C'mon Dave, you had to realise there'd be a Sopwith expert here!:p:p:p
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C'mon Dave, you had to realise there'd be a Sopwith expert here!:p:p:p
Sent from my HTC One XL using AULRO mobile app
With fuel & oil mixed together in the crank case, it was important that the fuel didn't dissolve the oil, & ruin its lubricating qualities. Pharmaceutical quality castor oil was the answer, , it could stand the heat & centrifugal force, & its gum forming tendencies were irrelevant in a total-loss lubrication system. [ the oil was pumped out of the cylinders during combustion, & not returned to an oil reservoir. When you realise practical powered flight only began in 1909, things were fairly experimental.
Pilots ingested a lot of oil during the flight, and suffered from persistent diarrhoea. The scarf the pilots wore, was used to wipe oil off their goggles. Nothing to do with large man in the car park, but I wouldn't worry, you could outrun him. But his rabid dog? [they all have dogs, or at least they used to, up that way, ] Bob :)
Apparently...
When someone asks you how far down this rabbit hole are you prepared to go? the expected response is not to walk away and come back carrying a shovel.
Still laughing about this great expression from the OP: psycotic bang heister
So far Ive tried to keep this light but its time for some truth...
in short order I'm going to highlight some bad things that have happened in my career, and how it got pulled to an end, how it depresses me so much to hear from others that what IVe told them is no surprise because they also know how poor the support is.
I'm going to write this and what follows because I never wanted to believe what I loved so much could be as bad as I experienced it, and because if things had been as I had been accused of being then I wouldn't be here and someone somewhere might be trying to console their memory of me by trying to count the people who smiled when they talked about me.
I'm also going to write it up here because there's a few organizations that have collectively asked me if I'm ok (and no I'm not and in honesty there's every chance I may never be again I think maybe there's a way I can be but its not going to happen) and these organizations are the ones that try to help out with those who've had EX adf and ADF partners that have committed suicide. And apologies to Inc and everyone else but I'm going to link them the thread.
Generally I've tried to keep my stories of the ADF only to the humorous side the light side that they want to see seen And mostly because thats how I wanted it to be seen because to me the way I tried to keep it was the way I wanted it to be read as an Australian. But its not that, its actually a long way from that... How do I know...
Early in my army career I was assaulted in a place 3 on 1 I was the smallest bloke in the room. The investigation into that went precisely no where, like it never happened.
Later earlyish in my RAAF career I was again assaulted 3 on 1 in the back of my maintenance vehicle by 3 RAAFies who were drunk and ****ed off at me because I wouldnt lift the governors on their trucks so they could keep up with the fast cars.. The end result of that investigation was.... " Not worth it really, you won the fight so no harm no foul"
I was sexually assaulted. Not to the extent of raped but being marginally homophobic being waken up with a dick being waved in your face counts.. The result of that "no witnesses and besides if it happened to someone else you'd have thought it was funny"
And I was later assaulted in my room, in my bed by my supervisor, I'm still waiting to find out why that was acceptable and nothing really got done about it.
After being accused of being suicidal I was taken back to the place that I was first assaulted, by the one officer that I had tortured myself through explaining all of these events to. I was then taken and locked up in a mental ward and after being released left there for longer than I was admitted and enjoyed the pleasure of being screamed at and called a murderer.
Somewhen in there I also killed one of my good friends, I was the last one he spoke to, I helped him fix his cars carby over the phone and he gassed himself with it.
MY ex wife got more help from the organisations that were supposed to be there to support me.
The last part of my career was a desperate effort to save it, and for the benefit of those who want to know how it happens Im going to piece it all out... as much as I have with the documents to support it.
Its going to hurt, and its going to take time, I'm probably going to get it out of order a bit but Im going to try and get it all down.
For those of you who noticed the changes in the last 3 years, you're about to learn why.
and I'm sorry, for those of you who lost people like me from your lives I was never prepared to believe what I've had to learn, I dont know how I can help I dont even know if this will help but please ask because I dont know who you are or how I can help otherwise.
It sort of began to culiminate on the morning of Brads birth with the words....
"I dont want you at the birth"
things were bad before then but those words, they made the tipping point.
there was the divorce, there was the legal issues with that...
there was the financial stress of that.
there was the legal issues that would ensue when I had to learn the hard way that there are drug related mobs that will falsify stuff to put a druggie in your house and then cost you a fortune and the legal issues with that.
The sum total of effective help Id had at this point to deal with everything that had come to be prior to me heading to the one place I thought I could pull it all out and get it back together,
one 30 minute consultation with a brain shrinky guy, who spent as much time on the phone to other people as he did talking to me...
Saying I wasnt in great shape when I went to where I thought I could count on the help I needed and the environment that was going to be the best for me to get through all of this would be an understatement but you know what I did, I tried anyway I stuck it on the line and I asked for the help I laid it all out, I ripped open every old event and every problem Id had because It had finally managed to overwhelm me. There was no way I was going to be able to dig my way out of this without the help that was so often spoken of, so I held it together for just that much longer, to get to what I knew to be the one place I could really sink myself into working and making it better
it got worse..
the things that were working, were taken away from me.
Its not pretty from here, and I can barely focus on the screen so tomorrow some more.
Thanks for sharing such raw stuff Dave, it must have been hard to write and we can all see what time you posted....
I think it will be a while before can I digest all it and can only say at this time that I wish that I could assist, and that I wish the systems that are designed to help would actually function.
I want you to know that you have helped me many countless times by passing on sensible and insightful mechanical advice either in reply to my questions or in advice you have given others.
I'm getting on now (that's why I am up for a **** so early in the morning) and I know not what to add at the moment. But you are surrounded by friends here who would do anything in our power to support you - PM sent.
Dave, let me know anything I can do to help.
Likewise Dave. Sorry to hear. As the others said if there's anything we can do to help just yell out.
Dave, good to see your talking about it, opening up and seeking assistance.
Doesn't matter which employer support scheme you seek help through that all are not perfect and finding the right person is difficult, keep at it and the hopefully the right person will present themselves.
No sure where you are living at the moment but if you're anywhere near Brisbane give us a shout.