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Modern reverse cycle air conditioners, more correctly called heat pumps are very efficient and most are inverters so they can reduce the power consumption once they get the temperature down (or up in the Winter). I installed a Mitsubishi Electric split system in my last house that cooled most of the house. It produced 7.2 kW of cooling and 8 kW of heat with a maximum current draw on 2.2kW. Once the house was down to about 25 degrees it drew only about 800 watts to maintain the temperature. Our new property came with a similar sized Daikin split system which is a bit older and not as efficient as the Mitsubishi but still only draws about 1 kW once it gets the house down to temperature. It is academic now though as all the power comes from solar during the day and stored solar in my home battery at night.

A couple more https://www.backstreetheroes.com/2023/07/14/project-hercules-2-75l-single-brag-your-bike/ and

The closest I have to anything like that is this Continental R-670 pot. It has around 1500cc displacement and is in good nick despite the outside appearance. Has valves, rockers, pushrod tubes and exhaust header. It's got a coating of protective gunk inside covering what looks like a chrome bore. Unfortunately I don't have the machining skills of Al Hackel or the equipment to make a motor out of it. If I was mad enough I'd give it a crack. I doubt my little mill would have the accuracy for a job like that.

That Flying Millyard is quite amazing. He even made his own carburettors.

I'm sure I've seen him in Star Wars. On the dark side of course.

None of it is correct, it's all urban legend, typical of rumours and gossip that grow into "truth". Even Monument Australia promotes the urban legend of the horse that founded Norseman. I guess there is a degree of correctness in stating that the Norseman monument acknowledges the part played by the invaluable animals used by prospectors. https://www.monumentaustralia.org/themes/culture/animals/display/60895-norseman The real story is substantially different, I'll let you read the family history website to garner all the correct information, directly from the original people. https://taylorfamilyhistory.com/2022/08/02/norseman-find

The original Wright piston was a long piston and needed that section of bore that protudes into the original radial crankcase, and that setup would have needed a much taller custom crankcase making the engine too tall, so that's why he trimmed the bore and shortened the stroke with the Continental O-470 piston.

I get the impression the engine runs but is not practical to ride around on. I think he just takes it to shows and starts it up. I don't think it has a balance shaft. He shortened the stroke from 5.5 inches down to 5 inches and used a shorter Continental piston. He had to cut the bottom skirt off the cylinder so it would clear the crank lobes. The one that was built (in Norway I think) using a single pot from a radial was around 2000cc and he could ride it down the road ok.

I never managed to get lost when finding my way around. Braille always worked for me. A good guide might help you if you get lost. This is a mature one, you can tell by the wrinkles.

That's correct. The Horse was supposed to have kicked the Ground an exposed a Gold Nugget. Nev

Easier to clean and find your way around., Nev

TRY a couple with some scrap sheet. You'll soon know if they are soft enough. I would not call these weird creations RAT bikes though. . Nev

This bloke in the U.S., Al Hackel, built a custom chopper using a single pot from a Wright R975-46 9-cylinder radial engine. Displacement is around 1700cc, which is a pretty big thumper. He made the bottom end himself, conrod, crankcase, crankshaft etc., but got someone else to make the cam. It has a piston from a Continental engine. Mated to a Harley gearbox. This is his Instagram page on it for anyone interested: https://www.instagram.com/alhackel/ There's a short video on there of a bloke kickstarting it at a show.

Were there around a couple of hundred Indians sitting on top of the jets, expecting a free trip home? 😄

Victoria used to produce a good Prospectors Guide. I have a couple of copies from different eras.

I've got a copy of the Ion Idriess book on prospecting for gold somewhere. Haven't read it in many years but I remember it as a good read.

They went broke when they couldn't get the German Made bearings. Nev

Sorry.. couldn't resist. A later model flying Merkel: (Ignore the message)

Look UP " The FLYING MERKEL" . I once had a 1912 Model,. Sprung rear wheel. Ball race Big end. USA BUILT, The AMERICANS made the Most Innovative Bikes back then Nev

I guess the old motors had bigger pistons, longer stroke, and low compression. The T model ford was 4 litre - one litre per cylinder, and it was hand crank started (originally).

Willie, I asked Mr Google about the aircraft rivet hardening, and this answer I got, appears to be reasonably accurate. The information relates specifically to solid rivets, which I presume is what you're talking about. It jells with what I know about metals treatment. "Yes, certain old aluminium aircraft rivets can go hard and become difficult or unusable, due to a natural process called age-hardening, but whether they are truly "useless" depends on the alloy and storage conditions. While they get stronger over time, they also become less formable, which can cause them to crack during installation. Here is a breakdown of how old rivets behave: 1. The Common "AD" Rivet (Dimpled): The most common structural rivet (AN470AD or AN426AD, identified by a single dimple on the head) is made of 2117-T4 alloy. Aging Behavior: These are designed to be stable. While they may slightly harden over decades, they generally do not "go bad" and are considered usable indefinitely. Issues: In some cases, 20–30 year old AD rivets might feel harder to squeeze, but they are rarely useless. 2. The "Icebox" Rivet (DD) The rivets that truly go "hard and useless" with age are the 2024-T3 or 2017-T4 aluminum alloy rivets, often known as "DD" rivets (identified by two dashes on the head). Aging Behavior: These rivets are heat-treated to a soft, ductile state, but they begin to age-harden at room temperature within 40 minutes to a few hours. Storage: They must be stored in a freezer (hence "icebox") to prevent hardening. If left at room temperature for years, they become extremely hard and will crack if you try to buck them. Remedy: They can be re-solution heat-treated (annealed) to restore their softness, but this requires precise temperature control. Summary of Risks: Hardness: Old rivets may crack, specifically in the tails (shop head), if you try to drive them. Corrosion: If stored in a humid or corrosive environment, old aluminium rivets can develop corrosion, making them unsafe to use. Work Hardening: Even if the rivet hasn't hardened with age, if you are using an old rivet and it requires too many strikes to set, it may "work-harden" and break. Conclusion: If you are working with old rivets, test them first. If they are standard AD (dimpled) rivets, they are likely fine. If they are DD (double-dash) rivets, they are likely too hard and need to be annealed or replaced."

I found a video on the 2 litre thumper. It wasn't in Norway, it was a German, Fritz Langer, who built it.

I just love the concept. Can you imaging kick starting that? Would it sound like the one lungers at the vintage stationary engine fair?

There's a few Bikes Made with Rotec Radials in them. I gave a Good Lycoming Cylinder to Peter Franks at Lethbridge. Nev

You're right there Nev, that one above with the Wright cylinder is a custom chopper in my view. It's that shiny, you'd need sunglasses to look t it..

They do THAT on the Trains. Nev

Smashed Potato was invented for Eating PEAS. Nev

Named after a horse called Norseman. OT can probably give you more details. There is a statue of the horse in the town.

I get "coincidence" for 11. There's probably a German word of 50 in there.

Correct. M (Em) is the 13th letter in the alphabet, B (Bea) is the second letter, so L (Elle) is the twelfth letter.

Interesting possibility of conflict of interest.... https://govfacts.org/accountability-ethics/the-2-billion-year-how-the-presidency-contributed-to-trump-profits-in-2025/ The Dear Leader's family seems to be doing rather well.

Well if you're ever looking for images of a hairless cat, don't go searching for "shaved pussy" or you might have a heart attack.

Chop sticks are Not Much chop. Nev

Just a disaster. Real bad Job. Won't work Etc. Nev

I don't get it. They have custard bao buns.

Nev, a horse's arse is obvious if you are standing downwind. But isn't a horse's ass the horse's unwanted child?

Give Trump an OBE when He's 80 and a DIS Order of America Might be appropriate. Nev

What's a Horses Arse? Nev

OT How did Norseman get it's name? Nev

Ion Idriess books are all worthy reading, if a little dated today. There's a historian lady in Kalgoorlie (Moya Sharp) who has an amazing website covering the history of the Kalgoorlie Goldfields. It's mind-boggling what she's dug up. She originally had two women helpers, but it appears they have both passed on, so she's running it solely on her own now. She covers everything from tragedies, to family histories, to gold and lease scams and gold stealing, individual prospectors stories, train crashes, and histories of a multitude of Goldfields ghost towns. Some of the tragedies of the Goldfields would make you weep, especially the ones involving children. Life was hard and short for many, back in the "good old days". There are enough stories on this website to keep you occupied for months, if not years. I'm about to give her a few bucks to support her site, because she has done such an amazing job of recording the history of the Kalgoorlie region. https://www.outbackfamilyhistoryblog.com/about/

I have been to a military air show in India. Unpredictable, with no crowd line.

My wife and I moved into this house with our two young toddler sons just before Christmas 1978. The temps were very high that year, so we had a reverse cycle wall mounted unit installed in the lounge room. We rarely used the heater function, because the house had ducted gas heating. In hot weather my wife used to sleep in the lounge room. The unit is still working and was a boon for my daughter last week.

This bloke needs help:

Here is a perfect example of why the tank needed help. This Ass is wearing a thong

We've got a big 3HP Mitsubishi reverse cycle air conditioner that cools virtually the whole house when it's running, and we keep the house closed up. The unit isn't that expensive to run, but we've got 6.8Kw of solar panels on the roof that do a good job of keeping the power bill down. The original unit went well for 18 years, then a power surge blew the circuit board in the A/C section on the inside wall. It effectively meant we had to scrap it. No-one would accept responsibility for the power surge. We know it was caused by tree loppers a few streets away, they dropped a limb over a power line, and when Western Power restored the power again, it surged and blew the board. WP refused point blank to accept any responsibility and our insurance company declined to pay for repairs or replacement, because the power line didn't fall on our property. So we had to wear the $1800 cost to replace the entire unit. We bought an identical unit, as the Mitsubishi A/C's we have, have performed so well. We have two other units in 2 bedrooms, they are 1HP each, and they have been in service since 2005 and still work admirably. Evaporative A/C's are alright up to a point, then you have to open up the house to get rid of the humidity buildup.

You mean to tell us? - that an image of Trump wasn't in the first results?? 😄

Still riding after more than 40 years and still never had a bike accident on road and only a few falls offroad- worst bent a clutch lever. That includes racetrack fun and even been a Monkey on a ballistic racing LCR sidecar. Current beasty is a 167hp BMW k1200R, only 121,000 km so well run in. For it's 21st birthday it's getting a diff rebuild as a O ring was leaking, plus new rubber and rear disc. I got through the early silly years by always having a mature attitude to my skills development and knowing every car is probably trying to kill you. I always use the Piano principle- "unless a piano falls from the sky and hits you in the back of the head - I should have seen it coming". No amount of skill overcomes a poor attitude.

It's a new subdivision in Alkimos, W.A. Developer greed at its finest. No thanks.