onetrack

The Technocracy website linked to by SplitS is run by an American God-botherer, an anti-vaxxer, and a Libertarian who believes Govts and Technology are the work of the Devil.

So I take his opinion on, "how great Swedens approach is", with a grain of salt. The bloke is another Donald Trump. Sweden is a mess, and their people are dying in excessive numbers.

The bottom line is, there is no guarantee there's such a thing as "herd immunity" against COVID-19. No peer-reviewed research has been carried out on whether there is long-term immunity.

But what is obvious with COVID-19 - just as with all the other more common viruses - there are varieties of this virus - or it can cunningly mutate rapidly to bypass immunity.

I see the scientific and health community have already identified at least a couple of strains of COVID-19. They have been able to track down infections because of the COVID-19 signature that identifies where it originates.

As with the influenza virus, there are obviously multiple strains of COVID-19. We get the 'flu one year, and it's one strain, and we get the 'flu the following year, and it's another strain.

There are four basic 'flu viruses, three that affect humans and one that only infects cattle. But those 'flu viruses regularly mutate and form slightly different strains, thus ensuring a fair percentage of the global population gets the 'flu each year.

But COVID-19 is very different to the common 'flu strains. It mutates much more readily than the 'flu viruses. It causes long-lasting and severe, respiratory system and other body organ damage. It's not "just the 'flu".

COVID-19 has the potential to overwhelm economies if left to run rampant. Those promoting this view seem to fail to recognise this fact, while they claim that the current COVID-19 restrictions are "destroying our economy".

Yes, there are a number of areas in our economy that are being decimated. The airline industry, the cruise shipping industry, and the tourism industry in particular.

But I think we probably need to sit back and examine the destructiveness of rampant tourism, anyway. I don't believe any country should rely on rampant tourism as a major source of income.

Venice would be a classic, for an example. Even the Venetians have been protesting about mass tourism. They are now enjoying the relative peacefulness that comes from not being overrun with tourists.

Tourism on a vast scale has been responsible for a lot of environmental damage, and this area needs to be addressed. There has been too much unnecessary, "to-ing and fro-ing" by many people.

Business people flying backwards and forwards across the globe on a daily basis, has found to have been virtually completely unnecessary. We waste too much of the Earths precious resources in unnecessary to-ing and fro-ing.

As regards the major cost to our economy, that many bemoan will take "decades to recover from" - well, I can say, you must have short memories or have never studied up on previous savage economic impacts.

We paid for the monstrous cost of 2 World Wars without reverting to a Stone Age economy. Yes, taxes went up and we had to pay out a lot of money - but we did it, and recovered pretty rapidly.

We endured the staggering impact of the Great Depression that shrank every countrys economy by 50% and which sent unemployment to 35% in Australia - all due to lax financial and share market controls in America.

We recovered from the Great Depression within 5 years, and the unemployment rate and industry went back to normal and our economy recovered.

I see nothing like a major, totally destructive hit to the economy with current virus measures, as many "gloom and doom" merchants are forecasting. In fact, many businesses I deal with on a daily basis, are doing quite steady business.

Yes, the international tourism businesses have taken a hit - well, sorry to say, every few years, businesses take a hit of some kind that floors them. They get up again, adapt, change their business model, do something else, and keep going.

I was in business all my life. I endured floods, drought, fires, my house burning down, finance interest rates that went to 30% in 1982, a four-fold increase in fuel prices in 18 mths - and near-bankruptcy several times.

But I survived by adapting, changing my business model, changing my sources of income, and going into different fields.

There is no chance that the virus-control measures will destroy our nations economy, it's too big, and too adaptable for that. We will take a hit to the bottom line for a few years, so we just need to wear that, as the cost of virus-fighting.

There is no proof that letting the virus run rampant, will result in minimal or no cost to the economy - and to claim that, is nothing short of Trump-style stupidity.

Franco, does that 582 of yours ever get cold?? How many hours a day are you flying?

.... for the useful bits of clothing left over, after the Christians had been eaten by the Lions. But little Spartacus Cook (whose full name was Spartacus Marcus Cookius) wasn't too hopeful, those Lions usually did a thorough job.

It was on one of these doleful days when Brutus Bullsius chanced to come across little Spartacus Cookius, sitting there in hopeful anticipation of something getting thrown out - and as he spotted him, Brutus said ...

"Spartacus Cookius, you're just the man I seek! I need a volunteer for a project where Man attempts to fly - and the Centurions recommended you, seeing as they observed you seem to have very little to do, apart from adding to the general roar of the Forum occasionally - particularly when someone is being eaten. I need you to be the Pilate for my flying project. It does involve gluing some feathers to your ankles".

"I can't be a Pilate", said little Spartacus Cookius, squinting up at Brutus Bullsius' towering frame. "There's only one Pilate here, and his name is Pontius, and he's our Dear Leader!"

"You fail to understand there can be more than one Pilate", said Bullsius soothingly. "What I have here will make you more famous than any Roman Gladiator, and more famous than any Centurion. All you need to do, is ......

I reckon the Curtiss P-40D was under-rated, purely because all the emphasis was on the Spitfire. But the P-40 went right through WW2, and distinguished itself very well.

Recent WW2 records examinations show the P-40 performed far better than generally believed, with many successful P-40 operations overlooked.

The P-40 had "performance at height" limitations that the Spitfire didn't have - that was a crucial factor in the European theatre, where aerial combat was often carried out at high altitude.

The P-40 could turn the tightest of all the fighter aircraft - even tighter than a Zero. And it was built very heavily, and could withstand a lot of battle damage.

What the P-40 lacked was the higher HP and supercharging that the Spitfire had. If the Americans had concentrated on supercharging and getting more power from the Allison, the P-40 would have been quite formidable.

....days, when people still travelled by foot, and wore breastplates and studded helmets and carried shields and swords. But the Bulltax 582 was destined to propel that society to new heights (avref).

This was because it ran on horse manure, which was in bountiful supply in those far-off days.

Bull had devised a simple and low-cost process to turn horse manure into a potent liquid that could be fed into the Bulltax 582 to produce more HP than any variety of avgas - even the octane-boosted varieties (avref).

He had found that manure from stallions was best, as it had more "kick" in it, and it provided a stunning rate of acceleration.

It wasn't long before Bull found people from various companies offering him enticements to reveal the secrets behind his horse manure conversion process. But Bull was smarter than the average gladiator, and he wasn't......

Nev, the big thing is, the Japanese delivered what the customers wanted, and were innovative. Innovation was sorely lacking in British designs and the customer came last when it came to improved or different designs.

I have to admit, the Japanese products are terrible for lack of interchangeability. But the mini-bikes met with serious demand from customers, not simply brand loyalty.

The brother and I bought several Z50J Honda minibikes because they were light, easily transported in car boots, had fold-down handlebars, and they were great for us to use, shifting equipment around when on your own.

We'd move a machine from one farm or jobsite to the next, and then ride the Z50J back to our ute or car. I wish I still had all those Z50J's, they are worth a fortune today, in good nick! Last one I saw at auction brought nearly $3000.

I often wonder where they found a woman with that kind of foolhardiness in her nature, to carry out that stunt without even a parachute!

There's no woman that I know, that would carry out that task, due to their naturally risk-averse natures. They might do it to save a child, but not simply as a barnstorming stunt.

The Japanese wiped the floor with the British, as regards motorcycles in the 1970's. The Japanese bikes offered superior ride and handling qualities, far better fit and finish, attention to detail, more power and smoother power.

In that period, the British companies floundered with vicious, divisive union thugs, management "class divisions" from the 19th century, nationalisation of businesses, left-wing politicians who sold the country down the drain, and a lack of entrepreneurial talent amongst the business leaders of the day. Many good business people fled Britain in that era, to other countries that they felt were more business-minded.

......there would be problems distinguishing between the two. However, this problem still afflicts many people, with sizeable numbers still unable to determine whether to go with Pussy or Ars.

(Dear NES Readers - Le Capitaine obviously failed his French course, because it is not " Ruisseau de l’Ar$e", it is Riviere Le Ar$e (or sometimes just Ars), and as a raconteur of renown, he should have known that)

To correct El Capitaines false information - Un chat never lent its name to le village of Pussy, it was named after the Roman, Pussius, a local landowner in Roman Times.

However, it is most unfortunate that the village of Pussy has a number of regional neighbours who also possess unfortunate names.

However, New Turbine Enterprises is seeking quick clarification for the use of these names for his additional COVID-19 product lines, to add some colour to those normally drab products.

These neighbouring village and area names, are shown below .....

The Australian Revetec engine showed great promise - a Controlled Combustion Engine that dispensed with the normal crankshaft and plain bearings, and which utilised a tri-lobe crankshaft, with connected pistons running in guides.

However, this engine was trumpeted with great fanfare about 2003, got a heap of money from investors, produced a few trike engines, produced a few prototype engines - then moved manufacturing and engineering to Turkey about 2011-12.

They have stumbled and bumbled along ever since, gone off at a tangent on a regular basis - and now, they are effectively broke, and no longer in operation.

This is typical of so many "exotic" new engine designs, that promise a lot in a short time, end up making that a long time, with no major results - then they run out of money, and willing investors.

https://www.revetec.com/latestnews.htm

I think the simple problem with so many of these engine ideas and their promoters and backers, is that they lack a clear objective target market and users, lack understanding as to the complexity of engine design and combustion principles - and they lack the constant supply of multiple millions required to get new projects into commercial production - over an extended period of time.

I have read the books detailing the history of Clessie Cummins and Frank Perkins, who both eventually found success with their automotive and industrial diesel engine designs.

In Clessies case, he had a friendly and willing merchant banker who backed him in engine development for 25 years, before he saw any return on his investment.

In Frank Perkins case, once again, he had a number of wealthy willing financial backers, and one primary financial backer, who always came good with more money, when things went sour.

In both cases, the development of their engine designs took more than two decades before they finally gained commercial success. And both these companies had their sights on a very large market, which eventually provided good returns.

But the aircraft engine market is one of limited numbers and limited sales, and therefore is not attractive to investors who like to see good returns from large markets.

Mankind has been fascinated by birds, and their ease of flight, since the dawn of time. I'm fascinated by how they can have a bath involving almost complete immersion, and then merely shake off the water and fly away.

While people are praising the Australian response' date=' they can't keep this up forever, or even for much longer. Then what?[/quote']

 

Well, we could always try Swedens approach - take the hands-off approach, and let the virus run rampant.

 

But for just 10.1M population, they have 73,000 cases and 5,400 deaths, and I don't know how their health system continues to operate without collapsing.

 

In addition, there has been no quantifiable economic gain by letting the virus run rampant. The projections are that Swedens economy will shrink by 4.5% this financial year.

 

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/sweden-coronavirus-strategy-high-death-toll-no-economic-gain-data-2020-7

To compare Malaria to COVID-19 is like comparing apples to oranges, a Lamborghini to a Lear Jet, or an excavator to a boat.

This is what is wrong with America - faulty logic amongst their leadership (or more correctly, lack of leadership), and the resulting chaos and huge infection levels.

In the U.S. there's a total lack of understanding of how the COVID-19 virus operates, and the massive damage it can do, if no-one in authority takes positive and enforceable steps to stop its spread.

It's like saying termites are just harmless little critters that don't eat much, so you don't need to bother about them - while your timber house crumbles around you.

Because diesel is a slow-combusting fuel, fuel economy starts to suffer in diesels run at speeds over about 3200-3300 RPM. You get a lot of still-combusting diesel going out the exhaust, from 3500 RPM upwards, in diesels.

I've got an Isuzu 5 tonner with the venerable, unbreakable old 6BG-1, 6 cyl diesel. It redlines at 3100 RPM, and it will sit there all day, if I want to push it - but I really notice the fuel consumption going up, if I sit on peak revs.

Sitting on 2500-2750 RPM gives me good fuel economy, and good highway speed (100-110kmh).

The Subaru diesel would perform quite adequately at 3000-3300 RPM with a direct drive to the prop.

The EE20 Subaru diesel produces its maximum 150HP (110Kw) at 3600 RPM, and the EE20 power graph shows the HP falling away rapidly from 3600 RPM upwards.

Maximum torque of the EE20 is 350 Nm at 1800 RPM and the torque output starts to fall away quite substantially from 2500 RPM upwards.

Of course, you could chip the engine to improve the output at higher RPM's, but I don't know that chipping would be advisable for an aircraft installation.

https://www.fsb.unizg.hr/miv/MSUI/KonMot/Uravnotezavanje/Podloge_klipni_mehanizam/Subaru/MTZ-2008-09_Subaru%20Boxer%20Diesel_(engl.).pdf

....furry-faced, floppy eared Bassett hound, with his PM on. "But, I can tell you, this is just the Cats Ar$e for protection! You should know that nothing beats a Cats Ar$e for repelling stuff!!", said Turbo.

Meantimes, there was a growing, audible rumble in France as a group of lawyers gathered, after hearing about the latest NTE invention. Specifically, a group of lawyers in Pussy, in the commune of La Léchère.

"Mon Dieu!", exclaimed the lawyer addressing the assembled gathering of legal eagles. "N'est rien de sacré? This upstart Oztralien, is stealing our village name! We must take action to prevent this unauthorised theft of our good village name!"

"But" .. said one of the legal eagles in the audience. "We don't have exclusive rights to le name! I mean to say, every country has thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of forms of Pussies! And it's in common use in ze Eengleesh language!

If you call someone in Eengleesh a 'Pussy', you know you will get a severe reaction! If you yell out 'Pussy' in le street, every red-blooded man will spin his head!

We can't legally proceed against this Oztralien without evidence of his use of ze name, impacting adversely on our village!"

"We have zee evidence", said the lawyer running the meeting. "Firstly, he is making COVID-19 masks and claiming they are from Pussy. This is explicitly wrong! Secondly, he is making money from the use of our good name! Thirdly, he is ......

This page explains the principles behind the Hooper stepped piston engine ...

http://www.bernardhooperengineering.co.uk/opads.htm

Nev, the Higgs and SPV580 engine designs are quite a step away from early stepped piston designs, and GM 2 stroke diesels. The big thing with the former engine designs is the total separation of the combustion and oiling areas.

There is no guarantee that herd immunity results from letting COVID-19 spread on a widespread scale. There are repeated reports of people catching COVID-19 again - as little as 3 mths later.

It's not known if this is because they never fully recovered, or if they caught a new strain of it (and there is apparently more than one strain of COVID-19).

This virus is the nastiest thing to infect the Earths population in the last 100 years, and it's highly likely people who catch it, end up with mutated genes, and all the associated problems that brings.

Andrew Higgs is pretty coy on the fundamentals of the engine design - but essentially, he is taking the designs of Bernard Hooper (deceased, 1997) and his son, Peter Hooper, to further levels.

Bernard Hooper was an outstanding motorcycle and automotive engineer, who never received the recognition or adulation he really deserved. His son, Peter, continues his work with Bernard Hooper Engineering Ltd.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-bernard-hooper-1233656.html

http://www.bernardhooperengineering.co.uk/bhe.htm

There is a link below to a 2005 engineering paper by Peter Hooper, which describes the design of the stepped-piston SPV580 UAV engine, which is based on Bernard Hoopers original ideas.

The SPV580 was a U.K. Ministry of Defence project to find out whether the stepped-piston design was suitable for UAV use. I gather the project was shelved - why, I do not know. This is typical of Defence projects, though, as we all know.

I suspect that noise levels were possibly the reason the SPV580 design did not meet the U.K. MOD parameters. As you could imagine, a noisy UAV is highly undesirable.

Being a cross between a two-stroke and a four-stroke, the engine does have noise issues. Not the least of which is, it is a high-speed engine (5000-6000RPM).

The basic engine design and principles are sound - but trying to reach commercial success is another level entirely - particularly in the low-volume aircraft engine market, which is now dominated by Rotax.

https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/6846/P%20IMechE%20Propulsion%20Systems%20for%20UAVs%28300NA%29.pdf?sequence=2

The area of greatest concern with this R44 is that it was built in 2018, and had only accumulated 268 hrs, TTIS.

One can only surmise the tail area must have been damaged inadvertently at some stage, and no-one picked it up. Ground-handling damage, perhaps?

Well, the crash cause is now pretty obvious. Tail rotor, gearbox and empennage separation in flight.

ATSB quote:

"The tail rotor gearbox assembly, tail rotor, and empennage assembly separated soon after the helicopter lifted off".

A previous pilot of the chopper reported "unusual vibrations", but upon examination, ground crew are reported as having done testing, and found nothing wrong. But something was obviously very wrong, and they failed to pick it up.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-10/atsb-says-tail-rotor-separated-before-broome-helicopter-crash/12443298

.....We fully support the NTE efforts to reduce the impact of both mice and COVID-19 in the one fell swoop. Furthermore, we are greatly enamoured of the additional work done by NTE, to start producing masks to assist in the curtailing of the spread of COVID-19.

In addition, we relish the fact that a lot of bush pigs will now become much more attractive when they're wearing masks, thus increasing our home-grown population levels in the country - rather than continually bringing in immigrants from s***h*le (Trump-ref) countries!

However, the CWA and PA are concerned that the current mask-wearing trend will lead to the Muzzies stating they were right all along, about the constant need to wear masks, and they just didn't make their wimmen wear them, simply because they were all ugly.

Furthermore, it is also of great concern to the CWA and PA, that wearing the NTE masks (which bear a hideous similarity to hijabs), will make mask-wearing Victorians become targets of abuse, after being mistaken for bomb-chuckers.

We would clearly like to see something done about making good old dinki-di Aussies who wear masks, immediately identifiable as Aussies, rather than Muzzies.

This will lead to less misunderstandings and less abuse, and less personal attacks on public transport, and make the lives of ordinary Victorians a lot easier." END OF PRESS RELEASE FROM THE CWA AND PA

Turbine read this Press Release with a thoughtful look on his face. "We have to work out some way to do this ID separation", he said, as he stroked his stubble. "I've got it!! We'll ......

They may be identical models, but there's possibly a difference in the aluminium protection treatment from the factory.

I've got a very low km (11,000 kms) 2014 Subaru Boxer diesel available for a very modest price, if you want to try something different. But they do weigh around 140-145kgs, I believe.

The huge advantage with the Boxer engine is that they are the ideal engine layout for aircraft. And the diesel's fuel economy is renowned, and the turbo improves performance at height.

However, the power pulses of the diesel are higher than petrol engines, and I believe you need to install some kind of cushion coupling in the drive to reduce the intensity of the diesel power pulses.

.....home-made scones, and I'll show you my home-made biscuits I baked during lockdown". But of course, hardly anyone got to see this shirt, because Turdboy was in quarantine, and no-one could get close enough to read the shirt, anyway.

Meantimes, Turdboy was using his lockdown time to think up his next scheme. This involved the New Turbine Enterprises COVID-19 testing kit, and a converted, formerly disused factory where........