onetrack

John, it's known as "extruded polystyrene", thus the "XPS" name. There's a substantial difference between extruded and expanded polystyrene, the expanded polystyrene is much less dense.

https://www.usimm.ca/en/polystyrene-panels-should-you-choose-expanded-or-extruded-polystyrene/#:~:text=The Difference between Expanded Polystyrene,on average for XPS vs.

Liquid Piston have been in business for 20 years and keep saying their engine is totally revolutionary, and solves all the drawbacks of the Wankel. Unfortunately, LP are still yet to "perfect" their engine after 20 years - essentially because simply turning the Wankel design inside out, doesn't solve a lot of the inherent, basic drawbacks, of the rotary design. But they still keep up their claims of an "engine revolution".

Note that the foam company has a minimum $200 spend on any purchase.

It appears StyroMAX in Darra should be able to supply your needs. However, be aware they only sell, full size sheet sizes (600mm x 2500mm), no on-site cutting is allowed.

https://styromax.com.au/products/dow-styrofoam/

Jerry, I was always under the impression that morbid obesity was a very present and serious threat to a persons health - let alone the restrictions placed on their physical ability to do everyday jobs.

It's become obvious to me that a lot of people are "gaming the system", to acquire jobs that they simply should not be placed in.

I know the trucking industry is desperate beyond belief to acquire drivers, but this bloke drove it home to me, just how deep that desperation is.

I'm not talking about people that are just a bit overweight or pudgy, I'm talking about people who are virtually unable to carry out required basic moves, such as bending over to pick up something off the floor.

Then there's the problem that these people weigh substantially more than a lot of equipment is designed to carry. Most seating has a 120kg weight limit, so they're creating hazards just by their sheer weight.

And imagine the diet choices of an already morbidly obese truck driver! - substantial amounts of greasy roadhouse deep-fried food, pies, pasties and sausage rolls!

This truck driver is not an orphan, I'm seeing a substantial increase in these type of people, everywhere I go now.

I had a recent delivery of palletised freight to the West from Toowoomba, via a company based in North Brisbane. The companys trucks and equipment are superb, but the driver who stepped out of the cab of the Kenworth wouldn't even get a job with me - let alone get to drive a truck for me.

He was only in his mid-20's, but to say he was grossly obese would be an understatement. He was so fat I don't know how he fitted between the seat and the steering wheel.

He was at least 150kgs and would have to have had a waist measurement of around 2 metres. He wouldn't fit in most aircraft, let alone an ultralight, and I fail to understand how he was classed as medically fit to drive a road train.

The medical examinations and medical classifications can obviously be "worked around".

Spacey, nothing has changed on this website, I would suggest the problem is in your  Galaxy Tab settings. Often, it's too easy to click on a setting and change it accidentally, which messes up your screen layout.

Click on the three dots on the upper right of your screen and look for "tools", "more tools", or "options", in the drop-down menu, to find a list of things you never knew you could do.

It's quite easy to accidentally hit two keyboard buttons at once when typing, and this can initiate a keyboard shortcut action, which changes settings.

To me, all the signs of a wing spar failure, and an in-flight loss of a wing are written all over this one - but of course this is all pure speculation until the wreckage is fully examined, and evidence and photos are released.

The Aero Commanders have form when it comes to numerous wing spar design failures, and numerous wing spar strengthening additions, that have all turned out to only produce more problems.

And when the original records can't even be found as to how many spar strengthening brackets were made out of 4140 steel, and how many were made from stainless steel, it just gets worse.

Then the lack of understanding over many years, and from many designers, as to the problems associated with galvanic corrosion when aluminium and steel are in close contact with each other, is astounding.

Plus the discovery of the unusual grain structure, of only some of the aluminium, in only some the wing spars, lends a whole new meaning to "variable factors".

Then add in nearly 40 years of flying with this particular aircraft, and the adverse factors really start to stack up.

I can soon see a number of people re-reading this CAA "Aero Commander Chronicle", which documents the Aero Commanders very chequered history, as regards faulty wing design, and the number of Commander wing structural failures.

https://www.scribd.com/document/265895944/Aero-Commander-Structural-Failures

Emergency services have confirmed 3 deceased on the crashed Gulfstream 695A Commander 1000. RIP, those three gallant crew.

The firefighting call signs change on a regular basis, it appears.

https://www.nafc.org.au/call-signs/

I believe there has been an error in media ID, and the aircraft was not operating as Birddog 275, but as Birddog 370. It appears to be VH-HPY.

One eyewitness reported sighting a plume of smoke around 30kms away from the Landsborough Hwy. The actual crash site has not yet been located, but one would expect it won't take long in that scrubby, relatively open terrain.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/queensland-police-assist-in-search-for-missing-light-plane-at-mckinlay/news-story/c8de8f716878d377dc4cec839704f828

Reports are coming in that it was a firefighting Birddog, a 275 Gulfstream 695A Jetprop Commander 1000. The crash is deemed "unsurvivable", and the 3 crew on board are believed to have perished.

The West Australian Coroner has denied the need for a coronial inquest into this devastating Broome crash. The parents of the 12 yr old girl killed wrote to the Coroner requesting an inquest, but the Coroner wrote back to their lawyers, stating that there was no need for an inquest, he has enough information to determine a finding for the crash, without an inquest.

I personally believe this is a poor decision, and it lets a lot of people off the hook. The pilot, once again, was lauded as an outstanding individual - but the less-than-outstanding record he left behind, was that;

1. He was flying without a licence

2. He failed to follow recommendations in the POH to thoroughly investigate any unusual vibrations during operation of the Robinson

3. He failed to apply the recommended procedure for responding to a tail rotor emergency.

This a simple tragedy that should never have happened if professional procedures were followed, and if adequate oversight was in place. CASA can't exactly claim to have clean hands in this disaster, either.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-03/amber-millar-coronial-inquest-fatal-broome-chopper/103060250

.....to back up Cappy on the 3-stringed .222, OT arranged for his American cousin, Justin, to play his 3-string shovel guitar, so they could make up a proper Hillbilly duo, that brought tears to the eyes of the.......

(Justin playing his 3-stringed shovel)

Back to the original question - did anyone actually verify that Jabiru has been sold?

Or is the story just a Friday night bar rumour that got amplified into, "Oh yes, I know a bloke who knows a bloke, who knows for sure, that Jabiru has been sold, but it's all hush-hush...."

(As is common with his insubordinate style, the Jedi Rat has left us hanging on the story development, with a full stop! Where to now?, cried the NES'ers ... and as always, OT stepped up to the plate)

However the donkey costumes arrived looking more like zebra costumes - and what was worse, they came with a complete back end, so the mulesed members had no ability to show off their now, finely-tailored, hairless and wool-less and dag-less rears.

It was deemed by the mulesed members of the group that something had to be done about this lack of holes in the rear of the costumes, so as a result, a large pair of dressmakers scissors was acquired, and swiftly wielded by...........

Don't forget the Polish radials - and we even had Australian-built radials, too!

Roads are "surveyed" and designated on maps as roads - but they're not normally proclaimed as "public roads", until they are "Gazetted" (notice published in Govt Gazettes).

So you can have "public roads", "private roads", and "surveyed, but ungazetted" roads. Once a road is declared a "public road" its legal standing changes enormously.

The Chinese have always played the "long game", while stupid Americans can only see short term profits, without taking into account the multitude of other factors.

The big problem with the Chinese is the fact that they have purloined every useful piece of Western technology, ideas and inventions, often by stealth and spying - along with simple eavesdropping - without any intention of paying for that technological knowledge.

The Huawei spying claims and decisions to cut Huawei out of important Western projects is just the tip of the iceberg. If we knew what the spy agencies know, we would probably be aghast.

Just the sheer level of personal data theft by Western corporations is a pointer to what the Chinese could have obtained. And all that technological advantage is used to their benefit, not ours.

Recent revelations as to just how much information is gleaned from technology devices where users speak to operate them, is eye-opening. They can easily be switched on remotely to eavesdrop on every conversation.

Bruce, I don't know that Indigenes make up a disproportionate number of deaths where lack of seatbelts is involved - in my experience they tend to drive slower and more cautiously than a lot of white people. But because they always cram their vehicles full (and overfull), they tend to have a higher number of people injured in crashes. 

An attitude of pure carelessness and a lack of adherence to rigidity in procedures is simply the reason behind the majority of crashes. You only have to see the number of vehicle drivers who fail to adhere to the procedure of indicating before changing lanes or turning, to understand that they it has never been hammered into them, that using indicators when changing lanes and turning, is not an optional behaviour, it is a mandatory procedure that needs to be carried out automatically, as soon as a lane change or turn decision is made.

The latest ATSB stats only cover the period from 2010 to 2019, so it's difficult to determine if there really has been a major upswing in aviation crashes recently. I tend to believe the crash rate is relatively static over a period of time.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/2020/ar-2020-014

The W.A. road toll has been relatively flat for the last 10 years. However, the variation between the metro road toll and the country road toll is quite substantial. The reasons are simple;

1. Higher speeds in the rural and remote regions, resulting in worse crash outcomes.

2. Crash victims are often not found in time, nor have someone try to resuscitate them in time, due to delays in rescuers getting to them.

3. Failure to wear seat belts (because there's no cops around!)

4. Driving drunk. 

5. Driving whilst distracted (texting)

6. Driving whilst excessively tired

7. Medical episode (drops dead at the wheel due to stress of long period behind the wheel).

Of all of the above, the cops have been staggered to find a substantial majority of fatalities in the rural and remote regions were caused by not wearing seatbelts!

https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/road-safety-commission/road-fatalities-year-date

As I said above - people continue to kill themselves in precisely the same manner, over and over again, failing to heed safe procedures, and to make a habit of following them rigidly.

Familiarity breeds complacency - "She'll be right, I know this terrain like the back of my hand" - as the individual takes a shortcut against a published safety procedure..

"I can get through this cloudy patch, it's only a thin layer, and it's not the first time I've flown in a little bit of IMC".

"No point in trying to spot other traffic, you can't see them anyway, and besides, there's no-one within a bulls roar of us".

"That other aircraft's gone, isn't it?" (said without making 100% sure it's gone).

"I'm sure we can beat that cold front rolling in".

"I need to be home tonight, I've got a big day tomorrow, and a lot of people to see".

CFIT by a highly experienced pilot is not only often unexplainable, it's nearly always as a result of overconfidence, lax following of rules and safety procedures - and a pattern of risk-taking.

The worst outcomes are where total aircraft destruction is the result, and the reasons behind the crash are shrouded forever in mystery.

Accident events have peaks and troughs, they're not a steady figure. You can have a dozen crashes in a month, then none at all for 3 or 4 weeks. A wide range of factors affect the accident rate.

Pilots keep making the same errors - and IMO, because so many always appear to be acclaimed and highly experienced pilots, after the disaster - it appears that many became lax or complacent in their approach to dangerous conditions, and it finally caught up with them. In particular, CFIT's by "highly experienced and well-regarded" pilots indicates to me that they were regular risk takers, and that that risk-taking finally caught up with them.

Crashed aircraft now identified as a Socata TB20 Trinidad - owned by the pilot, who appears to have been a citizen of Mackay. 

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/347333