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Temperature units puzzle

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Gilles.Thesee(at)ac-greno
Guest

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:45 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Hi Bob and all,



As a European I'm accustomed to see US citizens use Fahrenheit for CHT, 

oil temp etc.

But in an original P51 manual, I'm puzzled to find temps in Celsius.



How come the Celsius were fashionable in the '40s when only Anglo-Saxons 

were flying US airplanes, and now they have reverted to Fahrenheit ?



Thanks,

Gilles Thesee

Grenoble, France

http://contrails.free.fr

rdunhamtn(at)hotmail.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 4:53 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Gilles,



When I was in the fourth grade I think, about 1962, we began learning the 

metric system. I was really excited to be growing up at a time when this 

change would happen. It was a time of

innovation and rapid progress in the sciences and industry in this country. 

The cold war was on and we were still ducking under our desks for those 

"nuclear" drills. Jets were dogfighting over Korea, ICBM's were roaring into 

orbit overhead, we were about to put a man on the moon and NO-ONE doubted 

our ability to do so. The USA was instilled with a pride and confidence born 

of success and

progress. This "new" metric system, I thought, was just another sign of our 

advancement as a Civilization.



Even a prodigy, er, uh, child such as myself could see the obvious 

superiority of the metric system. No more ciphering fractions of inches and 

inconvenient conversion factors such as 12 inches per foot and 3 feet per 

yard and 5,280 feet per mile and such. Yuk. What a crappy system. Now, all 

would be simple and sweet. The meter. 100cm per meter! Just move the decimal 

point! Same number. No ciphering. 1000 meters per kilometer. Just move the 

decimal point. Same number. Speed of light 300,000 K/s, Frequency 100,000 

Hz, wavelength = 3 meters, 1/4 wave antenna 3/4 meters or 75cm. Just get the 

tape, mark 75 and cut. Easy! Water freezes at 0 degrees C and boils at 100. 

A really cool and useful standard.



So, we started the switch. But then something curious happened. We didn't 

actually DO it! Who knows why. Tradition. Laziness. Fear. I don't know. What 

I do know is this. We now have the worst of both worlds. Every American now 

has to have TWO sets of tools! Every car or piece of equipment seems to be 

stuck in between metric and imperial or SAE as we call it on this side of 

the pond. We're stuck in the 60's! 

HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!



Rodney



DO NOT ARCHIVE



_________________________________________________________________

Add a Yahoo! contact to Windows Live Messenger for a chance to win a free 

trip!

Mark Phillips in TN

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 431
Location: Columbia, TN

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:04 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

In a message dated 11/14/2006 4:47:52 AM Central Standard Time, Gilles.Thesee(at)ac-grenoble.fr writes:

  	  Quote: 	
		  But in an original P51 manual, I'm puzzled to find temps in Celsius. 	


 >>>

  

 The P-51 was originally ordered by the RAF.  Were the Brits already smarter than us at the time?

  

 Mark do not archive (just another stupid American with two sets of tools, dammit!)

  [quote][b]

_________________
From The PossumWorks...

nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:31 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

At 09:26 PM 11/13/2006 +0100, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  

<Gilles.Thesee(at)ac-grenoble.fr>



Hi Bob and all,



As a European I'm accustomed to see US citizens use Fahrenheit for CHT, 

oil temp etc.

But in an original P51 manual, I'm puzzled to find temps in Celsius.



How come the Celsius were fashionable in the '40s when only Anglo-Saxons

were flying US airplanes, and now they have reverted to Fahrenheit ?


	


    Why do some folks call them "pancakes", others "flapjacks", while

    still others speak of "griddlecakes". You're not witnessing a

    reversion but simply an illustration of how various products

    and technologies reflect their roots.



    Our aviation services have mixed and matched scales and

    nomenclatures for the same or similar information since

    day-one. Temperatures at altitude have always been offered

    in C while ground temps were until a few years ago offered

    in F. Directions on the ground were in magnetic while winds

    aloft were in true. Some folks like to offer pressures in

    inches-Hg while others gravitated to millibars or even mm-Hg.



    ATP category aircraft shared a lot of engineering and

    operating philosophies with military aircraft and tended

    to be more formal in the descriptions of performance while

    single engine aircraft that targeted John Q Public were more

    likely to speak in a language common to folks who drove

    cars and trucks and got their weather from the radio.



    Yes, there was a grand push to avoid confusion, make teaching

    easier, reduce errors, and perhaps even foster a sense

    of "oneness with the world" by adopting the metric system.

    And to be sure, there are some obvious advantages. But doing

    so requires a singleness of purpose for a majority of

    a population for several generations in order to flush out

    the old and replace with the new.



    In the mean time you have cost of creation and ownership

    issues for the folks who have to purchase, stock and

    maintain the hardware. I still get a sense of !#$!(at) when

    I have to essentially double the numbers of tools I

    own in order to perform basic maintenance on products

    I own.



    Politicians and preachers have dreamed of world wide

    oneness for centuries. Some have attempted to force

    their vision on humankind. In the final analysis,

    any successful transition will be driven by

    folks who deliver the most compelling products. As

    our markets experience the forces of world-wide participants,

    it will be the systems of measurement favored by the

    most competitive suppliers that will prevail. If a

    third world  society could rise up over the next couple

    of generations and provide us with a flow of products

    that rivaled the rest of the world, it wouldn't matter

    if they used metric, fractional or even some totally new

    system of measurement. We'd all go out and buy the

    tools that fit those products, grumbling all the way

    to the store driving the car that addressed our

    perceptions of best value.



    The smooth transition to oneness is not by decree or

    even obvious logic. It's the whim of suppliers

    and the acceptance of those supplier's goods and

    services by a customer who perceives value in

    the goods and services.  If a huge starship landed

    tomorrow and loaded a compelling array of

    merchandise into Walmart's distribution pipes,

    it's a certainty that very few individuals would

    refuse to purchase those products because it takes

    yet another set of tools to maintain them or the

    temperature gage needed some translation.



    In the mean time, we can look forward to more

    of the same. It's less stressful to chalk it up to

    "diversity and the richness of melding cultures"

    than to gunch about it. Now, were did I put that

    T9 wrench?



    Bob . . .

oldbob(at)BeechOwners.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:57 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Good Morning Richard,



How very true, but, fortunately, the ones we have been

using for aviation here in our crazy mixed up country

have had a hex drive portion that was made to fit our

good old fashioned foot/inch measurement system.



I'd say odds are that old John Deere/Champion plug

used a non metric wrench to aid it's extraction.



Have you ever noted that aircraft mechanics world wide

seem to have standardized on our system as well?



Will wonders never cease?



Happy Skies,



Old Bob



--- Richard Girard <jindoguy(at)gmail.com> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   The answer to this one is pretty simple. Bosch was

 the first maker of spark

 plugs and set the standard. you could probably go

 back to a 1921 owner's

 manual and find the same reference. So far as I

 know, spark plugs are all

 metric thread and always have been.

 

 Rick

 

 On 11/14/06, DBerelsman(at)aol.com <DBerelsman(at)aol.com>

 wrote:

 >

 >  Great question Giles...

 >

 > Here is another nail in the coffin of the folks

 who moan "I love American

 > non-standard measurement".

 >

 > Last summer I was repairing my fathers 1951 John

 Deere B farm tractor.

 > What's more American than John Deere ?.

 >

 > The tattered owners manual calls for *18mm

 Champion spark plugs*.

 >

 > What happened to our good sense ?

 >

Kellym

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1706
Location: Sun Lakes AZ

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2006 7:37 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Except for American aircraft, where no metric tools are needed.

Rodney Dunham wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   --Every American now has to have TWO sets of tools! Every car or piece 

 of equipment seems to be stuck in between metric and imperial or SAE 

 as we call it on this side of the pond. We're stuck in the 60's! 

 HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!



 Rodney



 DO NOT ARCHIVE



 _________________________________________________________________

 Add a Yahoo! contact to Windows Live Messenger for a chance to win a 

 free trip!

_________________
Kelly McMullen
A&P/IA, EAA Tech Counselor # 5286
KCHD

jim.d.barlow(at)intel.com
Guest

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 5:28 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

This article explains the lack of conversion.    



http://capitalastronomers.org/ReganMeasurements.html



do not archive



--

nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 7:03 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

At 05:27 PM 11/15/2006 -0800, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  

<jim.d.barlow(at)intel.com>



This article explains the lack of conversion.



http://capitalastronomers.org/ReganMeasurements.html


	


    This article assumes an often committed fundamental

    flaw in logic made by some observers of government.

    Namely that the president (or any other official) has

    the power to effect much of anything - especially

    something so interwoven into the fabric of an economy.



    The article assumes: (1) that president A decrees that

    "it shall be so". All dutiful citizens immediately

    begin marching off toward that goal and (2) that

    president B - [for what ever motivations] decreed that

    "it shall not be so" and all progress toward that goal

    ceased.



    The argument then stacks a lot of confusing if

    not irrelevant references around the assertion

    thus laying the groundwork for a huge disconnect

    between perceptions of some citizens and simple

    realities - like market forces and economics in

    a free society.



    If president A's decree were to achieve fruition,

    it would have required the full force of of every

    agent of government with guns to confiscate and destroy

    every article not designed, manufactured and maintained

    in the metric system. This would have required laws

    with severe penalties for not adhering to the "new

    order". The process would have taken years and

    the court system would have been swamped. The economic

    impact to the country would have been incalculable.

    Fortunately, both the force and will of our elected decision

    makers have yet to rise to the necessary proportions.



    Bottom line is if somebody mass markets a new

    product with fasteners totally foreign to all popular

    measurement systems but with performance value

    and market appeal,  the same manufacturer would make

    a lot of money selling a set of tools to go along

    with the product.



    Bob . . .

echristley(at)nc.rr.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:17 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Robert L. Nuckolls, III wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  

    Bottom line is if somebody mass markets a new

    product with fasteners totally foreign to all popular

    measurement systems but with performance value

    and market appeal,  the same manufacturer would make

    a lot of money selling a set of tools to go along

    with the product.



    Bob . . .



For proof, see "phillips screw".
	




A more modern reference would be "torx screw".



(Dang-blasted car companies)



-- 

         ,|"|"|,              Ernest Christley       |

----===<{{(oQo)}}>===----    Dyke Delta Builder      |

        o|  d  |o        http://ernest.isa-geek.org  |

Dale Ensing

Joined: 11 Jan 2006
Posts: 571
Location: Aero Plantation Weddington NC

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:50 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Stuck in Fahrenheit

After working for years in the International division of the Company and 

living in Europe for some time, I tried to make the conversion to metric as 

my "mother tongue" for weight and measures.  I really tried!

And when I built my  RV-6A, I put in an engine monitor that .is all metric. 

I read the numbers and know what they mean. I consider myself sort of dual. 

But, the bottom line is that I still tend to mentally convert back to the 

'English units' when making comparisons between numbers. I am about to give 

up and convert the engine monitor to English units of measures.



Maybe I was too old when I tried to convert. I have decided I am now too old 

to fight it any longer and will leave it up to future generations. I think 

the best we can hope for in the short term is to become proficient in each 

system (as Gilles Thesee appears to be with the two languages).



Dale Ensing

do not archieve

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 This article explains the lack of conversion.



 http://capitalastronomers.org/ReganMeasurements.html



 As a European I'm accustomed to see US citizens use Fahrenheit for CHT,

 oil temp etc.

 But in an original P51 manual, I'm puzzled to find temps in Celsius.

 How come the Celsius were fashionable in the '40s when only Anglo-Saxons

 were flying US airplanes, and now they have reverted to Fahrenheit ?



 Thanks,

 Gilles Thesee

 Grenoble, France

 http://contrails.free.fr

_________________
Dale Ensing
RV-6A
Aero Plantation
Weddington NC

VE3LVO(at)rac.ca
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 7:30 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Old Bob and gang,

I note that no one has mentioned the BA series of wrenches et al, which 

produced all those starnge aircraft like the Lancaster bomber and the 

Lysander STOL.

I have several sets of these eerie creatures which say "3/8" but neatly fit 

a 3/4" hexhead. It's OK if you can multiply by 2.



Ferg Kyle

Europa A064 914 Classic

oldbob(at)BeechOwners.com
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:32 am Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Good Morning Ferg,



And Whitworth! (Did I spell that correctly?)



My Dad had a set of tools that he used when working on

International trucks during the twenties. They were

marked with the size of the bolt that was being used

and would fit the nuts that International Harvester

had decided to use on that particular sized bolt.



He was one happy camper when the SAE standards were

applied to bolt and wrench sizes.



As one who has a lifetime collection (some from my Dad

which he used in the thirties after the SAE stepped

in) of tools, machinery and fasteners:



I'm still happy with those standards.



Happy Skies,



Old Bob



--- Fergus Kyle <VE3LVO(at)rac.ca> wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 Kyle" <VE3LVO(at)rac.ca>

 

 Old Bob and gang,

 I note that no one has mentioned the BA series of

 wrenches et al, which 

 produced all those starnge aircraft like the

 Lancaster bomber and the 

 Lysander STOL.

 I have several sets of these eerie creatures which

 say "3/8" but neatly fit 

 a 3/4" hexhead. It's OK if you can multiply by 2.

 

 Ferg Kyle

 Europa A064 914 Classic 

 

 

 



 Click on

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 www.buildersbooks.com

 Admin.



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 http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?AeroElectric-List

Gilles.Thesee(at)ac-greno
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:10 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Thanks to all who responded. Most informative messages. I'll take the 

time to thoroughly reread each of them this week-end.

I was much interested to discover that some moves to metric have already 

been done in the US.



Of course I'm not suggesting that our American friends change their unit 

system, just wondering why the Celsius appeared then disappeared.



I understand the reluctance of those who would stay with the 

"inch-pound". We've just been changing to the Euro, and it takes much 

time to get the new feel.

But it's great to have the same currency throughout Europe. Except in 

Great Britain, of course.



Best regards,

Gilles

http://contrails.free.fr

Bob McC

Joined: 09 Jan 2006
Posts: 258
Location: Toronto, ON

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:18 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Or British standard Whitworth (BSW)??? Or British standard fine. (BSF)



Bob McC

do not archive



---

_________________
Bob McC
Falco #908
(just starting)

Eric M. Jones

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 565
Location: Massachusetts

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:14 pm Post subject: Re: Screw Threads and Heads--

I was still wondering if I liked Torx heads when they added/changed to Torx II and Torx Plus (are they the same?). There are dozens of variations of "Phillips" or similar cross-recess heads. 



Around here you can still find 7-32, 9-32, 11-32 etc. from the dim industrial New England past. There are hundreds of thread standards, but ISO (Metric) takes the place of almost all of them. 



I marked the day the American Empire crumbled on the day NASA decided to build the US half of the international space station in inches and let everyone else use ISO metric. This was both cosmically and comically stupid. What if you need to borrow some fasteners?



I design in both inch and metric (and implemented the metric system at the last place I worked) and I can tell you that the inch hangs on from fear and ignorance. I was going to write "inch-system" but there isn't one. Design engineers often panic when they are forced to change. I tell them not to do conversions, and don't be afraid--just use the system. But in desperation, they sneak in cheat sheets...



Let's see one American light year=9,460,730,472,580,800,000 international millimeters.



"THE VERY BIG STUPID" is a thing which breeds by eating The Future. Have you seen it? It sometimes disguises itself as a good-looking quarterly bottom line, derived by closing the R&D Department.

       --Frank Zappa

_________________
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-2072
emjones(at)charter.net

nuckollsr(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:57 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

At 05:14 PM 11/16/2006 -0800, you wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		  



I was still wondering if I liked Torx heads when they added/changed to 

Torx II and Torx Plus (are they the same?). There are dozens of variations 

of "Phillips" or similar cross-recess heads.



Around here you can still find 7-32, 9-32, 11-32 etc. from the dim 

industrial New England past. There are hundreds of thread standards, but 

ISO (Metric) takes the place of almost all of them.



I marked the day the American Empire crumbled on the day NASA decided to 

build the US half of the international space station in inches and let 

everyone else use ISO metric. This was both cosmically and comically 

stupid. What if you need to borrow some fasteners?


	


    Agreed . . . for the single machine in an exceedingly

    unique marketplace, one wonders about the thought

    processes that went into that decision and whether

    or not somebody decided that they'd rather spend a finite

    budget on design and performance as opposed to process.

 	  Quote: 	
		  I design in both inch and metric (and implemented the metric system at the 

last place I worked) and I can tell you that the inch hangs on from fear 

and ignorance.


	


    Really? Fear? Ignorance? Please support this

    assertion. There's not a person I know that wouldn't

    rather work in metric but we have $deca-millions$ (there's

    a metric for you) tied up in machine tools and

    untold investments in familiarization hours for

    the folks that design, build and maintain our products.



    Now, explain how a total change-out to ANY other system

    will make our cost-out-the-door lower, performance higher,

    customer acceptance greater . . . or our stock more

    valuable.



 	  Quote: 	
		    I was going to write "inch-system" but there isn't one. Design engineers 

 often panic when they are forced to change. I tell them not to do 

 conversions, and don't be afraid--just use the system. But in 

 desperation, they sneak in cheat sheets...


	


    That's like saying that a novel written in German is somehow

    superior to one written in English. Or that an e-book

    should be arbitrarily favored over the print version.

    Process does not trump elegant designs crafted of well

    organized simple-ideas.



    The metric system is becoming more prevalent all the

    time and the marketplace is and will continue to adjust

    as the economics dictate. Keep in mind that many high volume

    production operations call 6% net profit a good thing

    causing their stock to rise while the competitor's 4%

    profit is not so whippy in the eyes of Wall Street.



    And do we suppose the stockholders give a rat's fat

    patootie what measurement system was used to produce the

    product? Ignorance and fear? Give me a break! It's going

    to happen but in it's own good time and not because of (or

    lack of) presidential decrees or cabbages lobbed in from

    the balcony.



    Bob . . .

Eric M. Jones

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 565
Location: Massachusetts

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject: Re: Temperature units puzzle

>I design in both inch and metric (and implemented the metric system at the 

>last place I worked) and I can tell you that the inch hangs on from fear 

>and ignorance. ---snip from Eric's message.



 	  Quote: 	
		  Bob--Really? Fear? Ignorance? Please support this

assertion. There's not a person I know that wouldn't

rather work in metric but we have $deca-millions$ (there's

a metric for you) tied up in machine tools and

untold investments in familiarization hours for

the folks that design, build and maintain our products. 	




Thanks for the slow pitch Bob. I'll swing at it.



Pow!...You bet. FEAR and IGNORANCE--the opposite of courage and understanding. You may ascribe different emotions to engineers whose internal psyches make them more comfortable STILL designing in inches and then converting to metric--sometimes by pushing a button on their CAD system-- (the tolerances especially become a nightmare), but I've seen these guys turn white with fear when facing the task of completely abandoning their cozy conversion-filled measurement nests. Okay, call it crazy and stupid--or shortsighted and provincial. I tried being reasonable...I didn't like it. 



   	  Quote: 	
		  Bob--There's not a person I know that wouldn't rather work in metric. 	
 



  Then you don't know many engineers, designers and draftspeople who spent their whole careers poking and scratching in inches. Change is scarey.



  	  Quote: 	
		  Bob-- ...but we have $deca-millions$ (there's a metric for you) tied up in machine tools 	




Congratulations. So you've figured out what happened to our machine tool industry.  Foreigners are worried about buying our stuff because their mechanics can't find bolts to screw into them. If you don't believe it you haven't talked to foreign engineers. Ask them about their perceptions and get back to us.



   	  Quote: 	
		  Bob--...and untold investments in familiarization hours for the folks that design, build and maintain our products. 	




You hit the metric nail right on the head. In ten more years we will have ten more years of "familiarization hours". Suck it up and take the leap. It ain't really so hard.



    	  Quote: 	
		   Bob-- Now, explain how a total change-out to ANY other system will make our cost-out-the-door lower, performance higher, customer acceptance greater . . . or our stock more valuable. 	




You are right again Bob--If you look at the next quarter only, or if you only look at the local market, or if you don't care two farts that the US has been HOBBLED by a difficult, antique and orphaned syst...(oops, there I almost goofed again)...trash can of smelly old measurements. In many companies, when the metric conversion question is raised, the chief engineer runs up to the VP's office and cries that armagedon will befall us. The truth is, in MY REAL EXPERIENCE, that the whole thing is much ado about nothing. The machinists never complained, the parts price didn't go up, the metric-screw vendors drove better cars. The only problem was the chief engineers who complained to the VPs. Their brilliant solution was dual-dimensioning. Now THERE"S an IDEA. Twice the errors. Half the benefit...but that's why they wear the big floppy shoes.



 	  Quote: 	
		   Bob--.total change-out to ANY other system... 	




I never said "Total Change-out". YOU DID, just to frighten people. Sure, there are plenty of reasonable exceptions. The English still drink ale in pints and measure horses in hands. Customary units that don't have to travel much are still around. Lumber 2 X 4's never were 2" x 4". Modular systems don't bother anybody. I don't know how big a brick is and hardly anyone cares. My seeming intractibility on this issue is the result of dealing with too many smart people who spend their time justifying their own way. Yikes...



I've got a couple questions for you, Bob....1) How big in inches is a fuel tank that holds ten quarts? The similar calculation is TRIVIAL in metric and you don't have to look up anything.  --And 2) Why don't you spend some time overseas and get some perspective? We aren't in Kansas anymore Bob.



 	  Quote: 	
		  Bob-- That's like saying that a novel written in German is somehow

superior to one written in English. Or that an e-book should be arbitrarily favored over the print version. Process does not trump elegant designs crafted of well organized simple-ideas. 	




Ridiculous and irrelevant. It turns out that the same novel written in French probably IS better than one written in German. Paper IS easier to read than e-books. Process trumps elegant designs crafted of well organized simple-ideas (I had a girlfriend who spoke French in bed).... What does this have to do with anything? Would you like a measurement system OR NOT? Inches, feet, miles, hogsheads, barrels, pints, and yards isn't a system.



Quote by John Coltrane in English: "It was my beans and bacon...ya know. Jazz was my tea and crumpets, my toast and jam...." French translation: "C'est tout le monde ".  So you can never be sure.



 	  Quote: 	
		  Bob--The metric system is becoming more prevalent all the

time and the marketplace is and will continue to adjust

as the economics dictate. Keep in mind that many high volume

production operations call 6% net profit a good thing

causing their stock to rise while the competitor's 4%

profit is not so whippy in the eyes of Wall Street.



And do we suppose the stockholders give a rat's fat

patootie what measurement system was used to produce the

product? Ignorance and fear? Give me a break! It's going

to happen but in it's own good time and not because of (or

lack of) presidential decrees or cabbages lobbed in from

the balcony.    Bob . . . 	




Yes let's all go slow. Here's my cabbage--the US signed onto the metric system in 1866. No sense hurrying things, eh?



Teamwork: " A lot of people doing exactly what I say."

 (Marketing exec., Citrix Corp.)

_________________
Eric M. Jones
www.PerihelionDesign.com
113 Brentwood Drive
Southbridge, MA 01550
(508) 764-2072
emjones(at)charter.net

Kellym

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1706
Location: Sun Lakes AZ

Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 6:10 pm Post subject: Temperature units puzzle

Yeah, sure, the metric system is terrific, except, they screwed up a lot 

of units. Temperature..too big, so that everything has to be expressed 

as a decimal instead of integers. Pressure, same thing, at least for 

tires. Torque, ditto. Distance..ditto. Centimeters are too small, meters 

are too big. Oh, and the real big deal....all land in the US is titled 

in English units that require hard conversion of every legal title 

document at horrendous billions of dollars. The transportation industry 

tried to convert. Because of the real estate involved, two sets of plans 

had to be done for every project at a huge waste of money, with 

subsequent high likelihood of mistakes, that could and did happen. FHWA 

and many states came to their senses and abandoned the effort.  Then you 

have the bastardized METAR system, that winds up using English, nautical 

and metric units all in the same weather sequence. What a load of crap! 

Remember that 90% of all flights in the world occur within the US 

border.........so why in the world should they be done to foreign 

standards? You gonna pay to replace every altimeter, VSI airspeed and 

temperature gauges with metric? Not me.

Machining and hardware manufacture is just a small piece of the 

puzzle...but you already knew that.

 	  Quote: 	
		  

 Yes let's all go slow. Here's my cabbage--the US signed onto the metric system in 1866. No sense hurrying things, eh?



 Teamwork: " A lot of people doing exactly what I say."

  (Marketing exec., Citrix Corp.)



 --------

 Eric M. Jones

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Kelly McMullen
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