Hi Mike
On (18 Oct 97) MIKE ROSS wrote to Alec Cameron...
 AC> for normal diesel engines. Presumably, 200 000 miles or more between
 AC> major checks are done.
 MR> You really don't expect me to believe 200,000 miles is realistic.
I used the word major, to mean examination of innards.
Big fleet operators here use various pathological tests [engine oil analysis]
to check the health of each engine and figure what has worn and how much.
Isn't this done in N America?
200,000 miles for a public service vehicle isn't a long time. Don't these run
over a million before scrapping? Someone with knowledge, please come in!
 MR> Pratt & Whitney makes small turbine driven APU's. Perhaps your boss
 MR> should have contacted them 1st before throwing in the towel.
I worked for the Government, we called public tenders, Pratt and Whitney were
apparently not interested. Rolls Royce headed the short list. Service hours
between planned downtime, and blade costs were the killers. We tried hard to
get turbines and were comparing groups of 4 aero engines, with single 
Station
Type" gas turbines, the latter designed for very long run times between
service and repair.
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[describes tech principles for an auto turbine]
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 MR> All the above also makes for simpler starts but this is not really an
 MR> issue since the car can be driven as soon as the electric motors in each
 MR> wheel are connected to the battery with an extra boost coming from
 MR> energy stored in a flywheel that can rotate on its own for weeks.
I just love the idea of a lot of flywheel energy storage on a motor vehicle.
"sorry I crashed the car officer, the flywheel argued with the steering" ;-)
"the flywheel bearing seized and the car body spun about. Blast! that Pommy
Newton!!"
Cheers.....ALEC
... ....Horsepower was a wonderful thing when only horses had it
--- PPoint 1.92
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