onetrack

....time to call in Turbine Health Care Inc, who had doctors on their payroll who were specialists in hairball removal. They had all previously been vets, of course. However, upon attendance by the said Docs to the Scotsmen involved, it was then found that they were refusing to pay the specified attendance fees, and they all claimed they were "skint". After much haggling, they stated that a certain generous aviation benefactor by the name of Capt Ignatious Cook of Wagga would be "picking up the tab" for the docs attendance, and to send the accounts directly to him. The hairball buildups were swiftly removed, the Scotsmen were relieved (that they didn't have to pay), and the doctors left. However, when Cappy started receiving all these strange medical bills addressed to him, he called his old mate Turbo and started yelling, "You mongrel, I thought you.............

The Verner radials are a clever piece of work, simply utilising Honda generator heads and VW cylinders and pistons. Repairs are much cheaper, thanks to the widespread availability of bits. Of course, you're never going to have a streamlined racer with a radial, but the exhaust note and the great vintage looks must count for something! https://opposite-lock.com/topic/28513/verner-radial-engines-the-art-of-sourcing-existing-things-to-make-new-things

If rings are worn, the piston ring grooves will be worn too. Manufacturers generally set a specification for maximum wear level on all components. In general, any level of wear that exceeds 50% of the maximum wear specification measurement means that the component should be scrapped and a new component installed. If you want new engine performance, you fit new pistons, new rings and new cylinders.

.....people immediately became suspicious (in fact, they're eternally suspicious), as to the substitution of Rabbit fur on Turbine Drifters, instead of Cat fur, as previously specified by the manufacturer. An investigation soon found that Rabbit fur equipped Drifters had developed a severe response to sightings of foxes, and the instant a fox was sighted from a Turbine Drifter, the TD always made a major, unexpected track diversion, without any pilot inputs. This caused a great deal of consternation amongst the TD pilots, and even greater consternation at CASA HQ, as it was soon learned that this unexpected track diversion was occurring randomly, but on a level serious enough to warrant a major investigation. Unbeknowns to Turbo, CT9000 had been appointed a CASA FOI in secret, so he could report back on the Rabbit fur-Fox sighting, unexpected control response of the TD's. CT's final report, was alarming to say the least. He identified no less than 32............

I'm not sure that you'll find satisfactory quality rings a lot cheaper than the Rotax price. The U.S. site below advertises "high quality" aftermarket rings for Rotax, but they're still AU$180, and you'll need to add freight to that figure. The confusing part is they state "complete set" (of rings) - but don't say whether it's a complete full engine set or a complete set of rings for one piston. I did note one site selling individual rings (genuine) for the Rotax 912, which I find rather strange. We used to have a local bloke supplying individual rings for pistons at one time (he's long gone), but he specialised in doing that for people who broke single rings when installing new sets. https://sideslipaviation.com/products/piston-ring-set-for-rotax-912-complete-set

More here ...... https://baysidenews.com.au/2023/08/30/airport-neighbours-left-in-the-dark-mayor/

.....great amusement amongst people watching the kilt-wearing Scotsmen doing this - but the hilarious part came when the Scotsmen were observed to lie down and roll on their backs, rolling from side to side, and waving their legs in the air, and making strange purring noises. However, the real concern came when the CatFur (R) covered Drifters started to roll on their backs, in alarming numbers, as well. This led to a multitude of CFI's instructing trainee pilots, "whatever you do, don't stroke the........

The amazing part of the B707 record is that 99 of the 856 produced are still listed as "active" aircraft. The U.S. military still operate around 40 of them in various military forms such as the E-3 Sentry. https://atdb.aero/php/go.php

......once again, Turbine Magic Plasma Engines was formed to develop an emission-free, radiation-free, non-tree-using, green, and earth-friendly, totally radical new engine. Turbo made a presentation of his new engine at the Kingston City Hall, as Moorabbin was recognised globally as the centre of aviation creativity and inventiveness, and Turbo wanted global recognition this time, especially from Elon Musk and other major global entrepeneurs and trillionaires. Turbo outlined how this new engine he'd dreamt up was plasma-powered, and he'd got his ideas from watching the Hadron Collider in operation, plus the odd Shaun the Sheep clip, where the aliens used natty plasma-ray guns. Turbo explained how he thought, "If aliens can produce this sort of technology, why can't Moorabbin?" .... and the crowd went wild as he explained how he planned to........ (NES'ers might note how neat it is, that if you add a "c" to "radial", you get "radical" ....)

Brazed aluminium radiators are the reason why you require nitrite-free coolant in todays world ...... https://www.chevronlubricants.com/en_us/home/learning/from-chevron/industrial-machinery/nitrited-or-nitrite-free-coolants.html One of the things I've found after long experience and many tears, is that using the coolant either manufactured by the engine manufacturer, or the brand recommended by them is vital - as only the engine manufacturer knows the entire list of metals, alloys, potential corrosion sources, and origins of potential electrolysis in their engines - whereas independent coolant manufacturers may not have this sum knowledge. Another thing to ensure is that there's no stray voltage that can utilise engines or radiators as a path to ground. Even tiny amounts of stray voltage running through your engine or radiator can create electrolysis. Thus, ensure that all necessary earth straps are fitted, and that the earth strap connection points are clean and bright.

I've already mentioned this ZDDP problem in the 19th post on Page 1 of this thread, and got told Shell Aero Sport is the recommended oil and is presumed to have the appropriate level of ZDDP in it. I reckon either the Shell Aero Sport oil is suffering from a deficiency of ZDDP, or someone has been using another brand of oil that has inadequate ZDDP in it. The lifter/camshaft damage due to reduced levels of ZDDP is well known.

.....decided that an AD was necessary. So a committee was formed to advise a panel that advised the communication department, that as of the immediate date, no nuclear-powered Drifters would be deemed airworthy - and any that had been flown backwards, had to immediately be flown forwards the same distance, to even up the air miles covered, and to rewind the hour meters to the correct readings. In addition, mirrors were not to be used in the operation of any Drifter - regardless of whether it was flown forwards or backwards - and most importantly, any thimbles of nuclear waste had to be logged and recorded in quadruplicate, as to their whereabouts, and the...........

My first commercial flight ever, was on a Qantas B707, in 1970 - when I was flown to South Vietnam from Sydney to join my Engineer Unit, 17 Construction Sqdn., at Nui Dat. What a great flight that was, the days when you could walk up front and chat to the engineer looking after the engines, and get a gawk at his control panel.

Filtered water can still contain a lot of dissolved minerals and compounds that don't filter out - but they will react with metals in engines cooling systems, and assist in electrolysis - so much better to use demineralised water.

......manufacturers of light recreational kit aircraft expressed great interest in one of TPNP's mini-nuclear power plants as a highly suitable replacement for polluting Rotaxes and Jabirus (oh, the pollution, the dreadful, choking pollution!). TPNP took great delight in articulating how their mini-nuclear power plants were so simple and well-built, that any backyard kit-builder (even a bunch of Tasmanians), could assemble their own TPNP power plant from a flat-pack box (Turbo was exceptionally keen to emulate Ikea, and move their cost-reduction processes into technology territory), without any fear of radiating themselves. Furthermore, the waste from these TPNP nuclear power plants was so small, an entire fleet of 150 Drifters would only generate enough nuclear waste to fill a thimble over their 50 year lifespan. "After all", said Turbo, "No-one will want to be flying a 50 yr old Drifter, especially one with a rusty nuclear power plant up front, so............

The subtle part of "if you do a drawing you own the copyright regardless of the claims others make", is that copyright does not protect the idea/ideas or information, only the original expression of ideas or information. https://www.ag.gov.au/rights-and-protections/copyright/copyright-basics#:~

Not really a suitable comparison. Most heavy truck drivers only use the clutch for takeoff, they do clutchless gear changes regularly, from then on, once moving. Of course, I'm talking heavy duty, non-synchro truck transmissions, such as Spicer or Eaton.

Brett Northey appears to be extremely clever with his efforts to screw lots of money out of investors for his exotic eVTOL ideas. However, I don't see much information by way of ongoing research into his design on his Ace website - and possibly more importantly, I don't see any "qualified" experts, from the fields of aviation, physics, electronics, materials, etc., offering their opinions, advice, or design input on his website, as regards the viability or advancement of his eVTOL plans. Northey is effectively the exotic car salesman with the slick pitch - and no cars to sell. He's effectively saying, "give me a heap of your money, and I'll try and see if I can build an exotic car for you, that matches my vision." He is also CEO of a company called "Blue Energy", which is purportedly a company involved in Blockchain in a big way. The problem is, Northey has picked a company which is identical to several other fully-operational companies, whereas Brett Northey's Blue Energy blockchain company appears to have little other value and substance besides promotion of his Blockchain monetary ideas. A lot of Australians are pretty blunt with their opinions on these type of people. They're generally described in a neat Australian double word term, that involves artistry, and BS.

.....what are ya? Some kind of nong? I was referring to that Pommy crap you still prefer to drive over good ol' Yankee iron!!" Cappy was flabbergasted. He was known for his flabber, but it wasn't all that common to see him gasted. He stuttered .... "I - I - I, errr, ahhh .......

Of course, I forgot to mention that two engines that are close-coupled are going to be a much lighter setup than two engines that are coupled using belts, chains or gearbox.

The answer is Yes. Plenty of big engines around that are two engines bolted end-to-end. The Detroit Diesel V16 is two Detroit V8's coupled together. Many big ships engines are built with the number of cylinders you order, they just keep adding cylinders. Many dragsters have two (or more) engines coupled together. I would think CASA is more concerned about two propellors. Two single cylinder engines coupled as one must have a phased connection, so they balance each other out. The problem is, generally, two engines coupled together are heavier than if all the cylinders were encased in one block. In industrial and marine applications, not a problem - in an aircraft, the weight penalty may be excessive.

I'd imagine the transition from regular aircraft level flight to rotorcraft flight would take some managing. Probably has a fair amount of computerised control? Have to agree somewhat with Nev, they look like the most complex of any machine you could build, that flies.

....doesn't appeal, as we're constantly surrounded by green jungle - and "green" is the most over-used, burnt-out, tired word in the current lexicon of colour descriptions". "How about we produce something in pink?", said Cappy, in a hopeful and earnest manner. "After all, pink is the colour of the year, Barbie and Ken are noted in every corner of the globe now, for their widespread use of pink, and pink is best described as a colour that........

......a sickly dirty green colour, which colour constantly reminded Cappy of his flight over........

I'm not sure if this mob is just vapourware, or if they really do have a chance of making it big in the E-VTOL industry - which has supposedly been coming for 2 or 3 decades, but which is yet to actually appear in commercial form. They've got exotic designs and exotic promises - including a totally new electric arc plasma reaction engine - on which engine they claim to have 6 new patents. There's just one thing wrong at present - everything they have is still on the drawing board or computer. They have no prototype, have not done any actual real-life testing, and they're talking Blockchain and AI control as well, in their control systems - which are both in their infancy when it comes to real-world use. However, that hasn't stopped an American company from lobbing an AUD$250M preorder at them - which looks great in the news releases - but which has yet to translate into any tangible sales - and which order can no doubt be cancelled at a moments notice, when the product isn't delivered on time, in the required form of usefulness and reliability - and having met ALL regulatory requirements. Of all the hurdles this mob have yet to jump - not the least of which is manufacturing a working, safe, prototype - the regulatory hurdles will be amongst the biggest hurdles they have to jump. https://www.acevtol.com/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/08/16/are-electric-flying-cars-a-real-thing/?sh=7637de095b32 https://evtol.news/ace-vtol-slipstream-elite-concept-design