tell a Model A related story

[woofa.express]

I didn’t like what I saw. Especially when I was told what was going on.

I was inbound for Darwin from Malaya. I had passed Timor and was only 300 nautical miles north west of Darwin. Starting about East Timor and finishing north of Melville Island I saw thousands of fishing boats, yes thousands. All of similar design with red painted cabin tops displaying a number in large white numerals. Indonesians fishing in Australian waters. This has been an irritation to Australian fishermen and the Australian government for many years now. I did feel just a little tolerant because Indonesians had to eat and they weren’t wealthy people who could afford to eat John West’s best catch or even John West’s worst catch!
Each boat had 6 or 8 big fish tethered at the stern. I mean big fish. Sharks, dolphins, sword fish ? I’m not a fisherman but I figured probably sharks.
On arrival Darwin I prepared the aeroplane for the second and final leg of the delivery flight and took a cab to the city for an overnight sleep. I was telling the driver of the fishing boats and the big fish that were tethered. The driver said he had been a commercial fisherman and said they would be sharks. It is what he told me that bothered me. They cut off the fins and discarded the bodies. What? Shark fin soup, it’s a delicacy he said. Yes I had heard of that, most everyone has. This displeased me immensely. Would it bother you. I reckon it would.
At this time the Australian military was being deployed to East Timor following their independence. Many military and chartered civilian flights were flying the same route and I expected the appropriate government department would have been fully aware.
I always wonder if I had done the correct thing in not reporting it. Would you have reported it?

[Oliver1932]

I think I would have reported this tragedy. It's not just about a fisherman or a poor family, it's just about the money... and the result is ultimately not very glorious.

[atch]

woofa.express

Thank you for providing us with your stories and insight. As I'm in the process of purchasing a 1930 2-dr sedan perhaps I can eventually post a story or two here.

fwiw; the car belonged to a friend who passed away recently and I'm buying it from his widow. It has a fairly recently rebuilt engine and a Mitchell overdrive unit. Dick always took immaculate care of his Model A's and I expect to have many years of fun with this car.

I've never owned (or even driven one until I test drove this one) a Model A but am anxious to get my feet wet, so to speak.

[sugarmaker]

Mike,
Great looking Model A! You need to start a thread on this car as you get it home and learn about it too.
Regards,
Chris and Cheryl

[woofa.express]

On Farm, our own recycled oil. Fuel costs escalates, Well Dad thought so.

I do remember our first tractor. An A. No, not my favourite motor car; but a Farmall Model A. I’ll post an internet picture below this story. We had used on occasions my granddads International W4 and I had learned to drive this, I say drive but not really. I was too small to engage the clutch and knew nothing about gears. That all came progressively. Back to the Farmall A story. We used waste oil in the engine. Dad had several 44 gal drums of this. They were tipped a bit to the side and chocked so as the rain ran off the drum top and not into the oil. The pump was about 12 inches short of the drum bottom so we didn’t pick up carbon or trash that had settled over the long period they had sat in waiting. The Farmall burned standard (low octane) fuel, remembering back all engines in those days were low compression. I remember dad’s disappointment even anger when the price rose from 5 pence an imperial gallon to 7 pence. He said we were trying to develop a farm and eat as well and this would be difficult at this price escalation. I can also remember one evening he driving to the church to borrow money so as he could feed us. As a child I didn’t understand the hardship we (and we weren’t Robinson Crusoe) endured.

When I purchased my Turbine Airtractor Shell quoted me 31c per litre. Mobil 48c litre and I had purchased all fuel from them ( and only them) for the previous 14 years without exception. I quickly learned loyalty had no rewards.

[atch]

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For us ignorant yanks would someone please educate us on pounds, pence, quid, etc.? You're smart enough to use metric (decimal based) measurements but your monetary systems confuse the rest of us.

[woofa.express]

Hi Atch.
We have our own currency, but monetary system was inherited from the British. It went like this prior to 1966.
The top denomination is the pound.
1 pound could be broken down to
20 shillings or
10 Florins or
4 half crowns.
and
1 shilling is
12 pennies or
2 sixpences or
4 threepences
and
1 penny is
2 happenny (half pennies) or
4 quarter pence.
In addition payment for an auction could be in guineas and 1 guinea is 1 pound and 1 shilling. The 1 shilling was payment to the auctioneer.
Yes, it is complex and archaic, but in 1966 Australia moved to decimal currency, just the same as you in America know it. New Zealand changed in 1967. In each country 10 shillings became one dollar in their respective country and 1 shilling (12 pence)became 10 cents. Britain also went decimal but in a slightly different way. To my memory 1 pound became 2 new pounds. On that I do stand to be corrected.
I became accustomed to the change in 1 day although I sometimes talk about a shilling or a pound, intended now as slang. The young ones can’t figure this out. Mostly folk spoke about a pound as a quid (slang) whether a single pound or more than 1, eg 1 quid, 2 quid, 3 quid etc. Likewise shillings were bob, eg again 1 bob, 2 bob, 3 bob etc. with inflation both 1 and 2 cents have been dropped from Australian currency.
In about 1974 both Australia and New Zealand upgraded weights and measurements to metric aswell. Like decimal currency it can be much simpler.
I spent a working lifetime applying fertilizer and pesticides to paddocks and broad areas. Myself and some of the older farmers still think in imperial. I am not a speedy learner.

[atch]

Thanks man. My head's spinning like a 45rpm record right now.

[atch]

Originally Posted by atch

woofa.express

Thank you for providing us with your stories and insight. As I'm in the process of purchasing a 1930 2-dr sedan perhaps I can eventually post a story or two here.

fwiw; the car belonged to a friend who passed away recently and I'm buying it from his widow. It has a fairly recently rebuilt engine and a Mitchell overdrive unit. Dick always took immaculate care of his Model A's and I expect to have many years of fun with this car.

I've never owned (or even driven one until I test drove this one) a Model A but am anxious to get my feet wet, so to speak.

I had to cash in some investments to pay for the Model A (most of you probably keep that much in your checking accounts but alas, I'm not that well-heeled). The money came through last night and now I have the money in my checking account. I hope to pay for it and bring it home in the next day or two.

I'm sure that I've got a lot to learn.

b-t-w; would any of you who have knowledge or experience with Mitchell overdrives pleas cruise over to this thread that I just started?

TIA

[woofa.express]

Michael Atchley’s Cheque Account.

Michael is an American reader who speaks of transferring money into his checking account. How lucky American folk are to have a cheque account (that’s check to you Michael). Very few of us here have this facility and in the near future it is to be totally fazed out. Electronic banking is more profitable for banks that make billions profit from a total national population of 25 million. Poor buggars.
I do know which bank we use but absolutely nothing else. My wife, who also struggles with the electronic world that we now seem to be compelled to use more and more, does our banking.
Written cheques leaves a transaction trail which is much easier for me to follow. I hope you are appreciative of your facility Michael.

This was written for a small magazine (Australian) I write.

[atch]

I didn't realize some folks don't have access to checking accounts.

We do a lot electronically, including credit cards and debit cards.

For those of you who don't know what a debit card is they are sort of like a credit card except they draw directly from your checking account instantly. Of course if you don't have checking you can't do debit cards.

The reason for this discussion was regarding my Model A purchase. I meet the owner at her house at noon tomorrow to exchange money for the title. Then I'll go to the license office to get the title put into my name and get the license for the car.

Then take it to the insurance agent's office so he can take photos of the car.

After that THE FUN BEGINS!

[woofa.express]

Advice from Frank for you Atch and other readers likewise.

Debit cards, yes I have one. Credit card no. However Frank advises against debit cards says they are too easy for electronic thieves to steal from and he is a bloke who has stolen what is possibly millions of dollars in cash and services. Now he is a good boy he gives advice and it’s good advice. He advises credit card and pay prior to interest being imposed.
Now who is Frank? Frank Abagnale. Sound familiar? There is a good movies on him. Even better he gives an excellent advice and entertainment talk which can be found on the internet.
You all know him but the name may not be familiar. Look him up.

If it hasn’t yet dawned on you yet check out Wikipedia, the link below and remember to see him deliver a talk which can be found on the internet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

[atch]

I wholeheartedly agree about debit cards. We have them but never use them unless it's some kind of emergency. Such as the time when our credit card had somehow been hacked and had to be cancelled. For the few days until the new credit cards arrived we used the debit cards. Years go by that they never get used.

And on the interest charges: we pay every cent of charges on the 1st of every month and never incur interest charges. I can see how running up a debt on credit cards could be disastrous.

[woofa.express]

I wrote this story for my small magazine, Tocumwal flyers and friends. It seems like readers enjoy my stories even though they are not all of my favourite motorcar. Hope you, the reader of this story enjoy them too.

Takeoff at Piekie Looker’s airstrip. (1974)

Armidale NSW is located in the northern table lands of NSW, regionally known as New England Table Lands. It is 200nm north of Sydney and is 1,000 meters ASL.. Industries are grazing and education; high level schools and a university. A 40 minute drive north is Guyra, a delightful little town with a small swamp known as “Mother of Ducks Lagoon”. The only industry is grazing. It was the home of Fred Ward, known as Captain Thunderbolt, Australia’s longest surviving bush ranger. Steven Ward was the little boy list in the New England Ranges. I have no reason to think they were related.
Winters are cold, very cold, summers are great and one can strip down to a light pullover.
Guyra is 1330 m ASL and that is 4300 feet. Most you fly an aeroplane with a normally aspirated engine that will deliver 29 inches of mercury on takeoff at full throttle.
At Guyra the manifold pressure is only 24.5 inches. That’s a substantial loss of power. North of Guyra is Ben Lomond which is even higher. This is where my story occurs; spreading fertilizer and working off a strip belonging to Piekie Looker. I’d takeoff, climb over a small rise and proceed to spread. One load was just a little heavier which caused me to turn a little left and avoid the rise, that’s where I spotted a most attractive young woman sitting on a veranda rail of a cottage. She was a good looker and had long light coloured hair hanging down to her waist. Instantly I was in love. So each load I turned left and gave my new love a small intermit wage. She responded likewise.
Sometime later she was carrying a bale of hay to feed a horse and I hoped she wouldn’t hurt her tender little fingers. The next load She was wearing no shirt- she was a he. The attraction to this girl quickly turned to aversion. Immediately I felt ill. It took years before I could even tell the story. I still feel sheepish today to put it softly.

Footnote. Aeroplane information. The aeroplane I was flying was a Fletcher and powered by an IO720 that delivered 400hp at sea level (29 inches of mercury at full throttle). My friend, David, flying nearby was flying a Beaver which has a Pratt radial, 9 cylinder supercharged radial engine and delivers 450hp. Being supercharged it maintains 450hp even at altitude. So the Beaver piped (as in pip)the Fletcher in productivity. The Fletcher carried about 1 ton or more each load and sometimes 24 cwt which is commonly called a full can. The Beaver carried 24cwt on most every job. The Pratt R985 was the same engine my Agcats were powered by.

[atch]

OK; now I've got a mental picture that I just can't get rid of. Thanks. Good job of telling the story though.

I did look up all of the mentioned places in Google Earth. I do that a lot when reading of places I'm not familiar with. That's my way of traveling to places I know I'll never get to see in person. I "drove" on the A15 (New England Highway) near Ben Lamond, Glencoe, etc. I wish I could actually come there and drive a Model A, a hot rod, or a Harley-Davidson on some of those roads. Very scenic.

[woofa.express]

chapter 1.

Flight Hong Kong to Moscow.

The aeroplane type was Airbus 340. It’s the long fuselage beast powered with 4 engines. Not to be confused with the double deck A380. The return flight was on the more well-known A330.
There was nothing out of the ordinary that I observed but Captain Moo reported differently. He had to deviate 110 miles right of track to avoid thunderstorms. He also had St Almo’s fire for more than an hour which is novel for all pilots. Now that’s something I have never seen.
Fog was forecasted for arrival so I asked about fuel for an alternative and he said (nominated) tonnage he had reserve and said it would take him to any European city including London.
The captain was our son Moo. Michael really, but we have nick names for our kids.
There can be one advantage of being on board an aeroplane where your sons are captains. The cabin crew know and provide service above and beyond their call of duty. This can come in the form of Champaign and Blue Cheese.


chapter 2.

Moscow.

Patsy and I had the opportunity to spend 3 days in Moscow, Moo seemed to know the city well and was a good guide. Here are my observations.

We stayed in the same hotel as the flight crew; about a ‘60’s build. A lovely comfortable hotel; no mirrors (bathroom excepted), chrome, tin foil or tactless décor. Just wood and carpet. Hotel staff spoke good English and were hospitable. We enjoyed our stay. Our local MP at the time was Tim Fischer. Tim advised us Moscow was most expensive but we didn’t find this so. His hotel would have been much more upmarket and he would not have had to take the train where ever he went.
Western chain fast food outlets had found their way and they seemed to be popular with locals. McDonalds, Kentucky Chicken and I think Wendy’s. motorcars were modern European builds, Volvo being numerous. Russia built Lada’s. I saw 5. Four were badly broken down on the roadside some jacked up with diffs and wheels removed. The fifth was close to the same fate. Panels badly rusted and it’s quite probable salt was used on the roads in winters.
It appeared people lived mainly in apartments. Some had broken windows and electrical wiring ran from tower to tower sometimes resembling a mad woman’s knitting.
We made a visit to only 1 supermarket and that was of good standard. A comprehensive array of food stuffs, perhaps not as extensive as ours but good never the less. We had our back packs wrapped in clingwrap which I supposed was to stop stealing. There was 3 rows of vodka. One thing my wife found unpleasant was dried fish which had a smell like you would expect. Was okay by me. It didn’t seem so long ago when we read of housewife having to stand in line for hours to get a loaf of bread. Now good food is available I would guess is what made Putin popular. By western standards I didn’t think it was expensive.
Russian industry builds some good aeroplanes, perhaps not to western standards, but good never the less. I saw none when landing or taxing at Moscow but Captain Moo said there were 7. He has a front seat but we didn’t. Russia had placed an order with China for the building of high speed trains and I have wondered if they could build aeroplanes why couldn’t they build trains. Their metro trains were in need of maintenance in the creature comfort department. Trains screamed which sounded like wheel bearings failing but it was steel wheels on steel tracks which could be heard (almost painfully) when they were approaching a station. Never heard anything like it before. Russian railway stations were a masterpiece of art, not dissimilar to the Sistine chapel. They displayed portraits of their military hero’s. The French were building the Russian Navy a warship and yet again I wondered why they had to go off shore to have that built.
We made a visit to St Bernard’s Basilica Chapel. That is the standout feature of Red Square. It has steep and narrow staircases. In a dedicated musical floor was a male choir and they were excellent and treated us as VIP’s. On conclusion they were a bit heavy, but not offensive, in an endeavour to sell us 2 C.D recordings of their show. We purchased 1 partly because they did have talent and to reward their enterprise.
We encountered both military and government security people on the gates of the kremlin and other places where security may be of importance. I found the military pleasant and good mannered. For example when metal on person alarm sounded I simple pointed to my hips and that became clear and I steel hips and was waved through and with a smile. I took photos of them on century duty, thanked them and they responded by closing and opening their eyes. The non-military people were a bit like peg dogs that drovers use. Stern and nasty. Those on immigration, airport security, kremlin staff and railway staff.
We made a trip to a market place. Quite similar to what you would find in Australia. I purchased some woollen socks. Most stores had those Russian dolls called nesting dolls or Matryoshka dolls where larger dolls contain smaller dolls which become progressively smaller.
Near Red Square were 2 impersonators. One Marx and the other Lennon. Their faces and dress were so remarkable similar to those tyrants they were impersonating. I had a photo taken with each and it will be posted. When I got my wallet out to pay them Lennon’s hand darted in and extracted a monetary note which he thought was sufficient however Moo knew the value of the note and reversed the transaction and settled with what he thought was fair.

Moscow was impressive in so far as the roads and buildings but I had the feeling the nation had been plundered to provide this. Mind you, here in good ol Oz our farming, rural and outback are also plundered and their wealth spent in our state and federal capitals. Not dissimilar to Moscow.
On a previous trip from Hong Kong to London I found most interesting. Many hours flying over farm land. Miles and miles of cereal which didn’t appear to be good yielding because the flag (leaf) was light. Villages were close together, maybe only 6 or 7 miles apart with big towns about every 15 or 20 miles apart. Farming in the west could not sustain this population. I could not see any tell tail signs of electrical high voltage power lines. I have the skill to spot tell-tale signs and I wondered how they heated their homes in winter. I was told by gas. It was the farmers I would have liked to speak to and people in these small villages.
It is well known that St Petersburg is their show city. We turned down the opportunity to visit. I find I get tired looking at masses of buildings and people and look forward to going home. Cities are cities and if I liked them, I’d simply spend time in Melbourne. I like dirt and those who till it.

I'll ask Mercman to post the pictures for me.

[woofa.express]

Moscow pictures now downloaded.
they came out so small it is not worth trying to look.
When will apple or anyone make a seniors computer?

[woofa.express]

Again, very dangerous Pilot.

I was positioning my Airtractor from Ipoh (peninsula Malaysia) near the Thai border to an ag airstrip near Senai to the south, not too far north of Singapore. I was to spread fertilizer on an oil palm plantation which was near a Malaysian military helicopter airbase. The plantation manager said I was to go and meet the base commanding officer and let the man know I’d by flying close to his airspace so off I went. The meeting was quite cordial and he asked how I got to this little airstrip near Senai. Outside controlled airspace I replied and he told me regardless of where one flys in Malaysia I needed to advise their equivalent of Air Traffic Control regardless of the route I took or distance. This was followed by a reprimand for being a very dangerous pilot. I do think people with some authority in developing countries enjoy reprimanding Western Whities.
He then invited me to lunch, but because I had a driver waiting I declined. Mistake. Late in the day 2 Skyhawk jets flew over my little airstrip at low level then ascended. That was to show me that they too used airspace in my OCTA proximity.

It was about 1 year later that 2 helicopters had a mid-air above that Senai military airfield. Very dangerous pilot? No, very dangerous controller.

[woofa.express]

Here we go again. You are very dangerous pilot.

I was operating about 70 minutes south of Khartoum Sudan and would fly into Khartoum for 100 hourly services. It was customary to fly a lap around the tower on arrival and I don’t know why, but one day I thought to hell with it and I simply flew over the tower followed by downwind etc and landed. It didn’t take too long before a big native man approaches me, speaking Arabic which I didn’t understand but he pointed to the tower. I knew I was in trouble. So off the tower I went to be met by a controller who spoke good English because he had been trained in England.
You are very dangerous pilot he said with a most authoritive voice. Why I enquired. Because you landed without a green light he retorted.
Well I said, I had landed in Khartoum many times and never ever seen a green light. May I see this green light I asked. The controller fiddled in a cupboard for what seemed like a long time and produced a torch with a power cord attached. I pointed out that it was not a green light because it had a red lens. Again, he fiddled in the cupboard produced a lens and screwed it into the torch body. Again, I pointed out that it was not a green light because it had only half a green lens. By this time he had become quite irritable and commanded me to go to a desk and write out an incident report. I could have said I would have run out of fuel before he found this green light but I didn’t. I heard no more. End of story.
I think the exertion of authority comes from those who feel they are the under doggies and we are the whitese and have this “white privilege”. They reprimand us to make the point that they too have authority.
Sometimes I might argue but really there is little point in doing so. I think of my friend Collin who simply smiles and nods his head and his adversaries believe they are superior then they like him for that reason.

[David in San Antonio]

Smiling and nodding and letting them think they are superior is what oppressed people have been doing since time immemorial. “Code switching” can include changing the way one speaks, too. One pronunciation, vocabulary, and set of body language and gestures around one group, and a completely other way of communicating when among one’s own. A recent book “James” by Percival Everett deals with this and is a real eye-opener.