it's not like this has never happened before in this region.

Take some lessons from the Vietnam War where an enemy without a decent Air Force beat an enemy with the worlds biggest Air Force.

Guerrilla warfare is very effective with the right weapons, and RPG's are one of the deadliest weapons ever invented by Russia - so there's nothing like using their own weaponry on them.

An RPG-29 is capable of taking out most modern tanks with one well-placed hit, usually in the area between the turret and the hull.

RPG's were the most feared weapon in Vietnam, and a single individual can easily get close to enemy equipment with an RPG, to carry out a vast amount of damage.

In the link below, there's a Cirrus SR22 up for auction, located at Bellata, NSW (between Narrabri and Moree) on 18th March 2022. The aircraft carries VH-OHH registration, but the auction house says it "requires certification".

I can only presume by that description, that its CoA has expired. Seems a little odd for this type of aircraft to have let a CoA lapse, but stranger things have happened.

It's powered with a Continental 10-550-N, 310 HP and fitted with Avidyne Flightmax (no model number mentioned), and a Garmin GMA340. It's done 900 hrs.

No other indications are given as to whether it's flyable (looks O.K. to me), has a ventilated block, been pranged, or whether someone stole it one time. You need to make your own inquiries, and do your own inspection/s.

It could be a distressed sale and a bargain, or it could have a serious reserve on it. Ritchie Bros used to be famous for "no reserve" auctions, but they appear to have modified that approach, and I now find they can often have reserved sale prices on the higher value items being auctioned.

https://www.rbauction.com/2002-cirrus-sr22-aircraft?invId=13012527&id=ci&auction=australia-ag-aus-2022298

You won't be able to find a 5/16" bolt that is around 10" in length, the longest you might find is about 6".

You will have little choice but to put threads on some high tensile round bar stock, and that's best done with a lathe.

Miniature Bearings Australia keep stocks of all sort of useful hobby engineering items, from small bearings through to knobs through to steel aluminium and brass pieces of all types of cross-section.

They currently have in stock a couple of lengths of 316 stainless round bar in 5/16" diameter (7.94mm), which are 12" long. However, they want $30.26 for each piece, which is a bit expensive in my view.

Then there's postage on top of that, so maybe another $15-20.

https://www.smallparts.com.au/store/item/0r00790914ss316/?v=5050

Alternatively, I can have a hunt through my steel stocks tomorrow, I might have some 8mm hardened and ground round bar, which is fairly high tensile, and used for the likes of machining guides.

I know I've got quite a quantity of 10, 20, 30 and 40mm bar in this stuff, but I'm not sure that I've got any smaller diameter bar.

I don't know of any 50mm machine gun that has ever been manufactured - but maybe you meant .50" calibre?

I don't believe a Jab airframe would be very capable of standing up to .50 cal repeated firings - let alone getting the sheer weight of a .50 cal, the gun mountings, and adequate ammunition, off the ground?

There's a couple of things to think about, if you want to extract the lead from batteries yourself. 

1. They contain sulphuric acid, and this stuff is nasty stuff to handle, and it must be neutralised.

In its 32% acid formulation in batteries, it's classified as a Hazardous substance, and it can't just be poured down the nearest drain. You need a substantial amount of Sodium Bicarbonate to neutralise it.

2. There's a lot waste material that you end up with from a shattered battery, such as the polypropylene casing, the separators, and an amount of various types of sulphate residues.

All this material has to be disposed of, and you can't just dump in your general rubbish bin, nor in your recyclables bin. And I wouldn't recommend just dumping it on a vacant patch of land somewhere, the penalties for dumping toxic waste are quite eye-watering. You might be able to place it in a heavy industrial waste bin if you have access to one (I do, as I have a factory unit in a heavy industrial area).

3. You really need to smelt the lead extracted from batteries, to get a clean lead product suitable for selling - otherwise the scrap dealers won't give you the full $1.50 kg for it.

Smelting lead requires a crucible and molds, and the fumes from heated lead are extremely toxic. So you need substantial breathing and skin protection.

Overall, unless you have a very large quantity of batteries to melt down, and are well organised with all the above requirements for lead extraction and smelting, I'd have to opine it's hardly worth the effort to try and extract the lead from your handful of batteries, and you're far better advised to leave battery recycling to the professionals.

.....planning my next money-making move, no matter where it is. As a matter of interest, Turbine Industrial is now on the scene in the Ukraine, looking for aviation opportunities, such as arming Foxbats for combat, as well as any other business operations in a rule-free war zone, that may be profitable".

Meantimes, back in good ol' W.A., Marky Mark was handing out free RATS to every W.A. household. "They can't hand me out for free, I need to be bought!", cried the Jedi Rat.

"Yes, we know you can be bought, it happens all the time!", said OT - "Particularly when important rules need to be broken or ignored!"

"That's not true!" responded Cappy with indignation, "Everyone knows that I have some morals, even though they are described as........

Batteries were bringing around 60c kg last year, but the price has dropped in recent weeks to 40c kg. Pure lead brings $1.50 kg.

Quote

The worst was a gung-ho, impatient type who demonstrated excellent pilot skills but apalling airmanship.

OldK - His name wasn't Hotchin, by any chance? These types are always on a mission to kill themselves and usually take many others with them.

They should never be licenced for anything larger than a lawnmower. History is littered with the deadly results of their total incompetence, and it shows great failings in training, that these people can reach high positions.

There must be nothing worse than having the wheels fall off, when you're airborne.

....ban all East Coast aviators from W.A., as interstate and international travellers were how the virus came into W.A. in the first place. Not for nothing was Marky Mark, best described as the Kim Jong-un of Australia. It's no coincidence that Nth Korea and W.A. are both virtually COVID-free.

"But how can we get to visit the beautiful and (relatively COVID-free) W.A., when we want to relax, and get away from all the COVID-carrying locals here?", cried Cappy.

"Besides, Turbo and I need to suss out the W.A. aviation scene for major opportunities, as regards money-making schemes - which Turbo has perfected, and which schemes I get to carry out, because I.....

Any internet search immediately eliminates capital letters, so you can't expect the younger generations to figure out where capital letters need to be applied.

So many of the "rules of English" that were belted into us in the 40's, 50's and 60's are now completely ignored, and you can apparently adjust all the rules of English to suit yourself, in todays world.

Ebonics are filtering through American English via the Internet, to detrimentally affect the English language, worldwide.

......and speaking of fuel - what with the massive increase in fuel prices in recent weeks, bull has been working on a scheme to develop aircraft-grade fuel from anything else but crude oil.

At the present moment, bull has found there's a large stock of over-ripe Tassie apples that look like they will ferment beautifully, and provide a large quantity of aviation-grade alcohol supplement to his  now-meagre fuel supplies.

Bull hasn't found any way to supplement his income to make up for the major increase in fuel prices - and, as he won't ever reduce his flying hours, he's had to work out new and innovative methods to produce new alternative fuels. In addition, bull has recently found out there are Govt grants available for anyone coming up with new fuel source ideas, to reduce our reliance on imported fuels.

One of these grants being offered is also a Green Energy grant, and as the Jacka is already painted mint green, bull has estimated his chances of scoring a "Clean, Green Energy" grant, to be higher than at any other time in the history of Tassie aviation, and he's looking forward to.........

The dog barks at you when you're going to do something wrong, such as crossing the polarity of the jumper leads. They're smart, those dogs!

PI11763N is the Jabiru P/No., and Skycraft in the U.K. show 5 in stock at £42.02 each. That's around AU$80, and it appears Skycraft will be your best bet to source the sensor. This unit appears identical to the RS 304-166 sensor.

https://skycraft.ltd/acatalog/Tacho-Sender-PI11763N.html

O.K. So that's at a complete variance from the information that Kevin gave. RS Online can supply a suitable inductive sensor in 1/4"-28 UNF, but it's a different design to the original VDO one.

It appears that VDO P/No 304 166 is NLA. I cannot pick up any supplier or seller that is selling VDO 304 166. The VDO catalogue does not list any inductive sensor in 1/4"-28 UNF.

RSonline can supply 304-166 for an eye-watering AU$206, which is straight-out rort, IMO. The sensor sold by RSonline is also sold by Allied - and Allied sell it from their (U.S.) site for US$43.29.

Unfortunately, Allied are not a user-friendly site, when it comes to shipping to overseas purchasers - and I can see very little as regards their shipping policies.

You need to initiate a RFQ with Allied to find out what their shipping cost to Australia is - and in many cases, I find companies such as Allied rort you on shipping, as they mainly only deal with large corporate and military clients, who care little about shipping costs.

RSonline - Sensor 304-166 - https://au.rs-online.com/web/p/motion-control-sensors/0304166/?relevancy-data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searchHistory={"enabled"%3Atrue}

Allied Sensor 304166 -  https://www.alliedelec.com/product/rs-pro-by-allied/304166/70637851/

EDIT: - I just did more checking, and found that Allied have a menu along the top of their page that lists pages in various languages, and whether the sale is domestic or export.

I clicked on "Export-English" in that top menu, and the price then becomes US$47! You still need to initiate an RFQ with them.

..........landing at the wrong Tassie airstrip, or even worse, landing in Victoria, where Chairman Dan is waiting for his chance to..........

The VDO Tacho installation instruction sheet that Kevin provided in his first post, shows the Inductive Sensor as VDO P/No 340 020.

This P/No appears to be an American VDO P/No only, as it does not appear on any Australian/NZ VDO catalogue. The 340 020 Sensor is 3/4" x 16tpi thread (UNF) and is 2" long.

The Australian and NZ VDO catalogue only list P/No's 340.007, 340.008, 340.009, and 340804007019C, as available Inductive Sensors in our neck of the woods.

The VDO catalogue says Sensor 340.008 is 3/4" x 16 UNF thread - while all the other Sensor P/No's are metric. However, an Australian supplier, Howards, says Sensor 340 008 is M18 x 1.5 thread. This warrants further inquiry.

Howards product - http://www.howardinstruments.com.au/product_details.php?productid=1231&mdid=9e9c31addebe481c078d59e6cf0bbe31

The AU/NZ VDO catalogue (see the bottom of page 63) - https://www.robinsoninstruments.co.nz/Down Load Page/VDO 2015 Catalogue.pdf

If you can wait 3 weeks or more, you could order a 340 020 sensor from the cheapest U.S. supplier that I've found - Anglers World, where it is currently on offer for US$53.95.

Anglers World estimate US$18.24 for 1st class International postage to AU, making the total US$72.19, which is AU$100.33 at todays exchange rate.

You might have to factor in another 2.5% for the currency dealers grab (such as PayPal, your bank or your CC provider) - and if you're lucky, Anglers World doesn't charge GST because they do less than $75K worth of business annually in Australia.

https://anglersworld.com/products/vdo-inductive-sender-magnetic-pickup-2-340-020?_atid=ynyXnkU142LZeKwHqynLED47cgileT

AISAT Instruments carry a VDO P/No V340 009 Inductive sensor for AU$128.65, which is an alternative. However, this Sensor has two spade type terminals, instead of the more secure thread-and-nut variety as in P/No 340 020.

https://www.aisat.com.au/our-products/commercial/vdo-commercial-instruments/senders-and-switches-commercial/v340-009/

.....those Blue Heads are some of the dodgiest and most dangerous people around! - nearly as bad as those flyers from Australia's Southern apple store, who can't find their capital or punctuation keys on their keyboard!"

"That's nothing!, said Turbo, "you ought to see what he misses by way of buttons and switches, when he's up in the Jacka! He still hasn't found the.........

The greatest single problem this bloke has, is using an engine repair shop that did not have sound overhaul practices and procedures with crosschecks (see from 8.55-on, in the 3rd video).

Leaving a circlip off a counterweight retaining pin is in the realm of backyard mechanics. Continental state clearly that all retaining circlips must be checked upon engine re-assembly.

You never ever want to install rubber hose for major oil lines, that's a recipe for disaster. A friend had an F-250 Ford ute that was retrofitted with a Chevrolet 6.5L V8 diesel. This engine had an "oil filter relocation" kit fitted to it.

An adaptor is screwed into the oil filter recess on the 6.5L block, and a special alloy cast housing is attached to it, with two oil line hoses running from the new cast housing to the new oil filter location point.

My mates engine blew one of these hoses, and the engine pumped every skerrick of lube oil out onto the road, and the engine seized. When the oil light came on, it was "all-over, red-rover".

Nothing beats a minimum of hoses, or even a minimum of steel oil lines, when it comes to pumping vital oil around an engine. I can't see any problem with carrying a spare new sensor, and the tools to fit it, if the gauge fails.

I have never seen a remotely-mounted oil sensor, they are all screwed to the block, and have been, since oil gauges were installed. 

......highly toxic poison, just in himself. But OT quickly protested - "You misheard me! I actually said 'F*** YOU!' - not 'FUGU!' (the East Coasters have always struggled with the West Coast accent).

"What I was trying to say, is - I want to do him, slowly and painfully, for all the hurt and pain he's caused!", OT went on. "This is a bloke who has left a trail of jilted lovers, unwanted offspring, angry husbands, and marital wreckage, all through the various countries he's visited! And that's just the start of.........