johnm Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 I did n't realise W.A., the N.T. and Tasmania had put power on ........................... (sorry Can't help you - it shows you these systems are available though - I got hold of this because someone grabbed hold of an 11000 volt single line (over a roof - no one saw this line) - certain others did and worked around then - until the unlucky last never saw it) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APenNameAndThatA Posted July 2, 2022 Share Posted July 2, 2022 (edited) 23 hours ago, johnm said: this one should give you power line mapping give you an idea anyway https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=5a53f6f37db84158930f9909e4d30286 Post of the week. I didn’t know about the powerlines beneath the southern circuit at Archerfield! I suggest you start a new thread to let everyone know about the app. Edited July 2, 2022 by APenNameAndThatA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markl Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 I just fly a powered parachute my airfield use to be the now site of the new Sydney airport site at Badgerys Creek , so was flying locally around at about 1000ft this day nil wind clear sky, the locals were bought out and the homes demolished , so this area that I am not familiar with all I normally stay clear not to disturb the neighbor was just open land with scattered trees I flew down just below tree top and flying between them .My Aerochute speed is constant at about 50km/hr nice and slow well flying along I noticed power lines ahead of me on the main road further over as I got closer I realized other power lines were directly in front of me about the same level as the main road power lines and heading strait for them ,no where to turn trees either side of me,to late to land I went to full power and climbed just passing over by about a meter,if I had a passenger I would have flown into the power lines . I dont fly that low and will not go below the tree lines unless taking off or landing, that day was a lesson learnt ,I have the Video check it out - 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Make the heart beat faster for a few moments.. Good for you posting. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farri Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 One of the few pilots to survive a powerline strike...This happened up in the Mulgrave Valley, quite a few years ago, to my old mate, Ron Biondi. Ron knew the powerline was there but had simply forgotten about it. Franco, Ps, Ron retired from flying a couple of years ago and sold his beloved Drifter. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 There's a lot to be said in that photo, for a full 4 point harness, rather than just a lap belt! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farri Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Ron was wearing a 3 point harness! he ended up in that position because he pulled his legs out of the nose pod and attempted to release the seat belt but due to his weight he couldn`t release it so he just had to hang there. I reckon the belt did it`s job! had he been able to undo it, he may not have survived the fall. Franco. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) Yep, when there's live powerlines around you, you're better off to hang in your Faraday cage and wait it out, until the electricity authority turns off the power! If he'd tried to get to the ground, he might have become toast, as he completed the circuit! I knew a bloke who drove out of a construction yard with a long aluminium ladder strapped to the back of his ute, angled upwards. As he drove out the gate, the top end of the ladder snagged the major powerlines that ran across the gateway! He said the first thing that happened, was the ute engine just stopped! The second thing he noticed, was smoke curling up from the edges of the bonnet! He still didn't realise he'd tangled with the powerlines, he was just puzzled as to what was happening, and thought he simply had an under-bonnet electrical fault! So he decided to open the ute door, and step out! The blokes watching said they saw a big blue flash as his foot hit the ground, and this arcing blew off the big toe on his right foot, and knocked him unconscious on the spot! Luckily, the arcing to ground blew the powerline fuses, cut the power, and the blokes in the yard were able to get him away from the ute, and to safety, where they carried out CPR on him. This bloke said he never even knew what happened to him, and only woke up in hospital a day later, with his foot all bandaged up! This would have been the '60's, when construction safety was a bit more lax than today. Edited July 18, 2022 by onetrack 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Many rural power lines have very long spans, with wires sagging dangerously low on hot days. Even worse, if one pole has a rotten cross member, the wire can be lower still. We were once called to a grain truck that caught one of these. The driver was sensible enough to stay in his cab, but some of his tyres were cooked. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 IF you do end up on ground where High voltage electrics are involved stand on one foot an do short hops to prevent having a path where current will flow.. Ideally stay in your Faraday cage. Nev 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 A farmer friend had a rural single phase powerline running through one of his paddocks, supported by timber poles. When seeding or harvesting, he ploughed and operated equipment in line with the powerline. One day, he was tearing up the paddock with his big wide scarifier, swinging carefully around each pole in turn. But with a bit of tiredness and a lack of judgement creeping in, he ended up bumping one pole, with the outside of the scarifier frame! To his utter amazement - the pole promptly fell over! To add even more to his initial amazement, he watched as the falling pole pulled down 7 more poles in the line!! Next thing, his wife is on the CB - "I've got no power! We've got a blackout!" "Yeah, tell me about it!", he replied. "We've got more than just a simple electrical power problem!" It turned out that the pole installers used a large diameter auger to bore the holes for the poles - and they didn't ram the dirt back in the hole, when the poles were installed - the dirt was just poured back in loosely. As a result, there was little support for the poles, and once one went down, the whole lot in the line went down with it! I guess if you were going to hit a powerline with your aircraft, you'd want to hope it was a line with a lot of those poorly-backfilled holes! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 6 hours ago, onetrack said: To his utter amazement - the pole promptly fell over! To add even more to his initial amazement, he watched as the falling pole pulled down 7 more poles in the line!! My experience was working at the drawing board in the office and a sound like a stick of gelignite went off. I spun around and across the road an excavator was rocking with the buck up near the power lines which were bouncing up and down. I managed to signal the river that the lines were still bouncing violently and motioned to him to pull his arms in. He knew what to do and they nearlt disappeared into his arm sockets. Then the bouncing stabilised and I was able to give him the cable clearance from the buck which he lowered and moved out of the way. It was an interesting cup of coffee and the end, or so we thought. I understand the line he hit that sounded like gelignite was a 66,000 volt line. A few weeks later there was a sound that would make gelignite sound like a purring cat. The tope of the pole, which carried the 110,000 volt line had been snapped by the bouncing cables, and when it shorted the pole caught on fire so we were entertained by a water spout display as the fireman shot a jet up and then turned it off before the current could get to him. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Don't pee on electric fences either.. Nev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 30 minutes ago, facthunter said: Don't pee on electric fences either.. Nev Very good point, as one who has felt the bang. On one occasion I was adjusting a grader blade and the big spanner slipped and I fell backwards towards an electric fence. I don't know how I did it but I levitated up and away from the dence. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 Even dead frogs legs twitch. Nev 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 57 minutes ago, facthunter said: Don't pee on electric fences either.. Nev Plenty of stories there. We never had a testing device; you simply got younger brother to touch it. After he wised up, we’d use a green bit of grass. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillmanr Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 Good old technique Old Koreela. To explain it for city folks, if you place one end of a green grass stem onto the electric fence, if the fence is active you will feel small impulses rather than the whack which occurrs if you make direct contact. 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yenn Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 If you spray a jet of water over an electric fence so that it hits the ground and then lower the jet, you will get a kick. I thought that it would earth to ground rather than travel back to your hands on the wet hose, but was wrong. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 We all have a story to tell. A friend's Dachshund walked under a double electric fence into a pig pen. A pig came after her and she jumped. Missed the first one and bounced into the second then back to the first as she jumped without thinking. She finished up in the pig pen and the pig came after her so I jumped into the pen and kicked the snout of the pig which was already curving away from the fence from bitter experience. I called the dog but she was beyond hearing and hit the fence again, so I lunged for her and fell across the first wire quickly whipping off it after the bang, grabbed a hind leg and scrambled over the outer fence, 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 33 minutes ago, turboplanner said: We all have a story to tell. A friend's Dachshund walked under a double electric fence into a pig pen. A pig came after her and she jumped. Missed the first one and bounced into the second then back to the first as she jumped without thinking. She finished up in the pig pen and the pig came after her so I jumped into the pen and kicked the snout of the pig which was already curving away from the fence from bitter experience. I called the dog but she was beyond hearing and hit the fence again, so I lunged for her and fell across the first wire quickly whipping off it after the bang, grabbed a hind leg and scrambled over the outer fence, Turbo when does the video come out on YouTube? 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 1 hour ago, Yenn said: If you spray a jet of water over an electric fence so that it hits the ground and then lower the jet, you will get a kick. I thought that it would earth to ground rather than travel back to your hands on the wet hose, but was wrong. I believe firefighters have a special nozzle setting on their hoses to break up the water jet enough to prevent getting jolted. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 36 minutes ago, Old Koreelah said: Turbo when does the video come out on YouTube? I was lucky. No one thought to get it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 Surely it’s worth a re-enactment? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turboplanner Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 32 minutes ago, Old Koreelah said: Surely it’s worth a re-enactment? I had a friend who rolled his VW. Got it back from the panel beaters and was talking about it and a couple of people questioned what he said, so he said "I'll show you, and did it again in front of the country hall. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 When I was at Teachers College they had T shirts with "Buy a VW and Roll Your Own". Nev 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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