onetrack

..... not only more power, but it also enabled him to fit floats, plus tiller steering, which Turbo found a refreshing change from the normal cockpit layout.

Besides, Turbo was basically an old salt, having cut his teeth on big sailboats, when they ruled over power boats. 

"This thing will never get off the water, you've set it up like a boat!", said Ratty. "The sails for wing coverings are the biggest giveaway, but when I saw you........

....front bar to see who else might show her his stuff. But the bar was packed full of wannabe's, has-beens, and other assorted scruffy drunks, and nearly bald old men, all of whom Turbinia saw no future potential in for a ride, or maybe something else even more rewarding, like a big flash house with a huge swimming pool, by the ocean.

So she walked around to the bistro, and promptly spotted .......

Tex - Are you sure you have the nomenclature precisely correct? The information below seems to indicate the correct nomenclature is AN5H-26 or AN5H-26A, depending on whether you need a drilled shank or not.

AN5H-26 is a 5/16" x 24tpi bolt with 2-5/16" grip length, with a drilled head, and a drilled shank.  AN5H-26A is a 5/16" x 24tpi bolt with 2-5/16" grip length, with a drilled head, and an undrilled shank.

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/document.asp?DocID=TECH00095

AN bolts are different to all other "standard" hardware, and are measured by grip length, and have shorter threads than standard fasteners.

Standard SAE fasteners are measured by overall shank length, measured from the underside of the head. In addition, standard SAE fasteners can have a discrepancy in thread diameter, depending on which company made them.

Another Australian supplier that may be able to supply, is Australian Aerospace Engineering. Here is a link to their catalogue.

https://www.aaestore.com.au/media/catalog/eStore_Catalogue.pdf

Didn't anyone notice?? He's guilty of the most basic offence! - He didn't even try to stop, for the bloke on the crosswalk!!

The Russian copy of the CH-701 is called a Griffon-100M, by Griffon Aero of Russia. But I'm not sure the aircraft in the above clip is a Griffon-100M.

It looks like the CH-701 has quite a number of copies, in a number of countries.

http://www.zenithair.com/stolch701/7-photo-copies.html

.......And as Mohammad firewalled the throttle and desperately hauled the stick back into his stomach, he suddenly realised it wasn't the 100 octane pump, that he'd fuelled up from .....

Tex, have you tried P&M Aviation?

http://pmaviation.com.au/aircraft-hardware/

Here ya go, Spacey.

https://newliferepairs.com.au/services/steering-wheel/

If this option is too expensive, go to the wreckers and buy a secondhand wheel in good condition. Don't forget you'll need a steering wheel puller - available from all auto parts shops.

(Dear NES'ers - It has been noted that Onetrack and Turbo both landed on the same runway at the same time, but as Onetrack hit the asphalt first, the lack of navigational care, as regards keeping a proper lookout before lobbing onto the NES asphalt, is a charge now entirely in Turbo's court.....)

Turbinia took one look at bulls new ride and said, "No thanks, flyboy - I only ride in black and red cars and 'planes (and readers need to note, that the Model T only came in black, and the B-58 Hustler only came in silver) - so you can stick that big jet thingy. Besides, it will probably be really rough to ride in, and those bombs and that 20mm cannon look frightening!"

"Ahhh, I could probably arrange to change the colour!", said bull, pretty miffed that a pretty girl would reject a ride in his new toy.

He didn't mention he only had enough money left for fuel for one circuit of the airstrip. That might affect his standing with Turbinia, if she found out.

"No, thank you!", said Turbinia with a pout. "I've found Cappy has a cute red Drifter, and it looks like a lot more fun than that monstrous thing you've got! - and Cappy has offered me a ride that will......

Jack - Richmond Wheel and Castor Co will see you right for a good quality, Australian-made wheel, that will do the job. Have a chat to their engineering team.

https://www.richmondau.com/

....Cappy fortifying himself with only three Bombay Sapphires before cutting loose with the club Drifter. It normally took five to calm his nerves, and to prevent a runway excursion.

Meantimes, bull had forgotten all about Cindy-Lee and was smitten with Turbinia's stunning looks and friendly nature. He had to figure out how to get something more attractive than a Model T Ford to get her in.

It had to be a bright colour, go fast, have a luxurious, inviting interior, and it had to be LOUD! - because being LOUD was what every red-blooded Tasmanian male used as a female-attracting move.

Accordingly, bull went and logged onto the "trade-a-plane" website, to see what he could get within his limited budget of funds and a Jackaroo trade-in (he'd already smashed open his three piggy banks and found $151.06 in them). Suddenly, he got excited. There it was! It was a.........

The only two ways you can increase starter torque is by increasing the cable and connector sizes - or by increasing the battery voltage. Battery voltage drops to about 10V at the starter when cranking, normally.

If you utilise a larger battery you may see a slight increase in battery voltage at the starter when cranking, but I personally don't think you would see any substantial increase in starter torque. A slight gain, perhaps.

CCA is really quite a poor measurement for our climate. It's an industry standard set in, and for, North America, to determine a batterys cranking ability on their bitterly cold Winter mornings. 

The Nth American Winters get down to -10° and -20°C, and at those temperatures, battery performance really suffers.

For us, unless you're in an Australian Alpine location, we don't often get any lower than about -2° to -5°, and that is usually only for a short period, unlike America, where it can be -10° or -20C°, all day.

There is a battery measurement for our climate, and it's termed HCA - Hot Cranking Amperes. But you will find it difficult to get that figure from manufacturers, as CCA is the "recognised figure".

If the battery you're looking at is Chinese, take the CCA rating with a degree of scepticism. Chinese electrical ratings are always over-rated. I'd be more concerned about increasing battery weight in an aircraft, by going to a bigger battery.

The Odyssey battery is a deep cycle Absorbed Glass Mat battery, and deep cycle batteries are not recommended for use as starting batteries - even though people do often use them for that purpose.

A dedicated starter battery can produce the high amperage needed in short bursts, such as starter motor power demand.

An AGM battery is designed to produce a smaller amperage current supply, over a longer period of time - and to be able to be cycled a lot more often, between a fully charged state, and a discharged state.

Accordingly, I'd suggest a dedicated starter battery be fitted, rather than another AGM battery. But at the end of the day, it's your choice.

It looks about as dangerous as a Flying Flea to me. I wonder what the handling is like on takeoff and landing. Looks to me like it could be very sensitive to AoA angles.

And the vision?? (or lack of it!). How are you supposed to see aircraft below you in the pattern?

The early compasses were O.K., it was the charts that were a bit dodgy, back then. Even if you did get one written on superfine Augustan papyrus, they still had warnings about falling off the edge of the world, if you sailed too far!

I guess this pilot was just like so many other fatal VFR aircrashes in IMC - "I'll just keep going, there'll be a hole here soon, which will allow me to see where I am".

A complete failure to understand cloud formations, a failure to closely check potential weather changes, and a failure to understand what weather with a high moisture level content does, in the vicinity of 3500' peaks.

13 ex-military aircraft coming up for auction in March 2021 at Lara, VIC.

8 x Pilatus PC-9/A's, 4 x Schleicher ASK21 Mi Gliders, 1 x Aermacchi MB-326, plus $200K+ worth of PC-9/A parts and aviation equipment.

https://www.australianfrontlinemachinery.com.au/march-2021-aviation-auction

The OneSky program is designed to increase safety for RPT traffic, integrate military and civilian ATC, and to obviously ensure that ADS-B is fitted to as many aircraft as possible. The programme is well advanced, and there appears to be little allowance for basic RA type aircraft in it. It appears to be designed to push RA-type aircraft into more remote, lightly-controlled areas, where they can "play", with as little impact on "real" aircraft as possible.

https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/about-us/innovation-and-technology/onesky/#:~:text=OneSKY was established to deliver,airspace users over 20 years.

I think this thread went to the dogs several posts ago.

The best air-cooled engines have tight ducting and fan-forced air going over their fins, at a positive rate. Is there a way to install some kind of simple, fan-propagated cooling air forcing, on the Jab engine?

......have a deep masculine voice, with a good command of English, and a smooth style of lines delivery that would make Tom Cruise (avref) blush. And of course, a barrel chest and towering height helps set it all off. And if you can't manage the height, I know a good Italian bootmaker who can install a 75mm lift in a swish new pair of Italian leather flying boots, without anyone being any the wiser".

At that, Cindy-Lee swept into the bar, all flounces and bouffant hairdo - and she said (in her best American girlie twang), "Why, hello!, you handsome flah-boys! Who's going to give me a rah-d?"

At that, Cappy choked on his gin, bull nearly fainted, Turbo sat back in his chair looking stunned, and only Onetrack stepped forward to meet her. "Ma'am, I'd be happy to give you an exciting ride, anytime you want!"

"Ooooohhh!!, squealed Cindy-Lee. "And you're such a big strong Ahh-stralian flyboy, too!! What a cute accent ya'll got! Yah! I wanna ride with you! When do we take off??"

Onetrack replied with one of his best lines, "Ahhhh, how about we try out the seating in the sim, first - so we can familiarise you with.......

Jack, I first remember seeing the new Diamond Reos at Moorebank Depot in early 1970. I was stationed at S.M.E. Casula from early January 1970 to late July 1970. I didn't realise they had been purchased much earlier, and stored.

We were still using WW2 Diamond T 980's and 981's, with the monstrous Hall-Scott petrol engines, and the Hercules diesel, in 1970!

I seem to recall they were flat out at about 55kmh? Something like about a 10:1 diff ratio?!

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1196782

https://roadtransporthall.com/yesterdays-workhorses/diamond-t

"MORE PROOF THAT AUSTRALIAN ARMY TRUCK DRIVERS CARE LITTLE ABOUT AUSTRALIAN WILDLIFE! - SHAME!!"   LOL

No, Jase - The new Diamond Reo is not Chinese - it's an Australian company, Daysworth International, run by the Vodanovich Bros - who were the Australian assemblers of the Diamond Reo Giant from the early 1980's until Diamond Reo finally stopped production in 2010 (2013 in the U.S.).

The new Diamond Reo uses a chassis from the Whitman T-line Trucks & Chassis Co in the U.S., the engines, transmissions, and axles from the regular truck driveline suppliers - Cummins, Eaton, Allison, Meritor, Hendrickson, etc - and the cabs are supplied by Volvo. A real "bitser" as compared to the original Diamond Reo.

Joseph Whitman was one of the original engineering heads in the Osterlund Engineering Company, who bought the remnants of the Diamond Reo operations in 1977, after it was sold by the Diamond Reo bankruptcy trustee, after Diamond Reo went bankrupt in 1974. Loyal Osterlund was the owner of a Diamond Reo dealership from 1955 onwards.

https://www.truckandbus.net.au/daysworth-digs-diamond-reo/

https://reoclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Diamond-REO-The-Truck-That-Came-Back.pdf

Nev - The Diamond Reo B11 was a 335HP Cummins-diesel-powered tandem drive prime mover delivered to the Australian Army from early 1970.

They were fitted with air brakes, in line with the era, and were also equipped with the Allison automatic transmission.

The Diamond T and Reo motor truck companies merged in 1967. Prior to that date, the truck names were separate brands - Diamond T and Reo.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Reo_Trucks#:~:text=In 1967%2C Diamond T and,Tilt began building vehicles.

Several of these B11 Diamond Reo trucks served in South Vietnam during the last 2 years of the Vietnam War. To keep up the aviation content, here's one in SVN recovering a crashed Bell 47 chopper.

https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1236245

....of their well-known drinking and BS-ing prowess (in line with many other aviators), whereby they can drink the locals under the table, and then BS them to a gob-smacked standstill.

"Why, just the other day", said bull, as he downed his 14th straight bourbon, "I was bouncing around the sky, caught up in this cumulo-nimbus in my jackaroo at 20,000 feet, and with no oxygen, when I noticed the aircraft was on fire as well!

It didn't faze me, I just shook up a few cans of the bourbon and coke I always carry with me, and opened the cans, one after the other, squirted the contents on the fire, while I held onto the stick between my knees!

It didn't take long, and the fire was out, and right about then I spotted a hole in the cloud through the hail, and saw the ground, pushed the stick forward, and dived out of that bit of drama like a WW2 Mustang driver!"

"Ahhhh, c'mon", said a nearby Yank pilot, "You gotta be shXXtting me! 20,000 feet in a 40 HP 2-stroke? You're makin' all this up!"

"No, I swear on a stack of Bibles it's true!', said bull. "You see, I only started off to do a few circuits at 1500', but then I accidentally got my undercarriage caught in this passing........