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Scott and Josh rushed to adopt the Rat's new time zone system as part of their Covid Recovery and Build Back Better Strategies and the best news is that ..........

...... it's not going to affect the Budget bottom line one iota, and it will facilitate airline (avref) bottom line recovery, by reducing the number of cancelled flight bookings because flyers forgot about the international date line, and ended up in the wrong day".

"This is a far better idea than Metric time", said Tony Abbott, from his position as international representative of NWT in London (and a great believer in adjusting time back to the 1940's).

Abbott went on, "This NWT will facilitate international trading, ensure women are returned to the kitchen where they belong (because they won't be able to read NWT), stop Global Warming increases (because NWT will ensure we can fudge all or any date periods), make economies more stable and truly representative of their actual financial position (no more fudging figures over the old regular time), and make more time available for swimming in my budgie smugglers!"

OT rose to the occasion and pointed out, that some areas may not be amenable to accepting NWT, because they lived in their own little world, where time didn't really matter. Places such as NZ and ........

......ram's pixx - which was enough to repel even the most hardened G&T addict. However, Cappy tasted some of the adulterated quince juice and said, "This tastes just like the cold drinks my old Mum used to make, when I was a kid! (sorry, Cappy, had to drag your mother into this again) - and I hated them, back then - but this stuff brings back a heap of great memories! Maybe that's where the new market for it lies! - in reviving old memories!"

"It revives old memories, alright", snorted OT, "The sort of memories you don't want to revive. Why, this stuff could revive memories of......

4 hours ago, F10 said:

I heard Huey pilots in Vietnam would rotate all the engine instruments in the panel, so the needles all pointed straight up....you could see a problem with one quick glance.

Not something I saw in my tour of Vietnam. Every Huey I flew in had the instruments correctly oriented. Urban legends have a habit of gaining traction in bar talk.

Sorry about the lack of focus in this photo, I guess I was in a bit of a hurry with the old Canon AE-1 SLR.

I do believe that the engine instruments were oriented in the design, so when reading the most favourable operating range, the needle was in the 9 o'clock position.

http://www.huey.co.uk/images/servicebook/Instrument Markings 4-2.jpg

.....when he saw this Moderator 17 arrive in a black limo, with blacked-out windows, a security detail, and polished black boots (where does Cappy find all these moderators, anyway?, thought OT to himself).

But when Moderator 17 started ordering bull around, bull knew this move recommended by Cappy was a huge mistake. He wanted a marketing manager, who knew their juice, not a quasi-Gestapo, mafia type of individual.

Bull was rapidly getting desperate. Sales were plummeting (some kind of avref) due to the new marketing manager banning people he didn't like, from buying bull's juices. Worse, the juice didn't seem to taste the same as it used to - and then he found Moderator 17 had.......

....was horrified to find what had happened to the Dogger scene. It was enough to make a bloke hang up his boots, and forget about shooting Dingoes.

Meantimes, OT was scathing of the Caramel Nip suggestion, simply because he would never lower himself to selling adulterated products, which is something that is commonly indulged in on the Eastern seaboard. 

"This is the worlds finest quince juice", he stated to anyone who would listen (which was only one only deaf bloke in the middle of the bar - and he didn't understand much of what anyone said, but he kept nodding, anyway). "And I fully intend to make this a National drink, to wean people away from their other dependencies and perversions, so that the Nation once again becomes sober and reliable and .......

..... cricket grounds, aircraft landing grounds, and other places of great distraction. However this great determination of OT's was one of his strengths - his abilities to resist temptations and concentrate on rebuilding his wealth, after his disastrous foray into high quality quince juice, the intense flavour of which was unappreciated by the uneducated masses resident in the Eastern States of Australia - who insisted on drinking cheap and rough and nasty red wines, and poisons such as gin (well known in many circles as "Mothers Ruin").

It wasn't a widely known fact that Cappys mother was ruined by gin, and her son was following in her footsteps. OT's attempts to offer a high-class substitute for gin in the form of quince juice was wasted on the likes of Cappy and his numerous aquaintances. It was time to try another track, resurrect the quince juice operations, and find other, more appreciative markets and sources of income.

After several profitable months in front of the Bell Tower with his begging bowl and a pathetic appearance that brought forth the generosity of the West Perth mining set, OT was all set to venture forth again, and start up another project. He saw a great opportunity in educating the Great Unwashed of the Eastern seaboard, and accordingly, he bought a.......

A poor connection somewhere, with high resistance, creating a voltage spike to the radio?

....pointed out that the smoke cloud was so huge, it had smoked and shrivelled the apples until they looked like quandongs - so "Quandong Juice" was born.

The assembled crowd clapped and cheered (because they were "rent-a-crowd", entirely made up of people from Launceston, and all arranged by bull), and the media personalities were lost for questions, as the cameras turned and rolled on the cheering gathering - and a pack of (OT draws in a sharp gasp of breath, right about now, and utters the words in a hollow tone) ...."advertising people" .... rushed forward to interview bull, to get his fabulous marketing campaign technique down pat, and into print - and to get more photos, including close-ups of his craggy jawline and 3 day old stubble (a la Hugh Jackman), so they could fill the front pages of their advertising news glossy magazines.

Bull was a major advertising star, now, no doubt about it. He'd taken on the might of ......

The other main reason for the use of Tetra Ethyl Lead additive, besides eliminating combustion knock, was lubrication of the valve seat. But lead is one of the most insidious poisons known to mankind.

No level of exposure lead is safe, and it never leaves the environment. The article below is one of the most informative articles I have found as regards lead in our fuels and environment.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/11/why-lead-used-to-be-added-to-gasoline/#:~:text=Today I found out why,valve seats within the motor.

....like the Titanic, when it was discovered that bull had imported apples from China, because they were cheaper. "They could've come from the Spratleys, for all we know!", exclaimed one outraged Devonport matron, who was a leading member of the Devonport CWA, and who was also on the Tasmanian Apple & Pear Growers Association committee.

And besides, the mainland tourists weren't coming to sample Tasmanias Apple Cider anymore, not since they'd discovered........

The vehicle/caravan/trailer weight/mass information requirement is poorly administered in most States, and can be "got around", as with all regulations.

1. A manufacturer can supply tare/GVM/GCM for a new vehicle/caravan/trailer, and it is accepted at face value by State vehicle registration agencies.

Most caravan owners are horrified to find their caravan rarely weighs what the manufacturer specified. The manufacturers most often glibly state that additional "options" were ordered, that changed the specified tare weight. It's a sales "lurk" of the highest order.

So the owner is only responsible for meeting that recorded tare/GVM/GCM, when on the road.

2. If the vehicle/caravan/trailer has been previously registered, and you go to re-register it, the authorities ignore any weighbridge ticket, and re-register the vehicle/caravan/trailer with the original declared tare.

I've had this happen to me, I went to the trouble of weighing an unregistered truck I'd bought - which showed it weighed several hundred kg more than the number painted on the fuel tank - but when I re-registered it, I was told the weighbridge docket was unnecessary, and the weight was recorded on the new rego, as on the original rego.

From the W.A. Dept of Transport webpage ....

What to do and what to bring with you on the day of the inspection

1. Please arrive 15 minutes before the due time to avoid delay.
2. Please bring along all necessary paperwork, such as vehicle licence papers and proof of ownership.
3. Proof of identity and residency in WA.
4. Weighbridge certificate if the tare/mass weight of the vehicle cannot be established from the manufacturer's specifications, previous licence documents or licensing records.
5. You are required to give 24 hours (business/working days only) notice of a cancellation or to re-schedule an appointment.
6. If a vehicle fails an inspection, the faults identified must be fixed before the vehicle can be presented for re-inspection.
7. You can book a vehicle re-inspection by calling your preferred Authorised Inspection Station. A re-inspection fee is applicable.
8. When calling, please ensure you advise that you are booking a re-inspection and provide the inspection reference number from your initial inspection receipt as this is required to make the re-inspection booking.

IMO, nothing should officially registered until a certified weighbridge docket is produced. There is so much that hangs on that mass being correct.

Bruce, unfortunately, this style of journalism happens all too regularly today. I'm often infuriated to find "news" articles that are undated!

Nev, that would be this book?

https://www.booktopia.com.au/aircraft-inspection-repair-alterations-federal-aviation-administration-faa-aviation-supplies-academics-asa-/book/9781619540217.html

Any commercial operation such as aircraft ferrying tourists, needs to have a raft of official permissions to operate onto and off beaches, and with those permissions comes a raft of conditions applying to flying operations.

I would never use anything from Supercheap on an aircraft, because Supercheap focus 100% on the cheapest products they can find, to produce the maximum profit.

There's a lot of rubbishy rubber products that come out of Malaysia, Indonesia and China, that Supercheap mostly specialise in. If you want quality in rubber components, you use Gates products, and Gates Green Stripe where possible.

Anything designed for Marine use normally has superior quality in construction style and materials.

Rubber components are the weak link in every engine system. Anything you can do to reduce the amount of rubber in an aircraft is going to appreciably increase that aircrafts safety level.

If it was my choice, and my aircraft (and I don't own an aircraft), I'd be choosing to eliminate as many rubber/rubberised hoses, as I possibly could. 

Any hose that is red or yellow coloured has a short life, due to more rapid and more intense UV absorption. Green-coloured hose has the longest life, due to minimal UV absorption.

.... they had no lights, no brakes (because the ABS was fried) and none of the gauges worked. "Don't worry about any of that, the gauges are always a bit dicky anyway, the lights aren't really necessary out here, and brakes not working, is a consistent Range Rover fault! - so let's head off, anyway, we've got a long way to go!"

But no sooner had they gone 40 kays down the "highway" (that was the Outback Highway, locally known as Spring-Breaker Road), than a set of flashing red and blue lights appeared behind them.

Cappy pulled up - slowly of course - thanks to the non-existent Range Rover brakes - and out of the Candy Car stepped none other than Const Doubtfire - packing a .40 cal Glock, Taser, pepper spray, and 4 sets of handcuffs.

She levelled the Glock at Cappy through the window, motioning with the firearm to get out of the Range Rover - "Slowly!! - and keep your hands where I can see them!!" she said sternly.

"What the .....???", exclaimed Cappy, increduously. "Const Doubtfire, it's me, Cappy! - and you've been watching too many American cop movies!!"

"Don't talk back to me!", snarled Const Doubtfire, "And don't come this "buddy-buddy" stuff with me! I've seen your type before, you want to be let off, because you know the Commish personally!"

"But what have we done wrong?", said Cappy nervously, thinking about all the things wrong with the Range Rover. Maybe they should've fixed those lights and brakes.

"You're 60mm overwidth and 100mm overheight!" said Const Doubtfire. "I don't think I've come across a worse case of blatant road regulations-breaking, apart from when........

Spoon, flying regulations outline that the permission of the landowner must be obtained before using that area of land as an ALA. Beach areas are owned and controlled by a range of owners - the Federal Govt, State Govts, individual Councils, and private landowners. So it pays to find out who owns the land you're intending to land on, or you could face regulatory action. However, there is no specific law that I know of, that prohibits landing on beaches, there is always the "emergency" excuse.

Then there's the issue of high and low water marks. In areas where the tidal zone is relatively level and the tides recedes a long way out, you are landing on the seabed when you land at low tide - because land title boundaries under Common Law, only extend to the high water mark.

But the seabed belongs to the Crown, and that includes anything below high water mark - so, technically, you would need the Crowns permission to land on the seabed!

Landing on beaches is definitely a grey area, and "pilot discretion" is advised. As I previously mentioned, the safety of people on the ground, and safety in the operation of the aircraft, must be the primary objectives in any planned beach landing.

KA - Look for the paragraph title, "units selection" about 2/3rds the way down the page, in the link below ...

https://www.bogbridges.com/alti-barometer

.....unfortunately had to walk the last 20 kms, because we all know what Range Rover reliability is like. But even the walk didn't concern bull too much, such was his excitement at a possible "barn find" of an unloved and unwanted aircraft (avref, at long last).

But when they reached the shed, the sight that met them was not quite what Cappy had described. This was partly due to Cappy's faulty memory cells, badly affected by years and years of G&T abuse, and partly due to the ravages of time, feral goats and rodents and insects - who had all played their part in reducing the aircraft to something that was barely recognisable as a flying machine.

"It's not a Cricket!", cried bull in disappointment. "It's a Drifter? No, hang on, it's a Moth? No hang on, I think it might be a Jackaroo?" Bull was struggling to identify the shape of most components of the airframe, such was the extent of the damage caused by all the aforementioned predator attacks.

The worst part was when a Redback came running out of what was left of the instrument panel and bit bull savagely in a delicate soft tissue area of his ample frame.

"It doesn't matter what it was!" said Cappy, "I'm sure a bloke of your abilities and skill can bring it back to looking like new, and make it fly again!"

Bull replied, "I don't know what it was, but I'll make sure......

Spoon - Read the 4 points under CAR 92, and read the full text of CAAP 92. Remember that beaches are used by people on foot, and in 4WD's, and numerous 4-wheel drivers enjoying finding, and driving on, "remote beaches".

As a pilot, your responsibility is to make 100% sure that a chosen "aircraft landing area" is safe - both for the aircraft and pilot, and for those on the ground - who more than likely, are not expecting an aircraft to land in their remote location.

Rules of the Air - https://vfrg.casa.gov.au/general/rules-of-the-air/aerodromes/

https://www.casa.gov.au/sites/default/files/_assets/main/download/caaps/ops/92_1.pdf?acsf_files_redirect

......learnt to clean to COVID-19 specification levels very quickly, and thus they got the unique team name of "Spick/n/Span".

The Indian bloke was actually the bloke who trained them up in the dark art of proper cleaning, as we all know that the Indians are world leaders in the cleanliness stakes.

But - despite being very thankful for Turbo's timely intervention into his proposed euthanasia, Cappy was puzzled as to why he was getting a free lunch out of Turbo.

After all, the last time he got a free anything out of Turbo, was when they were at the Tamworth Rodeo, and a free bull ride was being offered, and Turbo pushed Cappy in the back, making him stumble out in front of the crowd, which led to the Rodeo caller picking Cappy immediately as the volunteer. "But I was pushed!", protested Cappy, as he was grabbed and led to the......

I was under the impression that because the Merredin Council sold the Merredin Airport in its entirety to the Chinese, they handed over total responsibility for the airport to them.

The departure of the Chinese from Merredin after the liquidation of their operations is an excellent opportunity for Merredin Council to start promoting their region for aviation activities.

The concern would be that the Merredin Council will seek to "offload" the potential financial burden of maintaining and running such a large and expensive asset, onto either a private company, or the State or Federal Govt, to ease the finance burden on the council.

Whichever way it goes, the concern remains that no matter who ends up owning it, there is bound to be an increase in user charges to cover the costs of operating and maintaining it.

I haven't found much detail on the Merredin Airport agreement, but I did discover the following expenditure information in some Govt correspondence from 2005.

"The Merredin base (260 km east of Perth) was established with the purchase of the Merredin airstrip from the Merredin Shire Council. CSWAFC invested $13 million into the airport, an accommodation village in Merredin and other related infrastructure and operational expenditure.

The Western Australian Government contributed $1.5 million in 1996 towards the reconstruction of the runway, comprising:

• $1 million through the Regional Headworks Scheme for the development of headworks connection; and Western Australia 1 April 2005

• $500,000 through the Regional Airports Development Scheme (RADS).

Subsequently, the State Government has assisted with three further RADS grants (2001, 2003 and 2004) totalling $163,000."

....Drifters. But Cappy has wised up to the Turbo Pharma vaccine promotions, and is becoming as leery as a young poddy calf at the sight of a branding iron, whenever he spots someone brandishing a needle.

Along with his long list of other phobias the Docs discovered - acephobia, transphobia, hydrophobia, onomatophobia, mottephobia, entomophobia - they also discovered he has Trypanophobia.

Once Cappy discovered he had this particular phobia, he has utilised it with great effect, to avoid any approach by medics. He makes a great show of sweating, rolling his eyes, shivering, crying, backing away into a corner - and that's only when he sees a medics uniform. The symptoms became more pronounced when he saw "Turbine Pharma" on the containers of the product. 

"You're not using that product on me!", he wailed, as the Medics approached him, all swathed in PPE, with swabs and syringes and gloves, and as he was grabbed, he reached for.......

You can buy a .75kg hand-held dry powder fire extinguisher for $21. It weighs 1.8kgs in total. It contains enough dry powder to put out any small fuel or electrical fire. Dry powder is extremely effective.

You have to squeeze the two handles together to make them go off, so it's highly unlikely they would go off accidentally.

Any fire that's big enough to not be quelled by this extinguisher, and you might as well just call in the firies.

https://www.firefx.com.au/product/0-75kg-abe-dry-powder-fire-extinguisher

.......air tours (long-missing avref) in de Havilland DH.60 Moths. But Cappy won't be on board any of the Moths any time soon - because it has been discovered, as part of his latest medical checkup - fueled by his bout of severe depression over OT's hurtful remarks - that he is also suffering from Mottephobia.

This was only discovered by chance in the Doctors rooms, when a large moth flew in while he was there, and Cappy promptly became very fearful.

It was found that his fear of moths extended to all types of moths, including powered ones. In fact, the bigger the moth, the more fearful Cappy becomes, and this is starting to affect his.......