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Methusala

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  1. Methusala
    Just got this from Tumut Aero Club newsletter: Phil O’Driscoll Out of hospital – but a series of specialist visits to go while down this part of the world (Canberra/Tumut). Still bruised and sore, and broken eye socket to be sorted properly
  2. Methusala
    Well, pretty simple. From the Abbott experiment we learned that you don't always get what you want. (And it usually costs a bucket for little gain)
  3. Methusala
    How about we go halves Phil?
  4. Methusala
    Hinkley Point: the ‘dreadful deal’ behind the world’s most expensive power plant A nice reality check for those dinosaurs who insist on spinning the myth of safe cheap nuclear power. Go on, just read it and weep.
  5. Methusala
    I flew a Jabiru on Tuesday at Wagga ticking the box for BFR. It is about twice as fast as the rides that I am familiar with. Has flaps and a radio. Traffic was light but there was a BAE Hawk landing as we taxied to the hold point. Instructor said nothing wrong with my flying technique but, being unfamiliar with the a/c, I found that I concentrated mainly upon aviating rather than communicating. I like the Jabby as it flies well and is a fast, efficient and safe plane. I don't fly for transport but I can see that it could be addictive. The rest are: a) Not Australian, b) Tending towards millionaire territory and, c) Haven't demonstrated the crew safety of a Jab.
  6. Methusala
    "Please explain!" (No apologies to the Queensland ranga)
  7. Methusala
    Monday I went flying over Lake George. Blue sky, no wind... perfect. At about 200ft an eagle flew by about 70ft below. About 500m out from the shoreline I saw someone walking. I landed and taxied up to him. "What are you doing?" I asked. He told me that he was working for a film crew and came from Aukland. They had been filming on the lake bed the previous day and that he was picking up litter. "Do you want to go for a fly?" After the briefing telling him that he could die he jumped in and, with his phone camera recording we did a circuit. The lake bed is very pretty at the moment with large circles of green, yellow, deep red and brown. I dropped him off and flew away thinking that I had probably put a shine on his day. Don
  8. Methusala
    Report to Fair Work Australia
  9. Methusala
    India's lead in the labor market is largely tied to the huge disparity in labor costs. In India you can earn up to $18/day (if you work 18 hrs).
  10. Methusala
    Looks from your photo that the struts are gold anodised. This is not original Thruster but, most likely, sourced from Wade as he had a large stock of gold anodiosed 6061-t6 destined for manufacture of Vision 600's. Don't be alarmed as this material is the real thing.
  11. Methusala
    Rip-offs are not the exclusive province of govt funded enterprise. 7/11, Subway, Uber etc, etc. The gig economy has the young and students held to ransom. I remember my first after school job as a grocery packer for J B Youngs in Canberra. I was paid a recognised hourly rate and given meal breaks on Friday night and paid penalty rates on Sat morning. This was in 1965 and I was 14. Of course this was under the SDA Union, same as Bill Shorten worked for. By the way, when I saw him welded to the top of the Beaconsfield mineshaft I thought he would make PM one day. I don't happen to be sucked in by Merdok propaganda and think he is one of the best of the current crop. Don
  12. Methusala
    I love the way that you think Bruce. The storage problem can most probably be solved using small to medium sized pumped hydro. These can be located reasonably close to population centres ( think the Illawarra escarpment for e.g.). It is a feature of Austalia that much of the population is near to the east coast. The GDR is close to this coast line and so steep changes in elevation are readily available. I think that the day of mega projects, such as the much vaunted Snowy Hydro 2.0 are dinosaurs. Don
  13. Methusala
    Flew the Thruster in 10/10 conditions yesterday with "my darling wife". Some days are meant for flying. Nice post Blue Drifter. Don
  14. Methusala
    "Muscular" comes to mind! Very interesting post on an unusual and little-known British warbird. 5 stars Phil.
  15. Methusala
    See my post#19 on the topic of localised wind effects around wind turbines. IMO not a big concern - and I have flown with them in "my backyard" for over 5 years. Don
  16. Methusala
    Poor taste again!
  17. Methusala
    My post #32 in this thread gives some reasons to be skeptical about the viability of Snowy 2.0. The cost would be horrendous and the long lead time requires an almost mystical faith in knowledge of tech 5+ years down the track. Better solutions than this will evolve.
  18. Methusala
    I am unaware whether this is the same Phil Driscoll. Hope that I have not made an error.
  19. Methusala
    Phil is currntly in Canberra Hospital recovering from injuries sustained when his helicopter suffered power failure and crashed in the Lob's Hole /Ravine region of the Kosciusko National Park. We wish him a speedy and complete recovery. Don
  20. Methusala
    We often travel with "2nd order" carriers in Asia, such as Air Asia or Tiger. Some people who appear to know it all question our decisions. They don't recall incidents such as the Qantas Link Dash 8 that lost a propeller in flight FFS near Bundaberg among many other potentially disastrous events. Flying RPT is simply the safest way to travel and all recognised carriers operate very safely in absolute terms. Very occasionally something goes wrong. A million ways that an aeroplane can kill you.
  21. Methusala
    Biggles, my error, 140w equal to 10 amps is correct. Judicious use of electric heat is required. A/c is fitted with a volt meter. Still very much in experimental mode. Supplier reports many of these units have been supplied (mostly in the States I imagine) with few problems. Always learning. Don
  22. Methusala
    Bruce, the current draw at 10 amps would be approx 130 w. The book says that the Jab alternator is good for 180. Should only have the 2nd element operating for short periods. That's the theory anyway. Don
  23. Methusala
    Holbrook Ultralight Club had a Mustang as club single seater. It was fully enclosed with a sailcloth pod and zippered doors. Called "Black Beauty". Replaced by a Jeep and then single seat Thruster. I think it had a Rotax 377. $42 /hr wet. Cheap circuits in the early 90's.
  24. Methusala
    G'day Bruce. I weighed the remaining leading edge foil at 5g. I think that the greater force would have been the chaotic aerodynamics of it in the process of peeling off. i agree that it could have been more destructive than it was. I will try to measure the actual current draw. Perhaps the heating elements are designed to operate at more than 12v? It is recommended to run 1 element at cruise and add the 2nd when taking off, descending and when icing effects are apparent. Off of course when starting.
  25. Methusala
    Here is the link to the electric carb heat device that I have bought: https://www.motionaero.com/dual-heat.html I have not installed it yet but, on test, the elements have not produced any heat at all! I find this difficult to understand and have written to Motion Aero for some explanation. Each element measures 2.4 Ohms resistance. Bruce, There is no carby heater installed on our engine yet. It is only a possibility that the rough running was caused by icing Around the identical time of this event one blade of the Warp Drive prop shed its thin metal leading edge protection causing a distinct imbalance and I suspect of causing the power problem. I have read on Jabiru forums of engines that over 3,000 hrs of operation have not suffered icing. The carburetor is located very close to the engine in the downstream air path and the induction system is very close to the underside of the engine. Perhaps this creates enough heating effect to prevent induction ice being a problem. I don't know. I am in the early stages of becoming familiar with Jabiru. I am very favorably impressed with the smoothness and the tractibility of it so far. Not very impressed with the Motionaero accessory. We'll have to see what they come back with. Cheers Don
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