It followed me home can I Keep it.

[Geoff13]

We get some interesting jobs in road transport. I once had the contract for delivering Harley Davidsons to Morgan and Wackers in the valley. Once I delivered a replacement mast for Sydney/Hobart Yacht on Christmas Eve. This week I pulled this off the wharf for a client and today the owner and builder came to collect it from the customers premises. Had the pleasure of meeting Andre and his son and helping them load it onto the trailer for it journey to Heck Field. Sling 4. Rotax 914 turbo. Andre told me to not be a stranger next time I am at Heck and he will take me for a ride. It seemed he was surprised when a truckie walked up and said Sling eh is it a 912 or 914. Nice guy it was a pleasure to meet him and his son. 2.5 years to build and it sounded like a real family affair Andre and his 4 boys. Just brought it in from South Africa. 30 hours on the meter. Cant wait to get to Heck Field and hold him to his promise.

 

 

 

[Bats]

I'm sure they must have been relieved to have a fellow aero-tragic involved in extracting their baby from the port. I don't think I'm alone in being rather antsy whenever any of my more delicate possessions are within reach of the wharfies tender mercies! SEQ is probably second only to South Africa as a gathering place of Slings these days, for good reason, they're a smart piece of kit.

 

 

[Oscar]

I have (framed, I must add!) a Wide Load Permit for a B-25 bomber...

 

 

[spacesailor]

I know of a" Better" one.

 

A transport company moved a museum from Bankstown, and ended up with a "Ansett" DC aircraft, was in their front garden for a long time, now moved to the rear yard,

 

I have often thought of volunteering to give it a wash & polish, as I passed driving along the Mitchel hwy.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Oscar]

Oh, alright, in the 'yours is bigger than mine' stakes: I've moved the Japanese midget Submarine from Sydney to Canberra.. And an Me262, Melbourne-Canberra., several Sea Furies, a Canberra bomber, a Meteor, a Centurion tank, an Me109, a Kittihawk, a Zero. A Victa from East Sale to Brisbane ( and most of it back again on the same trailer, through this time without me driving..), a Jab. (Sydney-Caloundra and most of it returned to Sydney), the Ultrabat (Toowoomba-Bundaberg). The last three, as retiree projects, but the rest ( and there were some more - try moving a 52-tonne Destroyer gun Director!) when I worked for the Australian War Memorial.

 

 

[spacesailor]

OOps sorry bad english!

 

I meant it as, He took it home & kept it, it's still there in his yard,

 

I didn't mean to be mean

 

Going on aircraft movements I sorrowfully lay claim to helping move hundreds if not thousands to their end, (by truck), two pounds for a Mosquito minus engines!.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Oscar]

Now THERE's a story that begs more information. I'm betting : a US aircraft graveyard?

 

 

[spacesailor]

England.

 

Lots of airfields full of aircraft with only one way out. very few had somebody with enough money to preserve even Spitfires / Mustangs /American and English bombers, & even the new jet fighters.

 

So ?

 

were are they now, the $64,000 question

 

At 300 pounds NET profit, Aluminum ingots were made, then shipped back to the old USofA. A lot of the wood & canvas type were burnt first.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[onetrack]

I can recall reading that the British had no less than 22,000 military aircraft sitting unwanted and unloved, in early 1919.

 

Nearly all were broken up for scrap, some selling for a little as a couple of pounds - and many had only a few hours on the clock.

 

 

[spacesailor]

A few hours on the clock!.

 

An Awful lot were new never flown, most were test flown, as the Canadian super sabre jet fully fueled & armed ( I also had the job of dismantling bullets/canons even mortar shells for there component parts).

 

The worst (frightening) job was puncturing fuel tanks with an axe!, then pushing an open top drum under to catch the fuel. (petrol was in very short supply)

 

An apprentice's job was a very cheap dogs-body, like putting canon shells in a vice to work the cartridge loose, put cordite into one drum brass in the next and third metal into another unless it's magnesium, which was kept separate. ( so we could burn it in the river), & had to fire the detonator part to make it safe !.

 

Happy day's met a beautiful young thing there, Still together after 56 year's, 52 years married.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[spacesailor]

What, no more comments about two pound Hurricane's spitfire;less than ten quid, English motor bikes ten, if good, Harly's Indian's all thrown into a huge pile

 

If what I know now, plus having a bit of money, I knew then, I would be very wealthy.

 

But wouldn't we all.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Marty_d]

Yep, if we could just go back in time... a 10 pound Spitfire or two, land in central Sydney, the first shares in Facebook...

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I still have a 1936 Royal Enfield I bought for $90 and a 1949 Ariel Red Hunter that cost me $25. But I was too young for the $200 Tiger Moths.

 

 

[Geoff13]

When I was considering leaving the Army a million years ago, I looked at buying into a franchise. I went to an accountant and asked advice about franchising in general.

 

I remember him telling me about his biggest ever financial mistake.

 

He and a friend in 1976 were offered the McDonalds Franchise for Tasmania for the princely sum of $25,000.00. He and his friend/partner had determined that it was a bad investment. The week before our discussion took place, I had considered the West Wodonga Franchise for the same store for $250,000.00. It took him some time to convince me that his advice was worth listening to.

 

 

[turboplanner]

Sidney Kidman, Australia's Cattle King, bought a 1/14 share in the Broken Hill Mine for fourteen steers.

 

He sold it not long after for $100.00.

 

Decades later when people pointed out what they saw as a monumental blunder, he was philosophical and said he didn't regret it, because at the time he made a profit.