Scammell Scarab -3 Wheeled Truck & The Speed of Sound:

I was watching TV of an Indian 3 wheeled 'taxi' (a 'tuktuk'?) and a picture flashed inside my nut of a British Rail Truck from childhood London!

A British Rail  Scammell Scarab
- You'd Have to Wonder at How my Mind Works.

They were fairly widespread in the years following WWII and were valued for their maneuverability when backing trailers - or indeed - aircraft and whatever for the MOD.

Museum RAF Scarab.

My next thought was that there wouldn't be any down here in NZ - but WRONG again - here's a picture of one in Canterbury at a Show:

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Made by Scammell Lorries of Watford from 1948 to 1967  - the 'Scarab' was so named because it's bonnet looked something like a Scarab Beetles wing covers.

Using a low mounted 2,090cc side-valve engine or a Perkins diesel, the tractor unit was supposed to be fairly stable.

- What's this got to do with guns etc., well - will delivering BEER in 1947 with big smiles do?

They'd do a top speed of about 40 mph on a good day.

Life must have been good when that war was finished eh - Oh yes, The Speed Of Sound .. If you want a rough approximation you might tattoo the number '1086' on your wrist then double the ambient temperature in centigrade before adding it to 1086.. Thus if it's 20 C on the range that would be 40 plus 1086 equals (roughly)1126 ft. per sec.

- Try 30 C ..  that's 1086+60 = 1146 ft. per sec. for Mach 1

Does that work for you? - Well, who's going to argue anyway eh?

Marty K.

After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

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