[Vwdiesel] Diesel talk for beginners --( known here sometimes as

[Val Christian]

> IMHO    good old Amerikan know how  --?   is NOT   a myth.  ---and scanderhoovian
> compassion --?-------NOT a myth let me tell you.



Hagar has a point.  Five years ago, I had to opportunity to take a crash
course (no pun intended) in tanking, at Ft. Knox.  Before I got to play
Tank Commander for my team (I really wanted to drive, but the group
votes on it...they had flown with me, and didn't want to do that in 
a M1-A1), we got indoctrinated.

The Lt. running the first lecture went back into military history, and
made the point that it was yankee ingenuity which was a key differentiating
factor in the battle fields of WWII.  He showed slides of photos of 
German tank crews, shortly before capture, standing outside their
tank, having a smoke.  He pointed out that German's had the finest 
tank mechanics in the world, and no tank crew was permitted to tweak
anything meachancial on the tank.  That job was reserved for the tank
mechanic.  As a result, lots of tank, with only minor problems, stood
still on the battlefield, waiting for the Maytag Repairman.  

In contrast, the Lt. pointed out, Americans were starting their love of cars
and most of the young men who made their way to Europe had some level
of mechanical curiosity, if not ability.  As a result, it was commonly
heard that service men, not trained as mechanics, would swap out 
engines and transmissions on Jeeps, working under a stout tree winch.

Now this Lt. came back, and would be our lecturer on systems, which included
hydraulics, drivetrain, powerplant, electrical, etc. on the tank, and 
it was clear that he was motivated to have us all clearly understand and
be comfortable with the complex systems on these fine tanks.  It was 
evident from his presentations, that he believed that everyone having
some level of system knowledge, and coupling that with the ability to 
apply that knowledge when challenged, was a key competitive advantage.

We went on to the tanks (really full motion tank simulators), and I'm
proud to say that at the end of the exercises, my tank was the only 
one who had not shot at friendlies.  Other than that, our kill rate was
lower than the rest, but we did not get killed.  The key to this,
in terms the flyboys would understand, is situational awareness.

I'll tell one more war story, this one real.  Dick (WA2ATV) was the 
flight engineer on the Fuddy Duddy, a B-17.  On one mission they were 
pretty shot up, and it was clear that the gear wasn't going to come down.
This is not much of a problem for the normal competent pilot, and 
often the landing can be made uneventfully, except for the belly gunner.
The belly gunner is strapped into the aircraft prior to takeoff,
and stays at his station, until after landing.  A gear-up landing
would make him, and his turret, the lowest point on the plane at
the time of touchdown.  Now Dick should have been a VW diesel mechanic,
because he was a really bright kid.  He gathered a coffee can,
collected all the coffee in the plane, and got ready to fill the hydraulic
reservior immediately prior to attempting to cycle the gear down.
As the flight went on, they continued to show loss of hydraulic fluid,
so he collected recycled coffee.  Yep.  After everyone had drained 
their sumps, and they were relatively out of harm's way, he commanded
the gear down, while pouring in the coffee with recycled coffee mix.

The gear held for the landing, and apparently no one complained about
cleaning out the hydraulic system.  

The world is full of creative and clever people.  Some cultures encourage 
it, others supress it.  Chinese are taught strategic thinking from a 
young age.  Some US kids eschew wrenches, and will never learn
how to change oil.  We all mix in competitive arenas, whether they are
world marketplaces, or battlefields.  In the end, the cultures 
which encourage creative thinking, hard work, value knowledge and 
experience, and treat each other with compassion and understanding, 
may prevail.

Val

ps: Keep the klatter machines running.  (ob vwdiesel content)
Oh, the tank had a compression ignition turbine.  Close to diesel.