onetrack

Ha ha! Of course, it's the Concorde Anniversary flight, it happens every April 1st! 😄

What? All the Concordes are grounded, their airworthiness certificate was withdrawn. Are you saying they've fired one up again?

Little wonder he's walking! His plane has been tagged out as RS, for the next 28 days!

Facthunter, how did Fokker get around the major issue of moisture, and subsequent corrosion in the F27 pneumatic system? They must have had some type of exceptionally-effective air-drier? In mining, pneumatic systems are used a lot, to operate air rams that open and close ore chute doors, and other actuation devices. They're a PIA to work with, with corrosion being a major problem, despite air driers being used.

.....various disconcerting diseases are rampant in Vicmanistan, but totally absent in W.A. - obviously thanks to the good border control work set in place by Marky McGowan. West Australians are keenly observing, that Vicmanistan now harbours diseases and pests such as Queensland Fruit Fly, Avian Flu, Tomato brown rugose fruit virus, Political Foot-in-Mouth Disease, Support-your-local-machete-carrying-criminal-immigrant Disease, ASIC-card Disease (whereby those afflicted, feel the need to purchase an ASIC card, whether they need it or not), and..........

Moneybox, it's called "Duty of Care" and the concept has always been in our law statutes, but its principles were broadened in a trial held in 1932 (Donoghue v Stevenson). In essence, the RAA Ltd issue is not so much whether Matt Farrell should have flown that day, it's about whether RAA Ltd was criminally negligent in issuing an RPC to a pilot with reportedly inadequate training and flight hours. The individuals in RAA Ltd made the erroneous decision that flight hours in a paraglider could be counted towards the issuance of an RPC. The interpretation by RAA Ltd people of the aviation rules in this area has to be determined as to whether it was either simple misinterpretation, or criminal negligence, that led to an inexperienced and aggressively overconfident pilot killing himself. I don't believe the issue is as clear cut as some suppose, and it takes a lot of argument and dissection of defendants and witnesses statements in court, to determine the truth behind the actions of RAA Ltd in issuing the RPC - and finding accordingly, whether criminality was involved or not, by either one or more persons in RAA Ltd. Naturally, there will be plenty of sharp lawyers out there willing to take the case on, if the DPP determine that a charge, or charges, of criminality against RAA Ltd employees can be sustained. https://www.lawteacher.net/cases/donoghue-v-stevenson.php

That's a bit of a cocksure statement, Keith. No-one in RAA Ltd has been found guilty of any law-breaking, yet - that will be after any criminal charges are laid, and after a trial is held, and the offender/s is/are found guilty. The DPP has to be sure of securing a conviction before they will press charges. Some people thought the Ball Bay crash pilot would almost certainly be found guilty of manslaughter - but the charge was dropped due to no certainty of securing a conviction. I'd suggest the fact that the pax in the Ball Bay crash went for a ride accepting the statement on the instrument panel that experimental aircraft are not built to the same standard as certified aircraft - and passengers accept the increased risk accordingly - had something to do with the Crown being very doubtful of securing a conviction in that case. At the end of the day, the Crown must prove criminal actions or intent, to secure a conviction. In the case of RAA Ltd, Public Liability covers negligence of the insured party, that leads to loss or losses - but it doesn't cover criminal activity resulting in loss or losses. The $64 question is, whether there was simply negligence on the part of the RAA Ltd employees/managers in this Matt Farrell case, or if criminal intent and actions were involved. Passing judgement before any police investigation occurs, or charges are laid, and defendants found guilty, is quite premature, IMO.

Well, I never knew that Chipmunks came with an emission control, cat converter! How forward-thinking of them!

There were some buses that used big flywheels for part of their energy inputs, in Europe and in Africa, in the 1950's, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrobus I seem to recall there were further experiments done with buses using flywheels operating in a vacuum in a sealed compartment, but ultimately, this idea was not proceeded with, either.

......advised by a dark-skinned gentleman with a thick black beard and turban, talking in a thick accent, "Welcome to the bankrupt State, Sir! You will possibly find your electricity supply today is a bit haphazard, your internet connections will drop out frequently, the trains are only running intermittently, the airlines are suffering from a substantial number of flight cancellations due to major security threats, and the roads out of town are seriously potholed. However, rest assured, the Premier is advising the Govt has your best interests at heart, and our teams of online assistants, based in local regions such as India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and even the Cook Islands, are all standing by, and willing to offer help - once they can verify your identify with a 100 point check, ensure you have introduced no diseases from other States, that were picked up during your travels, and that you have your credit card ready with..........

But you have to input a serious amount of energy to compress the gas, Spacey. There have been experiments using compressed air for motive power, but it's not a viable system over anything more than a short distance. For machines or vehicles or equipment working over short distances in say, factories or other short-distance operations, it can work. The lack of fumes is a big factor. However, even lead-acid batteries and electric motive power, are probably more efficient.

And EV's won't really hit their straps until numerous models start offering swappable batteries. This is the total answer to "range anxiety". If the main Tesla shareholder hadn't poo-pooed swappable batteries, Tesla could have been on a winner. As it stands, they're on a hiding to nothing, once the Chinese EV's roll up with myriads of choices, including the swappable battery choice. Nio have over 3000 battery-swap stations in China already and their 183 battery-swap stations in Shanghai carry out 9,000 battery swaps a day, very smoothly. Imagine buying your electric ultralight - no need to fork out $40,000 to $60,000 for an IC power plant, you just buy a very efficient 100HP electric motor that converts its rotary power into propellor power simply and efficiently - then you simply rent the battery size you want for your trip. When you land, a full battery is ready and waiting for your return trip. It's a no-brainer, no waiting for years for "hydrogen technology" to come to economic fruition, this is technology capable of being installed right now - and the operating costs would be affordable to anyone with modest income. https://cnevpost.com/2025/02/10/nio-swap-stations-shanghai-close-to-profitability/

........rarest of all the roads in the Universe - because there are no toll roads in W.A.! Cappy was stunned. "No toll roads? And here was I, collecting all my 50c and 20c coins, getting ready for the first W.A. toll booth I came across!" "Well", said OT, "we West Aussies understand, that you East Coasters can't believe there's a place in Australia without toll roads - so, accordingly, we've set up a special toll booth for the arriving East Coasters, to make them feel right at home, as they reach the Land of the Golden West. As soon as we see an out-of-state number plate, we redirect them through the special toll booth, and relieve them of $15, just to make them feel welcome, and right at home! Of course, the funds collected are put to good use, they're used to........

There's never been a better time to buy a floatplane! 😄

Sorry, I must have missed something at the start of the Ukraine/Russia war? I seem to recall it was a massive attack launched on the Ukraine by Putin - who called it a "three-day special military operation" to root out those terrible Ukrainian Nazis - but obviously I got it all wrong, it was actually a massive attack launched on an unsuspecting Russia, by those terrible Ukrainian Nazis. 😞