onetrack

I get really angry about the massive volume of imported fish served up here - which is absolute rubbish, most of it bred in fish farms in the Mekong River - which has 400 Industrial factories pouring untreated industrial waste into the River.

Cafes, Pubs and Restuarants are supposed to be following a "code of conduct" whereby they are supposed to advise on menus where the fish being served, comes from. Very few do.

The missus and I make a point of asking every time we sit down to eat, where their fish comes from. Most of the time, the waiters and waitresses have no idea, and they have to go check with the chef. 9 times out of 10, the answer is "overseas". 

The eateries put up fancy names to try and disguise the fish origins - such as "Snapper", "Barramundi", "Hake", "Blue Grenadier", etc - when 90% of the time, it's just Asian rubbish that they can buy for 1/3rd the cost of local fish.

The stuff is foul-tasting, foul-looking, with a brownish or greyish flesh - and I always end up with an upset stomach if I eat it.

Naturally, the Asian takeways only use this fish in all the fish dishes, and they usually disguise the lousy flavour with spices or thick batter or sugar.

We are surrounded by the greatest Oceans in the world, with the best fish stocks, and the best-tasting fish, and we should not be importing rubbishy Asian fish - particularly when it's of such dubious quality and taste.

Make sure you buy only Australian seafood, and support our local fishing people and businesses.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-16/do-you-know-where-your-barramundi-comes-from/11585426

Interesting developments in new wing technology are proceeding satisfactorily at Airbus, as they seek to emulate the advantages in the wings of birds, by trying to adapt birds wing motions to new aircraft wing designs.

I guess nothing has really changed since early times, as Man looked to the sky, and wished to emulate the flying ability of birds!

https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/stories/freely-flapping-wing-tips-took-a-leap-forward.html

.....peanuts to the monkeys, and that's why our flying organisations are such a mess! However, we've now realised the error of our ways, and have decided to pay them in bananas".

"This has three major benefits - One, Australia is almost a Banana Republic already, so it has great benefit in promoting our Nation - and Two, we already produce lots of Bananas (to the extent that a large number of Australians are known only, as Banana-benders) - and Three, the current fall in employment levels will be rapidly arrested, as more people will be employed in the Banana-bending industry".

"That's just brilliant!," exclaimed the Giant Jedi Rat. "But there's a lingering problem, in that we still have monkeys in charge of...........

When you see someone indulging in activities that are blatantly foolhardy, and putting innocent passengers at risk, it behoves you to speak up.

If they're doing it by themselves and only risking their own neck, say nothing, it's just their life they're putting on the line. A sizeable number of people are known sizeable risk-takers.

I can recall a bloke from Perth many years ago who got his unrestricted PPL, hired a 4 seater, got 3 friends to ride with him, while he showed off his pilot hooning skills - in the form of unauthorised low flying.

He found a paddock full of cattle, and got a great deal of delight in buzzing the cattle at low altitude, and watching them scatter.

That worked, up until the point he misjudged his height, clipped a steer with the fixed undercarriage, and bit the dust big-time, upside-down, killing everyone on board. As the Americans say, "You cain't fix stoopid".

There were 16 million Model T's built. The design of the Model T engine reflected the obsessive cost-paring attitude of Henry Ford - an attitude that is still current with the Ford Motor Co today.

The Model T engine had no water pump, it was cooled by thermosyphon, it had no troublesome distributor, it had no oil pump (all components were splash fed) and the carburettor was a model of simplicity.

The carby had no accelerator pump, and the engine had no fuel pump, the fuel was gravity fed. Weight was pared from every single Model T engine component, yet the engine was still exceptionally reliable and robust.

But the bottom line is, the Model T engine produced just 20 HP, running a compression ratio of 4.5:1. Hot rodders could get a considerable power increase from the Model T, but they are extremely RPM limited due to their simplistic design.

....knew that (ASIO SUPPRESSED) was a (ASI SUPPRESSED) for (ASD SUPPRESSED), and he was operating under the direct authority of (DIO SUPPRESSED), who in their issued powers of (ASIS SUPPRESSED) control of (ONA SUPPRESSED), it was well within his powers to be able to (ACSC SUPPRESSED), and also to (DGS SUPPRESSED), because there were numerous people who wished to (NICC SUPPRESSED), and Loxie was absolutely stunned, when he realised that this gent was (CASA SUPPRESSED) and.....

(DEAR NES READERS - YOU MAY BE SURPRISED TO SEE THE AMOUNT OF SUPPRESSION IN THE ABOVE PARAGRAPH. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT THERE IS NOTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT IN THIS LEVEL OF SUPPRESSION, BECAUSE MANY CONTRIBUTORS TO THE NES NEED TO BE SUPPRESSED, AND BE ASSURED THAT ALL 43 SECURITY AGENCIES IN CHARGE OF AUSTRALIANS SECURITY ARE ALL VERY PROACTIVE AND HAVE YOUR SECURITY AND SUPPRESSION UPPERMOST IN THEIR MINDS AT ALL TIMES, PARTICULARLY IF YOU STEP OUT OF LINE.....)

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So where did all the Model T engines go?

This is where they all went - into the foundries for WW2 armaments.

......to see The Rat in his nursing care quarters - where she recently found he'd been struggling with various forms of communication ability - possibly due to early-onset dementia - she was puzzled to find that there were several aircraft hidden in various storage areas of the nursing home quarters.

Upon inquiry to the staff, they explained it was a recent recurring habit of The Rat, to acquire and squirrel away aircraft in various degrees of condition and disassembly.

"It's typical of retired flyers", explained the Manager. "They seem to have this fear of being contained and restricted, and need to have an escape planned - and accordingly, they squirrel away all these aircraft, obviously with the aim of assembling one without being discovered, and making a break for it!

It's all a bit sad really, as most of them, like The Rat, aren't capable of even getting into an aircraft any more - let alone fly one! But we have to humour them, and make them think we don't know about their secret plans. But the worst part is, when we......

RFguy, have you thought of a colour sensor? Flame colour is one of the best indicators of correct fuel burn. I can recall owning a small device called the Gunson Colortune Plug, in the late 1970's.

This device contained a spark plug with a glass window, that you screwed into the spark plug hole. You viewed the combustion flame through the window and adjusted the mixture to get the best flame colour.

I see it's still for sale, and still an effective tool - although ECU-controlled EFI has obviously altered the automotive-engine landscape since the 1970's.

I don't know what happened to my Gunson tool, it got lost in one of my numerous location moves (probably stolen) and I went over to mostly diesels, anyway, thus the Gunson device gathered dust.

https://www.howacarworks.com/engine/tuning-the-engine-with-a-colortune-plug

....Bryon, who was still preoccupied with listening to the Band of the Atom Bomb. The Band of the Atom Bomb were a new group with an explosive rendition of "Calm Like a Bomb" (formerly produced by Rage Against the Machine), and they were hitting the top of the charts in Hiroshima, especially since everyone had started drinking the acid rain.

"I've never seen anything like it!", exclaimed Cappy, as he viewed the Band. "This is just like the day the Beatles exploded onto the music scene in Wagga, and I......

Aircraft engines are all about the most HP produced for the lightest weight, so I couldn't imagine a 1600cc VW being very competitive in the weight stakes - whereas the Contys and Lycs are designed with weight reduction being a very important area in the design criteria.

The Rotron RT1200 Engine, a product of British adventurer/entrepeneur Gilo Cardozo, was a particularly poor choice for the Martin Jetpack.

The UAV engine maker makes some exceptional claims about its engines, but their engines are obviously high-power, short-life engines, and purchased by Defence Depts who care little about the short life of what they buy.

The basic problem with the Rotron engines is they utilise the Wankel Rotary design, which they have taken to extreme limits by way of power output and light weight.

In other words, they sacrifice durability for extremely high power output and light weight. The best example of throwaway engine technology you could hope to find. The RT1200 engine had a lifespan of 30 hrs in the Martin Jetpack.

https://www.unmannedsystemstechnology.com/tag/rotron-power-ltd/

Roadside signage is the greatest threat to outlandings on roads. You generally don't see them until the last minute, and they're always close to the road.

A former business partner did an emergency landing in his PA-28 on the Kalgoorlie-Coolgardie highway about 1986.

A nice wide sealed highway and light traffic in mid-afternoon, he thought he was sweet. He was, until a huge roadside sign appeared, and he left a wing hanging off it!

.....the Geisha lost her costume in a wardrobe malfunction, thus exposing Turbo, playing the part of the Geisha!

The audience gasped as all this was revealed (along with parts of Turbs anatomy that no-one should be forced to view), and this led to a near-riot as the......

The presidential debate was the most un-presidential debate you could ever envisage. It was ruled by Trump from the beginning, using his trademark of initiating chaos and then keeping the opposition off-balance.

Trump interrupted Biden 73 times with abrasive interjections designed to rattle Biden - which he did, very successfully.

The problem is, the debate wasn't a debate because the person or people who were charged with keeping control of the debate and ensuring the participants followed the rules of debating, failed to do so - miserably.

As a result, the debate turned into an uncontrolled free-for-all, with little logic or reasoning behind the participants statements, as they failed to keep on track.

Trump specialises in rapid reversals of position, statements that make no linguistic sense, and are contradictory within each sentence. He stops mid-sentence, leaving the subject hanging, as he switches to another subject.

Trump truly is chaos personified, in his modus operandi and in his lack of vision and constant firing of underlings, the instant he decides they are worthless to him.

The problem is, while all this goes on, the real controllers of Americas direction - the U.S. global corporations, and the coterie of super-rich individuals whose wealth increases exponentially each year - regardless of who is the Presidents chair - happily enjoy their highly-privileged and untouchable, unelected positions of incredible power.

The designer is intent on getting his jet pack out into the real world. Here's an ABC article showing how he uses it to speed up urgent medical help, to an "injured" climber, in a rescue exercise.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-30/english-paramedics-trial-jet-suit-in-lake-district/12718122

He has two small thrusters on each arm and two larger ones on his back. As I understand the design, the thrusters on his arms are needed to balance the thrust from the backpack jets.

Because the backpack jets are larger, they are providing the larger amount of thrust for forward movement. However, I have to agree with KGW, your arms are still going to rapidly get tired, having to hold them out straight for an extended period, against the thrust pressure.  They're pretty coy on showing how he landed, or how he went with extended flight.

The Americans had short-run jet packs that ran on rocket propulsion fuel in the 1950's. They were designed and manufactured by Bell for a military contract that sought to define the viability of jet packs.

But the military gave up, when it was realised that rocket propellants only allowed short periods of use before the fuel ran out.

Small jets obviously provide more controllable thrust with lighter weight - and todays electronics have vastly improved control mechanisms. But the basic instability of jet packs remains, along with the quite limited range.

And of course, no-one has come up with any satisfactory injury or fatality prevention method, if the thrust fails rapidly. I think that's what jet pack designers need to be concentrating on.

https://mashable.com/video/jet-packs-army-bell/

Well, he's just set the scene to be scornfully declared a "fake pilot", hasn't he!  I gather he's picked up on the general feeling right through the U.S. Military - that they detest their CIC because they know he's actually the biggest fake President America has ever produced. Sully probably thinks its safe to now join a very large outspoken group of senior military people, who are thoroughly sick of DT, and who want a CIC with some demonstrable leadership abilities, and statesman-like skills.

...I've got the medals and the scars to prove it! In fact, I got this scar (lifts his shirt), in a bar in ..." - but he was interrupted by Hilo, who said, "I don't want to see your bar scars, I want to see what you can do with this sub, to get us back to civilisation!" 

"Oh, that's easy, said 88, "all you need to do, is fit the bungs and wait for high tide. Then, once it's afloat, I can show you my reversing skills with a sub!" 

"You'd better have more than reversing skills!", warned Hilo. "I want us to go forward, and go forward fast, to get us out of this hell hole and back to where I can.......

....interest from the Dunlop crowd, and the tyre retreaders, who'll want to know what you do with your old outfits."

"I'm not going to part with them", said Cappy, "They will have too many good memories attached to them, of nights at.......

...... constitution isn't strong enough to watch that level of violence!" But Elsie was just getting into her stride, it was just like old times at a netball game.

One after another the remaining Comanchero thugs rushed her - and one by one, she took them down, just like she used to, with the netball opposition team members.

Cappy was aghast, and Turbbro was still wincing at every movement of his legs. But all the Comancheros were moaning louder. Cappy was aghast because his new moleskins now had mud and blood spatters on them, and he prided himself on his spotlessly-clean, smartly-pressed, cream-coloured, R. M. Williams moleskins, at all times.

"They'll never be the same again!", he cried. "Nor will my scalded nuts!", moaned Turbbro. Together, they made a strange pair as they left the club premises - Cappy doing his best to shake his moleskins clean, and Turbbro walking funny, with a pronounced limp.

Cappy decided they'd call an Uber, and requested a ride to the airstrip. There was only one question left to answer. Who was going to......

....decided to join the fray - still wondering what a sircingle was. Unfortunately, as he swung the empty gin bottle, aiming at Const Doubtfires bobbing head - he missed, and it flew right out of his hand, and across the saloon floor - and to Cappys eternal horror, struck Fred "The Mongrel" Hoddie, the Sgt-at-Arms of the local Comancheros OMCG, in the head.

Fred "The Mongrel" stopped laughing at the women scrapping, and promptly fell off his chair, hitting the floor hard. Cappy was terror-stricken by now, it was time to make tracks - like burnout tracks, as in a fast getaway, before Fred came to, and came looking for him, no doubt along with 6 other Comancheros supporters. Cappy ran from the saloon, and......

.... out at Salty, and caught him unawares, sending him backwards into an open container of used oil. While this was going on, Cappy had travelled to some remote region of NSW, where he was totally convinced, the COVID virus couldn't get him. Meantimes, Turbbro was gasping in pain from ingesting some cooked nuts in too much of a hurry, that were still too hot, and......

He flew into cloud on a VFR mission, and planned to turn South, yet got instructed to turn North? On top of that, he was in marginal icing conditions, and marginal oxygen conditions? Sounds like everything that he could do wrong, he did.

Re the starter cable, you can use Aluminium cable of a much larger cross-section with no weight penalty - for a substantially increased current flow. Aluminium is the 4th most conductive metal behind Silver, Copper and Gold in that order.

I have an Isuzu truck that used Aluminium starter cable from the factory in 1989. However, I did have to replace it with copper, because the Aluminium cable started to fracture at the starter connection, after 25 yrs of engine movement.

I suspect the cost of Copper is what makes manufacturers skimp on cable size - or go to Aluminium cable. After all, Copper is a precious metal, and still used for currency.