You're absolutely right! I really am questioning everything I used to think was important. I really am questioning what it even means to be an "aviator" these days.
Thanks for noticing!
PSP air museum / F-117 stuff
- Thread starter MikeD
- Start date
Thanks for noticing!
milleR
Well-Known Member
lol, what?Or, just go to a library. But since yer gettin' real-paid to push buttons in the correct order, just buy a new copy and support the disposable, consumer economy. Good fella!
A) I haven’t been paid to fly a plane in over a decade
and
B) for someone that wants to be considered such an eloquent scribe you sure don’t seem to appreciate the satisfaction of owning an actual book.
Not at all. Sorry if I "scribed" that the wrong way. It sounded to me like you already HAD a copy, but it got lost in the surfeit of "stuff".
My point was not to pick on you. My point was that resources are scarce. Proceed carefully and with discipline. Don't re-purchase what you forgot you already HAVE (maybe in a forgotten storage unit somewhere that's billed on CC autopay).
Also, with the relative subject pronoun "someone", the correct antecedent pronoun is "who", not "that".
In any case, if you're gonna buy stuff, buy books. Well done!
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bimmerphile
MCAS Meat Inhibition Logic
or comprehending anything beyond a comment in a thread before self aggrandizing
I think pretending to not know different users and their background is part of the "I'm not crop duster/space monkey" ruse
(or they just refuse to actually read anything on the forum as if it's written by another person and not 'reddituser17347')
Eh, other users don’t matter to self-aggrandizers.
milleR
Well-Known Member
Well, that’s kind of the funny thing about this place. I don’t think I’ve posted anything about what I do for a living since I left aviation as a career in early ‘14. But if you’ve been on one of the Saturday Zoom calls or know any of the members here that I’m good friends with (which I know you do) then it’s probably not a secret.
But back on topic, if anybody has an interest in the design, development and origin of the nickname wobbly goblin then Skunk Works is a great read. And it’s pretty damn cool that we have a former “real paid button pusher” of said airframe gracing our midst.
knot4u
Repeat Offender
I'm pretty sure you build and maintain large boilers, you're a boilermaker.
milleR
Well-Known Member
Not me personally but yes, that’s what my company does among other facility mx stuff.
knot4u
Repeat Offender
The only reason I know that is I think you mentioned it during a discussion about a Porsche 911 had. Anything that uses steam power scares me, I love the UP 4014 Big Boy they restored. I used to climb all over that thing as a kid when it was parked out at Pomona Fairgrounds trying to figure out how it worked, I still don't know. I'd like to see it running but I don't want to spend any real time around it when it's "spooled up". The massive scale of that thing is something that needs to be witnessed firsthand, it always left my mind boggled. It's touring again this summer but now it runs on oil instead of coal (and makes less power).
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milleR
Well-Known Member
Yup, that’s just a firetube boiler on a chassis. I remember my very first day in the field opening up a little 150hp unit to replace a couple tubes and thinking “this is just like a steam locomotive!”
These days we put them in shipping containers as mobile steam plants for maintenance and upgrade shutdowns among other things. We just had this little guy delivered this morning for a new rental unit.
knot4u
Repeat Offender
Does it have a horn? If you can't let everyone within a mile radius know you're there it's not much of a steam engine is it? Do those temp units just provide steam or hot air to the sites you use them in? Obviously there's not much locomotion happening there. As I said steam power scares me, it seems so innocuous until it gets out of hand and if it does it can be like God opened a can of whoop ass for anyone in the near vicinity. I have a friend that works on steam powered locomotives in the PNW for a museum or heritage something or other. I once asked him if the thing starts getting away from you can just shut of the fuel and put the fire out, apparently that's a horrible idea. Like I said steam power scares me for the same reasons that I hated working on ejection seats.
CFI A&P
Exploring the world one toilet at a time.
If you haven’t already, go to Griffith Park and check out the Live Steamers. If you’re uncomfortable now, wait until there’s a boiler between your legs.
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milleR
Well-Known Member
The rentals are just there to take over for the main steam plant while the equipment is shut down. Steam is used for tons of applications, from energy generation, heating, manufacturing process, sterilization, food processing etc. You’d probably be shocked how many facilities have a steam plant, I know I was when I first got into this.
And yes, it’s a giant bomb that will level a building but it’s almost always a low water issue from poor maintenance or safety shortcuts when that happens. Throw some cold water on your hot grill and just imagine that effect in a contained vessel. But we call them “disturbances” or “puffs” since explosion is rather dramatic and tends to make people nervous and is extremely rare. These things don’t just fail or runaway on their own, there are multiple safety devices in place to ensure that doesn’t happen and when well cared for are as reliable as a good hammer.
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CFI A&P
Exploring the world one toilet at a time.
Rapid unscheduled disassembly also works.
milleR
Well-Known Member
More like instantaneous instead of rapid lol
knot4u
Repeat Offender
I grew up in Glendale and visited Travel Town at least once a year, either a school field trip or someones birthday party, I think it's been closed for a couple of years. The engines they had on display were cool and the little train you could ride around on was fun (for about 15 seconds) but the Big Boy was aptly named. It's enormous, it was the most powerful steam locomotives ever built at the time because it's purpose was pulling cargo up and down the Rocky Mountains, it weighed twice as much as a 747 and moved way more cargo. I'm not a steampunk, I might still have some goggles around here somewhere but there more for snowboarding than Mad Max. But as a kid that massive thing captivated me. Union Pacific restored it so people can see it run and try to generate goodwill for the rail industry. I'm not going to travel anywhere just to see it chooch by but if I happen to be anywhere close I'd get out of bed 1:30am and drive for an hour to see it pass by. I'm fascinated because as a kid even after close inspection I couldn't make heads or tails of how that thing worked, as I got a little older I learned about steam power and decided I was okay with it being parked. I'd love to hear and see it, I just don't like being around things that might explode.If you haven’t already, go to Griffith Park and check out the Live Steamers. If you’re uncomfortable now, wait until there’s a boiler between your legs.
milleR
Well-Known Member
Meh, it’s like airliners crashing. Does it happen? Sure, but it’s such a statistical anomaly it won’t keep you from flying somewhere. Steam literally powered the industrial revolution on trains, ships and in manufacturing facilities. It’s not something to be nervous about, if you ever go to a hospital there’s a boiler plant keeping it running.
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knot4u
Repeat Offender
I appreciate the answer but you didn't answer the most important question. Does it have a horn, or at least a whistle? Something to let the engineer tell everyone he's on top of this barely contained catastrophe and has not let things go completely sideways yet. I'd imagine the neighbors would appreciate it. I'm aware of the fact that many facilities have steam plants and that's fine. That's not the same as running one full throttle with a long line of cargo cars up from Cheyenne to Los Angeles.
I understand what you're saying, these things were much more dangerous then than they are now. The Big Boys were commissioned prior to WWII and just like every other piece of equipment they were pushed to their limits. These things were built without computers or any of advanced manufacturing and welding techniques that are currently available, but they did the work. If you look at 4014 and don't have any respect for what those that came before us were capable of than just watch Oppenheimer, that was less than a decade later.
milleR
Well-Known Member
Well, there’s an alert bell for when the burner is about to do an unscheduled shut off for a problem but otherwise no, we don’t have any cool on-demand sound making equipment sadly. However, it would be very easy to fab one up and now I’m thinking about it lol. A simple accumulator with a steam trap would work nicely.
It’s always fun to find one of the old riveted units, you’re really stepping back in time with those things. It’s amazing what they put together that was so functional over 100 years ago before welding technology really took off. Then the asbestos people walk in and ruin all the fun
