ZF is here.
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raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
I did not. The car was beautiful inside and out but I was expecting a quieter and softer ride. Too much road noise in the cabin surprisingly (perhaps because of the Turbo I-4 engine and 19" tires and maybe not enough cabin dampening) - I was expecintg more isolation. I will keep looking.
Here's a shot of the interior with Yacht-blue accent dash and doors.
Disappointed_Horse
Well-known
Yep, totally correct.
Since we're getting pretty far afield from the thread topic anyway, have you tried to buy car insurance lately? A lot of companies are offering discounts if you run their app which monitors your driving habits. I'm cheap, but no way was I agreeing to that.
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
Yes. Telematics. That black box in newer cars. Privacy concerns. Scary stuff.
Telematics: Helpful Discount Tool or Invasion of Privacy? | GetJerry.com
Telematics is changing the car insurance industry in a big way. But should you be concerned about sharing so much of your information?
getjerry.com
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
The actual plane! And that's Himself also, I guess? Very cool How long did that circumnavigation take? Nonstop?My Dad was a fighter pilot (and strike pilot). When he converted on to F-111Cs they were "classical analog cockpit" kinds of aircraft (albeit with a quite sophisticated HUD as well). Over time (and avionics upgrades) they acquired more and more "glass cockpit" kinds of instrumentation. When he converted on to F/A-18A "classic" Hornets (not Super-Hornets, which he never flew) they were all "glass cockpit" from day 1.
From a functional perspective (including the important one of "not being shot down") the newer instrumentation was better. But old-fashioned instruments were also provided as backups and he trained with those too.
Just for visual interest, here's Dad (long after retirement) by a static display of A8-142, the aircraft he flew to circumnavigate Australia on the 50th anniversary of the 1st circumnavigation (the aircraft is on static display at RAAF Base Wagga Wagga, which we visited).
[M typ 240; ZM Distagon 18mm/f4]
...Mike
I remember when the F-111 was new. Seems to me there was controversy here in the US -- new technology ("swing wing") and therefore it took a while for the problems to get sorted out. And it was expensive to make (though as nothing compared with current aircraft -- the F-35 that just crashed in South Carolina costs $100 million a copy). But it remained in service for some time thereafter.
Thanks for sharing this.
mfunnell
Shaken, so blurred
Yes, that's Dad - he's 88 years old now, but still going strong. Last week when I was visiting him in Canberra we went on multiple 20km+ bicycle rides together.
Dad was CO of our 6 Squadron (RAAF) when we first acquired our F-111Cs, and was on the 1st ferry-flight bringing them here from the USA. There were delays introducing them - when Dad took over as CO of 6Sqn he was supposed to go straight onto the F-111 conversion course with the USAF (we were stationed in the US at the time) but the aircraft weren't ready. So we returned to Australia, and Dad converted on to the F-4E aircraft we were operating, on lease from the US, until our F-111s were ready and had passed engineering acceptance by our Air Force. He then went back to convert on to F-111As with the USAF, then collected our F-111Cs and flew one of the 1st six aircraft conveyed back to Australia (that one was A8-126, which was later converted to a reconnaissance fit-out for low-level oblique photography, among other things).
Dad wanted to do the circumnavigation in a single day, which the aircraft was certainly capable of, but he wasn't permitted to - he had to have a stop half-way around.
...Mike
P.S. Earlier this year, Dad attended a function celebrating the 50th anniversary of that 1st F-111C ferry flight. Few of the 12 people on that flight are still with us. Dad's boss Jake (OC 82 Wing at the time, and our next-door neighbour), who flew A8-125 on that flight, died some months before that function (Dad and I attended his funeral, which had a fly-past by F-35s as part of the ceremony).
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KoNickon
Nick Merritt
Great stuff, Mike. Thanks for this. I wish your Dad long life and good health, for as long as he wants!
As long as we are off-topic...
The Swing Wing had been around for a while, WW-II a German Jet was designed with swing-wing, but could only change the angle on the ground.
The Bell X-5 flew in 1951, had swing-wings, and could be changed in-flight.
I remember seeing an F-111 at "Transpo 72", and remember a conversation about watching Dive speed due to Canopy sheering off. I need to digitize the Super-8 movies from the show. I have a 1966 Scientific American magazine with an extensive story on the F-111.
Zf- I'm thinking would be a cool retirement present for myself. Coming up.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Americans are well aware of the global marketplace. iOS devices have just shy of 29% global market share, Android devices have just shy of 71% market share, and all the others put together fill in most of the remaining 1%.
These proportions of market share makes perfect sense when you consider that Apple is the sole manufacturer producing iOS devices and Android devices are manufactured by at least 10 different vendors. Compared to each of the other vendors, Apple's iPhone tops them all. The difference is an almost exact parallel of the macOS vs Windows operating system market share paradigm.
I'm curious as to what you intended to suggest with your statement...?
Hmm. This is what I consider to be my SLK's "jet fighter cockpit":
I wouldn't want any of the three previously shown interior styles. 🙂
I simplified the SLK cockpit within weeks of purchasing it by ripping the original Harmann-Kardan stereo out by the roots, with all 56 of its buttons, knobs, sliders, switches, ad nauseam, and replacing it with the ultra sleek Alpine head (plus all new power amp, speakers, etc). The Alpine head has two modes ... AM/FM Stereo radio and CarPlay. With my iPhone attached, it does everything I could ask for and is voice-controlled ... no need to use the touchscreen or take your eyes off the road. All the vehicle controls are easily to hand without taking hands off the wheel or eyes off the road..
To me, that's a very good melding of classic ergonomic controls and modern functionality. A win-win ... 😀
G
Out to Lunch
Ventor
Apple does not manufacture anything. All of their stuff is put together by Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics contract manufacturer. Not so long ago, most of this was done in China but Foxconn is now moving production to other countries as well.
No bad intentions but I do believe that many Americans erroneously believe that Apple is the dominant player in the phone market today.
Cheers, OtL
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
What? An automatic transmission? 🙂
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
I was talking about the Zf with my friendly neighborhood dealer and he thought it would be a good fit for me. Well, maybe. He's ordered some so maybe I'll bring in some manual focus Nikkors and try them out with it. We'll see.
I will now have to research which German WW II jet you're referring to. Had to have been an experimental.
wlewisiii
Veteran
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
Thanks. Yes, I recall it now.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Sorry to disagree, but Apple does manufacture a number of things, and Foxconn is just one of several contracted manufacturers around the world. I worked for Apple in the engineering departments for 25+ years and know what they do far better than the average person.
Whether Apple is the "dominant player in the phone market today" or not is a judgement that neither you nor I have any credibility in determining. I don't even know what that means, specifically; it is an ambiguous statement which depends upon the context you are saying it in. And I doubt that Americans are special with regard to what they believe about Apple... I would not extend my personal opinion to cover Americans, Europeans, Chinese, or any other geopolitically oriented block of people as a whole, and neither should you. Whether intended or not, your statement carries the connotation of a slur, and condescension.
G
kshapero
South Florida Man
I love all those cockpits.
KoNickon
Nick Merritt
Me too - as one who knows he has none of The Right Stuff. 🙂
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Yes: I chose the 7-speed automatic for the SLK vs the 6-speed manual. The SLK gets used both for travel and for a lot of urban driving in the San Francisco Bay Area, where there is often a lot of traffic congestion and steep hills, and an automatic transmission is a better fit to those traffic conditions. It's also a question mark as to whether the 7-speed automatic, which has manual shift override and both "comfort" and "sport" mode settings, is actually superior to the manual transmission even for sporty driving situations ... I've had no problems keep up with my buddy in his Porsche on track days: the 7-speed's gearing is beautifully tuned to the power characteristics of the 3L V6 engine.
(My Lancia Fulvia Coupé has a 4-speed manual transmission ... 😉 )
G
raydm6
Yay! Cameras! 🙈🙉🙊┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘ [◉"]
One trend that is a little troubling is that a lot of automakers are going away from naturally aspirated engines, to smaller turbo-charged engines. Not sure if it is done to easier meet EPA requirements, but the added stress of turbos on the engines shortens their life and requires more frequent oil changes. At least that’s what most mechanics feel and a mechanical engineer I work with who I trust his judgement.
My last three naturally aspirated Japanese engines lasted 315K (Honda), 412K (Nissan), and currently in my ‘06 Lexus; 398K and counting. Engine is still strong but I may trade it in soon or donate it.
My last three naturally aspirated Japanese engines lasted 315K (Honda), 412K (Nissan), and currently in my ‘06 Lexus; 398K and counting. Engine is still strong but I may trade it in soon or donate it.
Pál_K
Cameras. I has it.
All of the sports cars I've had have manual transmissions; some even have carburettors and a choke.
As I told one co-worker who proudly claimed that the automatic transmission on his VW Jetta could shift gears in a millisecond, the importance to me in driving isn't in the speed of shifting: it's all about driver engagement and involvement in the driving process. A manual transmission let's you do many things and have such fine control that an automatic can never have (because it doesn't know what you're trying to do).
Similarly, I don't want a car that assists me in high speed turns and prevents sliding or spinning - that's a skill I want to have. If I do it right, then the credit is to me, not to a group of engineers who programmed the cars' braking and steering dynamics. I like cars where you have to be good to drive it well; not cars where essentially anyone can drive it without much thought. We are at the point where many cars are appliances and drivers are not even appliance operators, but are mere appliance owners.
Your choice of a Lancia shows good taste!
I sold this last year. Beautiful engine, beautiful transmission. But too modern - many of its features drove me crazy. I just wasn't driving the car enough to keep it. I have a second, different, mid-engine car that I'm going to sell as well.
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