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1111

General Discussion Area / Re: Iranian tensions

« on: 17 July 2019, 09:50:12 »

Regarding the Iranian tanker that was seized by 'Royal Marines' off Gibraltar recently. 

If it was carrying oil from Iran to Syria as alleged, what was it doing going through the Straights of Gibraltar, as surely it should have passed through the Suez Canal? 

Unless it was trying slip under the radar by taking the long way round the Cape?   

Anyone?    It's niggling me!   

Various rumors, but the most likely to me seems to be this one :

https://en.radiofarda.com/a/why-iran-supertanker-took-a-much-longer-route-to-reach-syria-/30038586.html

Basically, the oil carried in the tanker is heavier than normal, which makes the tanker float too "deep" to pass through the Suez Canal. No doubt Barnacle Bill the ex-Sailors amongst us will be able to explain the correct technical words for "float" and too "deep" soon. Bit like pointy end and blunt end of a boat doesn't go down very well in the navy :-)

1112

General Discussion Area / Re: Formel E

« on: 15 July 2019, 16:28:13 »

You forgot to type (the old one) after Silverstone. 

I suppose - I do miss the Abbey-Bridge-Priory bit. Woodcote-Copse-Maggots-Becketts and hangar straight survived the recent redevelopment which was a relief.  I do wonder if they should have tightened up Stowe a tad though - despite it's length little overtaking happens on Hangar Straight due to the high entry speed to Stowe.

I still think they should mandate a halving of the rear wing size in the regs. Teams would then have to (more or less) half the size of front wings to balance the cars, and the reduction in down-force would both slow cornering speeds and allow closer following in the corners due to less wake turbulence. Or perhaps even mandate only one solid horizontal element in the front wing - would do a lot to reduce aero costs.

Really enjoyed Silverstone this year - I just wonder why the Cricket, Wimbers and Silverstone all had to be on the same day? Would quite happily have sat and watched all three start to finish, but had to skip the Tennis altogether in order to watch the first three quarters of the NZ innings, then the F1, then the last three quarters of the England innings.  And worse - ran out of beer when the cricket went to extra time and penalties.

Looking forward to the new season? Or is that a sore point? 

Still deciding whether to renew my misery season ticket this year. Planning a Lundon  pi55 up trip for opening game at Barnet on 3rd Aug. Clashes with the Edgbaston Ashes Test, but can then spend Saturday morning, early afternoon and all Sunday in the pub getting trollied (assuming it goes to the 4th day).

1113

General Discussion Area / Re: Formel E

« on: 15 July 2019, 16:09:35 »

You forgot to type (the old one) after Silverstone. 

I suppose - I do miss the Abbey-Bridge-Priory bit. Woodcote-Copse-Maggots-Becketts and hangar straight survived the recent redevelopment which was a relief.  I do wonder if they should have tightened up Stowe a tad though - despite it's length little overtaking happens on Hangar Straight due to the high entry speed to Stowe.

I still think they should mandate a halving of the rear wing size in the regs. Teams would then have to (more or less) half the size of front wings to balance the cars, and the reduction in down-force would both slow cornering speeds and allow closer following in the corners due to less wake turbulence. Or perhaps even mandate only one solid horizontal element in the front wing - would do a lot to reduce aero costs.

Really enjoyed Silverstone this year - I just wonder why the Cricket, Wimbers and Silverstone all had to be on the same day? Would quite happily have sat and watched all three start to finish, but had to skip the Tennis altogether in order to watch the first three quarters of the NZ innings, then the F1, then the last three quarters of the England innings.  And worse - ran out of beer when the cricket went to extra time and penalties.

1114

General Discussion Area / Re: Formel E

« on: 15 July 2019, 15:33:20 »

Give Formula E a decade or so, when its running faster and in more dramatic locations than F1 (where you can't have races for noise reasons) and its popularity will be massive. I just hope that it doesn't get hamstrung with the same tedium that afflicts formula 1.

Street circuits aren't where F1 car's shine though. The A1 ring in Austria is a bit mickey mouse, and whilst Monaco and Singapore seem popular they're hopeless as races. 

Give me the classics at Silverstone, Hockenheim (the old one), Nurburg ring (the old one), Monza, Suzuka, Montreal, or the real daddy Spa, over any of the new courses. Be interesting next year to see how Zanfoort stacks up after so many years off the calendar.

Comparing F1 to Formula E is pointless. Apples and Pears.

1115

General Car Chat / Re: Bimbo Brains

« on: 15 July 2019, 15:01:51 »

One of my (high growth) pension pots lost an enormous amount overnight when the EU referendum result came in. We're talk 30% plus, in a few hours. It hasn't recovered from that.  Thats on top of the big hit it was taking during the global downturn from about 2008 to 2015ish.

So with high growths come high drops as well and these come round regularly, which is why most companies tend to recommend moving more from risky growth to lower growth but more stable investments in the 10-12yrs leading up to retirement.

30% drop is moderate. It's not considered a 'crash' till it drops 40%, and these can be expected (though not predicted!) on average once every 7-10 years. Some high risk funds have the capability of dropping 90% overnight. People generally don't moan when a fund is going up at 25% a year, but then in year 5 when it drops 90% all hell breaks loose because they haven't understood the risk/reward balance has two sides.

But yes on your second paragraph - with risk comes the potential for reward. More risk in general brings larger reward, and in general as you get closer to retirement you should probably reduce the risk of a big drop unless you are active in managing your investments and know what you're doing.

STEMO's better half has a teachers pension, which isn't invested as such. It's a promise from the govt to pay. It's paid for by govt income (AKA taxes), and if they have to, they'll just put up taxes to pay for it. As such, it's as safe as can be.

A quick check of 3578 funds listed on Trustnet shows "Polar Capital Global Technology I GBP" is currently top of the league table for 5yr returns, coming in at +227%. However it carries a risk rating of 175 (the average fund is sub 100). Bottom of the league is "MFM Junior Oils Trust P Acc" coming in at -56% over 5 years, with a risk rating of 244. Not sure what either of those funds do, and frankly not interested either, but I'd suggest you shouldn't be in either unless you know exactly why.

1116

General Discussion Area / Re: Turkey , NATO or Russia or independent?

« on: 12 July 2019, 21:12:47 »

Turkey is taking delivery of the Russian S-400 defence system but still expects to get F 35 planes from the US.  Turkey is a member of NATO with a pretty big army.

The US will not allow any country to operate both F-35 and a top of the range Russian defence radar/missile system.

The reason is simple. In peacetime western stealth aircraft normally fly with radar reflectors fitted (typically Luneberg lenses). There are at least two reasons for this - firstly it means they can be seen by ordinary (civil) radar systems so they don't accidentally 'bump' into other traffic, and secondly to disguise their true radar signature from prying non friendly radars. Israel, the US and the UK have all operated F-35 close to 'hostile' countries such as Russia, Syria and Iran.

The only time the radar reflectors are removed is when the planes are taking part in active (potentially hostile) missions. There is still a chance that a hostile radar may pick something up, but given the element of surprise, and the lack of information on what a 'cloaked' stealth aircrafts radar signature looks like chances are the stealth aircraft will complete it's mission safely. The SS-400 operators in Russia, Syria and Iran won't get any practice in targeting a cloaked F-35, and if push comes to shove an F-35 will have taken out all the SS-400 sites before the SS-400's operators have learned what to look for.

However, if Turkey is allowed to operate both F-35 and SS-400, then they can work out how to use the SS-400 to target the F-35 in peacetime conditions, and spend as long as they want doing so. And the risk is that the information on how to do it will get fed back to Russia, and then on to Iran and Syria. The US cannot allow that to happen, since it'll remove one of the major advantages the F-35 has, and F-35 is key to western defence for the next 20+ years.

Turkish pilots have already been banned from areas of Luke AFB in Arizona (the training base for F-35A's), and their aircraft impounded. None have been delivered to Turkey so far. And the way things are going, none ever will be. The US won't want to loose access to Incirlik AB in Turkey, so some tough decisions will be needed soon.

1117

General Discussion Area / Re: Iranian tensions

« on: 11 July 2019, 14:27:59 »

What little old insignificant Britain being asked to stop the tanker near Gib and look after this tanker in the Straits of Hormuz. Who would have thunk that especially after all the talk Britain down rhetoric from the Remainers that the UK is like a banana republic just above Haiti in the ranks.

AIUI the tanker is the BP owned "British Heritage", which is registered in the Isle Of Man so entitled to protection from the Royal Navy. That's one of the primary reasons the RN was formed - to protect the British merchant fleet. If the Yanks got intelligence that some Iranian up to no good was about to happen, and there was a RN presence in the area, then I'd bloody well hope they pass that info on to HMG and appropriate action is taken. The yanks don't have to tell us where the info came from, spy satellites, drones, ELINT etc, but we should be thankful they shared it with us.

If there had been no RN presence then it's up to the rules of engagement of whatever assets were in the area, and their chain of command, as to what happens next. Often that is nothing, as was the case with the two tankers a few weeks ago. The US obviously had 'eyes-on' but on that occasion chose not to respond with lethal force. If the tankers had been US flagged things would have been different.

If the merchant ship is sailing under a different flag, then it's up to that country to sort their mess out. If the ship had been Panamanian for instance, I doubt HMS Montrose would have intervened so swiftly - and it's anyones guess if the USN would have reacted.

1118

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Re: Alternator ripple voltage test gives 30V AC

« on: 11 July 2019, 00:48:41 »

How/Where were you measuring the AC voltage - Across the battery?

If so, you can't do that and get meaningful results. The AC reading (if it claims to be showing RMS) will typically be 1.4142135623730950488016887242097 (ish) times the true DC voltage, depending how good/accurate the voltmeter is. So you should see 20 ish volts AC if the battery is charging at 14V. Or if the Voltmeter is claiming to show peak voltage, it'll show 28V if the battery is charging at 14V.

You'll never see a real AC voltage across a DC battery unless the battery is FUBAR or smoke is coming out of something.

1119

Meetings, gatherings, parties etc / Re: VBOA 2019. Sywell areodrome

« on: 06 July 2019, 01:05:19 »

Hi
New member here. (Not the right area for a 1st post, I know....sorry)
Not to be honest much of a poster as I don't really get on well with keyboards 
So with that in mind I thought a better way of introducing myself would be to join you all down at the VBOA meet! Great idea I thought!
So I booked the time off work, paid for three days camping, filled an Omega with fuel and a tent and then, today, proceeded to spend over six hours traveling the 170 miles of many, many traffic hold ups and heat to reach Sywell.
Hooray arrived at last!
Except that upon arrival to be told by someone on the Autobahnstormers pitch that there was not going to be room for my son and I as non members of ABS.  An offer was eventually made for us to pitch for one night due to lateness of the hour but we would have to vacate the following morning.
Needless to say we were not happy with the cold reception we received and as such left.  Dissapointed by the experience we felt only the need to turn around and return straight home.
Good start 

Have to say, that's a very disappointing response (from whoever was acting on behalf of the ABS - not you!), unless they really are expecting the site to be rammed. Not exactly the way to attract new members. And if it is rammed, it surely brings into question the wisdom of moving from Mk Harborough/Billing in the first place (which is a VBOA decision not ABS, but still).

1120

Omega General Help / Re: Rear pads

« on: 04 July 2019, 13:31:36 »

While I don't exactly dawdle I don't tear about like I'm trying to win the F1 championship either! Driving with anticipation and letting the engine/gearbox do some of the slowing down I find means you don't have to hammer the brakes to stop.

I was told brakes are cheaper than gearboxes.

The key word was anticipation. Paying attention to what's going on around you means you don't go speeding up to traffic/junctions/whatever that you should have spotted 1/4 mile earlier. That makes you car last longer which costs less, reduces your chances of crashing, and means your passengers don't moan at you.

Except most of the traffic lights round here have magnetic/induction sensors buried in the road - usually 3 sets at about a 10yard spacing. The sooner you get over the first sensor, the sooner the lights will change. So modus operandi is charge up to the first sensor at warp factor 9, then stand on the anchors to stop before the white line.

1121

General Car Chat / Re: FL rear bumper on heebay

« on: 04 July 2019, 12:34:57 »

That was quick, someone on here or elsewhere got a bargain 

Yes - Me.

This'll be the 3rd one I've had. Every time I replace an old one some oppswit runs into the back of me. Once in a Maccie-D's car park and the next time a Dominos pizza delivery moped. Wonder how long this one will last.

May only have been £40, but the paint usually comes in at more like £200.

1122

General Car Chat / Re: FL rear bumper on heebay

« on: 04 July 2019, 09:39:52 »

Thanks for that. Bought I think.

1123

General Discussion Area / Re: Nice Jolly..

« on: 03 July 2019, 13:43:27 »

I heard aircraft overhead on Sunday afternoon and looked up to see the Red Arrows fly past in two V formations, heading east along the coast. 

I assumed that they'd come from Exeter Airport which I believe they use as a base when in the South West and were heading to do a show somewhere. Bournemouth maybe? 

Yes, I was gliding and I remember a NOTAM. Can't remember where they were heading...

Just checked and they did a display down at Plymouth for Armed Forces Day on Saturday and Sunday did another Armed Forces Day display at Folkestone. 

Ah, I saw some display aircraft come across our town, obviously from Folkestone, in addition to the usual air traffic of merlin engined WW2 fighters that fly regularly over here.  But no sign of those F35's!!

The last 2 of the 6 deployed to Cyprus/Italy are rumored to be due back later today, and will probably come in over Brighton way, accompanied by an RAF tanker - callsign RRR9105 - which will probably show up on the civvy radar tracking sites. So if you're any good at 'dot spotting' little grey jets at 30K feet plus....

1124

Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / WTD : Passenger Side Wing Mirror Glass, & Headlight level sensor.

« on: 03 July 2019, 09:38:02 »

Hi,
Anyone going to Billing (Sywell!) got either....

2001 Facelift 3.0L Elite Saloon Passenger side Wing Mirror Glass - Heated. (not the whole unit, just the glass)
2001 Facelift 3.0L Elite Saloon Headlamp Level Sensor widget (Got the dreaded "Headlight Range" error)

I know I can probably get either/both from fleaBay, but given the VBOA event is this weekend I'd rather give the money to a member here if possible.

Cheers
Malcolm

1125

General Discussion Area / Re: Nice Jolly..

« on: 01 July 2019, 23:34:30 »

There are currently no plans to fly F-35 at low level at all

I think getting one to fly should be the first challenge

They flew here from the US, IIRC.

.. Unless that refuelling probe was actually a cunningly disguised aerotow rope.

I'm not sure that folding the wings and stuffing it into the back of a C17 counts as flying

9 have arrived in the UK. 4 in June last year, and another 5 last August. All 9 flew under their own power non-stop from MCAS Beaufort in South Carolina, obviously escorted and refuelled en-route by RAF (Voyager) Tankers. All 9 are currently operated by 617 Sqn. There are rumours of another 5 coming across in the next month or two to start the formation of the second squadron (201 Sqn). The RAF also have another 3 or 4 permenetly stationed in the USA for test and development work. It's uncertain if these 3/4 will ever be delivered to the UK since they are early development aircraft, and of a different standard to the ones delivered.

The reason only 3 were in the UK last week was that 617 Sqn had deployed to Cyprus with 6 jets in March, and these have been used in Op Schader missions over Syria, and joint exercises with US and Israeli F-35's. 4 of the jets returned to the UK today, whilst the other 2 have stopped off in Italy for excercises with Italian F35A's and Typhoons. So as of today there are 7 jets at RAF Marham.

If you want to see one (or hopefully more), then they are due to do flypasts at both Yeovilton Air Day (Sat 13th July) and RAF Fairford the following weekend (Fri 19th - Sun 21st). As of yet, I don't think any have landed in the UK away from RAF Marham, though maybe now they're back from Cyprus they'll start appearing a bit more often.