Dumb & Dumber

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
Dave Stadt wrote:
"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote

Do a google search on the Janitrol heater. It's the one which used to
leak carbon monoxide in such quanities that I had the choice of flying
with a blanket or flying with a headache. It drew fuel directly out of
the wing tanks on the PA-23. Many light twins used it... and some not
so light: the C-47 had one too.

I was not aware that VW's ever used janitrol heaters. I know of their
use in aircraft, and all of the problems they can cause.

I'm simply amazed that a car would have one of those "creatures." What
ever happened to VW simplicity? The good old heat muff? Of course,
their problems are well know too, but at least they don't involve
flammable liquids!
--
Jim in NC



Even the Beetle offered one as an option. The standard heater was a
joke. I spent a couple of winters in the late '60s with a brand new
Beetle with the stock heater and after that I will never own a Volkswagen
product. We used to open the windows in below zero temperatures to warm
up.

You won't buy a VW product today because of the heater design of a car
they designed in the 1930s? Wow...

That's right. If they built the things from the 1930s to 1968 and still
couldn't get the heater to work that's fatal in my book.

I guess you don't fly aluminum airplanes either or those powered by a
Lycoming or Continental... :-)

Rag wings but the rest is aluminium. Continental is OK but not sure about
Lycoming. Would prefer round as those flat ones are still wet behind the
ears.

Matt

On 2006-06-07, Dave Stadt wrote:
Even the Beetle offered one as an option. The standard heater was a joke.
I spent a couple of winters in the late '60s with a brand new Beetle with
the stock heater and after that I will never own a Volkswagen product. We
used to open the windows in below zero temperatures to warm up.

When I was a student in the 1990s, I had a 1969 BMC Mini. It had the
opposite problem. The engine radiator was inadequate for the warm summer
months, so to get adequate engine cooling I had to turn the heater on
full blast to provide extra cooling for the water, and sweat it out!

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

On 2006-06-06, Stefan wrote:
That stabilizer is designed to stand much more twisting force than any
real life girl could ever apply to it.

Never underestimate the damage that can be caused by a point load at the
tip of a flight surface. I don't know about Cherokee stabilators and
girl point loads - but even a 1 mph tagging of a wingtip on a hangar can
bend spars on the inboard portion of the wing. Seemingly small point
loads on wingtips can cause all sorts of unseen damage. I believe
Highflyer has a story about a Taylorcraft spar and a compression
fracture he discovered in flight after a minor wingtip tagging incident.
Our club's C170 got a kinked aft spar after a minor wingtip tagging
incident.

--
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.
Oolite-Linux: an Elite tribute: http://oolite-linux.berlios.de

Unfortunately, I owned it long after its hey-day. The gasoline heater
would pump smoky carbon-monoxide directly into the passenger
compartment, which -- in Wisconsin, in the dead of winter -- meant that
we either froze to death or asphyxiated. We usually chose the former,
which meant that poor Mary had to scrape the windshield -- on the
INSIDE -- in order for me to see. (Hey, at least she kept warm that
way!)

ummm... yeah... speaking of windshield... My windshield wipers had a
work/not work ratio similar to the starter. I spent many rainy nights
driving down the road with my right hand on the wheel, and my left arm
getting soaked using my left hand as a windshield wiper!

That car sucked!!! I sure do miss it... ;-)

Cheers,
Todd

Jay Honeck wrote:
As we were preparing to depart the Quad Cities Air Show yesterday

.... snip witnessed act of complete ignorance ...

I'll add my comment to the chorus of others suggesting you clue in the
renting FBO as to what you saw the renter do with their airplane.

On 2006-06-07 15:18, three-eight-hotel wrote:
Unfortunately, I owned it long after its hey-day. The gasoline heater
would pump smoky carbon-monoxide directly into the passenger
compartment, which -- in Wisconsin, in the dead of winter -- meant that
we either froze to death or asphyxiated. We usually chose the former,
which meant that poor Mary had to scrape the windshield -- on the
INSIDE -- in order for me to see. (Hey, at least she kept warm that
way!)


ummm... yeah... speaking of windshield... My windshield wipers had a
work/not work ratio similar to the starter. I spent many rainy nights
driving down the road with my right hand on the wheel, and my left arm
getting soaked using my left hand as a windshield wiper!

That car sucked!!! I sure do miss it... ;-)

Cheers,
Todd


A couple of friend were on a long trip when the wiper motor gave up in
their VW Beetle, but they found a remedy in a piece of string;
opening the small ventilation windows on both doors, the string was
threaded through outside and tied to the wipers, then the passenger
acted as motor

As I wrote back in March, I have not yet found anyone to tell me how
much play in the bearings is acceptable before grounding the aircraft
for excessive play.

Quite true -- and this ambiguousness isn't limited to just stabilator
bushings. It's throughout the aircraft repair industry.

Example: On my old Warrior, the "corporate" shop (who fleeced be for a $5K
"annual", back in '98) mentioned that the "spindle" that the trim cable
wraps around (back in the tail section) had too much free-play in it.

Of course, they wanted a zillion dollars to fix it.

By then, I was pretty much broke, so I agreed to do it ASAP after the
annual, and they signed it off.

Instead, I ran as hard and fast as I could from that shop, and landed in my
current A&P's shop. He looked at it and said the free-play was perfectly
normal, and it needed no maintenance or attention at all.

The subsequent owner never touched it -- and, to my knowledge, it's been
signed off at annuals ever since, without maintenance.

Morale: Find out the financial situation of your mechanic's shop BEFORE you
take your plane to them. It's funny how that condition will directly
impact their perceived condition of your plane.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article NDChg.21352$No1.2367@attbi_s71,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:


Morale: Find out the financial situation of your mechanic's shop BEFORE you
take your plane to them. It's funny how that condition will directly
impact their perceived condition of your plane.
--

Or as Click and Clack repeatedly say, never take your car in for service
just before the shop owner's boat payment is coming due.

I had a '64 VW bus and it had a gasoline heater.
Morgans wrote:
"Mortimer Schnerd, RN" wrote

Do a google search on the Janitrol heater. It's the one which used to
leak carbon monoxide in such quanities that I had the choice of flying
with a blanket or flying with a headache. It drew fuel directly out of
the wing tanks on the PA-23. Many light twins used it... and some not so
light: the C-47 had one too.

I was not aware that VW's ever used janitrol heaters. I know of their use
in aircraft, and all of the problems they can cause.

I'm simply amazed that a car would have one of those "creatures." What ever
happened to VW simplicity? The good old heat muff? Of course, their
problems are well know too, but at least they don't involve flammable
liquids!
--
Jim in NC

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
Worse, she wasn't pushing down near the fuselage, where it might take the
load, but was rather giving her all way out at the end, by the fiberglass
tip, obviously unaware of the tremendous twisting force she was exerting
on
the Piper's relatively delicate empennage.

Not good, but sometimes structures are stronger than we might think. I've
seen where a firetruck caught the tip of an Arrow's stab. The stab was
turned 45 degrees but didn't bend. The fuselage failed in front of the stab.

D.