Watch out for the cats eyes
The English don't like straight roads - look at any set of field boundaries, housing developments, city centres, country lanes, roads - they never caught the habit from the Romans
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Certainly some FOD along the sides of some motorways, but I have to say I cannot recall ever seeing a pothole in a motorway. It always amazes me how good the road surface is on motorways, and particularly the drainage - you very rarely find any patches of standing water, even in the heaviest rain conditions.
[Edited to add:]. Dr Google says Oz's longest stretch is 91 miles!!!
It is , and have driven it a few times, going to Western Australia and back. Pretty boring , with not much scenery, except dead kangaroos.
It is , and have driven it a few times, going to Western Australia and back. Pretty boring , with not much scenery, except dead kangaroos.
From a time before aircraft flew:
The narrow ways of English folk
Are not for such as we;
They bear the long-accustomed yoke
Of staid conservancy:
But all our roads are new and strange,
And through our blood there runs
The vagabonding love of change
That drove us westward of the range
And westward of the suns.
A B Paterson 1901
The narrow ways of English folk
Are not for such as we;
They bear the long-accustomed yoke
Of staid conservancy:
But all our roads are new and strange,
And through our blood there runs
The vagabonding love of change
That drove us westward of the range
And westward of the suns.
A B Paterson 1901
I think Dr Google is wrong. Bourke-Nyngan in NSW is 204 km, minus a little bit for a kink at each end. I'm told the road has deliberate changes of grade (+/- 1%) to assist with drainage, something that's only an occasional problem there.
Gentleman Aviator
I think Dr Google is wrong.
As Abraham Lincoln said: " Don't believe everything you read on the Internet"...
[Serious bit] Given the long straight roads in Oz, is there evidence of any/many drivers falling asleep? [I won't ask Google!]
Sorry Hydromet but that road has curves in a few places like Coolabah ( to avoid the tree) and a kink at Mulga Creek. Whereas the Eyre highway east of Balladonia is 90 miles or 146.6k dead straight when I drove it a few months ago.
Join Date: Oct 2006
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Apparently the M55 has a long enough straight section to allow a Jaguar to take off and land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeBZ3xbgN_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeBZ3xbgN_M
Do You know why i stopped you sir
Meanwhile a normal operation for the Flying Doctor is to land on any number of areas on the Eyre Highway:
Teeteringhead
Accidents caused by fatigue do occur but aren’t that common up our way.
Alcohol, stupidity and poor road surfaces are greater contributors.
When we transitioned from open speed limits to 130km/h, fatigue did become a much greater problem for me. The old system had you driving to the conditions, which meant paying attention. The newer arrangements saw you setting cruise control and fighting boredom (until you hit that section that should have been re-signed as 60 km/h. ). Darwin to Alice Springs also went from being a comfortable 12 hour day to 15 hours if lucky.
Thinking on it, perhaps the accident toll is kept down by the amount of time you have to spend stuck behind caravans doing 50 km/h under the speed limit.
Accidents caused by fatigue do occur but aren’t that common up our way.
Alcohol, stupidity and poor road surfaces are greater contributors.
When we transitioned from open speed limits to 130km/h, fatigue did become a much greater problem for me. The old system had you driving to the conditions, which meant paying attention. The newer arrangements saw you setting cruise control and fighting boredom (until you hit that section that should have been re-signed as 60 km/h. ). Darwin to Alice Springs also went from being a comfortable 12 hour day to 15 hours if lucky.
Thinking on it, perhaps the accident toll is kept down by the amount of time you have to spend stuck behind caravans doing 50 km/h under the speed limit.
Teeteringhead
Accidents caused by fatigue do occur but aren’t that common up our way.
Alcohol, stupidity and poor road surfaces are greater contributors.
When we transitioned from open speed limits to 130km/h, fatigue did become a much greater problem for me. The old system had you driving to the conditions, which meant paying attention. The newer arrangements saw you setting cruise control and fighting boredom (until you hit that section that should have been re-signed as 60 km/h. ). Darwin to Alice Springs also went from being a comfortable 12 hour day to 15 hours if lucky.
Thinking on it, perhaps the accident toll is kept down by the amount of time you have to spend stuck behind caravans doing 50 km/h under the speed limit.
Accidents caused by fatigue do occur but aren’t that common up our way.
Alcohol, stupidity and poor road surfaces are greater contributors.
When we transitioned from open speed limits to 130km/h, fatigue did become a much greater problem for me. The old system had you driving to the conditions, which meant paying attention. The newer arrangements saw you setting cruise control and fighting boredom (until you hit that section that should have been re-signed as 60 km/h. ). Darwin to Alice Springs also went from being a comfortable 12 hour day to 15 hours if lucky.
Thinking on it, perhaps the accident toll is kept down by the amount of time you have to spend stuck behind caravans doing 50 km/h under the speed limit.
Needless to say some mindless nongs got in at the next election and whacked back on the 130 limit; and the accident rate went back up
Getting back to the aviation content, I'm not sure the Stuart is wide enough nor the best for stiff wing operations but I stand to be corrected?
Good job we retained the Jaguars!
Edited to add:
When Scampton is fully closed, the NE end of the runway will surely be chopped up and the A15 reinstated. This will be a nice straight bit that could be used as a MOS/Runway too!
Last edited by Friedlander; 15th Jul 2023 at 11:49. Reason: Brilliant Afterthought!
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The main runway at Burtonwood is now part of the M62 I believe...