assorted comedy Was: some junk about tires

[Rave Racer]

----- Original Message -----
From: Brett Dikeman <brett at cloud9.net>
To: <smitty at pcrealm.net>; Dave Hord <spokes at mail.the-wire.com>
Cc: <lee at wheelman.com>; <quattro at audifans.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2002 12:43 AM
Subject: Re: nitrogen in tires was: aluminum wheels


At 12:27 AM -0500 3/14/02, Frederick Smith wrote:
>Aircraft tires are inflated with "dry" nitrogen. Stable at temp, you
wouldn't
>want blocks of ice forming in the wheels at 35k feet and then trying to
land
>the thing an hour later.
>
>Not to mention trying to abort a takeoff with a less than stable gas in the
>tires and a TO weight of 375TONS!!

Ever seen the footage of the 777(or was it 767?) certification tests?

One involved bringing the plane to a halt, from takeoff speed, with
engines at full throttle until the plane comes to a stop.
--------------------snip------------------

        nope, never saw that.  But when I was just starting my initial
phases for my licences, I saw some real comedy.  One of the other students
was doing his first Solo Flight.  All he has to do is take off, fly the
airport pattern and land.  This can be a nerve wracking experience and is
rarely a smooth trip.  This particular student tensed up and didn't reallize
that he was squeezing the wheel brakes as he touched down.  The tires
started screeching and he forgot to throttle back.  Luckily the school used
solid rubber or rubber filled tires on the planes.  One of the brakess
released so only one was flat spotted.  The plane hobbled into the apron
with a funny limp.  Oy, comedy.

----------------------snip-------------------
(anyone who has actually dealt with Tire Rack knows exactly what I
mean; they're the biggest snobs in the whole #$%@! world, and the
only people I know who are stupid enough to actually refuse to sell
you something based on their product "guide.")
------------------snip--------------------

        Nope, they're not the only ones.  I had the same problem with one of
the counter Monkeys at Canadian Tire:

    "I would like to know the price of this exhaust "Y" split pipe in the
catalog please"
    "What kind of car do you have sir?"
    "I have an Audi.  Why does that matter?"
    "Those are only built for Corvettes sir"
    "Well what is the diameter of the pipe?"
    "It won't fit your car sir"
    "What do I look like to you?  Just tell me the diameter of the pipe and
let me be the judge of whether or not it will fit"
    "Look, it's made only for Chevys and it will only fit a Chevy"
    "Dude, it's a "Y" pipe.  Not a header.  How much is it, and what is the
Diameter?"
    "Sir.  It is a 3" pipe and won't fit your car.  It is a chevy part,
you're car doesn't have a 3" exhaust"
    "Ok, I also have a Chevy and would like to know the price of the part"
    "No you don't sir.  Don't lie to me"

I decided not to continue this conversation much longer and left, amazed at
the capacity for ignorance.

       Rave Racer
'89 Jetta 1.8L 16V GTX
 http://www.vwot.org/members/Pete.html
'87 Audi 4000 Quattro Sedan
 http://www.audifans.com/registry/view.php?action=viewCar&carid=110
'72 Triumph GT6
 http://motorcities.com/contents/01I3H011116682.html
'83 Toyota Tercel (yoda)     Possible future Sandrail donor...  Maybe