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Old 05-16-2019, 01:46 PM   #581
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Default Re: tell a Model A related story

Hi Jemelton.

The location where I operated for years was the Murray region of the Riverina. Many farms were established following world war 1 by subdividing large properties into 640 acre blocks ie 1 square mile. These were provided with incentives to returning soldiers. Over the years many have been bought by neighbours thus many are double. This is fairly intense. An irrigation scheme was built which allowed farmers to grow summer crops in our dry and unreliable climate. Each farm supports at least 1 resident so the farming community is fairly intense. There is no average crop size, they do vary from 50 to 300 acres. One just can’t avoid flying over houses even though myself and other pilots give due consideration. The farming community understand. We were a utility service to farming and I can well say we are held in high regard. On farms that is, not necessarily in towns where there are school teachers and some others with antagonistic attitudes. They seem to think we were poisoning humanity even when sowing rice or spreading fertilizer.
Radial engine aeroplanes are very noisy and attract attention. Pilots are conscience of this and considerate. In 1993 I purchased a turbine (PT6) powered Airtractor which is a much quieter aeroplane and this gave all including pilots more comfort. The price in dollars was 3 times the purchase price of a Grumman AgCat. Expensive. I might add that it came without creature comforts. It was not until the late 90’s I ever got to fly an aeroplane with either an aircon or heater.
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Old 05-16-2019, 01:52 PM   #582
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Questions?

Jemelton asked a question. Answered this morning.
All readers please feel welcome to ask any question on your mind. My life has basically been cropdusting plus a few other low flying jobs. However there are airline pilots on this forum and they will be more suited to answer questions on heavy aeroplanes.

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Old 05-17-2019, 06:12 AM   #583
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Farmers. Love them or Hate them.

My job was to spray crop, sow seed, or fertilize crop. Sometimes spread with rodenticide. Farmers used to stand at each end of the paddock and wave a flag to provide tracking guidance. This was prior to GPS. We would fly a straight line between both. It was great to work with farmers marking (Australian term) or flagging (American term). Well most of the time it was. They are bright people however there are some exceptions. Not many. Like those who stand and wave the flag where they cannot be seen like in the trees etc.


Here are two incidences that I well recall.


Les.
I had a farmer client by the name of Les. Can’t mention his surname because I don’t remember it. Les had a small rice paddy to spray, it ran N-S. Well Les stood on the SW corner to mark and the other marker diagonally opposite on the NE corner. If I had have sprayed it would be grossly overdosed in the center and be under dosed everywhere else. Well I chose to run from the one marker on the NE side and eye-balled the square bank on the east to remain somewhat parallel. Well Les got angrier and angrier and lost his temper because I wouldn’t mark off him too. He wasn’t happy either when I caught up with him later and explained but he still couldn’t see his error.

Snyders.

Boree Creek is a Fertile Farming Area South of the Murrumbidgee River.
Two brothers, both new to farming had bought a farm there. Aerial work was new to them and I was to spray cereal for weeds. Both were briefed well but messed it up. Two loads only. A simple rectangle paddock. At the end of the first load one marker was about half way through the paddock, just where he should have been and the other had got down to nearly the end and thus we had this big angle. When I returned to pick up the second load I sent a farmer to help the fellow. When he got there he found them parallel. A big triangle would have been twice sprayed. Yes they did comprehend my explanation that followed the job.
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Old 05-18-2019, 03:28 PM   #584
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No story today. I stayed up last night to view the election results.
The underdog (Liberal Party) won despite every prediction made by pollsters. The Liberal Party in Australia is the conservative party (by comparison) and perhaps inaptly named. I make no political comment.
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Old 05-19-2019, 07:12 AM   #585
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Unless you are flying the latest hi tech aeroplane to an airport that is equipped with the suitable radio approach and landing equipment one cannot make a landing in fog. Even with GPS one cannot make a blind approach to a farmers ag strip. Especially Rodgers with high tension power wires not far from the end.One winter day I was due to spray at Berrigan for a young farmer by the name of Rodger. It was thick fog and I didn’t bother to get out or bed.
The phone rang and Rodger demanded to know where I was. But don’t you have fog out there Rodger I asked.
Yes.
We’ll need to wait until that clears I explained. The explanation did not please him.
About 8 o’clock the phone goes again. Rodger. Why aren’t you here.
Has the fog cleared.
No.
About midmorning, still foggy, I asked my loader driver to go to Rodgers and that will show we are endeavouring to make a start.
Later he called to say the fog was clearing and expected it to be okay shortly. I took off from Finley through the fog, using the big yellow ball in the sky as a visual reference. The fog was about 1000 foot thick. Went to Rodgers.
I endeavoured to explain to Rodger that I simply couldn’t find his property let alone his airstrip in fog. Rodger was still not happy.
One can’t please everyone. Even logic has no influence.
Below is pilot view out all windows whilst flying in fog.
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Old 05-19-2019, 07:23 AM   #586
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Next story is some days away. I'm driving home from sunny Queensland to temps that max out to 20c with over night mins of 5 or 6c. For us that's fairly cool but we do get frosts in the winter. I find that cold but after seeing pictures from you folk with snow makes me realise I'm a sook.
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Old 05-27-2019, 02:13 AM   #587
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Sleepless in Dubbo.

When I was in business doing aerial agricultural work I hired an additional two pilots. One, whose name is David, lived a 3 hour flight to the north of me where he worked in the New England Ranges. This is a high range by Australian standards reaching a monumentous altitude of nearly 5,000feet. This range starts near Melbourne in Victoria and runs through to north of Cairns in far north Queensland, a distance of some 1,700 miles. Quit smirking you Americans!
Well David needed to get home for an important family event so he finished early in the afternoon and had my blokes push his Cessna out of the shed and gas it ready for his departure. He arrived back to base at Finley and didn’t bother driving home, about 1 mile, for his gear, he just headedoff. Well he struck weather and as he progressed further north. The cloud and rain became more intense and gradually to ground level. He could go no further and had reached only a bit more than half way. Night came and he would need a taxi, dinner and a motel. But his wallet and thus money was back in Finley. Well David had to sleep in his Cessna, in the rain and hungry. Poor bloke, only slightly more than an hour away was a hot meal, and a bed with a warm cuddly attractive wife.
What you see below is how it turned out and how it was intended.
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Old 05-29-2019, 06:27 AM   #588
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Chinese Transactions.

It is my intention to appropriately outfit myself in period gear when I attend a future motor car meeting. A cravat, arm bands and waist jacket with Woofa’shead protruding from the pocket and a bowler hat. There are not many bowler hats on the local new or used markets, so because of this I purchased same off ebay out of China.
Now Chinese suppliers are a mixed lot. Some good, some not so good. Fraudulent is the word I’m really looking for. Well my bowler hat arrived in a small envelope, sealed well with stickers of supplier and courier.When I opened it I found it contained two small sealed plastic packages. Each contained crystals abit like that coffee sugar that was once trendy, except these crystals were clear/opaque.
The policeman said they were most certainly ice and took them for analysis, not that he can charge a Chinaman living in China.
Of course my lovely and aged neighbour was curious as to why the police car was at my gate so I was courteous and told her. Now that had her stumped because she just could not envisage ice being sent in the post. She reckoned it would melt long before it could be delivered.
Only a few months ago I ordered a simple hand drill on ebay, again from China to be delivered. But instead China had sent a soap rack for a shower. I advised them of their error and they offered a 15% refund. I declined and asked for the drill. They responded yet again and offered a 50% refund. Another two communications occurred and they were still not offering to send my order. I concluded by telling them they were not honourable to deal with and they responded with one only word “okay”.
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Old 05-30-2019, 10:12 AM   #589
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today and tomorrow a funny each day. Funny in my humour anyway. I will be away for a month but will get just a few stories away. I will be cropspraying out of Griffith NSW and it should be my last job prior to retirement. This winter will make 51 years cropspraying however I have done very little in the last 15 months because we are in drought. cheers, gary


Pedro walking on water.
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Old 05-31-2019, 05:59 PM   #590
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today it's Pedro running through the sky. cheers, gary
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Old 05-31-2019, 06:33 PM   #591
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on March 29th I wrote on my Chinese purchase, a bowler hat. This hat is to outfit myself at Model A meetings along with other period attire. Well I received an email from the supplier who apologised for having sent a consignment in error and asked it I might return it. They did say the correct order has now been dispatched. Error made by new boy. I did respond to their email asking what was sent and what they would care for me to return it to. To date no reply.
If you did not read the story inleuof the hat I received 2 small packages of crystals which the cops recon, without laboratory testing, was ice as in methamphetamine.
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Old 06-01-2019, 03:41 PM   #592
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This new type of service.

I have owned 3 VW’s in recent times. 2 absolutely trouble free the third and latest has had problems. It’s a Tiguan here after called Tiggy. Well Tiggy made what I thought to be transmission noises which started about 400 miles from home. I stopped at Toowoomba, about 800 miles away and made a booking at a VW service centre. I was greeted by a well groomed intermediate service person who wore a tie and worked from a counter which was as sterile as a hospital theatre. He gave directions to the mechanic, received his report in return and read it to me. I was told stuff that I already knew.Transmission full of oil full but noisy. Timing belt a non manufacturers component which I feel was resentment for not using VW genuine parts. Take to a transmission specialist. I did this and yes found they did have mechanical skill. The problem was the result of a poor repair job which followed a crash by the previous owner. Nothing relating to the dealers findings. Today’s modern motor car mechanics are on the decline. Computers read off any mechanical and electrical problems, technicians who read the results have little or no mechanical knowledge or skill.

My wife recently filled our diesel vehicle’s fuel tank with petrol by error. When she called VW for their advise she was told to take it to a VW dealer. This was not possible because it wouldn’t start let alone drive about 100 miles. She sort the help of a local small town mechanic who simply pumped out the petrol and replaced with diesel.

I reckon most all owners can speak of simular incidences with modern technicians. In addition many owners have about zero knowledge of their car. I recently purchased a fuel filter and the spare parts man congratulated me on knowing the type of engine in my motor car. He said most people didn’t.

What is causing this erosion of skills. Generally speaking motor cars have become reliable but complex. Dealers don’t make much money on a new sale and rely on service, repairs and sales of spare parts. It seems manufacturers have obliged. Owners have become more interested in style and fashion and have become trendies who seem to require the latest models.

In my garage I have a 91 year old motor car. I understand the mechanics and can make simple repairs. Compare this to the modern vehicle which will become landfill in only a short time. I do ask myself just where we have gone wrong. Do you readers feel the same as I do?
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Old 06-02-2019, 04:49 PM   #593
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following yesterdays story on dealers workshops and on modern motor cars I have had 2 people write to me with their thoughts and experiences. Both pertain to Australia. Neither them nor myself can make comment on how this compares to America. I have copied and pasted the first below. The second, in summary, said both batteries and tyres that were on cars when delivered new are of considerable better quality than those that are available for purchase in the retail market.


please standby. I am having difficulty in pasting the correspondence to this page.
I have now typed out in longhand below




A dealer service depot can be a problem. They have exorbitant hourly charges, are staffed mainly by apprentices and mostly do oil and filter changes.
Another issue is people don't keep older more modern cars for the above reasons, ie, they are too expensive to fix and nobody understands how to fix them. I've got a local mate who owned a VW he purchased new, but which developed an electrical or computer fault just out of warranty. Dealer service charge for electrical work is $180 per hour, but after 7 months struggling with intermittent failure and faulty repair he traded on a BMW.
Sunni (my friend's wife) purchased a used immaculate Lexus 4WD from a local wealthy couple living nearby. Their purchase price was well over $100K and it had done only 120,000 kilometres but was almost worthless as a trade for the above reasons. It is a complex car with features like the steering wheel which retracts into the dashboard when the key is removed and remotely operated motorised tailgate. Imagine the cost of repairing those items when they malfunction. It is a beautiful vehicle, looks brand new, utterly quiet and smooth to drive but almost worthless. The Lexus manual devotes 200 pages on how to operate the GPS. Luxury cars are the worst for depreciation, BMW being the leaders.
I take my FJ (mid 60's GM Holden) and 1994 Caprice (again a GM Holden) to a mechanic our age who employs mechanics in their 49's and who fix many vintage cars. I was there last Thursday getting my FJ checked for rego and a couple of small repairs. He had in the shop a 1927 Cadillac La Salle cabriolet side valve V8 for repair and he showed me how well made and simple they were and easy to work on. I told him my kids advised me to buy a new car, but he said don't do it because they're too expensive to repair while my 1994 goes well and is a snack to fix.
Vehicles today are mostly assembled by robots in a manner that suits fast efficient production but defy after-market maintenance. Companies that find serious fault when a new car that comes off the production line simply scrap it because it's too expensive to fix. For that reason, and in spite of being well designed and efficient, modern vehicles won't be around for long. We are being condemned to vehicle consumerism.
Lets hope electric cars will change all that. Or perhaps when the world economy goes pear shaped, simple cars will be made once more
.
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Old 06-03-2019, 03:47 PM   #594
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Took my two an a half year old grand son for a ride in my 31coupe today stoped to back up he gave me two thumbs up witch my son thought him price less
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Old 06-04-2019, 04:57 AM   #595
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigjohnson View Post
Took my two an a half year old grand son for a ride in my 31coupe today stoped to back up he gave me two thumbs up witch my son thought him price less

enjoy that while you can BigJohnson. When my daughter was a teenager her friends would call by and they'd ask me to take them for a ride in my '28. We'd drive into town and wave to the boys and Ooogah the horn. They thought it was the greatest of fun but my daughter would sink below the seat with embarrassment of her Dad.
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Old 06-05-2019, 05:45 AM   #596
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Making my working life easier.

Unprincipled and/or deceitful people. I’ve dealt with them as I’m sure we all have. Here is the case which established a principle I adopted and maintained.
In 1984 I built a house using old hand made bricks. An enterprising fellow had bought the remains of an old and historic homestead that had burnt to the ground some years before and salvaged these bricks. I bought them from him. The price was $300 per 1,000 with an additional 10% given to accommodate broken or poor quality. But he didn't deliver the quantity he wanted to be paid for. Well the deal seemed to have changed and I felt he had cheated on the number delivered. I paid the amount the brickie had billed me for plus leftovers and put the money into a trust account.Well he called me a thief and took me to court. The legal fellows representing myself and him intimidated me and said it would be better for me to pay as compared to fight and face a large legal bill. They called that commercial realism. Well I took their advice, paid and drove home. I was bitter. I made the decision that in the future I would deal only with people I was comfortable with.
I did so and I have never had a dispute since. I also applied that to people I worked for. I simply told them they were difficult and I had a competitor that would do their work. I was telling this to an operator in northern NSW. Sometime later he told me how easier his business was since they too had adopted my practise. I later sold my business to my friendly competitor and he told me how easy my clients were to work for. I told him the difficult ones were sent down the road and became his clients.

People I employed couldn’t take the working hours so I fixed that too. I employed only people who had come off farms or had worked on farms. Bingo. No further problems.

I had a contractor who did my aeroplane maintenance and repairs. I could make an agreement with him, even shake hands on the deal that would be chucked out the window if he later decided it didn’t suit him. This fellow lost his biggest customer when I hired my own mechanic. He couldn’t understand why I gave him the flick.

You see, we need not hire or work for or do business with difficult people. Pictures, 1 chase difficult or untrustworthy people from your life and 2, you'll be happy.

It is worth saying I have learned, and not by further experience, a court is a place of settlement not justice.
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Old 06-06-2019, 06:29 PM   #597
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Lawyers in Australia behaviour is not unlike the reputation of those in USA. My friend who commented on 3rd June has commented again, and again I post his views below. Lawyers do conduct simular practises world wide and suffer the same character traits. Here it is. Are you surprised?

Dear Gary
A horrible ploy used by the unscrupulous to screw you by virtue of the cost of lawyers being so expensive that it’s cheaper to not pursue justice. The legal profession are in on this scam as well. They can use legal manoeuvres to keep delaying each hearing until the aggrieved person (or company) is so broke they abandon the case.
Individuals pursuing insurance settlements are regularly played the same way. On many occasions, if an action or claim succeeds, the plaintiff is left with zero because the settlement only pays their legal fees. Our system of justice is a game that makes too many losers out of those who cannot fund expensive lawyers or barristers.
Cheers. Hugh
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Old 06-07-2019, 03:28 AM   #598
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hello gary this is lily brown.
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Old 06-07-2019, 11:49 AM   #599
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Let me tell you a story about engineers. In the 1960's and 70's I worked for the Dept. of Water & Power, City of L.A. We had 4 big trucks with an odd and troublesome transmission in International trucks (IHC). They finally decided to change the transes to a better design. I came to work one day and there were 2 huge pallets with all new parts inside, the boss told me to get to work on changing the trucks to this new set-up, which included a main trans and an auxillery trans., all linkage and everything. I did some measuring and the combination was too long to fit in the space allowed, so I asked the boss what he wanted me to do with the huge PTO that was between the trans and rear end. (It had to remain in place for those trucks to function in their intended use) He came down to the pit and I showed him the problem, he asked if I had a solution. I said yes, put in a 9-speed Roadranger trans instead of what I had. (the new setup was designed by one of our Dept. engineers and one from International Corp) He agreed and I made a list of parts I would need, a very extensive list using all IHC part numbers, it took me hours to research and order what I needed. It took a couple of weeks before the new parts arrived and several more days to install them. It all worked fine, so I ordered another complete "kit" for the next truck. End of story? NO! I did 2 more trucks and had parts on hand for the last one when the first one came back with problems of jumping out of gear. The boss said put in the new trans that is there. That took less than one day. I peeked inside to find the problem before it was sent back to the dealer for warranty work. There was a shift-collar that was installed backwards. I took the trans to the dealer and showed him the problem, he said our timing was great as there was a factory guy coming to give a class on rebuilding those transes. A couple of weeks later the rebuilt trans was back. Out of curiosity I looked inside and saw they had replaced parts but the collar was still backwards! The boss asked how long it would take me to fix it, I said not long, maybe 2 hours, so I did. So now I had fixed a problem that 2 engineers and one factory teacher had caused, maybe engineered, is a better word. As far as I know those trucks are still working just fine!
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Old 06-07-2019, 12:00 PM   #600
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Woofa, about lawyers. I worked at/for a little airport in L.A. for almost 10 years, called LAX, you may have heard of it?. There were always law-suits being taken against us, mostly bogus but the public and their lawers figured we had deep pockets and would settle rather than go to court, well we didn't settle, we went to court and rarely lost. The secret? Maintain your equipment and keep good records! We'd got to court armed and ready to fight, and rarely lost a case, thus saving the City lots of money!!!
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