onetrack

Brother used to have a Landcruiser with a long-range tank fitted. The original tank was about 80 litres, I think the long range tank was another 120 litres, making about 200 litres all-up.

He'd pull into a servo to fill up when near empty, and the person waiting behind him would get really toey when it took him about 10 mins to fill her right up! LOL

......bully beef and hard tack biscuits, left over from WW1. But there were pressing problems facing Cappy - Sorry, Jamelia - in that he/she could rarely get the CoG correct in the Tyro - because with all the weight up front and very little on the rear, it meant a lot of work for Cappy/Jamelia, trying to balance the aircraft.

Then, of course, there was the problem of his voice. Because not only had the surgery altered Cappys appearance tremendously, it also made his voice quite unrecognisable.

On the radio, he was asked to "say again" many times, because the combination of the new higher pitch, coupled with his new, Deep South accent, made life for ATC and other pilots, very difficult.

Then of course, there was the skin colour change. Something that no-one could explain, and which led to Cappy getting a frosty reception at the Wagga Gentlemans Club - not only because no-one recognised him as Jamelia - but also because the Club was lagging somewhat in improving its racial integration policies, and many of the older Members of the Club (some of whom originated in the Deep South) had entrenched views about the position of "coloured" people - which naturally meant, those people belonged outside the Club, of course.

Cappy became somewhat enraged at getting a serious knockback, as regards entry to his favourite Club, and very soon, he was on the phone to........

It's quite demeaning to light aircraft kit builders to see the media propagating the "homemade" aircraft tag, initiated by the NSW Ambulance Manager.

The term or tag, "homemade", gives an impression that kit builders are a bunch of "unqualified backyarders", and demeans everyone involved in the hobby.

The impression is wrong, as witnessed by many of the posts and contributors on this forum, whereby the skills and knowledge of all the contributing kitbuilders is outstanding.

Furthermore, the ABC article gives the impression there's no oversight or registration or checks on kitbuilt aircraft - when everyone in the hobby knows that the hobby is regulated more than any other hobby or fabrication pastime.

The Newcastle Herald report is more informative than the ABC article. Sounds very much like a stall on approach?

The plane was flying low on approach to nearby Maitland Airport, also known as Royal Newcastle Aero Club, on the outskirts of Rutherford, when it banked sharply to the left and crashed in the paddock.

The correct website link is - http://www.backpackairsports.com/

Hi Tim and Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear of your health problems, I trust you come out of it in satisfactory shape. What are the symptoms or changes you have to look out for?

I guess I'm fortunate in that no-one in my family or any of my ancestry ever had bowel cancer - I believe that predisposes you to the disease. The Govt is doing free bowel cancer testing for retired people, they send me a kit every couple of years.

It was also most unfortunate that Cappy chose quite an incompetent surgeon, because there was a mix-up on the operating table, which meant the surgeon also carried out a gender re-assignment operation, due to patient numbering confusion.

When Cappy finally woke up, he realised he was "missing a few bits" down below - and he'd "grown a few bits" up top! Absolutely appalled, he kept pressing the nurses call button, until the Matron appeared.

"Whaddya want?", glared Matron Dibble, she of the imposing size, and even more imposing biceps. Cappy was wondering if she'd had the gender re-assignment operation, too.

"I ... ahhh ... errrr ... I think there's been a terrible mistake with the plastic surgery!", squeaked Cappy. "I wasn't supposed to have a gender re-assignment op, it was just a simple facelift and pin my ears back!"

"Well", shrugged Matron Dibble, "You can't get everything right all the time, it's not my fault we have dyslexic nurses and doctors who scramble up the patient numbering, and make these occasional errors!"

"Anyway, he's done a good job, so you should be happy! Not everyone comes out of gender re-assignment looking as good as you do!"

"But .. but .. but ...", wailed Cappy. "I don't want to be a girl! I was happy enough, as I was - now I've got to go buy a whole new wardrobe, and shoes to match!"

"Ahh, stop ya whinging", said the Matron, "You got a gender re-assignment at a plastic surgery facelift price, you're on a winner! Now, you'll not only be........

The only information available from RAA says you must not let the aircraft registration lapse - but then, there's no information as to what to do, if it does lapse! Talk about deficient information!

KGW - Gee, that's a shocking loss rate for the Corsairs, particularly when you say nearly 90% were lost in operational and training accidents. Just goes to show what a handful the Corsair was.

How many of the RNZAF Corsairs operated off carriers? Did NZ actually have any carriers during WW2? Did all the Corsairs operate out of NZ, or were they spread around the Pacific?

I'm guessing some of the NZ Corsairs would have operated off British and American carriers?

Alan - Now you'll have to watch out for unscheduled RAAF landings by confused military pilots!

.....Galloping Goose - because it not only did it look like a Goose, it looked like a Galloping Goose, when she tried to get it airborne - which she failed at, of course.

However, failure is not something that Turbo's family understand, nor tolerate.

Nanna's sister didn't let up on the ornithopter principle, and finally succeeded in obtaining a sizeable and very profitable Defence Contract with an unnamed foreign country, to equip its Air Force with her latest version - Ornithopter fighters.

It's a real credit to Turbos Nanna's sister, that she persevered with a design that everyone else laughed at - but as she was known to say, after scoring the sizeable Defence Contract, "Who's laughing now, then?"

And here, Dear NES readers, is the photo of Turbo's Nanna's sister's Ornithopter Fighter - a product which has led to Turbo being able to easily afford numerous high-powered aircraft, to go car racing, and to indulge in many of the costly pursuits of the idle rich.

Naturally, he keeps the story of Nanna's sister's early aircraft very quiet, as he wants to take all the developmental and monetary glory himself - something along the lines of Kermit Weeks style, a bloke who also ......

What happens when you go into IMC in a wingsuit? Do you come out into clear air, upside down??

Hey, Liugi! - You-a stoopid or something? You fit-a da engines on backwards!

You're on the ball, SP. Prototype of the Callair Model A, 1943. Amazing how it was designed by Wyoming Ranchers, and assembled by about 100 local people who became expert at aircraft manufacture with no major aircraft industry experience.

What is more interesting is that the aircraft had exceptionally good handling, and it found a good market in ag work.

But as with many small aircraft manufacturing operations, the company folded in 1962, and the Intermountain Manufacturing Company purchased the Callair Company and its assets at auction, and went on to produce the Callair A-9.

IMCO was then purchased by the Aero Commander division of Rockwell International.

......the one the Billygoat Riders ride at every Masonic Lodge meeting. This finally proves that Turbo is a high-ranking member of that illustrious Brotherhood, and this explains why doors are opened to him, in every venture he attempts, and no charges ever stick to him (his nickname in the Brotherhood is Mr Teflon).

This also leads to accusations that Turbo has unduly influenced certain decisions relating to.......

Wings with dihedral have improved roll stability. The gull wing design allowed for shorter and stronger undercarriage with a very large diameter prop.

In the case of the Corsair, the gull wing facilitated folding the wings into taking up a smaller area - a crucial design point for aircraft carriers, where room is always at a premium.

STOLaero. Built by Steve Cohen, Ultralight Aviation P/L of Kirrawee, N.S. W.

OME - Use some Soudal or Parfix Urethane adhesive/sealant, instead of the hot glue gun. Sticks just as well, and you have the advantage of being able to lay a ribbon of adhesive/sealant on the edge of each rib, and then just clamp the corflute to them.

....financed by Backyard Lenders Inc., a division of the UAW, and run out of an office in a strip joint in Hoboken. N.J. It was no surprise, of course, that the strip joint owners were also on the BOM of TRE.

However, Salty soon realised that what was happening at the Station, was Turbo was absolutely mesmerised with a painting of a Mermaid on the wall, to the point where he couldn't be dragged away from it.

They had to drop a curtain over the painting, to break the Mermaids spell on Turbo - and then drag him away. Even at that, he threw a tantrum, and it was 10 minutes before he was back to normal.

Meanwhile, back at the airstrip (long-overdue avref), there were mutterings over the Turbine Enterprises takeover of Virgin Australia, just beating the QLD Govt offer by $360,000.

"This is completely unacceptable", moaned Loxie, "He's taking over everything, and before long, TE will be......

But it's not steam powered!? It would be interesting to test the potential of a Tesla turbine, as a steam power unit.

Sam, there's one factor you've left out of the equation - pricing. I would think that what you get for your money, would be one of the major considerations - unless, of course, money is no real problem, then you can buy the very best.

Fisher Aero Culex L2P. A kit build product in wood from Fisher Aero (Fisher Flying Products), based on their desire to produce an ultralight that mimicked the DeHavilland Mosquito.

Two 80HP Limbach 2000 engines power the Culex, another version is the Culite, powered by 2 x 50HP Rotax 503's. Finished weights ranging from 431kg to 454kg. In looks, it's certainly no Mosquito.

Trichloroethylene is banned from many products and workshops today, due to its carcinogenic properties. There's better products available today, such as GenTech solvent.

TCE is particularly bad for the environment, and poses a major problem as regards disposal.

Weight of the power unit is the biggest single over-riding factor in any of the smaller aircraft. On the basis that a steam engine needs an engine, a boiler, a condenser, piping, a water pump, plus associated valving and controls - and the overall weight starts to exceed any other currently available power unit.

In addition, lubrication of a steam engine is not easy, because lubricant either needs to be added to the steam using a displacement lubricator, or a pressurised lube system with an oil pump and oil tank is required.

There's also the high cost of manufacturing and certificating a boiler of adequate strength with minimum weight. High pressure is needed to develop maximum steam efficiency.

You cannot afford to have doubtful high pressure components in a steam engine - the number of deaths, in the U.S. in particular, in the late 1800's to early 1900's, from boiler explosions, ran into the tens of thousands.

Google "boiler explosion" and "images" and be prepared to be amazed at the constant destruction pictured from that era.