Funny that, the standard gauge railway used in Britain was based on the distance between the wheels of Roman Chariots: Wheel ruts on the (still remaining) Roman cobbled roads at the time led to wagon makers using the same spacing, and when the wagon makers made the first railway carriages, they used the same spacing of 4 feet 8 and a half inches. And so this thread eventually returns to the horses arse... though I will wait for Wombat to supply the connection with the Space Shuttle
Incidentally for anyone interested, the Srockton and Darlington railway was not the first railway in the world (opened 1825): it was preceded by the Middleton Railway in Leeds, which was opened in 1758. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Allan Armistead Sent: Thursday, 11 November 2004 10:14 AM To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] metric correction << File: Allan Armistead.vcf >> << File: ATT906925.txt >> And we haven't even got into the various widths between rail tracks yet...ah such fertile ground for discussion still to come. Allan Armistead ph (02) 6249 6470, fax (02) 6249 6555, mobile 0413 013 911 PO Box 908, Dickson ACT 2602, Australia "When once you have tasted flight, you will always walk with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been and there you always will be." Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Mike Cleaver Sent: Thursday, 11 November 2004 1:46 To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] metric correction >Yesterday I wrote > 29.92" Hg is 1000 hPa is 760 mm Hg - but the US airlines call it "Niner > niner two" instantly causing an error of 240 ft between that and 992 hPa. Unfortunately in my haste late at night I wrote "1000 hPa" when I meant "standard sea-level pressure of 1013.25 hPa" This means that the error between 992 hPa and 29.92 " Hg is actually about 630 feet. 1000 hPa is 29.53 " Hg or very close to 750 mm Hg. Thanks to Dave Villiers for drawing to my notice. And thanks to all the others who added their trivia. One day I might comment on larboard and starboard, and the reasons why ships travel on the right hand side of the waterway whilst horsemen ride on the left - and how some countries adopted the horse convention for driving cars while others used the marine convention. Or the connection between the space shuttle and a horse's arse (which also involves Roman chariots). But the answer to Wayne's original question is just to use the units on the measuring stick and not try to convert to something else, just like SWK did when flying German gliders. Cheers >Wombat _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This communication, including any attachments, is confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, you should not read it - please contact me immediately, destroy it, and do not copy or use any part of this communication or disclose anything about it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
