Changed my mind and deleted all this, but since I had a response, I put it back
Originally posted by Ollie
Well said John! But, why is this wisdom so rare? Why are so few interested untill they are in a quandry or worse? Why aren't adjusting skills considered nearlyas important as learning to move the sticks?
Some people aren't interested in learning these things... and it's not needed, for the average Joe.
Do you know, perfectly, every system involved in the auto you drive daily?
Can you discuss, with intelligence, stoichiometry with regard to emissions and power? Hydraulic principles,
and how they make power steering possible? Hydraulic brakes? Volumetric efficiency and the effects
of too large or too small induction systems? Flamefront propagation, and anomalies thereof?
Combustion chamber/piston size, shape, defects, and how they affect performance, good/bad?
Symptoms and effects of preignition or detonation? How to prevent or remedy either?
Do you know the difference between oversteer/understeer? Why most autos understeer from the factory?
Do you know where all your airbag system components are, and the significance of each?
Do you have a working knowledge of EGT/O2/TPS/MAP/MAF/ECT/knock sensors and how they
interact with the onboard computer system? How many rows/cells in the default tables on your ECU?
Do you know what the default values in those tables are? Should they be different? Which are dynamic?
Do you seriously ponder all these things on each car you buy?
Well, OK... I see you are a retired engineer, so maybe you do
Most folks "just drive". Doesn't make them stupid... they're just not interested.
Most folks want to get from point A to point B and that's that.
I'd suspect most flyers are the same way. They want the plane to fly, and they know,
if building a proven design, that someone has already done all the dirty work, and they want
the quick answer, not a college level lecture in aerodynamic principles.
My point is that we all have our areas of expertise. Some of us have more than one and,
admittedly, some portion of the population is totally unskilled and/or unmotivated.
It doesn't make a hill of beans of difference when it comes to flying that model airplane.
Either they know how to fly, or they don't (to varying degrees, of course).
They don't have to be aeronautical geniuses, or anywhere close, to accomplish that.
Same with computers, cellphones, microwave ovens, fireworks, television, etc...
There's no real need to understand all the theory and possible adjustments, just to be an end-user.
Not meaning to flame you, Ollie... I rather enjoy reading your spiels sometimes.
You're quite knowledgeable about aerodynamic principles, and it shows.
Just can't help but think that you like the trolling factor sometimes, though
Heck,
I bit.
Chris