> Subject: Re: A (sort of) philosophical question
> >
> >>>I'm quite certain that a good aircraft mechanic would tell you that a
> plane that
> >>>is maintained and serviced according to the book is as safe and reliabl
> >>>newer plane.
As a former pilot I can assure you that the airplane in question will get
more maintenance than even our vintage race cars. A vintage piston or
jet fighter requires 50-100 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight!
Did I tell you about my friend who's planning to buy a Lockheed F104
Starfighter as a toy (it's only about $75K and it's to accompany his other
three planes, including the Pitts he uses for competitive aerobatics)? You
wanna know about maintenance?
>
> If you open the hood of one of those classics, inclusind E Types, you
> can identify the (compared to a modern car, few) vital parts.
>
> Even the slightest flaw (usually just the computer chip playing mad!) stop
> you right there, and the only way is to load your piece on a truck,
> transport it to a decent repair shop and connect it to their diagnosis
> computer!
>
Most of these cars now have fallback systems that are designed to limp you
home (maybe even without coolant - try that in a E Type!) and electronic
reliability is much better than thirty or forty year old mechanics.
But the biggest problem is emissions. A shop I know in the Bay area reports
that the typical mid 60's sports car (an Alfa with Webers) emits over 100
times as much as a late 80s car. I'd have a hard time with my conscience
driving along knowing that every mile, I spewed as much garbage into the air
as 100 more modern cars!
Give me modern cars for everyday transportation!
(Right now two Jeep Cherokees in the family - 95 & 96)
BTW, I just spent the last weekend in the UK driving a new Alfa 145
Cloverleaf (courtesy of Alfa UK) and visiting the Museum at Beaulieu for
Spring ALfa Day (with about 800 Alfas!)
The 145 is a 2-dr hatch with the 2L engine from the new Spider and GTV.
Putters around town at 1500 R's in third or fourth with no fuss and has a
top end of 130 (unproven - 100's my limit in the UK) singing at 7000 R's.
Gets 30 MPG too. ANd has a catalyst that meets all current emissions specs
worldwide.
Last year in Italy to drive the new Spider, I was told the Fiat and ALfa
engineers love catalysts. They can tune the cars to get 10% more HP with
significantly less consumption while meeting emission specs.
Saw a new MG F on the road too. Neat looking.
Problem is we don't get a lot of interesting cars over here in the US!
Regards, Jim
Jim Hayes - Vintage racing '57 & '62 Alfa Spiders
jeh@fotec.com http://www.std.com/fotec/jim.htm
All generalizations, with the possible exception of this one, are false.
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