Metric vs Imperial
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I remember the outrage when pounds shillings and pence were to become decimal ......
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Do NOT confuse decimalisation with metrication. One makes sense - the other, quite clearly, does not.
miles .... yards ..... feet ..... inches ..... stones ..... pounds .... ounces etc etc .... ermmmmm .....nice
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Is that right? If so, I'm not just pleased I'm bloody delighted. Tell us more. Hate metric
Maybe that's because half the engineers working on it are Brits, the other half are still arguing on what language the tech manuals should be written in! or are "out to lunch"
.... From a reliable source in Bremen aaahem.
.... From a reliable source in Bremen aaahem.
...From an impeccable source at Hamburg.......
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Now I am confused ..... miles .... yards ..... feet ..... inches .....etc .... ermmmmm .....nice
Been around for 10,000 years - at least.
For navigational purposes the Earth is divided into 360 degrees longitude, with each degree divided into 60 minutes, and each minute divided into sixty seconds.
One minute of arc, from the centre of the earth, is 6,080 of today's feet, or 72,960 inches. 72,960 divided by 18.24 = 4,000. So a minute of arc is the clumsy number of 6,080 feet, or exactly 4,000 Cubits.
The equatorial circumference of the Earth is 131,328,000 feet, or 86,400,000 Cubits. Taking this further, 1,000 Cubits is precisely the distance traversed by an overhead sun in one second of time.
18.24 is anything but a 'normal' number. The circumference of the Earth is 131,328,000 feet. At some time in history the original navigators saw it as 86,400,000 Cubits, which happens to be, divided by one thousand, the number of seconds in a day. Perfect correlation between time and distance, the two major elements of navigation.
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Ahh but did you know that Cubit, is from the Latin word cubitus, meaning the lower arm and it is used to translate the original Biblical Hebrew word pronounced am-mah which coincidentally meant the forearm. So, based on the length of a man's arm from elbow to finger tips, the cubit is one of the major biblical weights and measures. Although the precise length of the Biblical cubit is unknown today, it's estimated to have been approximately 17½ to 20½ inches, with Scriptural references to both a "common" cubit and a "long" cubit.
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Ahh but did you know that Cubit, is from the Latin word cubitus, meaning the lower arm and it is used to translate the original Biblical Hebrew word pronounced am-mah which coincidentally meant the forearm.
PS. Ask me tomorrow and I'll tell you exactly where Atlantis was. Really
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The cubit is based on measuring by comparing – especially cords and textiles, but also for timbers and stones – to ones forearm length.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubit
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I was watching BBC news yesterday, And they mangaed to find a Street Trader in South London who confirmed what we all knew, Dumb Stupid 
And what made me laugh was he said he never understood the Kilos and it was all confusing . Poor man not everything is apples and pears for this geezer, But he was trading in good old kilos for the past 7 years, How confusing it must have been to him, Surely he deserves a place in MOD think tank team
And what made me laugh was he said he never understood the Kilos and it was all confusing . Poor man not everything is apples and pears for this geezer, But he was trading in good old kilos for the past 7 years, How confusing it must have been to him, Surely he deserves a place in MOD think tank team
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Surely the problem isn't the units themselves, it's the practice of forcing people to use unfamiliar units. Most people over a certain age would have an intrinsic "feel" for how far a mile is. Ask the same people how far 1.6km is, and they may well struggle.
Forcing change is inviting disaster. Imagine if the RN gave up using fathoms for measuring sea depth. They might end up running destroyers into rocks or something.
Forcing change is inviting disaster. Imagine if the RN gave up using fathoms for measuring sea depth. They might end up running destroyers into rocks or something.
The cable (200 yards) is of course the only sensible measurement of distance. There are 10 cables in a short nautical mile (6000 feet). Even the French in ASW used them, although it was strange to hear the term "kiloyards" bandied about.
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Spot on steve - but let’s use proper Nautical Miles, 6,080 feet; 72,960 inches.
Then we divide by 18.24 to give us Cubits – the only sensible measure on the planet.
Proves my point don’t you think?
PS. While you've got the calculator out divide 1 Radian, 57.3, by a Cubit.
Good stuff eh? Discovered by the Greeks
- cods.
Then we divide by 18.24 to give us Cubits – the only sensible measure on the planet.
Proves my point don’t you think?
PS. While you've got the calculator out divide 1 Radian, 57.3, by a Cubit.
Good stuff eh? Discovered by the Greeks
- cods.
Last edited by forget; 10th May 2007 at 12:42.
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Sitting scratching me head. all I know is that where I currently work we have several major machinery suppliers. One is all imperial and the rest are all metric. Try getting any commonality of spares......utter nightmare. Fedex love us for having extremely urgent deliveries from wyoming to devon!!
I'd like a 9 and 64 seventy fifths bolt with a thread pitch of 1 and 16/95millionths american standard pipe.....
its all arse.
you know where you stand with m6 m8 m10 etc.
I'd like a 9 and 64 seventy fifths bolt with a thread pitch of 1 and 16/95millionths american standard pipe.....
its all arse.
you know where you stand with m6 m8 m10 etc.
True story
Man goes to builders merchant to buy sand for a DIY project.
Can I have a hundreweight of sand (112lbs ).
Sorry sir we don't sell it like that.
Quick rethink, okay can I have 50 kilos.
Sorry sir we don't sell it like that.
Well how do you sell it?
By the shovel!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Man goes to builders merchant to buy sand for a DIY project.
Can I have a hundreweight of sand (112lbs ).
Sorry sir we don't sell it like that.
Quick rethink, okay can I have 50 kilos.
Sorry sir we don't sell it like that.
Well how do you sell it?
By the shovel!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the Snap On helicopters are best.
Why Snap On? Because they get to sell you 2 tool kits instead of one.
BO 105, AS 355, Metric airframe imperial engine.
S76A+ Imperial airframe metric engine.
If metric is so good why did CFM build in imperial?
Why Snap On? Because they get to sell you 2 tool kits instead of one.
BO 105, AS 355, Metric airframe imperial engine.
S76A+ Imperial airframe metric engine.
If metric is so good why did CFM build in imperial?