onetrack

Whatever you choose to do, don't start coughing, you'll empty the chat room in 5 secs flat.

Under the National Security provisions of the Constitution, the Govt executive is empowered to enact any action needed to ward off any threat deemed to pose a threat to the existence of the Nation.

Closing State borders is well within those National Security powers.

Clueless - Why Boeing doesn't deserve a bailout ....

https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/clueless-why-boeing-doesn-t-deserve-a-bailout-20200327-p54ee3.html

I'm just waiting to see how much F-B's opinions change, when he gets the COVID-19 virus!

It's all about essentials for the next 3 to 6 mths - and nowhere is recreational flying listed as an essential activity.

An additional 5 to 8% of the population has just been thrown out of their jobs, for no reason other than they happened to work in an industry where people came into close contact and socialisation - and those now-unemployed people are looking at serious shortfalls in income, in the extended period it will take for them to find a new job - if they can find one. Many of those people with age against them, will be lucky to ever work again at a paying job.

If your income is not seriously affected by this virus crisis, and you can still afford to fly, be thankful that only limitations on your recreational flying ability will be the main thing affecting you.

Jerry - You didn't manage to find the website below? The "contact us" form is at the bottom right.

http://eqwirelessheadsets.com/story.html

There's only five things on my survival list - bread, butter, sugar, milk and tea. I can survive a long time on those basics. Bread can be frozen and kept for months.

Butter and sugar are vital ingredients for most food products, particularly cooked items.

I love my sweet tea, if the sugar supply gets low, I get the shakes, and no-one had better get between me and new supplies of sugar. I don't drink coffee, the chemicals in coffee send me ratty.

Milk can be powdered, condensed, or fresh milk, frozen. Tea can be stockpiled in supplies measured in years.

Canned food is a good backup. In the old days, living in the country, we bottled excess or slightly-substandard fruit with Vacola bottling outfits, we had a pantry full of Vacola bottles of preserved fruit.

Maybe old Vacola bottling outfits will become the new Gold, and people who have them will be on a winner.

Vacuum packed meat is fantastic, and I own a vacuum food sealer (Luvele), it preserves every type of food by a substantial amount. Any leftovers get vacuum packed. Bacon lasts twice as long vacuum packed, when you're not using it.

I found a good trick several years ago - wrap your delicate vegies that go "off" rapidly (lettuces, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkin, green beans, etc) in a couple of layers of paper towelling, ensuring they are completely covered - and store them in the vegie crisper that way. You'll find their lifespan is doubled.

It appears to me, the paper towelling provides just the right level of "breathing" for these delicate vegies, and slows their level of decay by a large margin.

If you use a fuel container for petrol or avgas that is not rated to, and marked as, "AS/NZS 2906 Fuel containers – Portable – Plastics and metal", then you deserve all the problems you get when it fractures.

"AS1940 Storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids" should also be compulsory reading, for anyone handling highly volatile petroleum fuels.

A Zlin Savage? (No, wrong - I realise now, the struts lower anchor point is wrong for a Savage)

Prince Albert of Monaco, who has become infected with the COVID-19 virus, was at a Wateraid event in London on 10th March, and Prince Charles was in the same room. It's entirely likely they shook hands.

If Phil the Greek manages to pick up the bug, I reckon it will finish him off. He's got one foot in the grave and one on a banana skin, as it is.

The Queen would survive a double dose of the COVID-19 bug, she's going to reach 110, and outlive Prince Charles.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-25/prince-charles-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/12090930

Old K - I have some 200L drum pumps with adjustable spears, they can be made to touch the bottom of drums.

..... Well, James, we have some work to do, to get this idea off the ground (literally - and note, subtle avref), and get people around to the way of thinking that our world as we knew it, has shrunk!"

"Accordingly, we have to shrink our aircraft, shrink our flying spaces, shrink our flight planning ideas (avref), all in the context of seriously reduced income - and all the while, continuing to practise good viral hygiene".

"I know this will seriously impact on many peoples lives, and lifestyle, and visions, but we will have to......

I can think of worse places to be marooned, besides on a boat in the Bahamas. They can go sailing and catch fish.

The Irish leprechauns approach is the standard corporate ethics approach. Fxxx the employees - the company, the CEO and executives have to be protected first, then the shareholders, then lastly, the company employees and customers.

The loyalty of employees to the company, some of whom have probably given 30 or more years of their lives to the organisation, has been seriously misplaced.

As to the customers who have expended thousands on flight tickets and got nothing in return, except a credit for a future flight - good luck with that, many of those flight credits will be worth less than used toilet paper in 6 mths time, because the airline they bought them from, no longer exists - or a "new corporate structure" has commenced business, with no intention of honouring any flight credits, from any previous corporate structure.

All drums left exposed to the weather are notorious for ending up with water, and eventually rust, in the bottom of them.

But even drums stored inside buildings can collect water from moisture in the air, coupled with major variations in moisture and humidity - particularly if they are only partly-filled.

It was always drummed into us (no pun intended) to fill fuel tanks on equipment at knock-off time, because an empty fuel tank on equipment left overnight, gathers condensation, that builds to surprising levels of water in the tank, over months.

Full drums in buildings have the least level of problems. 200 litre drums should be laid on their side, if possible, particularly if left outside - but they still need to be treated at all times, as if they have half a litre of water in the bottom.

On the basis of that appointment, I guess the iron ore mining industry will now be declared an essential industry!

BIL does escorts for wide loads, a lot of mining equipment, and also a lot of wind turbine equipment.

But they've shut a big part of his industry down, because the trucks and escorts travel in convoy, and need accommodation and food on the road, often in country and remote regions, and the supply of either cannot be guaranteed now.

It's a real quandary, because now is the time to move all that oversize stuff around, with little traffic and cheap fuel!

..... surveying the scene with his normal degree of suspicion. "So, what's all this about?", he said. "Just another ScoMo-style marketing meeting, with no real substance to come out of it, I suppose?".

"And what's this rubbish about Rabbits and virus antidotes? I haven't heard a word about aviation, flying or piloting (3 avrefs), in at least the last 48 hrs! It's all about the money, isn't it, you bunch of dastardly schemers!"

"But ... but ... but!" ... said Cappy. If we don't scheme, and try to make lots of money, we can't afford to buy aircraft, and go flying (avref again), can we?!".

"I can't believe this!", said the Great Locks. "Around the world, 100 yr old airlines are collapsing, millions in the aviation industry are facing unemployment and financial ruin! - yet here you are, working on your personal money-making schemes!!"

"I'm appalled at the dreadful selfishness and greed being displayed here! You don't even understand, you can't even launch this scheme of yours, because it depends on people getting together and socialising! - which is no longer possible!"

Turbo chimed in. "You've got it all wrong. The profits from this money making scheme are designed to go towards helping our brothers and sisters in the aviation (avref) industry. We just failed to note that in the meeting minutes.

We'll correct that shortly. Meantimes, we also are working on a major plan to find......"

Designing a ladder for constant ground use refuelling, requires a different design to one that has to be carried on an aircraft and stowed. Weight and bulkiness is not such a concern with the former, as compared to the latter.

As to materials, fibreglass is regarded as a highly satisfactory construction material, with regard to cost, and with regard to conductivity.

Spacey - Nope, plenty of stuff sold on eBay doesn't meet local regulations. You would not be able to fill that portable petrol fuel tank in any servo - and it is also illegal to store more than 20L of petrol in a house in a residential area.

Ian, in the link below, an Australian company is offering a similar server ("Rise 4") for AU$179.49 mth + GST. There are four sites to choose from, in "civilised" countries - 1 in Canada, 2 in France, 1 in Poland.

Even with GST added, it's still only AU$197 a mth, a saving of AU$83 a mth over your current choice.

https://www.ovh.com.au/dedicated-servers/prices/

P.S. Note that OVH is recruiting (bottom of page). Perhaps you could send in your CV? With the sudden surge to much more internet transactional use with the virus problem, they must surely be finding that business is booming?

https://www.ovhcloud.com/en-au/about-us/who-are/

It's not that clear-cut, that you can catch the COVID-19 virus again. A medical article I read stated that you get immunity from the virus once you've had it - but the virus rapidly mutates in a stealthy and cunning manner, and it's possible that people they thought had caught the virus twice, were infected with a new, mutated variety.

In addition, they stated that it's possible that some people in China and Japan were released as cured (as measured by normal standards) - but they were still infected at a low level, and not fully cured, and then tested positive again to COVID-19.

Spacey - Diesel tanks in trailers, and on vehicle trays have no filling restrictions, apart from perhaps litre limits set by the servo operator.

But petrol is a totally different kettle of fish, due to its low flash point and volatility.

"Clause 7.6.3 of AS1940 identifies the requirements for filling of containers with flammable liquids at service station fuel dispensers as follows:

7.6.3 Filling of containers at dispensers

Flammable liquids shall not be filled from a service station’s fuel dispenser into a container unless-

• The capacity of the container is not greater than 25L; and
  
• The container complies with AS/NZS 2906 or equivalent Standard, or is reasonably leakproof, metal, and has a tight-fitting closure; or
  
• The container is an approved fuel tank for a boat.
  

Any container shall be on the ground whilst being filled, and not in a car boot or the back of a utility vehicle.

NOTE: Approved portable fuel tanks for boats may be filled in situ."

Maybe fuel bowsers at airstrips operate under different rules to public service stations.

..... can you EAT rabbits??", exclaimed Cappy. "They're such lovely, cuddly furry, harmless little things! I couldn't ever imagine EATING one!"

Suddenly, a message was delivered to Turbo. His face fell, and he became withdrawn. "What's happened?", cried Cappy. "Has one of your parents died?"

"It's worse than that", said Turbo. "I've just been told the rabbit farm is infected with calicivirus. The rabbits all have to be destroyed, they can't be eaten! I'm ruined!!", he wailed.

"Oh, it can't be THAT bad", said Cappy. "Surely you can.......

You must have some easy-going local bowser. Any fuel outlet that I refuel at, will not refuel containers bigger than 20L, and they must be sitting on the ground when being filled, to eliminate any chance of static spark.

You cannot fill any container with any type of fuel, no matter what the size, if it's sitting in a vehicle - even a traytop. They will shut your pump off, if they spot you doing it, and warn you over the forecourt loudspeaker.

This is pretty standard oil company restrictions and OH&S techniques right across Australia, I thought.

I know in the good old days (60's and 70's) we could do what we liked, when it came to refuelling - but this is the 21st Century, and rules are rules.

I even copped a blast from the servo operator for looking at texts on my phone at the pump. Told me to put my phone away or they'd shut off the pump. Standard rules, according to the pump operator.

.......airlines, travel agents, tourism businesses, restaurants, pubs, casinos and gyms are being liquidated as we speak!"

"Never fear", said the Turbine, "I've got a heap of ideas that will blossom into profitable ventures, just as soon as self-isolation is over!".

"You gotta be kidding me?", said OT. "What make you think you can pull rabbits out of a hat, under the current disastrous circumstances?"

"Look", said Turbo, "People currently have a seige or prepper mentality, haven't they? Turbine Enterprises will capitalise on that, just as the firearms manufacturers have in the U.S.!"

"You mean?", said Cappy, that you'll take advantage of........