onetrack

Yep, he really needed to fly on that totally worn out Conty. Couldn't wait for a new engine, just had to keep flying that worn-out POS until it died - and he died with it.

I guess this pilot wasn't well known for his great decision-making, it makes you wonder how he got to 66 - and 10,000 hrs. What gets me, is they nearly always manage to take innocent, trusting pax with them.

For a pilot who called he was going to make an emergency landing, it looks to me on the "last seconds" video, like it was 40 years since he practiced any type of forced landing.

Do these people really understand how their aircraft responds with a completely stopped engine? Surely they must have some inkling that an aircraft with a stopped engine flies little better than a thrown housebrick?

Cessna, "Family Car of the Air"! Don't you just love it! Nary a mention of flying training or flying costs!

I'm amazed at the number of Staggerwings sold in the 1930's and 1940's, considering their purchase and running costs. But I guess there's always been that group of extremely rich people for whom expenditure like that was pocket money.

I was also quite surprised at the number of people in this group who purchased high quality expensive aircraft during WW2, and who then specifically donated them to the War effort - even in Australia, several aircraft were donated by the wealthy.

The scammers must be looking for some special kind of idiot seller who will hand over money without due diligence - when the scammer is supposed to be the one handing over money.

Of course, there's always the old scammer trick of how their agent "paid" an incorrect amount, over and above the sale price, and the seller just needs to reimburse the difference. The "payment evidence" is always fake, naturally.

But the evidence shows that scamming is a very successful business operation, because they keep finding those special kind of idiots, by the dozen, every day. 

It's reported that Australians lost $176M to scammers in 2020. I'll wager that figure is vastly under-reported, as so many who have been scammed never report it out of embarrassment.

Phishing emails are the greatest winner for scammers, it's incredible the number of stupid people who just click on strange live links without a second thought.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/australia-covid-news-aussies-lost-millions-to-scams-during-global-pandemic/10554bc5-9627-4644-8a97-deccc8ad2382

That VW engine would have to have a dry sump, and a pressure carburettor or fuel injection, for it to be suitable for aerobatics. And it would have to be VH-experimental to be aerobatic, would it not?

The hose is in the Contitech catalogue, so I don't know why you can't locate it on the dealer websites.

Quite often, though, the search engines on many websites are utterly useless. Google will find it every time, using the correct search words.

https://merlett.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RubberHosesGeneralCatalog_en_low.pdf

I had a chat to the amiable Capt Biff about the Staggerwing when he pulled into Jandakot in 2009, IIRC. I asked him how he found the fuel consumption of the 450HP Wasp Junior, and he grimaced a bit, saying that the Staggerwing would do 200mph with ease, but if you opened the throttle wide, you had to open your wallet wide, too! He said economy cruise at 165mph was quite satisfactory, but it still chewed up 22 U.S. gallons/hr at that speed.

The Staggerwing layout certainly does look wrong, and according to the experts, the negative stagger doesn't do anything to improve drag (as it was supposed to) - but the pilots vision is apparently improved by the stagger.

I believe there were about 8 Staggerwings in Australia during WW2. It appears all but two have survived, some are still being restored.

Bill Harney repainted NC16S to its wartime colours and markings, for the 70th anniversay of D-Day, 2014.

https://www.airhistory.net/photo/305719/N16S/FT466

Contitech has an Australian division and I see no reason why they wouldn't be able to supply hose from their M4M-2 range from their sales/distribution centres.

https://www.continental-industry.com/en/topnavi/company/location-profiles/australia

This of course, is my favourite aircraft. The superb cabin with its rear bench seat, and the smell of top quality leather, just reeks of "Rolls Royce of the air".

Just the story of the restoration work on this machine by the Croydon Aircraft Co is worth a small book in itself - such as the owner of Croydon going into the forests of British Columbia and personally inspecting and selecting each Canadian tree, for the desired level of wood quality ....

http://captainbiff.com/blog/2012/09/winter-spring-2011-2012/#more-859

You probably need to talk to some old PMG/Telstra lineys to learn about faulty soldered joints! Some of things I've heard them discussing - trying to find a line fault in a street pillar, and suspecting a dry joint, but being unable to find it - then having a heavy truck rumble past, and the dry joint promptly presented itself, with the vibration from the truck wheels! Or having an untraceable dry joint fault in a country phone line - so they'd pull off a couple of live 240V wires in the nearby exchange, and just touch them momentarily to the phone cables, to arc the faulty joint, and fix it! (the copper network normally ran on 48 volts DC).

....thought it would be better if he got a name tag to identify himself better, rather than just that Field Marshalls uniform. But there was a problem with having a name tag, when your full name was Aloysuis Gonzaga Fernando Francesco Giacinto Gulglielmi Cook. There wasn't enough room for the tag with all those medals.

Then he thought about adding arrow tags to indicate the correct point to aim the sword for the Queen, as her eyesight and strength in holding heavy swords wasn't what it used to be, and besides.......

[And Dear NES readers, we managed to find Cappy resplendent in his Field Marshals outfit, as he lined up for more additions to his medal collection. He's the bloke in the middle of the front row, in case you're having trouble identifying him....]

Oldest scam in the book. They use the same line for any other major item for sale on Gumtree and other poorly-moderated sales sites. I've received numerous emails with almost identical wording.

Not surprisingly, Romania features high on the list, as the origin of these scam emails. The phrasing and wording shows that English is not their first language.

They are always "offshore" or a FIFO miner with "very limited communications" - but funnily enough, they can always access that limited communication rapidly when you advertise a major item - and they can reply even faster, when you reply to them.

The simplest technique is to delete the email immediately. As soon as you reply, they have your email address and quite likely your full name, and they can sell that to other scammers.

Then they go looking for insecure sales websites where they can access client information - or even bigger gold for them - unsecure CC details!

They'll build a file on you, putting together more and more information to make a complete profile of you, that can be used to access a lot of important areas. The internet is a goldmine for hard-core criminal gangs.

Marty - Is this the 21st Century equivalent of test pilot protective gear? 

.....latest BSDM efforts. Bull said, "Cappy thinks we're into that weird sex stuff, and doesn't realise we're talking about the BS in your DM's, when you're messaging! I guess that's the problems you develop when you've been locked down for too long, and you only have a computer for company and you can't help but look at that repulsive stuff when you're bored. Besides, Cappy obviously has some huge problems, when he starts talking about getting it off with the Queen - which is bad enough when you consider that she's 95, but it's even worse when you realise that.......

FWIW - Army instruction manuals and bushcraft camping books give you excellent practical advice as regards making tents secure against strong winds with ropes and pegs. The essence of retention is the same, no matter whether it's an Army tent or an aircraft or a 50M antenna - placing multiple anchor points for one tiedown point (on the aircraft/tent/whatever) is far better than relying on just one retention point.

The two greatest problems associated with strong wind causing damage, particularly over a period of time, is not only gusts - but the eventual wind direction shift, which can often be a major directional shift. Multiple anchor points assist in defeating wind direction shift.

You can acquire double or triple pass crossflow radiators, where the tanks have restrictions that divert the coolant flow to keep criss-crossing the core. These double or triple pass radiators are more efficient because they keep the coolant in the airflow for longer.

In too many radiators, the coolant flow is too fast to permit maximum coolant heat transfer. That's why removing a thermostat usually doesn't cure overheating problems, it usually only worsens them.

There's some useful cooling information (car-based) in the link below. A couple of the major factors in efficient cooling appears to be in fin design and tube shape. 

https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.824.1312&rep=rep1&type=pdf

The last thing I'd be using as part of an aircraft, is a radiator designed to cool computers. There's no vibration or movement stress levels taken into account in their design.

....call on other officers to restrain the enraged Rat. 15 officers piled onto Cappy and dragged him screaming and kicking onto the floor of the terminal, while the LBFO recovered from the shock of being attacked by a red-eyed, tooth-baring, weapon-wielding Rat.

The officer then charged Cappy with importing banned, bladed weapons, and assaulting a Commonwealth Public Officer.

Next, a group of BFO's went through Cappy's luggage with a fine tooth comb, dragging out all the BSDM items, the 'cuffs and shackles, and the cable ties.

"Mate, you're in deeper poo here than a bloke that's just fallen into a septic tank!", said one BFO. All these illegal imports are going to cost you dearly!".

Then they found the photographs. "Dear God, not the photos! - NO!", thought Cappy with a sickening feeling. The first photo was Cappy doing unspeakable things with a..........

A hinge would ensure the inspection flap doesn't get lost, would it not? A hingeless flap could get lost by either forgetting to replace it, or if the retaining fastener let go. And if the flap was lost in flight, there's the potential for FOD.

That's the most expensive poly jerrycan and hand pump I've ever seen! Are they gold-plated and built from aerospace materials?

I think Skippys on the right track, a standard petrol engine, electric fuel pump with a simple pump wiring arrangement (that has to be explosion-proof, of course) is a better way to go. 

.....booming State of COVID-free W.A., where the people still frolick freely without a care, and Omicron is merely something only the disease-ridden East Coasters carry.

Of course, the biggest bugbear with the call times was the fact that W.A. still operates on UTC, while those fantasy-world living East Coasters delude themselves that they can change the amount of sunlight in a day, simply by altering clocks. W.A., having examined this falsity of Daylight Saving numerous times, cast it aside as an impediment to everyday business, and simply leaves its clocks alone.

Regardless of the hassles created by the delusional Daylight Saving believers, OT was soon on the conference call, attempting to sort out the mess that Cappy had created - as OT had done many times before - with little thanks.

"First off", said OT, "We need evidence of your vaccination status before you can return to Australia. We don't want you doing a Djokovic, and getting kicked out before you can say 'Australian Open'. You need to ensure all your re-entry paperwork is spot-on, and you're going to have to present proof you haven't been in contact with virus-positive people. Can you do all that?"

"What do mean?", said Cappy with feigned outrage. "Border Force knows me intimately, and there won't be any problem when I land from Heathrow, because my status is..........

.....both examine the other fascinating graffiti in the darker corners of this dingy room - and of course, you'll have to examine it by feel - because as a Royal, I have to avoid getting my hands dirty".

So Cappy got down on his hands and knees, feeling around in the darker corners of the room in front of Her Maj, when Prince Charles walked in. "By Jove!", he exclaimed. "That's the type of genuflection us Royals expect, and rarely get today! It's very satisfying to see the common folk on their knees again, in front of Mother! It's been a long time since we Royals saw that! I think we should have a photo of this!"

And at that, Charles called in the Royal Photographer, who snapped off several shots of Cappy on his hands and knees, appearing to grovel in front of the Queen. The photographer released the photos to the Media - and the Media went wild.

The Times published the photos on the front page, with the caption, "Colonial returns with grovelling apology to the Queen, for his previous insolence, and support of an Australian Republic!"

The article went on to explain, how in former times, Cappy would have been beheaded in the Tower for his Royal insolence, and his support of a breakaway Australian Republic.

But now that the Queen had seen that Cappy had repented, she gave him an Official Pardon, and said, "Cappy, you're now free to go! I wish you well in your Colonial and aviation exploits, and I trust you'll....

.......Cappy was actually returning the Royal Wave with the famous Australian RA pilots wave to CASA & RA inspectors on the ground - hand extended upwards, and the middle digit also extended straight upwards.

This led to the immediate arrest of the felon later formally identified as Kojak Cook in Police records. He was thrown into the Tower to cool his heels, while the Police went through their Statutes from the Middle Ages, to find out exactly what the punishment was, for insulting the Monarch.

They were astounded to find the penalty was transfer to the Colonies for life. "Woo-Hoo!" cried Cappy in the Tower, as he was examining the scratchings on the inner walls to find the messages left by his ancestors.

He'd found some interesting graffiti, signed "I. Cook", which, when translated from Middle English by another prisoner there, was reported by that prisoner as reading, "F*** tha Police!"

Cappy was fascinated to find that the Cook family trait of insolence towards officialdom, ran right through all his ancestors for at least 15 generations, and as a result, it was......

Properly installed heatshrink around a connector will prevent the ingress of moisture, dust, salt, acid fumes, and other damaging chemicals in the air, that cause verdigris on copper. However, there is a problem with using PVC-coated wiring, where a plasticiser has been added to the PVC to improve the production process.

The plasticiser is a pthalate, which when it breaks down with the high temperatures that some wiring can encounter, releases hydrochloric acid, which then attacks the copper wire and creates verdigris.

The plasticiser in the PVC coating of copper wire was common in the 1960's and 1970's, but is less common today - except for the cheaper grades of PVC-coated wiring.

As a result, if you're not using Tefzel wiring in your aircraft, and you have common automotive wiring, it's entirely possible you're going to encounter verdigris-affected copper wiring at some stage, even if it has been sealed with heatshrink.

Spacey, seawater doesn't "run uphill" on roofs to attack copper - the salt-laden moist air is driven up the roof cladding by strong winds, and accordingly finds its way under the overlapping roof cladding joints.

......the news reached the CATSA operatives, and they promptly issued an edict, banning any BeetleJuice-fuelled Thrusters from operation in Tasmania. CATSA went further, and issued a warning that anyone found with BeetleJuice in their possession would be declared guilty of a major infringement of CATSA regulations and orders, and the applicable penalty was........