Bob Burton

Did you notice that the story dates from the 18th of April 2016 ? The conclusion was that "A passenger plane thought to have been struck as it approached Heathrow airport was probably not hit by a drone after all, the government says."

Posted by Simon Chaddock on 01/11/2016 10:05:49: It will only use the balance leads to balance charge right at the end of the charge cycle when the current has dropped to a small value. In my experience of monitoring Lipo charging the balancing occurs early in the charging process or probably throughout it rather than just at the end. The important point is still that the balancing current is small compared to that being carried by the main charging leads.

The HK Web developers will, of course, have been working to a full specification (*) that had been agreed by the management (*) and shared with users (*) and the specification will have included the enhanced "user experience" (*), the perceived improvements from the user's perspective (*) and the company's perspective(*) and there will have been extensive consultation with a representative group of typical users (*) who will have been given the opportunity to provide feedback on the design and operation of the new design based on beta versions of the software (*). The new site will have been designed based on metrics collected from the existing site showing how users used it (*) and typical paths taken through it (*) as well as feedback from typical customer complaints and comments (*). The site will have been "stress" tested to ensure that it could cope with the expected volume of transactions (*) which would be higher than usual having been down for a number of hours and a tested method of rolling back to the previous site would have been in place in the event of any major problems (*) * If I have counted correctly there are 13 points in my post that I believe should have been in place in order that the upgrade was a success but it is almost certain that either most of them were not in place or if they were that they were badly implemented.

I would have answered "I don't belong to a club" but there was no option for that.

Posted by jrman on 23/10/2016 12:50:13: Why do so many TV and radio presenters insist on saying ----- every ----single----- word------ separately and not speak them together as a coherent sentence? Robert Peston is one of the chief protagonists IMHO. Maybe because he has a stammer which, for a broadcast journalist, is very brave.

My current pet hate, which causes me to shout at the radio (wireless !) or the TV, is the emphasis on the first syllable of the word research

Posted by Cuban8 on 20/10/2016 09:47:18: My elderly mother-in-law was being harassed by all manner of calls despite TPS registration, so I fitted one of those call filtering devices to her line and programmed it to block all unknown or withheld numbers. Family, doctor, hospital and one or two other important agencies are the only people that call her now, and she is blissfully unaware of the work the little gizmo is doing behind the scenes on her behalf. True customer choice. Edited By Cuban8 on 20/10/2016 09:50:17 Unfortunately GPs and hospitals usually withhold their number to avoid you calling back on a direct line to the extension being used, so their incoming calls are likely to be blocked by the filtering device.

"The point is that the wheels can rotate at a rate faster or lower than the speed of the conveyor by either advancing or retreating on it." Not according to the original post.

"We know that if this plane applies take-off power and takes the brakes off, it will achieve flying speed and take off regardless of what the conveyor is doing." Sorry, but we know no such thing, because the conveyor will speed up moving the plane backwards to compensate for the wheels (and the plane) moving forward. Hence the plane will stay still.

Posted by onetenor on 15/10/2016 01:28:29: The car and the plane get their thrust in different ways The car via driven wheels in contact with the road. The plane from jet/props which act upon the air not the conveyor.thus pushing the plane forward irrespective of belt speed. But in the case of the original question the conveyor moves at the same speed as the wheels, so if/when the plane speeds up so will the conveyor to compensate for it. Thus the plane will stay in the same position on the conveyor and have no airspeed so cannot take off.

"the belt is moving backwards at 75mph and the plane is moving forwards at 75mph giving a total indicated speed of 150mph. " In the case of the plane is that airspeed or ground speed ? What became of the fact that the speed of the conveyor matches that of the wheels but in the opposite direction ?

Posted by Bob Cotsford on 14/10/2016 11:50:13: To my mind, if the take-off speed of the aircraft is for sake of argument 150mph, then as the aircraft accelerates the conveyor will accelerate in the opposite direction to equal the wheel speed so at 150 mph the aircraft will achieve lift off. At this point the conveyor will be running at 300mph in the opposite direction. Physics is easy, you just need the right medication How fast is the aircraft moving through the air when the conveyor is moving at 300 mph ?

Posted by Harry Twist on 14/10/2016 10:04:31: The runway is moving along underneath us at the same rate that our wheels are turning - all the thrust is doing is making the wheels turn faster - which makes the belt turn faster with it! So no amount of thrust will move us forwards - and we will not move any where. So no we cant take off! Agreed wholeheartedly

Posted by The Wright Stuff on 14/10/2016 08:40:55: Provided the wheels and tyres could withstand travelling at twice the take off speed, the 747 COULD take off. But as the plane will never move forward on the conveyor belt due to it matching the speed of the wheels how could it ?

Why so much discussion ? The conveyor matches the speed of the wheels moving in the opposite direction therefore the plane will never move forward so will never take off from the conveyor belt.

Posted by Dom (Essential RC) on 20/09/2016 10:57:49: At 1.3m wingspan the Avios Zazzy from HobbyKing is a decent size but the innovative servo connection system for the wings means breaking it down for transport (and assembly at the field) is very quick and easy with no servo lead connections. Precision flight and aerobatic characteristics are superb due to the quality digital metal gear servos and the thick wing section makes for stable flight at high and low speed. This is a perfect second model for the RC pilot who wants there next challenge after they have learnt basic flight with an RC Trainer like the HobbyKing Tuff Trainer 2. Disappointing to see the BMFA recommendations on safety disregarded when connecting the battery. "(b) Since plugging in the flight battery is nearly always a two-handed job you must give serious thought to how your model will be restrained BEFORE it does something you don’t expect. (c) When plugging in the flight battery, positive restraint, either by a helper holding the model or by some other method, and staying completely clear of the propeller must always be part of your regular routine. " One false move or fault and the motor would have started when the Lipo was connected. Considering where the prop was at the time and that there was no model restraint if the motor had started it would have been "interesting" To my mind the procedure used would warrant a failure if the pilot was undertaking even the A certificate test.

Posted by Ian Jones on 12/09/2016 11:37:37: Posted by Allan Bowker on 12/09/2016 10:48:56: Ian, when printing with ABS, try some of this on your bed, works well for me. ......etc. Thanks Allan, that looks like just the answer I was looking for, ordered some. Think I'll try another question... one of the head cooling fans has shed a blade, I expect the rest will follow, anyone know where I can get another one?.......... Allan? Another fan ? The obvious answer surely, is to print one

Glad it made it OK. I cannot remember a thing about how to use it apart from plugging it in, downloading and installing some software and running it. Good luck !

Thanks for the explanation but it sounds like a mixed blessing. "Microsoft Support" call and withhold their number. They are asked to announce who they are, which they do, and the 'phone rings and you answer it. You hear what they have announced and decide to continue or not. It seems to me that you might just as well have answered the call in the first place. If you decide not to proceed then you have the satisfaction of being very rude to them or leading them up the garden path as several us have done when we have the time.

How well does the Call Guardian deal with calls from hospitals and GP surgeries which withhold their number ?

I have never been clear how LiPos in an ammo box are charged safely. Obviously the charging leads must get to the LiPos but doesn't that reduce the usefulness of the ammo box by needing to have a hole in it ?

I usually get those sorts of call from "Microsoft Support" I have 2 techniques for dealing with them depending on how buy I am at the time of the call. If I am busy I just tell them that it is a scam and put the phone down. If I have time I keep them talking. It is surprising how long my PC can take to boot up when they ask me to start it, even though in practice it is already running. I am happy to look at the Event Viewer when asked and express concern at what I see even though everything is normal. It usually takes several attempts for me to get to the EV as I am, of course, old and doddery and "don't know much about computers" Trying to get me to connect to a Web site is very difficult for them as I persist in typing exactly what they tell me, or at least I pretend to. Entering a Web address of UUUUUUdotsomethingdotcom never seems to work for some reason. I am often passed on to a Supervisor and we then sometimes start all over again. It is not helped by my need to go to the toilet during the call. In practice I am making a coffee. My record so far is to keep this going for 45 minutes until I got bored and told them that I knew it was a scam. To say that they were not pleased would be an understatement.

Pete Keep an eye on this thread and you will know when/if it becomes available. If Andy decides not to make me an offer for it then it makes sense for him to send it to you directly to you. Perhaps I should ask for photographs of it in unusual places like some gnomes !

Pete When Andy has finished with it I am quite happy for him to pass it on to you to try/use/buy as appropriate. Just let me know where it is. Bob

I would not have bought the lead had I not seen it lurking in the display cabinet of the LMS. Was/is it worthwhile ? Well, it did the job that I wanted, but unless you have a large fleet of AS3X models it is of limited use. I used it, experimented with it a bit, set the model the way I wanted then put it in the drawer where it has languished for a couple (or more) years. I only remembered that I had it when the query arose which is why I am happy to loan it out or pass it on to anyone who needs it.