onetrack

......at the point where there was a large ditch, and bull threw himself from the wreckage like Indiana Jones, remembering his long-ago taught fighting skills from when he attended the roughest school in town.

Once in the ditch, he ran up it on his hands and knees, making like a fox carrying out a getaway. In fact, he was travelling faster than a fox and lower to the ground.

He finally reached the end of the ditch to see it went into a concrete drain.

He dived into the drain just as the last remnants of the man-carrying drone disappeared in the last few rounds from the Palace Howitzers. But now, in the drain, he had to think fast.

Where did this drain go? Did it head into the Yalu River, or in the direction of South Korea?

Luckily, bull had his pocket compass with him, and he'd actually learnt something in nav classes, rather than launching paper planes, as he was wont to regularly do in class. But the compass was reading........

NOTE TO NES READERS - OT IS IGNORING CAPPY'S ANNOUNCEMENTS, AS THEY ARE DISTRACTING AND ARE NOT FOLLOWING THE STORYLINE. OT BELIEVES THE CAPTAIN IS DUE FOR CENSURE, DUE TO THIS FAILURE TO FOLLOW RULES.....

.....hand out stars on uniforms to Generals that nearly brought the U.S. undone. As the Star family still retained the rights to the Star symbol - and the military had spent nearly all their budget on very expensive missiles, inordinately expensive JSF aircraft (avref), and unbelievably expensive entertainment for military-industrial complex leaders - there was barely enough funds left to pay the royalties demanded by the Star family for placing their symbol on Generals shoulder epaulettes.

As a result, there was a limitation placed on the number of epaulette stars, to a maximum number of Four. However, there was no limit placed on the number of Four Star Generals, and as the number of Four Star Generals ballooned, so the Star bill rapidly escalated, until the military had to cut back on......

This is how real aviators kit up.

http://www.allworldwars.com/image/035/Wingsofwar029.jpg

I think that wheel is a little different and more durable than a wheelbarrow wheel!

For a start, wheelbarrow wheels are not welded, they comprise two sections of light pressed metal bolted together over a stand-alone centre hub section.

Wheelbarrow bearings and axles are only half the diameter of the wheel that Graham has posted the photo of.

https://www.nomaallim.com/wheelbarrow-tire-repair.html

.......would use them to hang their washing on, after finding three, standing, used crosses, and realising how useful they were as clotheslines.

Meantimes, Judas Waterwheel, a distance relation to the Turbines, was finding that neck chains with tiny Jewish Drifters attached, sold well amongst the youth of Jerusalem. The youths used them as a gang symbol - once you could produce your Drifter on a chain from around your neck, you were "in".

The youth gangs of Jerusalem would gather in groups in the dark streets adjacent to the Dung Gate, where the light of pitch torches failed to reach. They specialised in beating up any Palestinians who accidentally happened to be out in Jerusalem after dark. This youthful entertainment was known as "Flogging a Wog", and has been practised right through to.........

This is all just general advice, based on my importation experiences with machinery and engines.

Make sure you employ a good Customs Broking or Freight Forwarding agent here, who is familiar with all the importation processes related to aircraft.

Ensure that the packers in America are qualified and skilled at packing aircraft into sea containers, so they can't move. Ensure you get photos of the packing process.

Ships encounter some pretty rough seas and containers get thrown about. Other containers hit them. Forklift drivers bash them around.

I guess you also know you need to apply for permission to import, for such an item. It is far better to apply for permission first, then purchase after you have permission.

I have seen people purchase items without import permission and then had them rejected when they arrived, for various reasons - quarantine being only one of the reasons.

There must be NO asbestos of any kind in the item - and they will pull it apart looking for it, if they suspect there is asbestos in the item - and then hand you the bill for removing it - and you then take delivery of the item in a dis-assembled state.

Asbsestos is found in gaskets, in exhaust systems, in brakes, and in many types of insulation, mostly produced before about 2004. But Asbestos still appears in some products produced after 2004.

Be aware you will be up for a lot of "miscellaneous charges and fees". Port security fees, Customs recording fees, container opening fees, container hire fees, bond store storage costs, transport costs from port to bond store, transport costs to your location if you can't pick it up from the bond store, cleaning fees if the item is deemed to need cleaning, demurrage if there's delays (can be very expensive). Then you will have Broker or FF agent fees on top of it all. Plus GST.

This is why an experienced Customs Broker or FF agent is worth their weight in gold, they walk you through the minefield that is the importation process.

....... he had the inside running on the used foreskin recycling business, and he was way ahead of any others that wanted to crack onto it, simply because he was on first-name terms with that famous shadow author.

But what Abraham didn't see coming (foreskin ref), was the advent of a whole new generation who who turning their backs on parting with their foreskins, as they deemed them a body part they preferred to keep - particularly seeing as virtually all men were never consulted about having theirs removed.

This drying up of foreskin supplies was of such concern to Abraham Turbine, he had to do something - and quickly. It was time to call on an old friend from the Hillbilly backwoods of Eastern Australia - Wagga - and ask him for......

If you're located in a remote area, the dangers and ramifications of fuel and oil spills are greatly lessened - however, the penalties still apply.

But if you're located near population centres, in a waterway or catchment area that leads to a major river, a water supply dam, or a recreational lake, you'll only find out when a disaster overtakes you, just how savage the penalties are, for fuel and oil spills - particularly when it can be proven you ignored the State and Local Govt laws and regulations, when it comes to fuel storage safety and handling.

Remember, it doesn't have to be you that causes the spill, you just become the responsible party they target. It's all about hammering negligence and abdication of responsibilities.

My stepdaughter works as a senior OH&S manager for a major oil company, and they pull gas and condensate out of the desert, in the Cooper Basin - but you ought to see the penalties applicable to them, even for a small spill in the desert.

....can also lay claim to filling the night sky with their trademark symbol. Just how they exactly did this, is prone to a great deal of discussion and conjecture between archaeologists, paleontologists, astronomers and scientists, but it appears way back in antiquity, they had the assistance of a mysterious gent from a distant heavenly body, who is believed to be the shadow author of a book about planet creation - but exactly what the tie-up is, between the Star family and this gentleman, is rather opaque, to say the least.

Suffice to say that the original parent company of Turbine Enterprises, in 25,000BC, was involved in the negotiations to get the stars up into the sky (for a handsome fee, it was reputed), and this laid the pathway for.......

Wow, and only a cool 400,000 Euros for the Panthera, too! I think I'll take a couple, at that bargain value!

Here's a very British camping arrangement, involving the fuselage of an Airbus A319.

It appears that the owner couldn't afford the cost of purchasing and moving the entire aircraft, so he had to be content with just the largest section of the fuselage!

The owners must be looking for a degree of quirkness in their accommodation arrangements, as they also have a UFO you can camp in, and a Pacman-themed Yurt!

http://applecamping.co.uk/arabian-nights/

https://todayheadline.co/you-can-sleep-in-an-old-etihad-airbus-plane-in-wales/

....wanted to get the info first-hand on who was actually running Turbine Enterprises, as it has long been suspected that Turbo is merely a shadow director, and the real director is a member of Victoria's infamous......

OME - Spilling 200L of avgas could never be classed as a "major spill", but it does have ramifications as regards explosive vapours setting a very dangerous situation - and soaking into sandy soil means it will end up contaminating groundwater.

If Jenny has a bore anywhere near the hangar, it is likely the bore water would become contaminated.

Aliphhatic and aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzene, xylene and toluene) are the major ingredients of petrol, and all these are regarded as quite carcinogenic, if breathed in, or ingested via groundwater.

Service station underground tank installations today involve serious efforts at preventing fuel leaks from getting into the subsoil, via double layers of geotextile, with sand between them.

The sand is constantly monitored for hydrocarbons, and if any appear, the servo owner is obliged to have the tanks immediately dug up and replaced. The monitors can pick up as little as a few litres of fuel leakage.

Fibreglass tanks have taken over from steel tanks as the preferred choice for underground fuel storage tanks today, due to their elimination of steel corrosion.

My workshop is in a heavy industrial area of a Perth suburb. We have a main stormwater drain nearby. The drain is monitored constantly by the EPA, as the drain empties into the Swan River.

Naturally, the Water Corporation has regular sumps catching pollutants that end up in the drain. What is surprising is how low the levels of contaminants are, that they can pick up.

We occasionally have local Council inspectors rolling up and asking if anyone has thrown some coolant, fuel or oil on the ground in the area, as they have picked up petroleum contaminants in the drain, and are looking for the source.

OME does have a point. Proper fuel storage and your obligations under EPA and Worksafe regulations deem that you should have spill containment measures in place.

Polyethylene spill trays and drum bunds are readily available and their cost is not prohibitive.

One has to envision the worst event that could possibly happen, as regards a fuel disaster.

Even though you may be extremely careful in fuel handling, one has to be aware of malicious damage by trespassers/thieves, severe storm events, and even (unexpected) drum fracture or puncturing.

Vehicles can be accidentally backed into drums and hole them. I've seen a bloke back up to a 50,000L fibreglass water tank in a Landrover with his door partly open, and the edge of the door caught on the tank wall and went straight through it, promptly releasing about 30,000L of water, and nearly drowning him!

There are also insurance angles you probably need to address. A fire extinguisher capable of stopping any fuel fire, should be placed within a reasonable distance of any substantial amount of fuel storage (and 200L is regarded as "substantial").

These kinds of things raise their ugly head after an "insurance event", and it pays to do a regular audit to ensure compliance with both State laws and regulations, and Local Govt bylaws, as regards fuel storage, when you have more than "minor storage" levels. Jerrycans are "minor storage"levels, 200L drums aren't.

https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/-/media/epa/files/publications/1698.pdf

https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/resources/code-practice-storage-and-handling-dangerous-goods

..... claim the Turbo turns into a foamy-mouthed madman at the sight of any Aviation Inspector or any hint of any Aviation Inspection.

"It's not like everyone hates us", complained one FoI bitterly. "Some aircraft owners are even supportive of what we do, knowing our job is very important, and could possibly save a life! But that Turbo is making our lives.......

A Dutch couple who moved to the Stirling Ranges in W.A., have built a replica Dutch Windmill, and a Dutch house - and they have also engineered a WW2 Dakota into accommodation (for 2).

The Dakota (or more correctly, a C-47) is a rather famous aircraft, having been issued new to the NEI Forces in 1944, and it ran Dutch refugee missions from the East Indies to Australia during the War.

In 1947 she went to KLM, then to Garuda. In 1974 she did a belly-landing at Broome, and that was the end of her flying days. I'm not sure what happened to her between 1974 and 2012, when she arrived at the Lily.

The owners are aircraft-friendly, and have an airstrip right at their door.

http://www.thelily.com.au/accommodation.htm

http://www.flyingtheoutback.com.au/gallery/lily-dutch-windmill/

Telstra are currently changing their plans again, and restricting the features offered. It's a real pea-and-thimble trick, trying to keep up with the way they operate - but nothing has changed with Telstra, they specialise in bamboozling their clients, so they have no idea what they are paying for, or what they're getting.

But Telstra are the only real choice if you want to travel around Australia, they cover a lot more regional areas than any other operator.

Only in a few remote places, where the likes of Optus has beaten them to the draw, will you be disadvantaged by being with Telstra.

.....the virus. But all things must come to an end, and it was a sad day when Cappy had to......

Peter, the TU-134A was a former Czechoslovak Airlines aircraft that was decommissioned in 1991, and installed as a restaurant and bar in 1992, on the access road to the Brno Reservoir, a hydro dam on the Svratka River at the northwest edge of the city of Brno, Czech Republic.

To move it to the site, the aircraft was dismantled and transported in 14 truck loads, and then re-erected on the site.

Unfortunately, a careless diner ignited the aircraft with a stray cigarette in 2000, and it burnt down, totally destroying the entire setup.

The restaurant was called the Bystrckou (Bistro) Helena, and it seems it has faded from memory almost completely, as there is only one page about it on the Web. You need to translate the page.

https://brnensky.denik.cz/serialy/bystrckou-helenu-zabil-cigaretovy-nedopalek-20120710.html

......ery nice scarf that was a present from her Grandma. This loss made Mavis very upset, and she spent a long time looking for that scarf - until the day she came to the realisation, that the tassels on Turbos hat were made from that very same material that the scarf had been made from, and it was just too coincidental that.....

....his straw hat that the tassels hang from. "It's the hat that always gets them in", said Turbo with a sly grin. "It's a real chick magnet hat, and when I put the tassels on it, they can't resist it! Of course, I actually put the tassels on to repel the flies (they're pretty bad on the farm, now), but then I found they attracted pretty girls like when I wore a race drivers suit!"

"You were a race driver, too??!", squealed Mavis in delight. "Tell me more! What did you drive, and what racetracks did you drive on?"

"Well", said Turbs modestly, "I didn't really drive, they just let me wear the suit, 'cos I got to grease the.......

..... mentioned that despite knowing all about quill sharpening, Turbo wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, but she still loved him, anyway. It was probably more to do with his huge .....

What do you call a generic brand of potatoes?

Imitators.

Interesting design, thanks for the info, Jenny. I understand that greenhouses are in huge demand today, it's a roaring business, crop protection is vital against bad weather, and they really pay off.

Some of the larger vegetable growers cover all their crops completely, and some of the greenhouses run into many hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost. They look quite flimsy, but apparently they're more robust than it first appears.

http://www.davidgillgreenhouses.com.au/?p=home

Lands on a shed roof with a crashing, bouncing landing, and never even leaves a mark in the roof cladding? Give me a break! As Trump would say - and for once, I'd agree - "Total hoax!"