Aircraft/ piloting analogies

[Lucky Phil]

1 minute ago, footgoose said:

Absolutely. For the sheer horsepower and firepower the P47 was clearly superior.

That's not their main advantage, their main advantage was their ability to take a lot of damage and still keep flying and pilot protection. The big air cooled turbocharged radial was much better at taking hits than the vulnerable liquid cooled Mustang Spitfire etc. 

Here's an interesting account by Robert S Johnson of an encounter with an FW190

https://realhistory.co/2018/05/23/robert-s-johnson-p47-thunderbolt/

Ciao

[footgoose]

what a story

[gstallons]

5 hours ago, footgoose said:

reminds me of an old meme, and...  the question 'what is the next word?'

 

It just soaked in......................

[68C]

T and B?

[Chuck]

Turn and Bank if you are asking what it stands for.

[po18guy]

First takeoff was in a 1941 Luscombe 8C. Dad bought it in flying condition for $500. Yeah, it was decades ago, but the plane is still registered and flown by a club in Vancouver, WA. Dad was among the post WWII aviators, so  I grew up smelling like avgas. Grew up in the Luscombe, a Cessna Bobcat (think: Sky King/Kirby Grant - who I met in Hermiston, OR at a fly-in), a staggerwing Beech, a Bellanca, a Monocoupe, the odd 140/170 Cessna, a Stinson 105, an Ercoupe and IIRC, a 125HP Swift. Forgetting a few, but it was a really tight brotherhood. Bro and I played in the derelict fuselage of a BT13 trainer. Pilots in general aviation seem to gravitate toward the air-cooled, hands-on bikes, and even cars. 

[docc]

Red Staggerwing!

 

[Lucky Phil]

Even better. " Air miles are owing but they dont come for free, and they don't give you any for pain" Brilliant. This ones a "motorcycle" song.

Ciao

[Chuck]

When I was younger, I thought, "after I make my first million I'll find a staggerwing and rebuild it. It'll be my traveling *and* antique airplane."

Then I saw one uncovered.

"Nevermind.."

[LowRyter]

That's a great record.  Mark's one guy I'd like to see.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

All this about pilots and planes reminds me of yesterday.  I'd just epoxied that damn broken turn signal on my EV.  When I wired it back on, none of the tail lights or signals worked.  I was yelling mad.   I checked the fuse, good.  Put it back in, everything worked!  Sprayed everything with contact cleaner (no CAIG $$).  

Damn fuse block.  

So I'm still bitching about it with my neighbor.  He's a double retired Lt Col, B-52 pilot and FAA guy, always working on his BMW track car.  There's a thing about engineers, pilots, doctors, they're always experts on anything.  So Steve tells me to use dielectric grease.  I told him that it was an insulator.  He disagreed and said it was a conductor.  That's when I mention some of Guzzi discussions.  He replies that everyone on the internet is an "expert".     Somehow I bring up Chuck from Indiana, then Brad, my last line of defense.  

Anyway this morning I'm dropping off the trash, I'm in my gym shorts ready to go and it's cold and  just been raining.   Steve comes up to me and says that it's true that dielectric grease really is an insulator.    Before I was going to be roped into another 20 minute conversation, I told him I was cold and going to the gym. 

As he left, I "invited" him over for Pabst later in the afternoon.  

That'll keep him away for a while. 

 

[Chuck]

Quote

Sprayed everything with contact cleaner (no CAIG $$).  

I'm just sayin.. but not all contact cleaners are safe for plastic.. don't ask me.

[LowRyter]

Chuck, I've got a Pabst with your name on it.  

[MartyNZ]

On 4/15/2021 at 7:55 AM, LowRyter said:

...So Steve tells me to use dielectric grease.  I told him that it was an insulator. ..

You're right. And so is he to tell you to use it. Or CAIG DeoxIT.

Any dielectric is a very good insulator. But as a grease, like "bulb grease", Permatex dielectric grease, CRC dielectric grease, or "DuPont Molycote 4", the grease is easily pushed aside to let metal to metal electrical contact for terminals, plugs, bulbs etc. It stops oxygen and water from tarnishing the contact metals, so connections last better. It won't fix bad connections, (mechanical scraping does that, or unplug/repluging) but it will preserve good connections. This is what it is designed for. Vaseline does a similar job, but silicon dielectric grease doesn't burn, and won't freeze or run from -50 to +200C. Important for aircraft. Another handy property of silicon grease is it conducts heat, despite not conducting electricity.

CAIG DeoxIT and similar electrical clean/protection sprays are combined contact cleaner, corrosion inhibitor, and dissolved grease in a spray can. The solvent cleans the connection, and inhibitor/grease protects the connection. They work well, but the benefits don't last as long as a dielectric grease. 

My bike had every electric plug & terminal connected oozing with DC4. Years later, no problems. (except for a couple of those effing relays).

[Chuck]

Quote

silicon dielectric grease

causes silicon dioxide, which screws up relays. It can even travel through the wiring. One of the relay manufacturers has a diatribe against it..

[LowRyter]

Marty, I'd like to share a Pabst with you.  

The national beer of Moto Guzzi riders.