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Jim_Scoggins
06-17-2007, 09:15 AM
Double posting in airplane and motorcycle forums.

Just as a matter of quick introduction: I am new to Prevosts but I have been kicking around airplanes since 1964. I flew the CH-46 and the OV-10 for the Marine Corps until I retired in 1991.

I have always had a motorcycle or two. Rode Harleys for about 40 years till I went to Beemers in 1995.

Always wanted a small yacht but have made do with a small day sailer. Likewise, enjoy railroads and railroad museums. Many campgrounds are located close to railroad tracks--to the dismay of most campers--but I enjoy the sight sound and smells of the trains going by.

Don't know a lot about them but a steam engine rally can entertain me for hours. Closest I have come is an old Ford 8N tractor but now have a Kabota 4 wheel drive.

Where am I going with this?

I think those of us who enjoy one of these things also enjoy some of the others. A guy who likes airplanes, will like motorcycles, sailboats, and coaches. The link, I think, is the feed back one gets back from a machine that is performing as it should: A well trimmed airplane or sailboat, an aircraft, coach, or motorcycle that is on the step, or a 16 inch bottom plow turning the furrow as it should. Likewise, we feel discomfort, if not pain, when a machine is not quite right.

I don't think I am a gearhead. I don't enjoy tearing things apart just to see how they work. Example: I didn't enjoy fooling around with broken airplanes--I like it when they are flying, or better yet, delivering ordnance.

I know I am on thin ice here but I swear some machines, like dogs, have souls.

henryhighwood
06-17-2007, 02:40 PM
Well said,

When I recently joined this forum as I try to learn more about coaches, and search for the right one for me, I was surprised how many others were also bike and aircraft fans.

dalej
06-17-2007, 03:23 PM
Jim,

I enjoyed your writings, you are so right! When we drove back home last Sunday from Nashville, 800 miles in one day, I could almost feel as if the bus was just wanting to get home. The purr of that 8v going thru a glass pack muffler, what a heartbeat.

Same is true when we take the Road King out on a trip.


ps...I still have a 3-16 plow along with a JD 4020, if you ever stop by, you can take her out.

Jim_Scoggins
06-17-2007, 04:12 PM
dalej:
You are so right about the 8V92. Had one in an 86 Bluebird --never had the luxury of redoing the muffler but it did have a 6 inch exhaust pipe. All other engines, including my series 60, sound like little girlie engines.

I also flew H-34s a little and instructed night flying in T-28. All UH-34 copilots seemed to have developed hearing loss in left ear by the time they made aircraft commander--no muffler on a R-1820 with the exhaust about 3ft down and 6ft forward of the copilot. South east asia was hot so one flew with the windows open. Both aircraft (T-28 also had a R-1820) had a great exhaust plume readily visible and night.

After the 8V92 and those R-1820s (and a short time in A-1s with a R-3350), Harley sounds have been nice, but compared to an 8V or an R-1820 underload, underwhelming. Dragon Lady does say my BMW bikes sound like weed eaters!

Holy Cow! A three bottom plow. Never got to do that and I will try to take you up on that offer.

Jerry Winchester
06-18-2007, 02:05 PM
Jim,

Good post and you are absolutely on target. Except I don't do motorcycles.

But Dale is missing a beat here. You need to pull the 3-16's with a JD 70 Diesel to get true plowing nirvana. The two cylinder tractor has so many unique characteristics, that plowing with one using the hand clutch is almost a lost art. And as some can attest, I have a JD one cylinder hit or miss engine that will whip up ice cream and still shell corn all day and it provides a similar joy.

I see it the same way you do. A well running machine working at its peak horsepower and performing as designed is something I really enjoy. When I worked with the hydraulic fracturing group at Halliburton, there was nothing better than standing in the middle of 48,000 horsepower with all the pumps humming along at 12,000 psi. The vibration of the ground is impressive.

And Dale, I felt the same way headed home yesterday with the old 8V92 humming along like the well oiled (no pun) machine that is is. Especially with the new exhaust manifold part installed.

JIM CHALOUPKA
06-18-2007, 10:44 PM
Jim, Some good posts on things that I also enjoy. Here find web sites for two of the best Rail Museums I have visited. They are not very far from you in Prevo terms.

http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/ ("http://www.rrmuseumpa.org/")

http://stepintohistory.com/states/PA/Steamtown_National.htm ("http://stepintohistory.com/states/PA/Steamtown_National.htm")

Maybe you have already been to them? Well worth the visit as they are very hands on and everything is in topnotch condition and mostly indoors.:)

Jim_Scoggins
06-24-2007, 07:47 AM
Been to both of those museums in PA.
Take time to go to the B&O museum in Baltimore. Forget the name but there was another great museum just outside Denver.

Always wanted to park a Caboose in my front yard!