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Post by silverdragon on Mar 29, 2018 7:08:26 GMT
In April 1918, the Royal Flying Corps were given their own role, and the Royal Air Force became a totally separate part of the military. It prided its self on a "Meritocracy" approach, there were no class boundaries to being promoted, no sense that you cant be an officer unless you were born to the right family, and only your own merits were held up to promote you up as far as you wanted to go. Therefore, I would like to take the opportunity to say Happy Birthday to the RAF.  |
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Post by the light works on Mar 29, 2018 10:31:18 GMT
In April 1918, the Royal Flying Corps were given their own role, and the Royal Air Force became a totally separate part of the military. It prided its self on a "Meritocracy" approach, there were no class boundaries to being promoted, no sense that you cant be an officer unless you were born to the right family, and only your own merits were held up to promote you up as far as you wanted to go. Therefore, I would like to take the opportunity to say Happy Birthday to the RAF. impressive. out air force did not become a separate entity until Sept 18, 1947 (71 years next september) prior to that they were a subsection of the army, ant that wasn't until 1926. prior to that, the only aircraft were owned by the signal corps. (a wright Model A flyer Aug 2, 1909) |
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Post by silverdragon on Mar 30, 2018 6:36:54 GMT
After the War in UK, "the other two", tried to have the RAF shut down, because "Nobody needs them".
I suspect Jealousy.
A LOT of jealousy.
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Post by the light works on Mar 30, 2018 14:28:41 GMT
After the War in UK, "the other two", tried to have the RAF shut down, because "Nobody needs them". I suspect Jealousy. A LOT of jealousy. here, everybody gets airplanes, so that helps with the jealousy. the army also gets some boats. |
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Post by silverdragon on Mar 31, 2018 8:23:49 GMT
The Army here do not... its kinda like we just dont trust them not to break anything more complicated than a pencil sharpener?.
They are very good stripping big hunks of diesel pig iron down to nuts and bolts and rebuilding them again "In record time", they may be able to strip an AK47 to parts and back in record time whilst blindfolded and reciting pages one through five of the training manual on a live fire range, but delicate engine parts of a Rolls Royce jet engine cant be "Fixed" by removing the spark plug scraping it on a tyre wiping it over with an oily rag and putting it back in place with a "Birmingham screwdriver", [-slang for BIG hammer]
We let them have a few egg beaters Heli-choppers and supply them with a regular supply of C130 Hercules, some of which are now 70 yrs old, as the Herky-Bird last year celebrated its 70th birthday of continuous service, but most of them are "Triggers broom", in that its essentially 27 yrs old but has had four new handles and 12 new heads?..
Otherwise, the servicing of most aircraft is controlled by the RAF, we have the best ground staff of anywhere on earth, we CAN make gold out of lead, and we can take a bucket of bolts and make them fly.... if you have ever flown in an old JP, "Jet Provost", built by BAC, a primary basic trainer, you will know what I mean there, if you can keep one of them flying in a straight line for more than 30ft, and turn it around and fly it back, they hand you a flying licence, because they were horrible things to fly.
Quite stable, but not nimble, slow, ponderous, could be beaten by many Turbo-Prop airframes in speed, they were good trainers, but we here never armed them because they were not front line stuff.
Back to the C130 Herky, we still use them, because why fix what never breaks?.
So far many have tried, but in use, the airframe it was designed around was soooo rugged and user friendly, and the idea of a rear ramp so good, we aint found nothing yet that comes close to being as good as one of them for mass transport.
Of ANYTHING.
And so utilitarian, so many many many uses, so many variants, it did hold the title of the Ford Transit of the Sky for a long time.
Like the Mini, its design was just decades ahead of its time, it did change the world in how things like that were designed, but as yet, nothing has been found that beats it.
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Post by the light works on Mar 31, 2018 14:27:40 GMT
The Army here do not... its kinda like we just dont trust them not to break anything more complicated than a pencil sharpener?. They are very good stripping big hunks of diesel pig iron down to nuts and bolts and rebuilding them again "In record time", they may be able to strip an AK47 to parts and back in record time whilst blindfolded and reciting pages one through five of the training manual on a live fire range, but delicate engine parts of a Rolls Royce jet engine cant be "Fixed" by removing the spark plug scraping it on a tyre wiping it over with an oily rag and putting it back in place with a "Birmingham screwdriver", [-slang for BIG hammer]We let them have a few egg beaters Heli-choppers and supply them with a regular supply of C130 Hercules, some of which are now 70 yrs old, as the Herky-Bird last year celebrated its 70th birthday of continuous service, but most of them are "Triggers broom", in that its essentially 27 yrs old but has had four new handles and 12 new heads?.. Otherwise, the servicing of most aircraft is controlled by the RAF, we have the best ground staff of anywhere on earth, we CAN make gold out of lead, and we can take a bucket of bolts and make them fly.... if you have ever flown in an old JP, "Jet Provost", built by BAC, a primary basic trainer, you will know what I mean there, if you can keep one of them flying in a straight line for more than 30ft, and turn it around and fly it back, they hand you a flying licence, because they were horrible things to fly. Quite stable, but not nimble, slow, ponderous, could be beaten by many Turbo-Prop airframes in speed, they were good trainers, but we here never armed them because they were not front line stuff. Back to the C130 Herky, we still use them, because why fix what never breaks?. So far many have tried, but in use, the airframe it was designed around was soooo rugged and user friendly, and the idea of a rear ramp so good, we aint found nothing yet that comes close to being as good as one of them for mass transport. Of ANYTHING. And so utilitarian, so many many many uses, so many variants, it did hold the title of the Ford Transit of the Sky for a long time. Like the Mini, its design was just decades ahead of its time, it did change the world in how things like that were designed, but as yet, nothing has been found that beats it. all our army's aircraft are mostly eggbeaters, plus the C12F Huron but they still give them a few toys. I have to say, though, if they can fix a diesel by scraping the spark plug on a tire, I have to be impressed at their creativity. |
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Post by silverdragon on Apr 1, 2018 7:50:50 GMT
]all our army's aircraft are mostly eggbeaters, plus the C12F Huron but they still give them a few toys. I have to say, though, if they can fix a diesel by scraping the spark plug on a tire, I have to be impressed at their creativity. Couple of points.... For One, they do get Petrol toys, jeeps and the like, not all their stuff is Diesel. I should have made that distinction?.. Point two, "I believe", or so I was led to believe, a joke on greenhorns to engineering in REME, is to send them to check the spark plugs on a diesel engine. That is credible... its also part of the legend of buckets of blue steam and long stands type jokes that they play on greenhorns to break the monotony of repetitive tasks. This next bit may be no more than a tall tale I heard in the canteen/bar whilst with the mob, it was certainly used as a derogatory joke against the Army. It backfired in "legendary" status when one smart-[donkey] who wasnt your average greenhorn, swapped out the "Warmer plugs" on a failing diesel that didnt like starting in the morning, and paid the jokers back for that joke?. They initially did it as a joke, and to see if he could see anything hanging loose, but when he pressed the starter after no more than an hour work and it fired right up, credibility had to be given?. Since that time, according to that legend, the Block warmer plugs on a diesel in certain sections of the Army have been referred to in slang as diesel "Spark plugs"?.. and that ex-greenhorn was "Promoted" to grease monkey on their egg beaters on the spot and rose to be in charge of a full section quite quickly. Or "So legend has it..." I find it almost plausible. Myths like that are bar currency in the services, some tall tales of how a two-day job was done overnight by one eager to get promotion wannabe are there to break the boredom between exiting bits in the canteen at nights, some of them are unbelievably true. |
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Post by the light works on Apr 1, 2018 14:45:15 GMT
]all our army's aircraft are mostly eggbeaters, plus the C12F Huron but they still give them a few toys. I have to say, though, if they can fix a diesel by scraping the spark plug on a tire, I have to be impressed at their creativity. Couple of points.... For One, they do get Petrol toys, jeeps and the like, not all their stuff is Diesel. I should have made that distinction?.. Point two, "I believe", or so I was led to believe, a joke on greenhorns to engineering in REME, is to send them to check the spark plugs on a diesel engine. That is credible... its also part of the legend of buckets of blue steam and long stands type jokes that they play on greenhorns to break the monotony of repetitive tasks. This next bit may be no more than a tall tale I heard in the canteen/bar whilst with the mob, it was certainly used as a derogatory joke against the Army. It backfired in "legendary" status when one smart-[donkey] who wasnt your average greenhorn, swapped out the "Warmer plugs" on a failing diesel that didnt like starting in the morning, and paid the jokers back for that joke?. They initially did it as a joke, and to see if he could see anything hanging loose, but when he pressed the starter after no more than an hour work and it fired right up, credibility had to be given?. Since that time, according to that legend, the Block warmer plugs on a diesel in certain sections of the Army have been referred to in slang as diesel "Spark plugs"?.. and that ex-greenhorn was "Promoted" to grease monkey on their egg beaters on the spot and rose to be in charge of a full section quite quickly. Or "So legend has it..." I find it almost plausible. Myths like that are bar currency in the services, some tall tales of how a two-day job was done overnight by one eager to get promotion wannabe are there to break the boredom between exiting bits in the canteen at nights, some of them are unbelievably true. having driven a diesel that the mechanic wouldn't replace more than two (of 8) glow plugs at a time, I can appreciate what putting good glow plugs in a diesel that is getting a bit worn can accomplish. I used to refer to starting it as "fire by friction" |
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Post by silverdragon on Apr 2, 2018 5:59:30 GMT
Being of old school, I used to get some dogs that the glow plugs needed about 5-10 mins to warm up more than just a friction burn from having your boots too tight, and then the engine smoked like a tyre bonfire for a while, I used to get the engine going before I checked out the load for the day.
First it gave it time to clear, second it gave the change to get the engine going before it got loaded, which as you can imagine, you only do once to a vehicle that doesnt start before you learn.
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Post by the light works on Apr 2, 2018 23:18:16 GMT
Being of old school, I used to get some dogs that the glow plugs needed about 5-10 mins to warm up more than just a friction burn from having your boots too tight, and then the engine smoked like a tyre bonfire for a while, I used to get the engine going before I checked out the load for the day. First it gave it time to clear, second it gave the change to get the engine going before it got loaded, which as you can imagine, you only do once to a vehicle that doesnt start before you learn. my quick attack won't fire off without a full glow plug cycle or some extended winding. I only ever cycle the glow plugs on my work truck if it is below freezing. |
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Post by silverdragon on Apr 3, 2018 7:48:14 GMT
Most trucks these days have a quick-start programme that allows you to do a simple function check of all dials and gauges whilst you wait and then just fire it up "Within seconds", they have either block warmers or use something else, nt quite sure, but its a quick way of getting the thing started?.
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Post by the light works on Apr 3, 2018 14:41:25 GMT
Most trucks these days have a quick-start programme that allows you to do a simple function check of all dials and gauges whilst you wait and then just fire it up "Within seconds", they have either block warmers or use something else, nt quite sure, but its a quick way of getting the thing started?. I am under the understanding that most real truck engines just have enough compression off the starter to fire off without glow plugs. although the Jimmy always sounded like the starter was on its last legs. |
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Post by silverdragon on Apr 4, 2018 7:26:16 GMT
Most trucks these days have a quick-start programme that allows you to do a simple function check of all dials and gauges whilst you wait and then just fire it up "Within seconds", they have either block warmers or use something else, nt quite sure, but its a quick way of getting the thing started?. I am under the understanding that most real truck engines just have enough compression off the starter to fire off without glow plugs. although the Jimmy always sounded like the starter was on its last legs. "In warmer climates", that be true, but even our modern stuff, even my blessed Volvo FH16, sometimes needed a little extra help on the "Bloody cold" mornings?. I am sure I remember a little coil icon lighting up yellow on the dash thats left over from the Glow Plug era that sort of indicated it was having a quick brew up before it got going?. I really should have asked, as I say, I am no spanner man myself, I only know the basics, maybe a little learned, but no expert, I need to find out, just for the reason I am a nosy git?. |
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Post by the light works on Apr 4, 2018 15:15:01 GMT
I am under the understanding that most real truck engines just have enough compression off the starter to fire off without glow plugs. although the Jimmy always sounded like the starter was on its last legs. "In warmer climates", that be true, but even our modern stuff, even my blessed Volvo FH16, sometimes needed a little extra help on the "Bloody cold" mornings?. I am sure I remember a little coil icon lighting up yellow on the dash thats left over from the Glow Plug era that sort of indicated it was having a quick brew up before it got going?. I really should have asked, as I say, I am no spanner man myself, I only know the basics, maybe a little learned, but no expert, I need to find out, just for the reason I am a nosy git?. our mechanics prefer the Cummins engines, so maybe it is just them that don't use them. a quick stop by a diseasel forum says it is down to the engine maker, but a lot of over the road truck engines leave them out because they figure the extra wear on the starter is cheaper to maintain than the glow plugs. there are also some that use intake heaters or fuel heaters instead. |
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Post by silverdragon on Apr 5, 2018 6:17:14 GMT
Ahhhhhh... "now that doth ringeth thy bell" sayeth Quasimodo?.
Pre-Heaters, yeah, there are inter-coolers to keep the air entering the cylinder cool, and pre-heaters to warm the thick goo that is cold diesel, and I never worked out why both....
And then there is that most eu diesel engines went turbo quite a while ago.
Which forums did you refer to?. I may make a foray there myself?. get some answers...
And yeah, I understood the basic architecture of what is what under the hood iof what I had to drive, in case fettling was required, but I didnt understand what much of it did, or why, because when it works, I dont need to "fix" it, that wasnt what I got paid for, we had spanners men for that.
That and the truth that the diesel lump in my Ford Escort 1800 diesel about three decades or so ago was a lot different than modern stuff, but even that was modern to the lumps in the engines I began driving in, sooooo much has changed down the decades, I suspect a diesel from 1960 bears no resemblance at all to one from this decade at all?
After all, Injectors are "new" to me, having one in a diesel, yeah, always did, but now I got one of them in my Petrol car, and thats "fancy", because before this car, or rather before I started driving Toyota EFI engines rather, around 25 yrs ago, everything I had that was petrol had Carbs?.
The engines in RAF planes, that I used to do the electronics for, phew, yeah, no, there is no common ground between them and vehicles, because I aint ever seen a turbine on the road in uk.
Wast there a turbine car made in USA that didnt go down to well?.
I sort of remember seeing JJ Leno driving one on his show once?
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Post by the light works on Apr 5, 2018 15:21:26 GMT
Ahhhhhh... "now that doth ringeth thy bell" sayeth Quasimodo?. Pre-Heaters, yeah, there are inter-coolers to keep the air entering the cylinder cool, and pre-heaters to warm the thick goo that is cold diesel, and I never worked out why both.... And then there is that most eu diesel engines went turbo quite a while ago. Which forums did you refer to?. I may make a foray there myself?. get some answers... And yeah, I understood the basic architecture of what is what under the hood iof what I had to drive, in case fettling was required, but I didnt understand what much of it did, or why, because when it works, I dont need to "fix" it, that wasnt what I got paid for, we had spanners men for that. That and the truth that the diesel lump in my Ford Escort 1800 diesel about three decades or so ago was a lot different than modern stuff, but even that was modern to the lumps in the engines I began driving in, sooooo much has changed down the decades, I suspect a diesel from 1960 bears no resemblance at all to one from this decade at all? After all, Injectors are "new" to me, having one in a diesel, yeah, always did, but now I got one of them in my Petrol car, and thats "fancy", because before this car, or rather before I started driving Toyota EFI engines rather, around 25 yrs ago, everything I had that was petrol had Carbs?. The engines in RAF planes, that I used to do the electronics for, phew, yeah, no, there is no common ground between them and vehicles, because I aint ever seen a turbine on the road in uk. Wast there a turbine car made in USA that didnt go down to well?. I sort of remember seeing JJ Leno driving one on his show once? the Chrysler Turbine was an experimental car that never really became a retail item. I think they didn't quite get the performance out of it that they wanted. as for the forum, if you search "diesel forums" you should find some. overall they tend to be either look at somebody else's question and other people's answers, or ask your own question types of places. |
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