Stuka Stunt Main Forum · 85 of 85 known posts recovered
This is because the Federal Reserve (which isn't, nor is there any) prints all the money they want, it's backed by nothing. Also, The Soviet Union printed tons of perfect counterfeit bills to screw up the American Dollar. It worked.
I feel for you guys with over-valued homes and big mortgages. The dollar is fragile as hell.
Would there have been an Iraq war had Saddam not announced he's changing Iraq's oil-trading currency to the euro, from the dollar?
Cheers,
Andy
"Would there have been an Iraq war had Saddam not announced he's changing Iraq's oil-trading currency to the euro, from the dollar?"
Now come on, you know the Iraq war was based on making the world a safer place and reducing the threat to the US, and it's Allies, and not about securing OIL. In fact, the people of the Middle East appreciate our efforts and respect us more than ever.
>>Now come on, you know the Iraq war was based on making the world a safer place and reducing the threat to the US, and it's Allies, and not about securing OIL. In fact, the people of the Middle East appreciate our efforts and respect us more than ever.<<
Uh huh. Yea, sure.
In fact, it really impresses me the number of reporters, people and just plain idiots that come around to this time of year, EVERY YEAR, and go, WOW! The gas prices are higher!
17 or 18 cents, we have a war on, and there are a mass of booger eating morons,literally thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people buying and driving SUV's getting 9 mpg instead of something like my Mini van getting 24 which I thought was horrendous after driving my Honda which was getting nearly 40. 'Can't wait till the kids leave home.'
So, much increased demand by a bunch of idiots, absolutely no new refineries since 1974 is it? And you all are amazed at the gas prices.
Go back to sniffing dope fumes and leave the cheap political shots based in myth and misdomeaner off the forum.
Cheezewhiz, every year.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo
William Crane
AMA 6733
Judging that gas is up from what it was last year around here at 18 cents more per gallon from last year at this time. I just went to the Midwest slope challenge and put on 1000 miles with a topper on top of my van, so gas mileage was down to 19 per gallon. Well, lets just call it 18 to round it off. 18 miles per gallon makes it a penny more per mile. 1000 miles means I spent 10 bucks more to go, come and do all the traveling around the slopes.
Yup, 10 bucks is really gonnna hold me back.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
However, back to the topic. The hobby almost requires a large vehicle to carry one piece c/l airplanes and it almost certainly will have an impact on contest attendance this year.
William I had the same feeling when I traded in my Honda that had 50mpg. We need to drive a Honda Insight....60mpg city.
Jake
Hey, I also remember the big lie in the early seventies. It's what got Honda (and later Toyota and Datsun) it's start in taking over the small car market. Took US carmakers a long time to catch on.
Hydrogen power anyone?
From Websters:::
Hydrogen
A colorless, highly flammable gaseous element, the lightest of all gases and the most abundant element in the universe, used in the production of synthetic ammonia and methanol, in petroleum refining, in the hydrogenation of organic materials, as a reducing atmosphere, in oxyhydrogen torches, and in rocket fuels.
http://www.abiresearch.com/abiprdisplay2.jsp?pressid=268
Can a hydrogen/electric stunt plane be far behind? (Just kidding...)
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/MediaAlerts/2003/2003071715007.html
- Dave
The extra gas cost won't be my reason for not going. No company, too tired, too busy, or bored with driving are bigger problems.
Scott(OOOHHHHH I'm a bad boy)Riese
Ps I get 6 miles to the gallon. 350cuin/350hp
I'm really starting to feeling good about my 1997 Nissan Altima 4 cylinder. It averages around 33 miles per gallon on long trips. See y'all in Muncie!!!!
Jim Pollock 
So, in other words, they were practically giving it away. I paid $2.55 for regular along I-780 the other day, and premium (like my Mustang uses) is well over $3 most places.
Brett
I'm driving a 7 liter '67 Cadillac around, now and then, so I'm feeling the pain, too. Premium pain, by the way.
Currell
Mike
Here in Cali. Regular was up to $2.35 last week which meant a $41.00 fillup for my Bronco-II. The so-called News is that we're supposed to get ready for $3.00+ plus by September!!! You guys in the midwest have it EASY!
Last month we were in N. Mexico and the car rental person warned us about the "High price of city gas" at $2.70 per gal. We hadnt had gas that cheap in a LONG time! LOL!!!
As for me, I think about fuel costs every time I drive someplace and these days try to combine errands/destinations to save gas. It's such a bummer to be ripped off and not be able to do anything about it...
What concerns me more, is the huge price increase in the cost of glow fuel! WHEW!!! What country do we need to invade to get cheaper Caster Oil and Nitro?
Wherever that is, I think that we should send our troops over there, shoot the place up and take over the Caster Bean Presses and the Nitro plant. Is Dubbya-2 a Pampa member? Maybe John B. could give him a call and get us some relief! LOL!!! Of course, then the prices would undoubtly go even higher!
Later,
Bigs
PS: It might help if everyone kept the name calling and cheap shots restricted to personal replies and e-mails. Lets keep religion, politics and cheap shots off the flying field (As it were.). It aint fun and we're never gonna agree anyway(IMHO).
Steve My old '77 Ford van has a lot of miles, and the miles driven per gallon of gas peaked something like 21 years ago. But it's the only vehicle I own which will hold all the stuff I need for the NW Regionals. It also holds nearly 50 gallons of gas, making for very few pit stops, something I rather like.
Yes, I could buy a new van, one that would getter better mileage. But do you know how many non-renewable resources it takes to build a new vehicle? (Sorry, head fake for the eco-weenies.)
If it costs another $20.00 to get to Albany and back, I'll just have to generate an additional twenty bucks worth of enjoyment. Maybe get Brett to take me to dinner; he seems quite upset with me at the moment, no doubt wants to talk. Well, I'll make him pay for that honor, yes I will!
We've got it great in this country! Quit whining about the small stuff. Especially when it is in our power to take actions which would benefit us all when it comes to our supplies of oil.
Dan
Yea, and they said Gates had a monopoly. Wow.
Of the top five most profitable companies in the world, 2 are oil companies, 2 are pharmaceutical companies and one is GE (according to Fortune 500). The oil companies have been there since the early 70s, the drug companies are new in the last 10 years.
Market driven forces indeed. How much do you think gas would cost if there were a competitive alternative? I always find it amazing that when the price of a barrel of crude drops 5 bucks or 10 bucks, we're told that while this is good, we won't see it at the pumps for 2 or 3 months. But when the Exxon Valdez grounded itself in Alaska, the price at the pump was up .20 cents the next day. Or the fact that when the prices go up, they also go up on gas that's already in the tanks at the station. Hmm, didn't they already pay for that?
Mike is right, hydrogen power is a ways off. I mean, we can't even build more crude oil handling refineries, how are we going to build plants to crack sea water. That's a lot of investment in infrastructure. I'm sure the shareholders would like that. Real wealth is generated by the restriction and regulation of resources after all.
OK, enough of that. As someone said, we'll never agree on this.
I'd be interested in knowing how you define "the most profitable."
>
>Market driven forces indeed. How much do you think gas would
>cost if there were a competitive alternative?
You say that as if all our oil comes out of one hole in the ground, is handled by only one company. That is clearly not the case.
In a free-market economy there is plenty of incentive to come up with competitive alternatives.
>
>Mike is right, hydrogen power is a ways off.
Hydrogen is more than a ways off. The energy required to produce hydrogen is considerable, not to mention lacking being warm and cuddly.
I mean, we
>can't even build more crude oil handling refineries, how are
>we going to build plants to crack sea water. That's a lot of
>investment in infrastructure. I'm sure the shareholders
>would like that. Real wealth is generated by the restriction
>and regulation of resources after all.
>
>OK, enough of that. As someone said, we'll never agree on
>this.
Of course we can agree. You just have to face some really hard facts.
A question for you. In each gallon of gasoline there is a nearly pure profit of $0.49. How is this money distributed, to whom does it go?
Dan
Uh huh.
Hee yuk, hee yuk.
This entire subject is really out of place here else I could really get into this with you Dan as to whom owns how much of what and makes how much off of it.
"Market forces"...
Hee hee hee...
Jake
After I first got my 300M, I took a couple of short trips on it and got 31 MPG (70 MPH, A/C, etc.) and was getting over 26 MPG driving in town plus going to work over Organ pass, to White Sands Missile Range.
Then the wife starting driving this car (I have a cast on my right foot nowadays), all in town, and she "enjoys" its power (lead foot). I checked it on the last tank, and now it's down to 19 MPG..
And we've been suffering here in Las Cruces, with $1.90 gasoline lately. 
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Economy Car
(Sorry, fellas, but I felt compelled to gloat, since The Daniel was seemingly gloating about his battered automotive hair shirt..)
I'm all for the hydrogen solution, and although the fuel cell looks very promising, solid phase storage of H2 will eventually make it ideal.
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"It rubs the lotion on its skin,
it does this whenever it's told..
It rubs the lotion on its skin,
or else it gets the hose again..
Now, it places the lotion in the basket.
It places the lotion in the basket.
Put the ^%#! lotion in the basket!
Ahhhh!
Aaahhhhh Aaaahhh!"
-Buffalo Bill, from Silence of the Lambs
Now my 1998 Buick LeSabre has a little over 13 thousand miles going on 14 thousand. It has used hardly any gas over the past 6 years. (Just thought I would throw that in while we were totally off the subject of airplanes. It does get 30 mpg, though, and yes, that is the true mileage. "It ws owned by a little old lady who..." and I had the dealer service records to prove it. )
Speaking of fuel economy, I noticed it was down on my Racing Fox 35, and the restarts were getting harder for my pitman. So I broke down and stuck an EBAY swap P/C assy in it. Then I took a look at the condition of the P/C assy I took out.
Is it ok for the piston to be able to slide all the way through the Cylinder?
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
On an iron piston/cylinder, yes. On these the piston will expand more then the cylinder (usually) and tighten up as it runs. This is why we need to break them in at more of a slobbery rich setting.
On an ABC there will be a "pinch" at the top. It is not OK for a cold piston to slide all the way through these. On these the cylinder will expand "almost" at the same rate as the piston. It does, in fact, expand to a greater degree which is why we need to get them hot quickly and run them at a leaner setting when breaking in, not slobbery rich.
I have had iron piston/cylinder engines that were excellent runners where you could get the piston, dry, to fall right through the cylinder. Now there is a point where this is a perfect fit and a point where this is worn out. So, just because it slides through doesn't mean it is worn out, but it may be.
And yes, dry, the piston just falls right through, kinda makes a rattling sound.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
A rattling sound doesn't sound good.
And when you say you get 3 or 4 (or 5 or 6) revs out of a flip, I hope you mean without a plug in it. If you get this many revolutions with a plug in it, you either have a head that leaks (gasket not sealing?) or the piston/cylinder is definitely worn out.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
Ah heck, with a good setup you'd beat me, but I'll give her a shot anyways.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
Nope, it should touch the sides at some point near the top.
Dave
4 Gallons over here ( UK gallon )would cost the equivalent of $26.00+ !!!!
Good Flying
Tony
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
North and south, or just east and west?
You know, for all the complaining we sometimes like to do, we don't always know how good we do have it. There are many places throughout the world that have been paying much higher prices for gasoline for years. And, when factoring in inflation, this is NOT the highest price, relative to income, that even our country has seen.
Plus it smells better than normal diesel and when you are in a pinch and the grease pits are empty, you can still run it on good ole number 2.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
The good grease is at the China buffets, they normally have to pay to get rid of the stuff. I know a friend that has one and it works great.
Another is Grasoline. With Grasoline they refine the product and you just put it in instead of diesel, no conversion kits. With Greasel, you have to get the engine warm to warm the grease
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
It is true, there is 49 cents of nearly pure profit in the purchase price of each gallon of gasoline. That's the federal tax. City, county and state taxes would be in addition.
Even if you buy gas from a company-owned station which had control of the crude from the time it left the ground, did all the shipping and processing, no outside vendors at all, there is not anywhere near 49 cents profit, per gallon, to this company, either as net or as gross.
Randy, I much prefer to look at profits as return on investment. Your way is too simplistic. Worse, it doesn't provide any information with which to make judgements or even a reasoned argument.
Let's look at this in a really funny way: Gasoline is still cheaper than bottled water! Yeah, it's funny. But there is a huge, huge point to be made here. Y'all think about it some...
Dan
Sorry, but I didn't. None of this silliness belongs on this board- you dump a gallon of bottled water in that tank on your van sometime, tell me how it runs.
J
No, you tell me how those eeeevvvvviiilllll gas companies can deliver gasoline to all points in this nation at less cost than bottled water. It's a really interesting topic, much like Milton Friedman's analysis of what it takes to make a simple pencil.
That there is little room for conspiracy theories does make it boring, I will grant you that.
Wait, maybe there is some sort of **big-water conspiracy** we need to look into. Say, this could be fun...
And you're right, water will not power my van even a foot or two. Just when I was about to fill up both tanks down at the local grocery store.
Dan
A conspiracy is two or more people acting in concert to achieve a desired end.
There are a lot of interesting topics, and this is a model airplane board. And I am NEVER bored Dan.
Jake
>
Tools
What hurts is I agree with DAN on the cost of gas. Of course I'm a little to the right of "attila the hun" politically.
This is about the 10th time this year I've agreed with Dan on a topic. Should I be worried?
Seriously, most of the rest of the world has it a lot tougher than we do. Most of us can still make our contests, the only "visas" we need to carry are credit cards and while we may not like the cost, we aren't worried about being able to get gas.
Jeff W.
Cheers,
Andy
Well, according to their literature anyways. You can make it yourself or buy it from them. It replaces diesel fuel directly with no adjustment however burns cleaner than the petroleum product and helps reduce landfill dumping of the grease. Also, Carbon Dioxide wise it takes just almost as much CO2 to make/grow the plants involved in the process as it produces at the exhaust, so it is an enviromental wash in greenhouse gasses. Another EnviroNazis selling point if you need to convince anyone of that.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
If you could stand driving a rancid smelling car.
The reason that Krispy Creme's a big hit when it comes to town is, the grease is fresh. But just doesn't taste the same if the grease hasn't turned.
People that buy water in a bottle and pay a $1.49 are...an interesting phenomenon. Of course, the water in Tacoma isn't fit to water plants with, but up here, it's pretty good.
Profit
1. Acquisition beyond expenditure; excess of value received
for producing, keeping, or selling, over cost; hence,
pecuniary gain in any transaction or occupation;
emolument; as, a profit on the sale of goods.
Profitable
1. Yielding or bringing profit or gain; gainful; lucrative;
useful; helpful; advantageous; beneficial; as, a profitable
trade; profitable business; a profitable study or profession.
Now we are getting someplace. Please apply the definition of profit to statement to which I objected. Big dollar amounts might only mean a big company is involved, and usually that confuses quite a lot of reporters when it comes to writing their story.
My terms, return on investment, match up quite nicely with your input.
I thought you were supposed to be painting a new model. My man, get to it!
Dan
I only wish I could pay taxes on my profits instead of my income! Profits being measured as what you have left after you have paid every bill, made every investment, and cannot find any other place to put the excess.. now that's PROFIT!
Those folks whining about the perceived obscene profits of the evil oil companies, if they truly believe their own complaints, should simply buy some oil stock (ANY will do) and proceed to get rich! That's my suggested solution.
Oil - if the government was getting it for us, our gasoline would cost $75 a gallon (WHEN we could get it).. I'm not disagreeing that gouging takes place, of course. What else is new?
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The Larry and his "new" truck..
Still looking to pick up a used H2 or Exploder after gas continues to be expensive. I remember several excellent big Caddies, Lincolns, Chryslers and other luxo-hogs getting downright cheap after our last oil "crisis".
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"LITIGATION, n: A machine which you go into as a pig and come out of as a sausage." -Ambrose Bierce
Paul
I am a retread, - I did C/L in my youth and did not know what I was doing then other then having fun. And not much has changed.
some snipping...
Larry,
Did we do a mind meld in one of your recent dreams? I think so, because you are stealing my lines. I **love** pulling the "Well, buy some stock and you can get rich as well." line on people, although generally it is in reference to the "obscene" profits of drug companies.
I'm going by memory here, always an iffy proposition, but I believe the average drug requires in excess of 100 million dollars in capital, twelve years time, including the approval process. Assuming it first works, secondly is approved for sale.
Wow! What a bonzanza, I am so there when it comes to the next drug company IPO.
Lovin' ya,
Dan
And now he seemingly LOVES ME!
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<"fly" voice:> "Help me! Help meeee.."
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"Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy." - Howard W. Newton
John Sunderland
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courtesy Introduction to Economics, (PBS Television)
Price and demand lines intersect at price P1 and quantity Q1. Increased demand increases price to P2 and quantity increases to Q2.
In spite of Evil Bill Clinton's oppressive legislation reducing allowed fuel sulphur content to 1/60 its previous amount (how did the Noble Republicans allow THAT to happen, anyway? Didn't they control both Houses?), the price line simply moves up and a new equilibrium sets in, with an increase in both price and quantity.. (Econ 101)
OK, let's get The Daniel to pop in here and point out that the price and demand lines aren't really simple straight lines, the price line is determined largely by a large tax component, government regulations, costs of equipment, amount of product in the pipeline, delivery, weather, employment, etc. Nor are the demand lines nicely flexible and linear, since a certain baseline demand exists, demand is more asymptotic on both ends, etc. (Econ 102).
Or, consider Conspiracy 101, that the Evil Environmentalists are bent on destroying the world economy and taking the food from our babes' mouths, or that the Evil International Corporate Energy Producers are bent on extorting money and destroying the world economy, thus taking the food from our babes' mouths.
Meanwhile, we Poor Consumers will not be able to afford the fuel to run our SUVs, while the Poor Manufacturers will have to shift production from their most profitable SUV product to lower profit hybrids. Either that, or we need to invoke a war in the Middle East to "stabilize" oil supply (oops, I meant to instill more democracy and freedom in that part of the world)..
Hoy! Al fin llegamos! .. It just makes NO SENSE! NO SENSE AT ALL!!
<Susan Powder quote:> Stop the Insanity!!
<Butthead quote:> Wuhh huhhh huhhh.. [photo not recovered: 40b570a51aef5406.gif]
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"In my house there's this light switch that doesn't do anything. Every so often I would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman in Germany. She said, 'Cut it out .' " -Steven Wright
Hey Dan, I'll have to mull over your comments on ROI and "49 cents of nearly pure profit" while driving from here all the way to Albany without paying a dime in tolls. And while listening to the latest news about how our $135B+ public investment in continued middle-east oil supplies is shaping up. Your tax dollars at work and all that.
Thanks for the prop advice on Monday, BTW. Maybe I'll cut a 14-4 down to 13.5-4 and see if that's the magic number.
Dave
Just for that I'm going to tell Whitely you built his Shoestring for Classic Stunt. And powered it with a Saito 72.
My prop advice was worth every penny you paid for it.
Dan
Supply and demand man, when it takes a quarter of a tank to go across your country you're just not going to use as much as you will when it will only get you to Salina for a Cozyburger.
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
Driving distances in Europe on the average are FAR less than in the USA. There are countries there that aren't as big as some counties in Texas are. We can't have some of the gas sipper stuff they use over there (like the Vespa Ape in Italy as an example) due to emissions and safety nonsense, So we are stuck with what we have.
Jake
One of the things I did was to calculate gas mileage, fairly dismal at 13 mpg with 5,000-pound plus van, a 300-inch inline six with well over a quarter million miles on it. Then cost of fuel for complete trip of just slightly in excess of 600 miles.
Here's the way I saw it: I was in Salem/Albany area with five model aircraft, three to be used in competition, two for show-and-lie sessions. I had in ready proximity many pounds of tools and spares; six gallons of fuel in six different blends, old engines and new CO2 kits for Mike Conner; three tomato plants, one ground cherry plant for Kristen; clean clothes for a week of dry weather, three days of the sort of weather you dread and we didn't have; and other stuff you don't want to hear about.
The point is that other than my sympathy boot from back a couple years ago when I had fractures in one leg and that I was planning to use while flying OTS in order to offset Carl's sympathy points gained in flying from a chair, I had **everything** needed for days and days. All right there in the van.
Plus I had the van to use in running errands, transporting myself back and forth the 20 miles between Albany and Salem.
And so it was that I asked myself what it would be worth to me to duplicate all this convenience if I merely had to write a check.
Then I added up what it would cost to ship all the models and stuff to Albany, get myself there by rail or air, rent a car, etc., etc.
Both answers totalled a lot more than the cost of fuel for this trip. In fact, it wasn't until I bumped miles driven into the thousands that costs to just drive, having **all** the stuff when I got there, plus use of my own vehicle, began to be a consideration.
Dan
300 6 huh? I done got one of them thar in my old '81 F-150, it done now has 233,868.4 miles on it.
Jake
>
>
Plus they are a lot closer to a primary source of crude.
I always found it amusing when folk would say we entered into the Irag war for oil. That was the French position, my friends. Oil. At any cost. To some other people, living in some other country.
Dan
Hmmm, never considered the option. In addition to being expensive to hire, don't they sweat, demand one-hour breaks every half hour, need to be fed, are kinda slow?
A nice team of mules might be a good option, however. Given several days to make the trip. But where would I put the hay and water? Would I have to leave all the models at home?
Gimme gas, lots of gas, we're going to take this planet down while we have a great time burning fossil fuels in the most frivolous manner possible.
(Don't go for it you Eco Weenies, of which there cannot be any on this site, it's a head fake...)
Dan
The end result of that posting, which you cannot read was:
This is still a great country.
I wish that all elected, (I repeat) all elected officials would vote on the issues before them so we can get something done. I hate election years for that very reason. Nothing gets done. and all they do is inhale fresh oxygen, exhale CO2 and do nothing. That is pollution in my book.
Bob Smiley
From somewhere near Parkville, Mo.
William Crane
AMA 6733
"This is still a great country. I wish that all elected, (I repeat) all elected officials would vote on the issues before them so we can get something done. I hate election years for that very reason. Nothing gets done. and all they do is inhale fresh oxygen, exhale CO2 and do nothing. That is pollution in my book."
Bob,
I couldn't disagree more. In my view we need to pay each and every member of the U.S. House of Representative and the Senate a minimum of $10 million per year for doing absolutely nothing.
At $20 million for a two-year term in the house, $60 million for senators serving a full term, they might be a lot less likely to get involved in financial hanky-panky as they will obviously be financially secure.
We'd be billions ahead with my program, plus these guys, new laws, unending regulation, increased taxes would be much less of a factor in getting about our business of doing business.
That's just one of the reasons I love election years. Dirty politics, it's great, bring it on, start the music, let's dance! And they are too busy campaigning to be annoying us in any serious ways.
Remember, "getting something done" all too frequently costs us a lot of money, carries the sometimes significant penalty of unintended consequences. Be real careful what you wish for...
Dan
Think about us Aussies over here in Australia
We are currently paying just over a dollar a litre $1.05/litre
4.5 litres to a gallon sort of makes the cost up to
$4.20 a gallon in comparison to your prices