onetrack

The F35 reminds me of the old Alec Issigonis joke about a camel being designed by a committee that was instructed to design a horse. The F35 is every bloke and his dog having a say in what they want in an aircraft, and it ends up being a nightmare of complexity, and it can never do what the designers promised it could do - and certainly not supply the primary requirement - provide satisfactory reliability.

The PT6 isn't really a concern for engine failure potential, their reliability is nothing short of amazing. I saw the failure figures recently, it was something in the order of 1 engine failure every 400,000 hrs.

RFguy has nailed it, my error, not paying enough attention - that's an AT-502B, they run the 750HP PT6A-34G engine. They can go to 4263kg MTOW for later models with the modified wing spar. That still doesn't explain the long takeoff roll. The factory specs say 1140ft (347M) to get airborne. He must have been on a fuel saving mission. Air Tractor - AT-502B AIRTRACTOR.COM Air Tractor AT-502B World’s Most Popular Ag Plane For many ag operators, the AT-502B is the ideal combination of payload and performance. It’s got every airframe and engine advantage to...

....had a great time discussing the things they shared great interest in - mainly, powerful positions, the ability to handle the permanently aggressive Media Rat Pack with aplomb, making statesman-like decisions on the future of the country - and especially, Climate Zero. Few people know that OT is a Climate Warrior and his mines are Green and Clean. His mining efforts produces no emissions, as he mostly uses cheap labour from the sub-continent, rather than big expensive polluting machinery from the Land of Trump. OT at one time was a huge buyer and user of Caterpillar machines - then one day he saw the light, and the damage his machines were doing to the Climate, so he underwent a literal "Damascus Moment" as regards pollution, and joined hands with Twiggy Forrest in singing "Kumb-By-Ya", and dressing in hemp shirts and...........

Moneybox, was he fully loaded, or just economising on fuel? Seems like a very relaxed takeoff. The Airtractors I watch working, cropdusting in the Wheatbelt, don't hang around, they've got 1600HP, they get off the ground pretty fast - and they sure move when they're spraying! I think they spray at about 90-100 kts? One of them fairly made me soil my underpants about 3 years ago, when he flew right into the path of my Hilux as I was cresting a hill at about 110kmh - he came up from behind the crest of the hill as he finished his spray run! Never saw him coming, didn't even know he was working that paddock. 🙂

No MTOW in the specs? Seems like a glaring omission. The article above appears to be quite dated, the list of engines currently offered by Pelegrin is vastly different to what's listed above. Currently, the only engines offered are the 160HP Rotax 916iS, the 130HP UL Power 350iSA, and the 185HP Edge Performance 918. I did finally find the MTOW, it's not listed in the manufacturers site specs, it's listed under "Technology", which is a weird place to list it. The aircraft is rated at 650kg MTOW - but the cabin is very narrow at 700mm, and the -2.2G wing loading is not all that good. Tarragon Aircraft WWW.TARRAGONAIRCRAFT.COM tarragon, aircraft, plane, UL, fast, fastest, carbon, fibre, tarragonaircraft, quality, best, tandem, military, modern, luxury, exclusive, performance, acrobatic, latvia, riga, manufacturer, composite, pre-preg, tehnology...

Kiwi, I have no radio skills and only basic electrical knowledge, but this is what a search tells me (link below). The Phase Locked Loop (PLL) circuit in your radio appears to be suffering from intermittent failure, and I would have to opine this is either a hardware fault, or a circuitry fault in the radio. https://www.google.com/search?q=xcom%2Bradio%2BPhase-Locked%2BLoop%2Breference%2Boscillator&sca_esv=80900f88cf1b312c&sxsrf=AE3TifNoCp0ipiL1reCdaKQayxFfPqenFQ:1756603918630&ei=DqazaJelJpObnesP2Lr9sAw&ved=0ahUKEwiX5NLE87OPAxWTTWcHHVhdH8YQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=xcom%2Bradio%2BPhase-Locked%2BLoop%2Breference%2Boscillator&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiMXhjb20gcmFkaW8gUGhhc2UtTG9ja2VkIExvb3AgcmVmZXJlbmNlIG9zY2lsbGF0b3IyCBAAGIAEGKIEMgUQABjvBTIFEAAY7wUyBRAAGO8FMgUQABjvBUj7LVDyB1imKnABeAGQAQCYAeMBoAHDEaoBBTAuNC43uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIMoALxEcICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAgcQIxiwAhgnwgIEECEYCpgDAIgGAZAGCJIHBjEuMS4xMKAH_TSyBwYwLjEuMTC4B-4RwgcFMC41LjfIByU&sclient=gws-wiz-serp WWW.GOOGLE.COM

Personally, I reckon a Skyraider II would be a better model choice. I could really give the local rabbit population a work-over, with one of these!!

In a sudden and dramatic twist to the NES, it has been revealed that air piracy has infiltrated the NES story line, and readers must be made aware that those contributors who appear legit, are not what they seem. It's a little-known fact, that Cappy comes from a long ancestral line of sea pirates, and thus it was easy for him to simply take the small step from sea piracy to air piracy. These people are also known as "sky pirates", and one must be aware that these low-lifes inhabit the sky permanently, just the same as sea pirates inhabit the sea. These sky pirates will pounce on your aircraft, out of clouds, where they enjoy hiding, to rain death and destruction on your aircraft, crew and pax - and even try to steal your aircraft! Therefore, dear NES readers, one must be constantly alert for what is hiding in clouds, when one is enjoying the freedom of flight, and apparently safe skies. It is a solemn reminder that many aircraft have been............ (and here we have Cappys ancestors doing what they did best, stealing other peoples airships, or generally blowing Police airships out of the sky!)

Moneybox, upload your videos to a free hosting site such as Screenpal, and then just put up the link for users to watch it. Screenpal will allow you to upload videos up to 15 mins long, for free.

.....replaced it with a kangaroo, thus causing great confusion amongst his military comrades, who all thought he'd been to Hong Kong and scored an Aussie souvenir hat from a returning Chinese tourist after a visit to Australia. It wasn't long after that episode, that Harry started to be called "Skip" by his comrades (and we all know what the Chinese are like, for making fun of peoples names). "Skip" in Chinese actually means doing a pretty anti-social act, so it wasn't long before the sound of "Hey, Skip!" brought guffaws from the assorted PLA comrades nearby, and.......................

In the future Navy scenarios, they'll only need to learn how to land a drone on an aircraft carrier. 🙂

...., generally at the most inopportune moment, such as when the aircraft was transiting military zones - thus leading to even more exciting aviation moments for our erstwhile and intrepid Harry. Despite being well recognised as a risk-taking swimmer, Harry wasn't one to take risks in the air, for fear of...........

Hmmm, yes - all good in theory, but what about negative G in flight?

I'd like to know what kind of tyres they're using, that can stay together safely at 472kmh!! Not Chinese ones, surely!! 🤯 I won't have Chinese tyres on the steers of my truck, and I know a lot of other truck drivers who think the same. I'll use Chinese tyres on the drive, but there's only two steer tyres and I want them to be the best I can buy! I blew a front tyre once, on an old ACCO tip truck I that owned back in the 1970's - when it blew, (on the LHF) it pulled me straight off the road, and there was nothing I could do to stop it! And that truck was flat strap at 85kmh. My current truck does 119kmh ex-factory, so more speed today to go further off the road! I hate to think what would happen if one of those EV tyres blew at 400kmh+, it would rip huge chunks out of the car. I've blown rear truck tyres, they usually take the entire steel mudguard off with them.

You just gotta admire the workmanship in that duct tape!

Did the book tell you about the cunning level of misinformation that would be readily available in the 21st century? 😄

You'll have to use your imagination, the day you require some repair or service to the Nokia! Technology and IT products in particular, all change at warp speed, it's a struggle to keep up sometimes. The constant changes to signal transmission modes and frequencies is one you need to be on top of. Wi-Fi standards are now up to Wi-Fi 7 (IEEE 802.11be), which offers significant speed increases, wider bandwidth (320 MHz channels), and enhanced reliability compared to previous standards. But they're already working on releasing Wi-Fi 8, which will change again for major improvements. Communication companies keep adding frequencies - analogue, 2G and 3G are long gone, 5G is the standard now, even though most of us are still on 4G. No doubt 6G is on its way. One day you'll suddenly find, the Nokia simply doesn't work any more! - because it doesn't have the inbuilt capabilities to handle the new frequencies and standards.

China produces new military coaxial helicopter prototype - and surprise, surprise, it's almost identical to the newest Sikorsky S-97 Raider .... https://armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2025/breaking-news-new-chinese-high-speed-coaxial-helicopter-resembling-us-sikorsky-raider-raises-concerns

.....intent on telling his war stories about his time on the Khyber Pass, and other exotic adventures that made Garrison "Gunslinger" St Clair, look like a pussy. However few people knew the truth. Turbo had never been to Afghanistan, and he certainly wasn't a Khyber Pass veteran. The Khyber Pass he often regaled tales about, was actually a small geographic feature outside Darraweit Guim, called Kybah Pass, located on one of the five rivers that ran through DG. Turbo had been stuck there once, when he ran out of ammo whilst rabbit shooting - and the DG rabbits had surrounded him (they're pretty mean critters, those DG rabbits). Turbo had to do a quick retreat back down the river before the rabbits kicked him to death, and buried him in a disused burrow. But in Turbo's mind, this was the equivalent of real war, and he could play it, for all it was worth. He failed to mention how CT9000 came to his rescue in his CTLS turbo, and popped off the 600 rabbits that were threatening him, in the space of less than..............

I think Aaron meant to write, "haven't been a force in the handset world since Google and Apple crucified them for going with Microsoft". In other words, Nokia no longer make handsets, haven't done for some years, and they concentrate on other areas of communication business today.

Boost, which was formerly a subsidiary of Telstra, is now owned 100% by Telstra, after Telstra bought out the co-founder, Peter Adderton and other shareholders, in Dec 2024, for $140M. Former PM Paul Keating was a sizeable shareholder in Boost, and received a tidy windfall gain in the deal. Boost always has been a "full service" partner of Telstra, and whatever services Telstra provide, should be automatically available with Boost - unlike a number of other cheap Telstra service provider partners, who only offer a limited Telstra service. These cheaper Telstra service provider partners are often denied access to some Telstra services and cell towers - or if the system become overloaded, Telstra will shed these providers clients, in favour of Telstra clients. QUOTE: "Telstra acquired the pre-paid mobile services provider Boost Mobile in December 2024 for approximately $140 million, consolidating the brand under Telstra's ownership and control. Previously, Telstra was responsible for Boost Mobile's network access and most operations, while Boost focused on its branding and marketing. The acquisition was a strategic move by Telstra to better manage its multi-brand strategy and retain a profitable customer base. Key Details of the Acquisition: Date: The acquisition was announced on 2nd December 2024 and the deal was completed at the end of that month. Price: The deal was valued at approximately $140 million. Reason: Telstra aimed to bring all aspects of the Boost Mobile business under one roof, allowing for better integration into its multi-brand strategy. Previous Relationship: Boost Mobile had been a partner of Telstra for over 13 years prior to the acquisition. Founders' Involvement: Boost Mobile co-founder Peter Adderton is no longer involved with the company, focusing on his US-based MobileX brand. Former Prime Minister Paul Keating, who co-founded the business, received $40M from the sale."

....calling them forlatters. Not many people know that the forlatters are an offshoot of the bull tribal group, thus the use of lower case for their group name. Just like bull, they also come from a long-established fishing background - mostly fishing for suckers to rip off mercilessly. To this end, the forlatters had spent lengthy periods studying the Turbine Media Inc publications, many of which had curious titles, such as "How To Get Rich Quick and Not Get Caught". The forlatters very quickly saw the benefits of studying these books, so it wasn't long before.....

The early M20's up to 1965 had manually retractable undercarriage with a big "Johnson bar" lever. "Johnson bar" comes from locomotive terminology, and is a term used on a wide range of equipment, where you need to pull a big lever. From 1965, Mooney offered electrically activated undercarriage retraction on the M20 as an option. In 1969, the manual retraction system was dropped completely and only electric retraction was offered from then on. VH-TWV was built in 1985 according to the rego details, so it will have electrically-operated undercarriage. If the undercarriage was retracted while taxying, then that's an aircraft fault, because the M20 with electric retraction has an airspeed lockout to prevent retraction on the ground.

Well, I know that PayPal charge a flat 2.5% for most transactions, and if the transaction is into a different currency, they give you a crappy exchange rate, which means they fill their pockets again.