what every human should understand

 https://www.okdoomer.io/10-reasons-our-civilization-will-soon-collapse/

How many robots does it take to run a grocery store?

Honest Government Ad | We Make Everything Good Sh!t

FULL Day 7 from Chrigel Maurer perspective - Red Bull X-Alps 2021

Self censorship

 https://edwardsnowden.substack.com/p/on-censorship-pt-1

Case 580C Power Steering

 When it was initially unloaded and driven 100m to it's current resting place I noticed that the power steering only operated above about 1200 RPM. I wondered if it was low on fluid.

Now that I have removed the front oil cooler for the power steering I see that the fluid that came out is very thin automotive power steering fluid and likely the cause of the issue. I'll replace it with an ISO68 hydraulic fluid that is the equivalent of the

Case TCH that is supposed to go in there.

I'm hoping it's not the  oil pump or seals, no leaks that I can see and it works perfectly at higher RPMS....

The cooler broke in half when I unbolted it and lifted it out. I don't think the pipes are cracked, but it might end up being replaced with a cheap generic one if it starts leaking.

Case 580C Cooling problems.....

 So I have been working my way through the parts that make up the backhoe and I got to the engine. I have only run it for a minute at a time as I need to trust it is lubricating and cooling itself before I make it work hard.

I noticed that the temp gauge did not move at all and I wondered if that was bad.

When I came to check the water I found it was low in the radiator.

When I added more it quickly escaped someone near the water pump.

I pulled out the front grill, oil cooler and radiator and fan so I could see what was going on.

Not good, either something has perished or cracked. It looks like someone put silicone on it to try and cover the leak!

I'm not sure If I can use JB weld on this, it should be low pressure water and not too hot. I'm not sure if it will stick though and whether I can get it clean enough and all the way around without removing anything else......

Case 580 Backhoe Step 1

 It seems like the drive does not disconnect when you hit the brakes. I think there is a hydraulic valve on a solenoid that cuts flow to the torque converter.

Being able to stop or at least remove drive is a nice thing in a 5 ton machine, hopefully an electrical issue.

The front axle has been broken and welded, someone who did not respect the limits of the machine I guess.

The front lifting booms have been broken and welded.

The backhoe has been broken and welded.

One rear tyre is good, one is very dodgy. Both front tyres are OK.

The FEL slowly drops when put up in the air.

I put it into the scorpion position and left it overnight and it did not drop and there were no pools of hydraulic fluid, great news!

I figure I need to replace 4 seals on rams that creep or weep but that was expected and at $50 a seal kit it is not the end of the world if they will come apart.

Before:

After a wash and de-grease I painted the easy to get to parts.

 

After:

 

 

Case 580C Backhoe

 So the new home and farm in Wandi are going to require a lot of digging and earth moving.

When I was young I drove backhoes and excavators for a year or two.

It seemed like a good idea to do the work myself, more control over the outcome and the costs.

The question was whether to hire a machine or buy one...

I figured I might have to move about 10,000m3 of dirt and with the ditching it would likely take me a couple of months if I wanted a life.

Hire was going to be too expensive.

So buy a newer machine for $35k plus (probably still 20 years old!)

Or buy an old machine as a fixer uper?

I did the maths and decided that if I got a basically functional machine at a low low price whatever repairs it needed would leave me with a reliable machine that I could trust.

4WD is nice in the wet, but for my plans it was not really necessary.

I was initially looking for a JCB 3CX as I operated them a lot.

But they are priced sky high at the moment and paying $30k for a 30 year old 2wd backhoe with questionable service history seemed like a dangerous move.

I figured that the worst case scenario would be an engine or transmission rebuild.

Pretty much anything else can be welded or simply replaced in the field.

I came up with a magic number of about $6000 for that worst case scenario.

So it seemed to me that if I bought a machine for less than $10k and then spend $6k on it I would have a reliable and trustworthy machine at a reasonable price.

I found a few nice examples that looked in good condition, but I was either too slow to pull the trigger or the prices were too high.

In the end I found a Case 580C made sometime in the mid 1970's on the other side of Victoria and the owner accepted my offer.

 

It was bought sight unseen. I knew it had a serious rust problem in the cab but apart from that the owner said it was a good runner and was ready to work.

 

When it arrived I discovered the brakes were not working, I expected as much and it should be a days work to fix them.

Otherwise it starts and runs well and all the hydraulics operate.

Until I checkout the oil levels, pump pressures and cooling system I'm not going to be working it.

Step one is to wash and de-grease it and then put some paint over the rust.

Honest Government Ad | Electric Vehicles

 I had a pretty epic flight today.

I hiked up the Porongorups on the Tree in a Rock Trail.

A few days ago I ran the trail and spotted a rock section that would be good for a Southerly. 

I got lucky and today we had a light Southerly and it was pretty thermic too.

There were some clouds, but it was hard to stay in the lift under them, the wind seemed to vary between E and SW and the thermal drift was hard to follow.

I was aiming for the campsite on the North Side of the Stirling range.

I should have aimed for the highest peak I could get to and I am sure there would have been lift, but I was cold and hungry and the air was pretty rough at times.

I took the safer option and stayed within glide to a landable area.

So I landed. Predictable huh.

I was less than 10km from my declared goal.

I had a camera fail, I think I might get some footage from a hiker who was on launch.

Here is the tracklog for viewing...

https://ayvri.com/scene/nxkww64yk8/cklc308cm0001246513xj9grd

Honest Government Ad | Kyoto Carryover Credits

Epic XC Flight 154km a new personal best

 Watch it here from anywhere in the world:

https://cdn.lbryplayer.xyz/api/v3/streams/free/epic-154km-xc-flight-with-tom-and-guise/db7a55bd1385f4f4c5e9586c3395d2cc29f117c2/149b31

Or watch it on Youtube if it will let you...

https://youtu.be/_vuie6hW7Yg

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Vi...

The Onion, so many classics.

 

Honest Government Ad | Q

Spot have updated their tracking pages!

 https://maps.findmespot.com/s/X49F

Honest Government Ad | The Biggest Cuts

Free or Fair media in Australia?

 Pull the other one. 

The usual lying self interested politicians in league with the billionaires running the show.

If you watch any of the commercial channels in Australia you are being fed a diet of non-stop corporate and government lies.

My advice is don't watch TV or read the newspapers if you want to stand a chance of  being in charge of your life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kZ1LeJYZVs

Aus Ebonics (Big L Remix) - Fiz One

If you think you are Australian, but you don't understand this, then I'm sorry, but you are not Australian mate. Try harder.

Project Long Shot (one of three atomic bombs in Alaska)

I can't watch this without feeling like I am watching an over the top comedy sketch.







 https://youtu.be/f5EAEZEBVwg

WOKE Utopia

A YouTube alternative

YouTube started out great, but the user experience has been destroyed.

Google only care about revenue now.
Now  Google  censor content for any reason that suits them.
It is no longer a free and open platform.

I'm trying out LBRY.TV by uploading some of my existing videos to see if it is a viable alternative.

I've been uploading video to Youtube since 2006 but I've never received any payment from Google.

You can try out LBRY here:

https://lbry.tv/$/invite/@live2fly:b

Why lockdowns are the wrong policy - Swedish expert Prof. Johan Giesecke

Awesome Thermals at Serpentine

It's that time of the year when the amazing thermals of summer are fading into the past.

We still get some great days, but usually with much less height.
On the plus side it is not as rough.

Sadly here in Western Australia we have restrictions on travel to the wheatbelt due to Covid-19.

Pretty much the only places I would normally go and fly are in the Wheatbelt.

Thankfully the kind owners of Serpentine let me fly there.

It is the only inland site available to me at the moment.

The SImpsons called it ;-)

The Fires | Juice Podcast 8 - feat. Simon Holmes à Court

Simon's chosen call to action is the petition to support Independent MP Zali Steggall's bill for a Climate Change Act. Add your voice: https://climateactnow.com.au/

PIE NET ZERO

Science vs Opinion

West Australian Free Flyers Forums

I set up forums for the HG/PG community in WA at the start of the year, but never advertised them.

They are now starting to see more use. I always post my flying plans and there is an increasing following.

I don't use facebook (like many people) and so using a closed facebook forum as the only way of communicating with other pilots is not helpful.

These forums are open and free and all you need is a web browser on any device/platform to use them. They won't slow down your device or fill up your memory and they don't track you.

You can subscribe to threads so you get notified about subjects you are interested in.



I'd really like to see all active pilots in WA sign up so we can unite the entire flying community, it would make sharing information much easier.

You can find the forums here:

https://wafreeflyers.org/

Western Australia RASP Forecast

I've been generating a RASP forecast for Western Australia for a few months now.

I have got it to the point where I am happy with the UI and I am just adding new features.

It was running on an old Xeon server I have here and with it's 12 cores it was able to produce the daily run in around 2 hours. But sadly that server has not proved reliable in the summer heat and so I am now running an i5 laptop flat out for almost 5 hours to produce the same daily run.
The model run happens every afternoon and it tries to do 7 days into the future.
I have a decent solar installation on my roof so the server is using solar power to generate the forecast, which I think is fitting.

I welcome any feedback with suggestions for improvements.

Find it here:

https://lampdatabase.com/rasp/WA/

The Muppet Forecast for Mt Bakewell WA

For a while people have been asking me to make a forecast for Mt Bakewell that gives the information that a local pilot would want to know about conditions.

I've got it up and running.

Like all my projects, it is a work in progress and so will continue to be developed as I think of improvements and get feedback from pilots.

You can find it here:

https://lampdatabase.com/muppetforecast/

5 Hour Paragliding Cross Country flight from York to Wongan Hills

I was flying my much loved PHI Tenor Light 19. It is such a great glider, and not just good looking/performing, but also easy to fly and carry.

It has taken me on many epic flights all over the world and this is my longest (in terms of time) PG flight within Australia.

It was a difficult day that started off low and slow but improved later in the day.

I had a lot of trouble centering in thermals, they were often a collection of cores (or bubbles) and it was hit and miss finding the best part. Without much altitude I was cautious and so often stayed in light lift just happy to not be sinking!

After Goomalling I had a slight crosswind from the East, but this was offset by the better height and the stronger tail wind component.

It was a really enjoyable flight, I had no collapses, I had no major turbulence, my pee tube system worked perfectly so I was able to stay hydrated.

I ate one gel half way through the flight as I was fading a bit.

After I landed in Wongan I headed straight for the road heading South out of town and started walking and trying to hitch a ride.

After several cars passed me and I was a couple of km out of town (and starting to wonder if I would make Goomalling (46km) on foot with 1lt of water and 3 gels) when an absolute legend stopped for me.

I was back in York around 10pm and then I hiked back up the hill in the dark to get my car, I got home just before midnight.

What an adventure!

Windows won't boot after a HD issue or upgrade to SSD?

This, always this!

Why can't windows just do this automatically?

Following commands will re/create BCD on system drive which is mapped to drive N: (change drive letter to reflect your mappings)

  bootsect /nt60 N: /force /mbr - rewrite Windows 7/8/10 boot records to system partition and MBR.
  attrib -s -h N:\boot\bcd - remove system and hidden attributes of BCD file so it can be deleted. See Note below.
  del N:\boot\bcd - delete BCD. See Note below.
  bcdboot c:\windows /s N: - re/create BCD assuming your latest Windows version is installed on drive c:

Fiesch

Since my last update I've had a few more attempts to fly back to Aarau from Schwangimatte, I've gotten quite close but never made it all the way. Conditions have been tricky with stronger headwinds aloft.

I was in Verbier for a couple of days and had a good thermal flight on one day getting up over all the high points in the area.

Then it was off to Fiesch, a place I have flown a few times before and one of the best sites in Switzerland. On the first day I was rewarded with climbs to 3700m and a 40km XC down to Obergoms and back.I only landed as I was desperate to pee.
On the next day I had my external catheter fitted, but when I went to use it after 90 mins I experienced a malfunction, the ensuing distraction and frustration resulted in me decking it shortly afterwards as I tried to cross a blue hole and lost 1000m and ended up under the inversion.

Fiesch is such a lovely understated location after Verbier which certainly felt like a tourist trap during the Verbier festival when I was there.

Hike and Fly, Home!

My first flight in Switzerland.

An epic day which could have produced a much greater distance.

But, for a few years now I have been trying to fly back home to Aarau from one of the sites near Balsthal. I always seemed to bomb near Olten in the past, probably because that was where I tried to head straight for Aarau.

This time I stayed over the high ground until I had glide to Aarau and it was a super easy flight.

I almost bombed at the start, but fought hard to stay in the air.
The rest of the flight was awesome conditions, up to 5m/s and 4m/s sustained climbs up to airspace.

When I first got into the harness I sensed something was wrong as I could not get my feet past the speed system. Sure enough the first time I wanted to use it I discovered it was jammed near the pulley on the right side.
As it turned out the day was kind to me and I did not really need the extra speed.

I bought a cheap second hand Samsung 360 camera. I knew they have issues with overheating and quality and I do all my editing on Linux so I was not expecting amazing footage, but it adds something new.

It's a super PITA to work with, it has to be converted from dual fisheye to reclinear and then to HD. Hopefully I can find a way to speed up the process and improve the quality without having to resort to using Windoze.

Finally a great day at the Warren flying the Cliffs between Folkestone and Dover

A perfect day. A couple of hours of flying and a couple of top landings. Even sunshine!

Much better than the previous days.

Back in the UK

As winter descends on Perth  the migratory birds fly North to escape the winter.
I arrived in the UK yesterday.
Today there was a chance to fly Detling this afternoon and so I had a look.

I only took the little Masala and my basic harness without a reserve as I was not expecting much.
As it turned out it was quite strong and rough and pretty thermic, there were some big clouds downwind that I think were adding to the mix.

My first flight I landed when and where I wanted and managed to keep low as I intended.

On my second flight I got caught in a thermal and lifted up to the height of the hill. With full speedbar I was not having any issues staying in front of the hill, but I don't like using the speedbar (except on an XC glide) as it means you are right on the top edge of your envelope and have no extra margin if the wind picks up more. I also don't like flying without a reserve when I would have the height to use one. I've seen mid air collisions with birds and RC aircraft take down paragliders and I was sharing the site with them both.

The wind was forecast to get stronger as the day progessed.

 I ridge soared for a while and then used the next lull to get down and land.

Discretion being the better part of valor prompted me to leave.

Aerotowing with Sid

It's been years since I last aerotowed behind Sid.

There was a time when I was out there nearly every weekend. But then my friend Karl that I used to fly with left us and I stopped heading out.

Since then I have almost been back several times, but for several reasons I never quite made it.

The last few years have seen injury curtail my ability to hang glide, but finally I seem to be over that restriction.

This summer I was pretty focused on trying to find out what I could achieve with a Paraglider and so there were times when I could have gone to Sids, but went XC from Bakewell with my PG instead.

Finally I was faced with an invitation to head out to Sids on a weekend when it was not flyable from Bakewell and my back was not stopping me from going.

It was great to see Sid again. He has some of the same flying toys and some new ones. He is every bit as much the passionate aviator as he always has been.

With probably thousands of hours of aerotowing hang glider pilots under his belt, Sid always makes the tows feel effortless.

If anything I think the danger is that he can give pilots too much confidence, they think that the reason the tows are going well is because they are are great pilot, but actually Sid is always working to keep you in the sweet spot as well.

It is often a shock for pilots the first time they tow behind a trike pilot that is flying flat out and not trying to make life easy for the hang glider pilot behind!

I had a couple of great tows, it was very overcast with moderate winds on the ground and all the way up.

Thermals were broken, but the lift was clustered enough to work.

My first tow I pinned off early, thinking I was in lift and then found sink all the way back to the LZ.

The second tow I stayed on longer and Sid dropped me in lift. I was able to climb and drift about 10km down wind.

At this point it became obvious that my Galaxy S4 that I was using as a vario and navigation device was not going to work for me and so I turned around and headed back to the farm.
I was not sure if I was going to make it due to the headwind, but I got a thermal half way back and the wind was abating.

I made it back with a few hundred feet to spare and then had a nil wind landing to finish the day.

I think 3 pilots went XC on the day with David getting around 50km in difficult conditions.

Keith Lightbody, photographer supreme was out and flew as well. I think he lent his camera to Kevin who got some nice shots of me.

Video footage from the day: