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Old 01-02-2021, 07:00 PM   #961
woofa.express
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Buying gas.

A small tanker used to visit our farm and fill our 44-gal drums with petrol. We pumped it into the tractors which were 3 Farmall A’s and a W4. In addition we had an International WD4 which used diesel. I had thought this was a very big tractor when I was a kid. When I saw one for the first as an adult I then realised it was a little biddie. My ego felt a little deflated. Well it was big when I was 11 or 12. I was driving wheel tractors a little earlier.
By the time I was a teenager and shortly to leave school we had all diesels. Dad decided he’d need another petrol tractor so he went and bought a John Deere 2 cylinder just to use petrol. It had crop wheels which weren’t really what we needed but that didn’t really matter.
Excitement coupled with some fear occurred when I tied a length of bailing twine to the governor and pulled. It would seem to travel about 50 mph but was realistically 30. With those front wheels it would have been unstable and a flick of the wrists would surely have rolled it and I knew it at the time. But I have got away from the point of this story haven’t I?

And the point is why did Dad buy this orphan that used petrol? This is what he told me. We don’t pay tax on tractor fuel but we do on motorcar fuel. So with at least with one petrol burner we are able to declare to the excise inspector it is powering the John Deere. Now that makes sense doesn’t it. He like me, has no conscience about lying to the government, after all they lie to me every day. I once told that to an airport customs inspector. He was aghast but only for a few seconds. His wide grin followed. (Pinched for not declaring a VCR recorder).

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Old 01-03-2021, 11:01 AM   #962
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Is your non-taxed fuel coloured as it is in North America? Here they have a habit of "dipping" the tanks of vehicles suspected of using "dyed" fuel when they shouldn't be.
Years ago lots of people used dyed fuel because there was a huge difference in price but nowadays w/the price of fuel so high the taxes are a smaller percentage of the cost.
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Old 01-03-2021, 06:03 PM   #963
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Colouring in off road fuel.

Yes Katy, I understand this is a common practise in many countries including North America.
Our farming and mining fuel has no road tax for by definition it is used off road. The gov is now going to add 1c per litre which sounds insignificant. To do this legislation will be introduced and thereafter increases will be simple. It’s called “a foot in the door practise”. The general population will even welcome this because miners are looked upon as exceedingly wealthy and farmers are so few in numbers the poor fellows are politically insignificant. They just feed us and this is looked upon by unthinking people as their birth obligation. Because Australia is an urban country there are not many who even know a farmer.
Now that did not answer your question did it. No, no colouring is added to off road fuel here.
I sometimes used diesel in my aeroplane. I didn’t buy enough to bother applying for tax exempt. Jet fuel (Kero) was my preference.
In New Zealand an additional premium is added to the motor vehicle registration to accommodate no road tax. I think. A NZ reader might fill us in.
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Old 01-05-2021, 05:36 PM   #964
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This is some correspondence I've conducted with my friend Cam

Hi Cam. Thank you for your positive feedback about my stories. It makes it worthwhile knowing people do like them. They are written for the Model A forum and I have done this for now18 months. In that time I have had more than 118,000 views. The Model A forum is world-wide. It is not a big forum.

The forerunner to the Model-A is the Model-T and was produced in larger numbers, some 15,000 in fact. The A came to production in 1928 and lasted to 1931 with only 5 million produced. The reason for the disparity: those years encompassed the depression.

I think the A had both class and style. It was also incredibly simple. There are still plenty of spare used parts available and almost everything can be purchased new, reproduced of course. Both going motorcars and parts are plentifully available. They cruise at 40mph +. Some owners claim better but be advised there are more lies told about the yields of crops, size of fish, especially those that got away and the speed of model A’s.

To summarise for you Cam, the A is simple and performs well- it is 40hp. Is affordable and it is fun. And yes, I am besotted.

Cam responded and said, quote. “I must admit the A has a touch of class”. He goes on to say that when he was a boy his folks had a mid 50’s Ford Prefect. A 1200cc motor producing some 36hp. He didn’t know how his parents and 3 boys plus baggage squeezed in. in 25 years it wasn’t a giant step for mankind was it?

I feel Cam may drive a Model A sometime in the future.

make your judgement. plus add an additional 000 to the number of Model T's built. Pardon me.
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Old 01-06-2021, 10:30 PM   #965
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We are feeling downcast today.

We are a close family that frequently celebrate the events of our children and grandchildren but today there is an element of sadness as a result of confinement due to the coronavirus. Let me tell you about it.
Our second son Michael we call Moo. Now 49 and has lived in Hong Kong since 1997, the year of the Chinese takeover. He is pilot with a major air carrier and his wife for their subsidiary until she retired when they had kids. When those kids turned14 they were put into boarding school in Brisbane for their last 3 years in secondary. When they were to return to Honkers at the end of last year but would have incurred a fortnight lockdown and another again on returning to Brisbane. The decision was made to rent a house and live there. Their forth kid would now attend boarding school and their mother would also relocate to Brisbane.

That leaves Moo in Honkers and whilst he speaks to the kids each day he hasn’t seen them for more than six months. For the last 3 or maybe 4 weeks he has been running Honkers to Australian ports. Today it was Brisbane. His wife and kids went to the airport and were able to wave to dad as he was whisked off in a bus to quarantine until his return to Honkers tomorrow. So near and yet so far. We all feel so sad for the whole family.

Questions. What will be the outcome of this virus. Families broken. Businesses bust. Unemployment. Nations bankrupt. Are governments taking the best action and do they know what they are doing. Are we being told the truth. To some degree the honest answer may well be “we don’t know”. I would like to know the truth of just what they do know. I’m not gullible enough to believe they have kept us fully informed. Blind Freddy can see there is political and bureaucratic opportunism occurring to quite some degree.

Will the new vaccine be effective. Are we simply putting too much hope in it. Will this virus mutate and become mankind’s mortality.
It’s all very sobering stuff isn’t it.
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Old 01-07-2021, 03:36 AM   #966
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And this was Moo's glimpse of his wife and kids from the bus, from the previous story.
Written on the brown cardboard is "we love you dad."
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Old 01-07-2021, 07:57 AM   #967
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This whole situation is sad I haven't been able to see my two sons or grandchildren for over year and half because of travel and covid . Feel you and your families pain . Always like your stories .
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Old 01-08-2021, 03:02 PM   #968
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Les Diablerets.

A small Swiss mountain ski resort. From Montreux take a small train up the mountain. This train propels itself by cog and chain, very slowly up the steep slope to the small village of Les Diablerets which translated means “the little devils”. It retains much of its original character. Or it did in 1972.
Patsy and I stayed in a little wooden hotel, Les Chamois, which is shown today on google maps as a big hotel. The only English-speaking person was a patron by the name of Maurice and he taught us something I’ll not forget. I’ll pass it on to you now.
Prior to taking a drink it is a world wide custom to bring glasses together with a small clink or even big crash and say “cheers”. The impact is dependent on the structural integrity of the glasses I guess and the number that have already gone down ones neck. Well we all look at our glasses as we do so. Maurice said wrong. We should look into each other’s eyes. Good idea and I’ve done this ever since.
It was at the Model A national meeting 2018 at Murray Bridge South Australia where our group of eight attended and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I taught them all to clink glasses at the same time look into each other’s eyes, cry “eyes” and followed by lifting glasses arm’s length and saying together “hoorst” rising from their seat at the same time. It was sort of a bonding call of a small gang and such fun. It created attention and laughter from other attendees who like us had good taste because they too drove motorcars the same as ours.
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Old 01-08-2021, 04:06 PM   #969
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Great story, Woofa. Thanks
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Old 01-09-2021, 03:17 AM   #970
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Great story, Woofa. Thanks

thanks Chuck. It's pleasing to know there are people who enjoy reading them. For you I will add an extension to the Les Diablerets story. Here it is.


Les Diaberels (again). Following on from yesterday’s story.

Whilst at Les Diablerets the international motor show in Geneve was running. A local mountain musical group was sent to play and entertain. Maurice said it was a disaster. They just got drunk and enjoyed themselves. Hardly played a thing. What Maurice went on to say amused me. He said “you just can’t send mountain folk to town”. What amused me was the similarity to Australia with outback people, ringers in particular. You just can’t send them to town. (They won’t come back until their money has run dry).
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Old 01-09-2021, 01:54 PM   #971
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And to conclude the story of Les Diableties.

A senior ski instructor, a personable fellow, who could be heard yodelling across the mountains was a practical joker. It was the last afternoon of group instruction for a group of visitors before their departure and he set them up for a photograph. They lined up to his left and right, squeezed in closely together, at his suggestion so there was no room between them. Countdown for the shot began, 5, 4,3,2 and at the count of 1 he pushed his both arms outwards. His entire class fell to the ground, leaving only him standing and with a wide grin.
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Old 01-11-2021, 12:03 PM   #972
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Quote:
at the count of 1 he pushed his both arms outwards. His entire class fell to the ground, leaving only him standing and with a wide grin.
I don't get it, why would the "entire class" fall to the ground?
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Old 01-11-2021, 12:45 PM   #973
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I'm a little late with this, but I worked at LAX for almost 10 years, LAX is a small airport on the west side of Los Angeles. We had our own fuel station, pumped gas, diesel and propane. We paid the road taxes once a year, so the total was quite high. We decided we shouldn't be paying road tax while driving on the roads we built and maintained on our own property. It took awhile to convince Sacramento of this but we succeeded, except they still wanted the tax paid when we were off our own property. An agreement was reached, but we had to prove which was which. We printed a form and required all our drivers to keep track of mileage driven on public roads. It took effort but it was worth the trouble. I'd quote $ amounts but I only did the calculations on mileage, never saw the $ results. Just another day dealing with government arses!
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Old 01-12-2021, 11:20 PM   #974
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Sorry Katy.

I didn’t explain that well did I, let me start again.
The ski instructor had his students line up, shoulder to shoulder on his right and left. Packed tightly and wearing skis. So when the instructor pushed both right and left they could not adjust their stance and fell like dominoes. So their souvenir picture showed them all fallen over in the snow, except for the instructor of course who was the only man standing and wearing a broad grin.
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Old 01-13-2021, 12:18 AM   #975
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[QUOTE=Jim Brierley;1972824]I'm a little late with this, but I worked at LAX for almost 10 years, LAX is a small airport on the west side of Los Angeles. We had our own fuel station, pumped gas, diesel and propane. We paid the road taxes once a year, so the total was quite high. We decided we shouldn't be paying road tax while driving on the roads we built and maintained on our own property. It took awhile to convince Sacramento of this but we succeeded, except they still wanted the tax paid when we were off our own property. An agreement was reached, but we had to prove which was which. We printed a form and required all our drivers to keep track of mileage driven on public roads. It took effort but it was worth the trouble. I'd quote $ amounts but I only did the calculations on mileage, never saw the $ results. Just another day dealing with government arses!

Well Jim, it seems your government servants and ours have things in common.
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Old 01-13-2021, 10:27 AM   #976
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Great stories, thanks for posting.
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Old 01-18-2021, 04:01 PM   #977
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thanks Keith for your kind comments. It's encouraging to get feed back like that.

I shot at him and he at me. We came face to face.

This is a story of two war time foes who came face to face. I’ll give you an account on both but I know very little of the German man’s war history. However I shall start with him as I knew him in his last years. Willy Lindner was his name. A wartime aircraft engineer with the German Luftwaffe and anti-aircraft gunner when under attack at his airstrip. After the war he immigrated to Geelong, Australia. He and his wife spent summers at a large gliding centre at the Tocumwal airfield where they had a comfortable caravan and annex.
The gliding centre at Tocumwal is known as “Sportavia”. This facility was a very large war time hanger that provided hangarage, accommodation, dining and lounge rooms plus administration facilities. It was a fun place and attracted both national and international pilots. Northern hemisphere residents, mostly Germans, would come to avoid the northern winters and some had come to spend what they called “hot money”. It’s what we would call “cash under the counter”. They would also be attracted by a local expat German instructor who held 3 world championships and 5 national. As you would know Australia has hot summers and the extensive grain growing regions with large cultivated paddocks which provide great for setting up thermals. This is how gliders acquire lift.
Now back to Willy Lindner. He would undertake maintenance and repairs on aeroplane magnetos and electrical systems and this included work on my cropdusters. He was skilled and helpful and was a pleasant fellow too - pictured here in front of my Agcat.

Edgar Pickles was the same age as Willy. He was a war time hero having flown 49 missions in command of a British Lancaster heavy bomber and twice awarded the “Distinguished Flying Cross”. I first met Edgar in the Kimberlies, a vast region in the north of West Australia where he owned a property named El Questro. The Kimberlies is an outback area known for cattle grazing, crocodiles and massive rocks and extensive rocky areas. Whilst El Questro was a cattle run it was more picturesque than productive. Today it is a tourist resort and to stay you would need to mortgage your house. Whilst Edgar owned El Questro he farmed and lived in the Riverina which is in the south of the state of New South Wales. I moved here in 1968 where I used to see him, albeit infrequently. Edgar owned a Bonanza which was in a pretty ordinary state of repair. He kept it in his back yard and would fly home at any time of day. Night landings were of no problem provided he left the light burning on his back porch. In addition to his Bonanza he owned a Mustang, although ownership may have been in question. This was hangered off farm about 30 miles north of Tocumwal. It was said Edgar would take off to coincide with passing airliners and pull up and format off their wingtips. These would have been mainly DC3’s or other similar piston engine aeroplanes. Edgar never told me of this but it is a good story, maybe true.

Years ago Edgar met with me at the Tocumwal aerodrome. I was at Sportavia (the gliding centre mentioned earlier). I introduced him to Willy Lindner, remember he was the Luftwaffe engineer/gunner and remember too they were wartime foes. How would they greet and receive each other??? Well they took a liking to each other instantly like long lost brothers. Wagged their chins for maybe two hours. They had a great time, enjoying each other’s company and stories.

Willy is pictured with my Agcat and Edgar at a bomber command reunion in Britain. Also at an airshow, in a golf cart with local flying instructor John Williams. Both Willy, Edgar and Bill (mentioned below) have now passed.

The gliding centre mentioned, Sportavia was owned by Bill Riley. Bill too flew in the war, Sunderland flying boats hunting German U-boats. I wrote about Bill on 28 Dec 2018, story number 408. Bill was a scallywag and was my buddy. Not because I’m a scallywag but both he and I would take a stand against the authoritive and egotistical inspectors of the government aviation authority. I do have a picture of Bill but the photos on my computer are all messed up and I can’t locate one.
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Old 01-19-2021, 01:20 PM   #978
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I don't know about 'sportavia', but I stayed a week on a very nice 'dude ranch' in Montana in 1958, at absolutely no cost to me, it was great, horseback riding, watching a dog-retriever show, etc. Oh BTW, my brother was foreman of the haying crew at the time. I did do a little work on his crew but overall it was a great time, and the girls were pretty too!
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Old 01-19-2021, 02:05 PM   #979
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I don't know about 'sportavia', but I stayed a week on a very nice 'dude ranch' in Montana in 1958, at absolutely no cost to me, it was great, horseback riding, watching a dog-retriever show, etc. Oh BTW, my brother was foreman of the haying crew at the time. I did do a little work on his crew but overall it was a great time, and the girls were pretty too!
Morning Jim. 1958? Now that's 63 years ago. Weren't all girls pretty 63 years ago? Your picture all those years back. Cheers, gary
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Old 01-20-2021, 01:44 PM   #980
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woofa, come to think about it, I've never seen an ugly girl. When I was 20 I thought a 60 year old woman was not so good looking. Today I realize there a lot of good looking 80 year olds! :-)
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