When not running, oil can collect in the lower cylinders of radial engines, which will damage the engine if not cleared prior to starting. This manual process achieves that. That, and it also lubricates the elastic bands which will otherwise dry out and break at the wrong time.

"...despite the complete lack of acceleration."

Please don't do this. If you can, PM me. I don't have much, but I can buy you a tank of gas. And I know a tank of gas isn't the issue, but it might be a starting point. You reached out to the world, maybe the world can reach back.

Bravo. Concise, logical, and elegant. Unfortunately, those who need to hear it are typically incapable of doing so.

Yes, because Rolls-Royce is synonymous with everything shoddy. :-)

While I am fully aware that I am committing at least one logical fallacy, if not several - I am so pleased to learn that my skin cancer, and the thousands of deaths that have been caused by skin cancer as a direct result of the vastly reduced ozone protection in the southern hemisphere is all "debunked". You're a…

Oooooo goody, I love Logical Fallacy Bingo! Lemme see, I see Strawman, Appeal to Emotion, a touch of Appeal to Authority, and a hint of No True Scotsman - I just need an Ad Hominem, and I win a stuffed toy!

You think that's bad Jesus? Check this out. If it's even a halfway accurate representation of the truth, it's horrifying.

I appreciate that Giz editors need to find something to write about, and often the stories come from personal experience, or insight, or frustration with how technology influences us. But against the urge to ask "First world problems, much?' or rant about how "Giz has gone to the dogs and all the editors are self…

I had the genuine pleasure of meeting General Yeager at Wanaka in '98, and as the photographer tasked with getting photos of him for the airshow book, I spent enough time around him to see a pattern emerge. If people treated him with courtesy and were thoughtful, he was polite, engaging and sincere. If people were…

Well, he attached a GPS tracker, so as not to lose it. Sure, the tracker could have been damaged or failed, but it didn't. Also, he's in the UK, which is significantly less litigious that the USA, so the whole liability thing - not so much a deal as you might think. The other question to consider is the ratio of…

Every one in New Zealand knows Colin McKenzie was the first to add color and sound to film. If only he hadn't run out of egg whites and those topless island girls had stayed out of his shots...

If you are pronouncing it "oldie", then I believe the answer would be yes. My english teacher insisted that "Ye Olde" is pronounced as "The Old"

We may all be disappointed - he could be talking about **inner** space - what did he REALLY see down there?

Mr Sun!

Exactly. If another aircraft/speck/light is stationary relative to you, and stays in a consistent position when you move your head (i.e. it's not dirt on the windscreen, and yes, just like Venus) then you are on a collision course and have an obligation to take appropriate action. At night, that can be scary shit, and…

If you ask any pre digital press photographer, you will learn that when photographed on black and white film, the color red appears as "almost blacker than black" black. And icebergs are typically light blues and whites in colour. So the very dark patches on the left hand side iceberg in the top picture could in fact…