spenaroo

and the biggest hurdle of all. the noise cancelling headset. how many would rather have a good fitting noise cancelling headset - over an in-built coms system that lets in noise. any aircraft helmet I believe will always be inherently flawed because of the priority for communication and comfort. every pilots helmet I view on google has the ear cups off a headset grafted into it. that's a lot of foam carved out. often the shell bulges to accommodate these cups. as opposed to a motorcycle headset which uses 3mm speakers slid into a form fitting liner.

yeah, and then we get into the rotational forces. where the Mips system comes into play. its the yellow part on this helmet. lets the inner and outer layer slip slightly to redirect the rotational forces away from the head in an angular impact. There is an absolute ton of research and development in modern helmets. (Also keep in mind that is a bicycle helmet, look at the coverage and thickness of the foam compared to the ultralight helmet posted earlier.... apparently its not just engines and airframes, the helmets stuck in the 70's too) found a paragliding helmet to compare with. note that there is nothing but liner around the side of the head

Which goes back to the standard and type of helmet. the designs posted earlier - to my untrained eye they have little foam and would offer a very limited amount of protection in a crash. the inner lining and foam is what is important and does the work to increase the time of impact. the shell is just there to prevent puncture injuries. so great for turbulence, but for dissipating the force of an actual impact its questionable. we saw it all the time with Harley riders. would wear the ski type slim helmets (skull caps), that offered only puncture protection and were not suitable for road use. If it was me, and I wanted crash protection - I would be going for a light motocross style design. highly breathable with the chin bar to prevent face head hitting the dash and fairly light weight. can add a neck collar for $50 that will help fill the gaps around the helmet and stop some of the load on the neck.

same thing I used to say when selling people motorcycle helmets. So you have a $100 head or a $1000 head? thats essentially what it boils down to with safety I don't see the point in these helmets unless its to stop the pain of hitting a crossmember or roof during turbulence. Is there even a minimum standard and testing required? And they could actually kill you in a crash, especially as we tend to wear 4 point harnesses. That's a considerable added mass on the head, that the neck has to deal with in a crash. that's the reason why car racing now requires HANS devices (basically strap the helmet to the car so it cant move in an accident) and why motocross riders wear neck braces

same reason why people build dual cab utes.... sure the back seat is mostly redundant. but people like the idea of more room

It's the size for me, If there was a craft capable of light speed travel. I highly doubt it would be the size of a car. and the speed differential too. its one thing to do lightspeed in the vacuum of space. but to then fly through an atmosphere. seems unlikely. more likely they would have an asteroid size ship, clearly visible. and then use shuttles for the atmosphere work. and if there was such technology we should be very very scared, as we probably seem like apes at best to them with intelligence. and we all know what we have done to lesser advanced cultures throughout human history - it hasn't been help and peace we should be praying that we go un-noticed if there is life out there

I suspect there will be more to this story, and one very sheepish horse owner - who I imagine insurance agents are going to be going after hard to imagine an owner taking off in the same paddock as livestock. suspect its more likely a neighbor has decided the grass is greener there I know that extended family's bush property was always having neighbor's running livestock on it.

Go for one with a remote reservoir. common for the rear brake to be mounted sideways on motorcycles. with the reservoir linked via short hose. right way up. they do these set-ups as well on the sport bikes as its easier to package with clip-on bars and fairings

It will have competition. there has been talk of making the C130 amphibious... which has gone quite. which traditionally means that the USA have a program that's gone into testing with the black programs. and they don't want any information leaks https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/09/20/afsoc-plans-to-demo-amphibious-mc-130j-by-end-of-next-year-commander-says/ https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/05/ussocoms-amphibious-mc-130j-seaplane-concept/

Turbulence is fast. there is a great video where he races his brother Mark in their old private jet. Turbulence wins by a significant margin top speed is 438.02mph (380Kt, 705kmh)

because why not, no worse then the art on the side of the Victorian freeways. probably cheaper too

I have an amarok, one of the original marketing points is that it would fit a standard euro size pallet in the tray. and the tailgate dropped 180* to load it with a forklift.... except as soon as you put a towbar on the tailgate could onl drop the normal 90* all that engineering and hinges... that is only possible on old pov packs as the rear bumper (step) and tow bar make it redundant

Pontiac was already on its last legs, when they added the G8. and they never really advertised the SS when it had Chevy badges... confusing the American's as traditionally SS was a trim level. Be like Toyota releasing the next Camry as the GLX

I think half the issue was also that the American owners were protective of their own markets. and didn't want to bring the Australian cars in to compete with their own offerings.

chauffeured in, and it was a Bentley... it was a special consideration given after he had a stroke, which paralyzed half his body. wheel chair access (just a bigger chair) apparently he would always send friends/family that arrived in the back seats, to standing areas the stand as it was a poor view from the back.

found it, was Menzies with Carlton

I know back in the 70's or 80's one of the tycoons had a parking spot in the grandstands so he could drive his car in and watch the footy/cricket without getting out. cant for the life of me find the pictures now.

now admittedly here in australia we think the bikes are absolute garbage, and the workshops I was in refused to touch them... but that had nothing to do with the engines, and more to do with the lack of any support. and the rest of the bike being built as disposable... cheap importers who wanted to make a quick buck, never brought in parts and would then disappear after a year or so. not an issue if you live in the developing nations that these are actually built for - where anyone with basic skills will keep going with dirt cheap parts (why rebuild a shock, when the replacement is the same part as a Japanese manufacturers seal kit. same with a carburetor, why clean and rebuild when a new ones $40) to keep them going, weld the frame if it breaks etc.. but would recommend the engine to anyone with a dead postie bike Wonder if its the same story here, wont disrupt the traditional expensive players. But if you were in a less regulated place like india or africa and wanting to keep a fleet running with little downtime. could keep a spare engine instead of rebuild parts for the same cost...

hah, I thought I had heard of Zongshen before.... this isn't just any Chinese manufacturer. They manufacture engines traditionally for cheap European motorcycles. the Piaggio group (Vespa, derbi, aprilia) use them. they also have manufacturing agreements with Harley-Davidson and the agreement seems to flow both ways, as they are launching several liter bikes that use the Aprilia engine and frame (they also entered some bikes in Dakar a few years ago, and competitive in superbike racing) now anyone want to guess who the manufacturer of aprilia engines was prior to the Piaggio group taking over........ .... that's right Rotax

I wouldn't be sure.... This is the YouTube age, where people believe you can teach yourself anything from some online tutorial a random posted. (which you have no idea if its the best practice or not - but everyone just assumes it is) already had a few jets stolen as some clout chasing pilot's posted videos on how to start them.

it always amazes me the confidence these guys have. no way would I think I could do a cross country trip at 30 hours.... let alone with a passenger - I still dont want to take anyone up with me but then I did do some navigation challenges with an instructor - despite not having any prior training with navigation. was a fun experience and taught me how much I don't know. If id just been solo in the circuit I might have thought I was pretty much there.... I don't think there is enough weight on the difference between first solo, and area solo. one is your okay to not kill yourself getting airborne. the other is that you are competent to be airborne maybe it should be encouraged that we have humbling experiences, not just confidence building while training.

to be fair.... I wouldn't want to fly in an experimental helicopter

True, in my case it was a house deposit to get the license, but it seems that the days or recreational aviation are dwindling. everyone I went through training with was using RAA as a stepping stone for bigger things. especially commercial or PPL, almost certainly using it for passengers and transport. I seem to be in the rare zone of only ever intending to circuit bash, or do a afternoon coastal flight as a weekend treat. don't even intend on getting the navigation endorsement. ill get around to a passenger one at some point... but its my fun had an interesting talk with an instructor once about it, day with strong shifting wind and getting frustrated as I couldn't nail one issue free landing. with the debrief he reminded me not to worry about it - if I'm not enjoying the flight stop. was a reminder I'm only doing it for fun, and wouldn't be flying in that stuff anyway if it wasn't training. If solo, I would have landed instead of continuing touch and go's (also a reminder that it applies with go-arounds etc... with my decision making - since that chat I call everything much earlier and don't try to save as many landings) from talking with them, I get the Idea that I am an outlier - no goal or purpose, just having fun.

well.... I currently fly a champ, but don't have the tailwheel endorsement. so need to fly with an instructor.... (literally just need more time, don't have the consistency to be signed off just yet - have the ability and fly great on a good day, but a bit lacking when the confidence gets shaken) and now I've flown tail wheel, I don't want to go back to a tricycle gear for the 1 hour every month or two that I fly. it feels so much more rewarding and involved to fly which is a moot point as both flight schools I've used that hire out aircraft have a 30-60 day check ride policy. which means every flight would be a check flight with an instructor anyway with the hours I fly.

I think ill do 6 hours this year... and it will almost be $2000. as a single, 31 year old with a mortgage, its just too expensive. I would like to fly more. but I simply can not afford to. not with the mortgage costs (and I have a small 2 bedroom unit, at the lowest end of the housing prices) Similar story with my girlfriend. She would like to get a license, but try justifying the cost while keeping a healthy finance situation on paper for mortgage applications