Questions you'd love to ask (Dan H.)

DanHolohan

What if

you bring along a beer-drinking buddy and he sits on the port side. Do you go 'round in circles?

Chris S

more on port starboard

I have to chime in now, in an airplane, the pilot is always in the left seat, but some helicopters are flown from the right seat and some are flown from the left.
anybody?

Chris S

double post

John L

Why

Is the government willing to give up to $1500 tax credit for higher efficiency butis about to pass abill that will increase the average homeowners utility casts by up to $3000. Is that taking from Peter so that you can rob Paula.
Just asking.
John L

DanHolohan

I've been able

to use some of your questions, and they'll appear in upcoming eBlasts. Thanks. Since the eBlast questions use the survey format (chose an answer from a list), I haven't been able to use all that you've proposed. Some of these questions that you've posed require essay answers. That doesn't work within this context. Sorry.

If you have any more questions that I can ask as multiple-choice questions, I'm happy to post them for you. Let me know. Thanks.

And if you don't get the Thursday eBlast, and would like to, just add your e-mail address to the box on the masthead you see at the top of each page of the site.

Baltimore/Maine Doug_9

This counterbalance thing

may apply in some circumstances. For small props there is not enough force to make a boat tilt. The boat I have been running has a 12 foot beam and 450HP Cat. My body weight makes no difference to the boat whether stopped, accelerating or moving right along.
Pumping 300 gallons of fuel aboard makes a difference but mostly in the Amex statement.

Wayco Wayne_2

Timmy

I know the answer to your first question. If you go in the front door of a building and smell gas, the first thing you do is turn on the lights so you can see where it's coming from. :O WW

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Jean-David Beyer

I read you should not turn on the lights under that condition. So I guess you should get a kerosene lantern or a candle. 8-)

Unknown

Wayne & Jean

You jest I am sure! Believe it or not anything above 1100 to 1200 degrees will ignite gas and propane is even lower. It is amazing how many people in the trades do not practice gas safety. It is only the grace of God that many are not killed.

Jean-David Beyer

Certainly I was jesting. Hence the smiley.
I infer you think some people take things so literally that they might think I was serious. I hope you are wrong, but you may well be right. I shudder at the thought.

Unknown

Jean, Smiley did not show up

but yes after teaching for the last 35 years I have heard it all from looking for leaks with a torch to using matches. Many are the arguements against what is safe but you only die once.

Jean-David Beyer

Smiley did not show up

That's strange. When I look at it in my browser, it is there.

Jean-David Beyer

I have heard it all from looking for leaks ...

I had a professional heating contractor do my boiler installation -- one that was formerly oil, but now is gas.
Not only was the manual pretty explicit that the only way to look for leaks was a soap solution, but the gas company would not allow them to connect to the meter until they pressurized the system to 15 psi and it had to hold it for at least 24 hours before they were allowed to connect the line to the meter. They did that around lunch time on a Friday, and by Monday it had dropped about 3 psi that seemed pretty good to me (a NON-professional). So they had either a spray can or a bottle with bubble stuff in it (perhaps like kids use, for all I know) and looked around the various joints and found it. Tuesday the gas guy approved and it was connected up.

I guess it is just as well they fixed it, but I wonder how dangerous that would be. The whole boiler and all the nearby piping is in my garage that has two vents about 12"x12": one near the top of the roof, and one right next to the boiler with enough capacity to pass code for feeding my old oil burner. Also leaks under the garage door that I know you are not allowed to count. The new boiler gets its air from outside and exhausts right next to it (Weil McLain Ultra 3 80K BTU/hour).

Barbarossa

Planes and such

First guess for fixed wing would be visibility as most airport pattern turns historically are to the left. As for rotary they usually fly right turns to remain clear of other traffic. But it could also be torque; because in the case of rotary, which way you turn requires more or less Hp to be diverted to the tail rotor and what goes to the tail is not available for lift. Of course if there were good reasons for that they may not be relevant anymore as different countries manufacture equipment where the prop or blades turn in different directions. I would like to hear other views on this even though it is a bit off topic.

Radiator Ranger

Questions?

Hi Dan -

I don't know that these are the types of question you were thinking but they're the kind of questions that come to mind.

#1 Can you tell us again about latent heat?

#2 There are formulas for equivalent direct radiation of a radiator (EDR) based on size, style of radiator, temperatures etc. Is there a formula for determining the weight of a radiator based on the number, height and style of fins? Are there tables in old books that list this?

#3 How many foundries in the United States made cast iron radiators? If there were only a few foundries, how were radiators moved from the manufacturing plant to the customer. I found an interesting article about the American Radiator Company. Very briefly:

American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation – Litchfield Illinois

...Between 1905 and 1944 the plant produced only cast iron radiation and, in that period more than 150,000,000 square feet of this product was cast. Rococo, Peerless, Corto, and Arco radiators were shipped from Litchfield to all parts of the United States and South America. In the early years before the American Radiator Company built its European plants, large quantities were also exported to Europe....

During World War II the American-Standard Litchfield Plant was converted for the manufacture of sand-molded magnesium castings.

...The plant was re-converted to the manufacture of radiators late in 1945.

http://history.montgomeryco.com/MoreInfo/History/tabid/604/ID/159/American-Radiator-Corporation.aspx

3A How many rail cars would 150,000,000 square feet of radiation fill, and how much does that represent in lbs.? The question makes me laugh - every time I talk on the phone about radiators people make sure to tell me 'they (the radiators) are really heavy!' The labor and energy embodied in cast iron radiators boggles me.

Curiously,
Gwen Healy - Radiator Ranger

JJ_4

Thanks for that!

Now I will be able to remember which is which.