OutdoorKing Repair Forum Forums Restoring, Customising and Modifying Unusual Customisation Projects Repurposed Victa Deck and Everything Creative

That'll certainly keep the wind off them. If you want them to provide shelter in their own right, you simply turn them upside down.

All very entertaining folks!

But I must ask ... What came first?
The kitten or the egg?

Sorry
----------------------------
Jack

G'day all,
None other than the mighty Victa! That refuelling can looked to be marked 'BP Zoom' - and the Trove article below confirms that it is.

It actually used three Victa engines; two for lift and one for forward propulsion and steering. A pic from the State Library of Vic [below] shows this clearly.

I see a TAA sign in the background, then we had to replace this icon with the most unimaginative name conceivable: Australian Airlines, before it got absorbed by that other icon beginning with Q.
There was a clown who proposed to replace that too. Air Australia.

Hi all ,
No wonder the Bonair Scooter never took off,three engines and it only does 30 mph, one engine in a bicycle would go faster.

Cheers.
Max.

G'day all,

The pics and articles are from the Avalon Air Pageant in February 1961. Hence the aircraft stuff in the background. The 'Bon Air Scooter' was pretty much thrown together from scrap materials and donated engines; just to see how well it would work, I'd say.

Colin Bonner did build at least one larger hovercraft, the Bon Air 6-1-X - some detail info: https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1962/1962%20-%203058.html

To get back to our Victas, it was interesting to see that BP Zoom premixed fuel was available that far back.
A bit more Trove research found that it came on the market here in January 1960!

There was an independent petrol station with an operating 25:1 browser up until a few years ago in Matraville in Sydney's South East. I filled one old coolant container with it once and noticed sediment at the bottom. It was very convenient as I was staying in the area the time and it saved me having to buy two stroke to mix with five litres of fuel while staying down there when I only needed abit over a litre to use a mower one time.

G'day all land lubbers

That was fantastic research there Gadge.
It really makes history come alive, and the connection with Victa makes
it extra special.

I was thinking ... why hovercraft, until I remembered that these machines
were getting a lot of publicity at the time.

I had a model of a British SR N1 as a schoolboy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR.N1

Cheers
------------------------
Jack

Back then everything seemed that Hovercrafts were the way of future travel means but the idea never took off.

It's not rocket science. It takes energy to fight gravity well as move forward.

G'day all,
If Colin Bonner had made something like this click here for boat plane with 3 Victa
engines that would have been more impressive, now where are the 4 wheels on this boat plane, so we can use it above the roads.
Cheers
Max.

Hi Max!

Gidday Jack,
The boat plane look a better proposition than spending $120,000.on this10 Foot Picasso with lawn mower,link click here.

Cheers
Max.

That's hilarious Norm. No, the idea never took off; it just hovered

Max, that is so provocative; given how this topic has unfolded.

It's not an 'Off Topic' but seems to express the creativity in customisation.
I think I will rename this topic and keep it in this forum.

I think you have juxtaposed the tension between 'better proposition' as
monetary return on investment as opposed to customisation for aesthetic reasons.

I encourage all members to read the brilliant topic and link you supplied.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy...-elitism-culminated-10-foot-tall-picasso

His giant Picasso with Lawnmower reminds me of the Old Lawnmower Club's image
of a giant push mower. Also, gallery images of the Picasso ...

Cheers
----------------------------
Jack

They did in the UK for a time, but now they only see use in specific situations, where they offer unique advantages;

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34658386

Went the way of the Concord. Great but expensive.
Anyone remember the Space Shuttle? It was supposed to revolutionise space travel and take over from single use rockets. Now they are back to single use rockets as the standard means to travel to space. 1940s technology. It seems conventional and established is the new innovation.

The main advantage of the Hovercraft was it's greater efficiency compared with a boat.


Mowerfreak started this topic with the Victa base and I guess you see a lot of different ideas that started out with something related
to the Lawn Mower.

I saw this news article about a Lawn Mower engine used for roller skates.

Cheers
Max.

Repurposed deck (for carrying stuff) used as a work bench for non repurposed mower. The wheels (just) clear the edges allowing easy removal and service too all four wheels -which I did. I cleaned up the axles and applied grease to the bearings. They now roll much easier.

I found a Simpson tumble dryer last week and all it needed was a fan belt. I wasn't sure where to put it so placed it on here for the time being as it fits well on the board I have since fitted to the repurposed mower.
I used it to cart the dryer to the side of the house.

Hi MF,
the Simpson dryer, I bought one in 1975 and it is still going strong, bit noisy at times, has had 2 belts and a new seal in that time. I picked up another one, same model off gumtree for $20 or something as a complete set of spares. Can't see me ever needing to buy another dryer. Washing machine my wife bought over 20 years ago big top load Whirlpool, excellent machine so over the years I have picked up 2 more so that I have complete spares on hand. The latest one I picked up at the start of the lockdown for $50, I put that in the laundry to test it so I knew what it was doing and I have left it there, only thing wrong with it is that when it stops the spin cycle the brake comes on a bit hard and make a bang and moves the machine slightly. I can live with that and the second one I bought probably 15 years ago I have stripped down got rid of the body and put all the parts away in case they are ever needed, but going by how good these machines are they will probably never be needed