Tuesday, December 31, 2013

long over due time to put these two photos together... I've had them posted in different places, and never realized til I looked up somehting else


The aircraft (Maia on the bottom, Mercury on top) were commissioned by the British government to fly transatlantic cargoes (mainly mail) in the late 30s. Built by Shorts in Belfast, Maia was a modified production model while Mercury was made for the job. The problem at the time was that an aircraft could just about get across the Atlantic but not with any useful payload. By using Maia to lift Mercury to operational height, not only was Maia's fuel demand reduced but it could be configured purely for efficient cruising. The experiment was successful and used in service but ended with the onset of WW2. Wartime design advances soon made the concept obsolete of course (thanks to comments from Tonyand03)!


strange that such a strikingly unusual image wouldn't stand out in my mind that I'd seen something similar before

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/07/maia-mercury-composite-aircraft.html

1929 Majestic... I didn't realize the innovative steering they used, and that the paint had a "crackle" factory option



my previous post http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/1929-majestic.html  has a good and thorough variety of photos, of a couple bikes, from different angles, but I was more fascinated by the overall design than the steering.. and didn't notice it's very uncommon

but if you click over to http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2013/10/truly-majestic.html you'll see more photos and get a good description of the steering
pillar rods allow sprung vertical movement, and the steering rod can be seen connected to the central hub by a 'c' shaped lever. The front hub has plenty to do, with a large bearing and brake mechanism inside.

above photo from the 2013 Pebble Beach Concours via http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2013/08/pebble-beach-2013-pass-poupon.html


above from http://myclassicmotorcycle.blogspot.com/2013/08/pebble-beach-concours-delegance-2013.html


a day in the life of the British traffic police (interesting!)



found on http://thenewcaferacersociety.blogspot.com

around minute 15 they find a guy from Iran who was strapped to the bottom of a semi trailer for 3 days... trying to sneak into England. At minute 29 is another, same MO, from Iran, through Portugal, riding a lorry axle. 30,000 people are caught a year getting into England illegally. No idea how many people aren't caught

I just learned a lot about this enormous WW2 Navy airplane, it's a Martin Mars


found on http://steampunkvehicles.tumblr.com/post/71170836271/http-www-jalopyjournal-com

a Martin JRM Mars (built by the Glenn L. Martin Company):
 it is a large, four-engined cargo transport seaplane originally designed and built in limited numbers for the U.S. Navy during the World War II era. It was the largest Allied flying boat to enter production, although only seven were built.
The United States Navy contracted the development of the XPB2M-1 Mars in 1938 as a long range ocean patrol flying boat, which later entered production as the JRM Mars long range transport. By the small number on the tail, that is "Hawaii Mars I" - JRM-1 - first flown on 21 July 1945 and delivered to the United States Navy. It sank on 5 August 1945 in the Chesapeake Bay and was disposed as scrap.



Named the Marianas Mars, Philippine Mars, Marshall Mars, Caroline Mars, and a second Hawaii Mars, the five production Mars aircraft entered service ferrying cargo to Hawaii and the Pacific Islands.

 On 4 March 1949, the Caroline Mars set a new world passenger load record by carrying 269 people from San Diego to Alameda, CA. The remaining "Big Four" flew record amounts of Naval cargo on the San Francisco-Honolulu route efficiently until 1956, when they were beached at NAS Alameda.

In 1959, the remaining Mars aircraft were to be sold for scrap, but a Canadian company, Forest Industries Flying Tankers, was formed and bid for the four aircraft and a large spares holding. The company represented a consortium of British Columbia forest companies

The Marianas Mars crashed near Northwest Bay, British Columbia, on 23 June 1961 during firefighting operations; all four crew members were lost. Just over a year later, on 12 October 1962, the Caroline Mars was destroyed by Typhoon Freda while parked onshore.

The Hawaii Mars and Philippine Mars had their conversions to water bombers accelerated and entered service in 1963


On 23 August 2012, the Coulson Group of Port Alberni, British Columbia announced that the Philippine Mars, due to its lack of use for five years, will be retired and flown to the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida to become a static exhibit. The aircraft was repainted to its original U.S. Navy colors and is expected to be delivered to the museum in July 2013

images and info from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_JRM_Mars

In the Movie The A-Team, the A-Team fly out of Germany with a Martin Mars with the red-white Coulson Flying Tankers livery.


I know few of you care, but I post what I find very cool, and this notification to "guest post writers" is the most dead on thing I've seen in a while

We get a lot of inquiries about guest posting here in The Garage, so we thought we should clear a few things up.
First off, we love guest posts, but only if you are:
  • A real person.
  • A real car, bike, boat or whatever fan who thinks they have something great to share.
  • An aspiring auto writer who is looking for a bit of exposure to build your own brand.
  • An actual automotive writer who has something cool to share that doesn’t fit the mold of your regular outlet.
  • A car club who wants to share cool stuff about a club event or even promote an upcoming event. In that case, send photos or video from last year’s event.
We do not want your guest post if you are:
  • A company.
  • A representative of a company looking to promote your online presence through link sharing.
  • A content aggregator who creates content for clients as in the previous line.
  • No, you can’t pay us to contribute your crappy content to in any way promote anyone’s product.
To all you businesses who do guest pasts for your clients, you do know that the google still hates that stuff and punishes independent site owners for participating. We know you know and don’t give a shit. We know too, and we do give a shit because we have been burned before.
http://thegarageblog.com/garage/a-word-about-guest-posts/
I just get a full belly laugh from this, because the bullshit on the internet never ends, and scammers are always trying to push their crap to get website traffic and links etc etc. I get a half dozen to a dozen requests a week  from "guest post" types. I think I've only posted the content 2wice because someone did their home work and made a good content post. 

another well written article, how car dealerships are failing to carry the car manufacturers message

http://thegarageblog.com/garage/when-the-car-dealer-loses-the-script-a-buick-sob-story/

Sorry, no photos, but I do actually like well written articles! I can recognize my shortcomings, and writing as well as Tom does... that is one of them

before buying a new car, get a 2nd opinion. I have written about my experience, here is Tom from the Garage Blog telling you his

http://thegarageblog.com/garage/how-to-buy-a-new-car-part-i/#idc-container

Personally, I prefer to lease. Yes, you can argue that I never actually own the car, and you are right. But, like most people, I do not have $25,000 under my mattress to buy a new car.
My requirements were simple. A 36 month lease, 12,000 miles a year, nothing down.


 Also, I had two things working in my favor. I sold new and used Hondas before I went away to college, so I know how the system works. But the biggest weapon I brought to the table was you, our readers. And I made it perfectly clear that I would be naming names, and fully documenting my car shopping experience. You might think this would have them scared straight, right? Think again.

As a member of the auto media, I do have access to employee pricing. Yes, it is a perk of being in the business, but when you are a car journalist, people do ask what car sits in my driveway. And that answer has enough gravity that the car companies are willing to extend that discount to me. 

(I had no idea when buying my Veloster or Cruze... Jesse)

And so, I contacted General Motors offices in New York City, asked, and received, the discount. Authorization code in hand from my printed e-mail, I marched down to Chevrolet of Milford at the end of July. I was given pricing. I said I was not ready to buy, since my lease did not terminate until the end of August. Come August, I requested new pricing. Amazingly, with the 2014’s on their way, Chevy of Milford added $500 to the price originally quoted days before. 

 
The story gets better. Because of my employee pricing, GM gave me a link to see what my discounts would be. For a 2013 Chevy Cruze, I was entitled to a $2,000 discount. Also, since I am a member of USAA, I was eligible for an additional $500 discount, for a total of $2,500 off sticker price. I study the paperwork from Chevy of Milford. My discount is nowhere near that amount.


This is just a quick excerpt.. his two closest dealerships were morons, and shot themselves in the foot. Not only did Tom spread the word about how bad he was treated, I'm echoing the story to my readers, and blog followers.

http://thegarageblog.com/garage/how-to-buy-a-new-car-part-i/#idc-container

Mopar lineups... impressive classic musclecars from left to right.


the upper left yellow and black Super Bee or R/T, looks a lot like mine, it's a damn shame this photo isn't in better resolution or size so these cars could be better identified, as in R/T or Super Bee, GTX or Road Runner... I'm not sure what the other black car is, the one in front of the blue shirt .. a Fairlane?



interesting weed burners


it's rare that anyone diverges from open headers caps and a full sidepipe flow system, and when is the last time you found a photo of weedburners?

Found on http://stiffspeed.tumblr.com/