OT-poor piloting

"OM" om@our_blessed_lady_mary_of_the_holy_NASA_researc h_facility.org wrote
in message news
On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 00:38:24 -0400, Peter Stickney
wrote:

They're both nominally 4 seat coupes, although the back seats will
hold about a 6-pack of beer each.

...It is an acknowledged fact by both the manufacturer, the chief
designer, and everyone who ever owned one that neither the TransAM,
Camaro, or Firebird, were designed with the back seat intended for
anything other than the *appearance* that they were four-seater
vehicles. They were never intended to be used by passengers. Having
sat in one numerous times and practically had to be lifted out with a
crane, I can verify this.

You guys do know about the existence of "2+2" seating arrangements like that
of the Datsun 260Z, don't you? These are where the rear seat is
intentionally sized for children.

Neil Gerace wrote:

You guys do know about the existence of "2+2" seating arrangements like that
of the Datsun 260Z, don't you? These are where the rear seat is
intentionally sized for children.



On the 69 Dodge Charger the rear seat was intentionally sized for
_creating_ children. ;-)

Pat

Pat Flannery ) writes:
Andre Lieven wrote:

In that context, it's name was not unreasonable. Unlike the Atlas 5,
or the F-18E/F.

How about the Delta? Now there's a rocket that has undergone a lot of
changes over its lifetime.

Indeed. I'd include that one, as well.

I'd still like to have seen the look on the Thor missile design team's
faces if someone had told them that a much evolved version of their IRBM
was going to be landing robotic rovers on Mars someday. I don't know if
they'd be awed that it could be evolved into something capable of doing
that, or appalled that we would still be using it past the year 2000-
which seems to indicate that rocket design hit a plateau fairly early on
and hasn't really moved forward all that much in the years since. :-\

Answer: yes. g

Andre

--
" I'm a man... But, I can change... If I have to... I guess. "
The Man Prayer, Red Green.

"Pat Flannery" wrote in message
...

The Firebird is inevitably driven by a teased-hair, gum-snapping
girl
named Donna.
Pat

She's the older sister to the chubby blond with the stringy hair who's
chewing her cud behind the counter of the gas station/convenience
store, right? The one that can't figure out the change without using
the register, and always has the ends of her hair in her mouth?
And fifteen plastic bracelets on her left arm?
-
Jim

James Nowotarski wrote:

She's the older sister to the chubby blond with the stringy hair who's
chewing her cud behind the counter of the gas station/convenience
store, right? The one that can't figure out the change without using
the register, and always has the ends of her hair in her mouth?
And fifteen plastic bracelets on her left arm?



Don't forget the tattoos.

Pat

Neil Gerace wrote:

You guys do know about the existence of "2+2" seating arrangements
like that of the Datsun 260Z, don't you? These are where the rear
seat is intentionally sized for children.

That would be the Datsun 260Z 2+2 GT. Straight 260Zs have 2 seats,
although, in a pinch, it's possible to have someone short sit on the
back deck & dangle their feet behind the passenger's seatback.

Are you also aware that a Satsun 260Z's engine compartment will easily
take a GM or Ford smallblock V-8, with a minimum of fiddling with the
front engine mounts, and a new crossmember at the rear for a
Borg-Warner Super T10 4-speed transmission? (You've got to shorten up
the drive shaft, though, and an extra-thick radiator core helps.)
If you build the proper engine - say, the Chevy 302 Can-Am motor
(283 block, 327 heads, solid lifters, extra-heavy valve springs =
9,000 RPM) the result will verifiably exceed 165 mph. And look like
a stock Datsun Z.
Handling's rather good, too - the V-8 block, is shorter end not much
heavier, than the L26/L28 straight 6, and moving the CG aft helps
with the Z's irritating understeer while braking.

Now, for making out - It's kinda hard to beat a 1957 Chevy 210. Those
things were big enough inside to film a movie.
Or, if you wanted more in the way of comfort, a mid '70s VW Bus with
the optional Propane Combustion Heater. With its high ground
clearance and good traction, it could get well off the beaten path,
and get back to the path again. With the combustion heater, it was
toasty warm all through Northern New England Winters.

S.S.H content - One of the primary make-out spots in the Northeastern
Massachusetts, Southeastern New Hampshire areas was the Safeguard
(Spartan) ABM site in North Andover, MA. Construction had begun,
before it was paused in the late '60s, so the access roads and
boundary fences were in place, but there was nothing and nobody
there. After the 1972 ABM Treaty, Andover was kept as a potential
site for the "Protection of the Capital" phase of the scaled-back
system, so it was not available for commercial development.
A lot of 30somethings in this area owe their very existence to the ABM
program.

--
Pete Stickney
Java Man knew nothing about coffee.

On Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:46:00 -0400, Peter Stickney
wrote:

With the combustion heater, it was
toasty warm all through Northern New England Winters.

....Which no doubt to lots of New England hippies procreating.

OM

--

"No ******* ever won a war by dying for | http://www.io.com/~o_m
his country. He won it by making the other | Sergeant-At-Arms
poor dumb ******* die for his country." | Human O-Ring Society

- General George S. Patton, Jr

"Peter Stickney" wrote in message
news
Neil Gerace wrote:

That would be the Datsun 260Z 2+2 GT. Straight 260Zs have 2 seats,
although, in a pinch, it's possible to have someone short sit on the
back deck & dangle their feet behind the passenger's seatback.

Oh yes. Not many of the 2-seater 260Z were sold here, most are 2+2s. I think
they have a longer wheelbase.

Are you also aware that a Satsun 260Z's engine compartment will easily
take a GM or Ford smallblock V-8, with a minimum of fiddling with the
front engine mounts, and a new crossmember at the rear for a
Borg-Warner Super T10 4-speed transmission?

Yes, I've seen Ford 302 and Holden 308 versions, but the fastest Z I ever
saw had a Nissan engine (motor?) in it, sorta like a GTR's but with only 1
turbo.

S.S.H content - One of the primary make-out spots in the Northeastern
Massachusetts, Southeastern New Hampshire areas was the Safeguard
(Spartan) ABM site in North Andover, MA. Construction had begun,
before it was paused in the late '60s, so the access roads and
boundary fences were in place, but there was nothing and nobody
there. After the 1972 ABM Treaty, Andover was kept as a potential
site for the "Protection of the Capital" phase of the scaled-back
system, so it was not available for commercial development.
A lot of 30somethings in this area owe their very existence to the ABM
program.

Where are the photos from the Soviet treaty-verification satellites?

On Sun, 3 Jul 2005 21:38:25 -0400, "Scott Hedrick"
wrote:

"Reunite Gondwanaland (Mary Shafer)" wrote in
message ...
I saw the first S-3 flight, long ago.

First memory as an infant?

What a nice thing to say!

Mary "same age as the Beechcraft Bonanza"

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer
We didn't just do weird stuff at Dryden, we wrote reports about it.
or