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Does anybody have a supplier of good quality aluminium flagpoles suitable for range use? All the ones that we can find are cheapo ones designed for home use. We have some serious winds on our range.
Cheers
Peter

Peter Hulett wrote:Does anybody have a supplier of good quality aluminium flagpoles suitable for range use? All the ones that we can find are cheapo ones designed for home use. We have some serious winds on our range.
Cheers
Peter

Peter,

I can recommend InTrack (Pakenham). All the Rosedale ones are from there. In about 8 years we've never had a problem with them and we get our share of strong wind.

https://www.intrack.com.au/about-us

I would suggest getting in touch with Vikki at Moyes Delta Gliders:

https://www.moyes.com.au/

With hang gliders, we use either T6 6061 or 7075 tubes. Both are "aerospace-grade" with the 6061 being mildly weaker but thicker-walled and cheaper than the 7075. T6 is the age hardening rating. 6061 vs 7075 refers to the alloy content.

6061: 97.9% Al, 0.6% Si, 1.0%Mg, 0.2%Cr, 0.28% Cu

7075: 90.0% Al, 5.6% Zn, 2.5%Mg, 0.23%Cr, and 1.6% Cu

In brief 7074 has more zinc and copper in the alloy and is ~ 2x as strong as 6061.

The Tx, where that is T1..T6 is actually the big thing. T1 aluminum is soft and "bendy". T6 is not.

Either way, Aerospace T6 6061 or 7075 is "chalk and cheese" to Bunnings alloy sections.

I have no idea what Bunnings alloy is. Weak as piss, not age-hardened...

Hi Peter,

Further to my comments vis a vis Moyes Delta Gliders the leading edge of my glider is 7075. Each side is about 18 feet long and I can do > 120 km/hr without it breaking. Yes, it does have a carbon fiber cantilever compression strut about 1/2 way outboard but it also has about 50x the load on the cantilever.

With alloy tubes, there are several things of relevance:

• 7075 @ T6 > 6061 @ T6
• > Diameter is stronger irrespecetive of alloy or age hardening
• 7075 typically comes from Switzerland and
• 7075 is made as a continuous section (seamless) vs 6061 (seamed) and seams in 6061 can (rarely) split

Anyway, Moyes have been in the "as if your life depended on it" business for half a century.

Best

J

Peter Coopers will cause wind

ah the old flagpole problem.
like most things on many ranges in my experience few seem to care about the problem until it tips over the top.
we are all taught the wrapping the ropes around the pole when pulling the flags down stops them flogging on the poles and damaging any protective surface that exists.
yet when you go to put flags up, many of the ropes are just straight up and down.
often the same people that did this go to the trouble of folding or rolling the flags up, a pointless exercise that slows up putting them up, yet fail to heed advice re the ropes.
another thing seen is lack of maintainance of poles.
whether wood or metal, any surface protection is more often than not missing, allowing degradation of the pole itself.
it is a bit like all range related things seem to be today.
most think that the range is supplied by some mystical force for their use and enjoyment, and no thought, let alone effort, is required.
however, when talk of spending money as a way to deal with such issues arises, all hell breaks loose.
we can also see this in the thread about e.t.
bruce.

an interesting story re flagpole maintainance.
years ago sara had a group of students from a school paint the poles as part of a subject they were doing, and paid them for it.
outwardly a very beneficial thing for both parties.
only problem was that the political correctness department of the education dept had programmed their computers not to accept immoral words.
thus they could not receive emails from sa rifle assn, as it contained the word rifle.
bruce.

bruce moulds wrote:an interesting story re flagpole maintainance.
years ago sara had a group of students from a school paint the poles as part of a subject they were doing, and paid them for it.
outwardly a very beneficial thing for both parties.
only problem was that the political correctness department of the education dept had programmed their computers not to accept immoral words.
thus they could not receive emails from sa rifle assn, as it contained the word rifle.
bruce.

Words Fail Me

or
"lord spare me days"