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pmccarthy

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Everything posted by pmccarthy

  1. pmccarthy
    Fly in to Biggest Morning Tea at Kyneton Aero Club on May 7th from 9am.
  2. pmccarthy
    Yes, the nonsense drove me away.
  3. pmccarthy
    In pumped hydro turbines are also pumps. No pump can draw more than about 6 metres which is an atmospheric head of water after losses. So all the gear has to be at the bottom of the shaft or pit, not at the top.
  4. pmccarthy
    Pumped hydro from open pit or underground mines is very challenging. The pump/turbine has to be at the bottom, but above high water level. So the effective head is much less than the depth of the pit. Permanent access in either case can be very expensive. The slopes above pit haulroads are designed to last mine life only, and even then may need regular maintenance. Haulroads themselves often fail after pit closure. Rehabilitation of an underground mine decline might cost $10,000 per linear metre or $90,000 per vertical metre on a one in nine grade. And then there is the need for permanent ventilation, power reticulation, and modularisation of hydro components to fit down a 5x5m tunnel.
  5. pmccarthy
    Oil pressure gauge? We were lucky to have an engine at all. 😁
  6. pmccarthy
    Calls for taxi, entering RWY, turning downwind, turning base, turning final, clear of the runway are standard teaching by most instructors at most airfields and they make sense. Any more are superfluous unless there is a conflict.
  7. pmccarthy
    My point is that supply is not easy to fix, it is impossible to fix. The known deposits of major minerals are quite inadequate to deliver the supply. The time from drill discovery to first production for any major deposit is more than twenty years, even assuming community support for a project. And there are increasingly stories like this from January 2022: The Serbian government has revoked the lithium mining licences granted to Rio Tinto after growing opposition to the company’s plans. Ana Brnabić, the Serbian prime minister, said all decisions and licences regarding Rio Tinto’s plans had been annulled because of environmental concerns.
  8. pmccarthy
    I thought you weren't looking too well.
  9. pmccarthy
    Copper is very recycleable and should never be landfilled. The problem is the demand for more copper for new electrical things that more people will be wanting. Demand far exceeds supply, price will go way up and we will not get our wind, solar and battery goodies. Hence the IC engine will be around much longer than current predictions.
  10. pmccarthy
    Agreed, I meant no iPad. Have lost it due to overheating more than once.
  11. pmccarthy
    I am a member of a syndicate which is looking for an RAA training aircraft. Factory built, 600kg with Rotax 912ULS. A good used aircraft, ideally with good Australian dealership support. We have a realistic budget for the right aircraft. If you have something, or know of something, please PM me. Thanks, Peter.
  12. pmccarthy
    I print out a paper flight plan and a route map in colour (have a colour laser printer) for every trip, just in case of no Telstra. Easy to do in Ozrunways.
  13. pmccarthy
    We will not have the mineral raw materials to build electric aircraft, or cars, in the numbers required. This is a fundamental blockage, not something that can be overcome by more spending. For example, even if exploration and development of copper mines is accelerated to the maximum, we will have a deficit of one million tonnes of raw copper per year for the next twenty years. And other minerals are similar or worse.
  14. pmccarthy
    Received today: We are proposing to exempt operators and maintainers of Cessna aircraft in the broader private and aerial work sectors from the requirements to carry out Cessna SIDs. This brings forward corresponding outcomes from the proposed general aviation maintenance regulations (Part 43). This will bring us into line with global practices and only the specific SIDs elements required by an airworthiness directive will be mandatory. This seems to be exactly what the industry was telling them from the outset, now many or most have spent large sums on this.
  15. pmccarthy
    My late friend Alan flew his 172 to Norfolk Island. See http://theblacksheep-theuglyduckling.blogspot.com/p/solo-to-norfolk-island-1996.html
  16. pmccarthy
    Kyle, you may have said this earlier, but can an e-prop be legally fitted to an LSA Foxbat? They come with Kiev props which are likely to be unavailable for a while.
  17. pmccarthy
    Apparently a plane with wings intact will not dive like that unless controlled. Instead it will porpoise due to wing lift as speed varies up and down. In other words, it tries to pull out of the dive repeatedly.
  18. pmccarthy
    A well documented life story!
  19. pmccarthy
    It took a lot of cranking but finally they started both engines. IMG_2405.MOV
  20. pmccarthy
    Back on topic….. went to Serpentine. There was a major glitch with digital coverage so the vendors couldn’t accept cards. So merchandise sales affected. Queues for coffee took an hour and twenty minutes, we gave up waiting for food and left at lunch time. Saw the Tiger Moth race go out and return, but the program was very slow and really only two aerobatic aircraft with models in between. One historic aircraft flew a routine. Things may have improved after the lunch break. There was a big crowd, so they probably did well financially.
  21. pmccarthy
    Flew to Nhill yesterday and watched them start both engines on the Avro Anson.
  22. pmccarthy
    I am driving there. To fly in, you have to arrive by 8.30 and depart after 4. I am told the field is perfectly green and smooth.
  23. pmccarthy
    She must have been kept busy.
  24. pmccarthy
    She must have been kept busy.
  25. pmccarthy
    More interesting is the story of how early aircraft, pre ww1, flew left hand circuits because of engine torque. Then when side by side seating came along, the pilot sat on the left to observe the circuit. And here we are.
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