Tinkicker

I think i am getting old. I have no concept of what a "balance bike" is.

Devitt are beyond the pale. What an outfit. Had one bloke on the phone confirming everything is fine. Documents received. Then this email arrived today. Documents required to confirm your insurance policy Thank you for returning your documents. We are unable to confirm your insurance policy on the documents received as the correct documents have not been supplied or some parts are missing. Need DLN or LIC summary from your end . (If there has been a gap between the start of this insurance and the expiry date of your previous insurance, please let us know the reason) Unfortunately statement of facts, policy schedules and certificates of insurance are unacceptable forms of No Claims Discount proof. However you can request your No Claims Bonus letter directly from your previous insurer. What you need to do now You will need to send us these items within the next 7 days. Click here to upload documents. Alternatively you can forward these to: [email protected] What happens if we don’t get the documents we need? If we don’t get all the documents we asked for we will not be able to confirm your policy Yours sincerely Bharath Mohan Raj 0345 300 4870 Ext: 1005 North House | St Edwards Way | Romford | RM1 3PP. Phoned customer services once again and spoke to another customer service agent. Oh thats just an automated message that comes up, you may get two or three of them, just ignore them. In any case he checked again for me. Everything is fine and dandy. What a shower. One hand does not know what the other is doing. I have had enough. I am considering selling little yeller on. 5 vehicles to insure every year is far too much. In fact I am considering flogging the DT175 and VFR too and buying something like an Africa Twin in a year or two when prices have dropped signifcantly. Bike market is in the toilet in the US and what happens there, happens here a bit later.

I did enjoy his scream as he flew past the shop doorway.

I think the better part of the oxygen thief's character that morning would have been found at the bottom of the toilet bowl.

I would like to give him painkillers. Ones that do exactly what they say on the tin. Oxygen thief.

Finally gave them another call. The guy I spoke to got all the details up on his screen. Acknowledged I sent the required documentation and all good. Nothing untoward. The problems would have arisen if the policy termination notice time ran to its end. Rarely does one come back from that without a lot of future pain from what I have read. I hope everyone learned from my stupid lazyness. RTF. Just because I have never been required to send licence details for a long time, it does not mean that is the same with every company. There is a lot to be said for staying with the same company. Cuts out all this crap. All my vehicles are insured with same company except little yeller that they would not insure because it was a US import. I think I spent more time talking on A.G. Bell's hateful device today than I have in total for the last 10 years.

Well screenshot attachment and the relevent ref numbers has been sent to their customer services address with the hope they contact me if any other problems turn up. They have not acknowledged the email in any way, nor any of the others. Dunno whether this is good news or bad. A quick missive telling me everything has been resolved would have been nice...

Spoke to customer services this morning. I am not in too much bother yet, but I have to pull my finger out. They have confirmed my driving licence is class A and clean. The code I got from Swinton account for ncb is not recognised. I contacted swinton and they emailed me proof of ncb. So I guess I just take a screenshot of the document and send it as an email attachment. Cannot do more till I get home on the PC. I am garbage with phones. Hate them with a passion. Once again..... RTF.

Insured little yeller for 3rd of Feb. With Devitt. Duly got the policy crap through the post, had a quick look at the policy details and ignored the reams of other terms and conditions and financial law BS that comes with the insurance docs. Got home from work today and a letter was on my doormat. It was a reminder dated 13/2, appears that they wanted to see my driving licence and proof of no claims. Yup, amongst all the garbage in the policy envelope, there it was. They said they needed the info. This was a new one. I have been asked about no claims before, but never my driving licence details via a government website. Once, years ago had to send a photocopy. Oh crap. Fired up the PC immediately and jumped through the hoops. Driving licence check code duly sent. Code number for no claims proof duly sent by email. Tonight, more at my leisure, I checked my emails. It appears that as of today devitt are giving 7 days notice of cancelling the policy. Shit. Serious stuff. I sent customer services an email pleading my case and pointing out I immediately sent them the info via their contact email address as soon as I received the reminder. It is pretty shit sending out a reminder by post on the thursday, and cancelling the policy on the following monday. Moral of the tale, read through the boring crap. ... I await developments...

When I saw the autopilot was glitched, I confess that I engineered the "engine failure". I was not going to sit for 12 hours, hand flying an old crate back to blighty. However, the rest, including the stuck open throttle was genuine. I sense that you are rather taken with Debs. I call her Debs because she looks very much like my Debs, my very best mate ever, we were inseparable when we were young. Everyone thought we would marry one day. Sadly her parents split up and she moved away. I bumped into her again about 20 years later, married with kids. She looked very much like the digital "Debs". Told you, all my tales carry a large element of truth about them.

Well how we were going top get back to blighty has been unceremoniously resolved. It nearly killed the both of us. I have not had an in flight emergency of such epic proportions since I was in combat over the Euphrates Dam and got stitched real good by a ZSU 23.... Met Debs in the hotel breakfast room and it transpires that she had a conversation with James last night. It transpires that an elderly Cessna 404 needed ferrying back to the UK. So not quite the little mini break I thought it was, devious bugger. Debs needs to get home for her airline schedule, so it is going to be a very long flight.. So we trundle up to have a look at this page of ancient history. The engineer approaches us and tells the sorry tale. It has been parked on the ramp, unused for the last five years and has just been sold to a UK aerial survey company and needs ferrying back to the UK. I ask if it will fly? Oh yes, I have changed the oil and run up both engines and checked the essential systems. Fuel, electrical power and props all fine. Are you going to accompany me on the test flight? Oh no, I cannot, I get terribly air sick. Hmm. Look, I will start the engines for you. In he jumps and both engines start up immediately. Well it sounds reasonably healthy... He jumps out and looks at me expectantly. Well, I suppose I ought to give it a chance. Debs jumps straight in. " Cmon, it is an adventure". Manly pride comprehensively dented, i reluctantly climb in. Man, what a shed. Only the very best in 1970s technology in here. OK, here we go, I advance the throttles and gallop down the runway. She sounds fit enough and the gauges are steady. We climb up to 4000ft and i start checking the systems. Autopilot. Inop apparently. Not good. I am liking this less and less. I switch on the deicing system and look out the window to watch the de icing boots pulse. Nothing. De ice inop. I look to the gauges and find that number two prop has fallen out of sync a little. I pull it back into sync. It falls out of sink again. I look to the manifold pressure gauge, that too is out of sync, we are losing the engine. Fuel pressure looks good, so it is not a cracked injector pipe, it must be eating its turbo. I start the turn back from whence we came. The engine suddenly gave a few backfires and the manifold pressure dropped like a rock. No choice but to cut the ignition and feather the prop. I advance the throttle on the left engine and run the prop right to the top of the non emergency max allowable setting and hope she stays within the single engine control speed. We gingerly continue our turn into the live engine, all the while keeping well away from the edge of the single engine min speed envelope. If we cross it, I will have to pull the power on the good engine, dive to increase sufficient speed and increase power again, or failing that, ditch into the sea. Thankfully I have a few knots to play with. I pull out of the turn and we start to pick up a little airspeed, then I find a biggie.. A HUGE bug. Asymmetric thrust is not modelled. Instead of burying my foot deep into the left rudder pedal to maintain course, nothing. It flies along as innocently at 130kts as on two engines. That is one hell of a miss. Right engine stopped and prop feathered. She behaves as if nothing happened. No rudder trim required. She will not spin out of the sky, no matter how the speed drops. That is a HUGE miss by the devs. Coming down the pipe towards the field again, I find another lovely failure waiting in the wings. Barrelling down the pipe at 140kts, I pull back on the left throttle to slow down. No change in sound from the left engine. I look to the manifold pressure gauge. 35 inches as before. I pull the throttle all the way back, the gear horn blares. I look at the gauge - 35 inches. The throttle is jammed almost wide open. I glance over at Debs and see her eyes are getting wider and wider, she is clearly terrified. I wish I stopped her from coming along. I feel very saddened for her. I have one more trick in my bag of experience.. As we approach the runway threshold, still at 140kts, I cut the mags on the left engine, drop the gear and flaps and cross control her to shed as much speed as possible. I fear those probably dry rotted tyres will blow, and if so, I will not be able to keep her on the runway. Since there are large bodies of water either side of the runway, that means going for a swim. She touches down with a large puff of tyre smoke and I stand on the brakes, We floated a long way down the runway and the end is fast approaching. And down. Left engine is ticking and clicking furiously as it cools down. We used over 3/4 of the runway to get down and stopped. A frightened and very tearful Debs. She got out of the aircraft, and from what I can gather from her very sweary phone call to her husband, James will be sleeping in the spare room for quite a while. So now we wait for a scheduled flight to get us home.

I told the missus about my new copilot. Under no circumstances, am I allowed to share a cockpit with her ever again.. Apparently, sharing a cockpit with a fun loving aviation expert , who enjoys a laugh, and happens to be very pretty is not a good thing...

And down we are at corfu. She says I conducted myself professionally throughout the flight, but my landing was a bit of a white knuckler. Still, nothing broken and it was my first ever 737 landing. The 737 is a ponderous beast when you get low and slow, but you get there in the end. I know just enough about her to get myself killed... Backtracking towards the Corfu passenger terminal.

Yes, not bad is she? Sat here in the cockpit in VR, she is incredibly realistic, even her movements look natural. James is a very lucky man. Just crossing the Alps. Absolutely no angst whatsoever, unlike the commanche. Fuel is going to be a concern, its going to be tight. Did not know we only had a partial fuel load until after takeoff and had time to find the gauges... Once we hit Northern Italy, I am going to start a slow descent.

The phone rings... Hello its James.. Hi Listen, I want you to accompany my wife down to Corfu. We have a private charter jet to relocate.. A jet? That's the general idea. But your wife is an airline pilot... Is she? I had rather forgot.. pillock. Yes she is a 737 Max pilot and is going to relocate this aircraft for us. I want you to go along as second dicky. she will give you a check ride on the basics on the way. Be sure that is all she gives you...... At my age? Chance would be a fine thing. I know, but to be sure, i laced your coffee with Bromide this morning... feeling OK? But I know nothing about 737s, only ever sat in the back of one. You will get the hang of it. Goodbye bzzz. James has been very generous with this flight, essentially a free day out at the owners expense. wonder how we will get home? So I find myself sat in the captains seat of a Boeing 737 max, looking at a bewildering display of controls. At least I have a very attractive young lady to keep me company.. I think flying it will not be a problem, I have thousands of hours of fast military jet time, but the autopilot navigation systems and finding corfu???? I have a very steep learning curve ahead. Sat at end of runway 32 complete with a little eye candy.. albeit a do not touch one. Will I survive, or will I have to start another character at zero hours if I kill myself.. At least the eye candy knew how to start the thing up.. Well, managed to get it staggering into the air, figured out out to use the basic functions of the autopilot and here we are at cruise level, 34,000ft, a few miles shy of the south coast; headed in the general direction of Corfu at .76 mach. A bewildering cockpit, but I managed to find the cruise checklist and was able to find and switch on all that should be on, and all that should be off.

Well it looks like I am grounded due to the weather this weekend. Not worth the risk.. I think I will take a holiday in Florida or somewhere else warm and sunny this weekend. Poor viz, low cloud and freezing fog. https://metar-taf.com/EGNM

This one has all the hallmarks of an unsold ex demonstrator, clogging up showroom space for years before being dumped into the auctions. Not sure about the vendor though and you do not state how old you are prepared to go. Full matching luggage is a bonus. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/202502068797819?advertising-location=at_bikes For me, this is the better bet.. Looks like a very well cared for, summer only bike. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/bike-details/202502129014684?advertising-location=at_bikes

Well.. In the cold light of day that revved up. Broke a major rule in going on my kindle when ratted. It takes away my ability to sift the wheat from the chaff. Never get offensive, but I do know I can get uncharacteristically contentious. Apologies to all.

Change in airflow over the aircraft structure. Huge increase in drag and lower lift generated by the wing due to the altered airfoil shape. Also, the propellor, also an airfoil, just turned 90 fegrees to the wing and spinning to create "lift" is also subject to ice accretion, which destroys its efficiency for converting engine power to thrust. Remember Xmas eve over Iceland? Full emergency power could not keep her in the air, even in level flight.

Indeed RTW. Confusion. As part of my management training, we had a questionaire filled out about each one of us, by the other course members about how we perceived each other. As a quiet and what I considered that I was a gentle, kindly bloke, I was very surprised to find that others found me to be quite intimidating. How so? No idea. I know I have a very laser like focus, perhaps that is it, or perhaps it is that trivial BS smalltalk has no interest to me. I do not fill the air with trivial words because I am uncomfortable with silence.. Maybe that is it also.. It certainly was not how I saw myself and still don't. I am a big softy. I am always ready to offer help and support and cry real tears when a bloke in thailand on youtube plays his piano for his beloved elephants enjoyment... Neverless, surface perception is everything. The greatest gift is to know thyself. If not, your true friends will tell you. If you piss them off...

You have done nothing wrong other than you sticking your foot firmly in your mouth. I called you on it. (BTW do not try to play the victim card, another control measure used by the passive aggressive. I spotted it for what it was immediately , I have had a little psychological observational training in a previous life...) Lets leave it at that. No worries. Tomorrow is another day. I regret this situation, but you know what they say.... Never turn a quiet bloke. While everyone else is talking, they are quietly observing..

But it was not answered. The gen 10 civic engine is not designed by "japanese engineers" it is a German engine.. Jeeze.

Laugh all you want... The laugh icon.. The preserve of the passive aggressive) You do not look any better than you do right now in my eyes. Goodnight sweet prince.

Oil absorbes moisture. Moisture corrodes engine parts. Esp in the top end.. It is not rocket science.... I have had a beer or two and am about to say something I always try to avoid. Stand down RWS. A tiny bit of knowledge is a very dangerous thing. You come from a sample of one. I base my findings on a sample of a couple of thousand.... I apologise, but in my present state, I have to speak out. Perhaps in the morning, I will regret my words, I usually do, or maybe not. I am a quiet bloke, but sometimes..... People yank my chain.. RWS consider my chain comprehensibly yanked. I do not like the passive aggressive crap.