That state of metric conversion in the US

is

life.

In some engineering fields nearly all of it is done in imperial units. Aerospace, for example. This is also accepted by overseas customers.

Even Europeans use imperial units:

Quote "The engine will be available with a thrust of up to 97,000lb".

A challenge is when there is a meeting with university folks as I had one this week. Everything is metric there. Metric does have a lot of advantages. A disadvantage is the constant changes in the system. Pressure was defined in torr, then in atmosphere, then in bars, and then in hektopascals which have a 1e5 relationship to everything else. Not

1e3 or 1e6 but 1e5. In school they really threw us a curve by notorious changes. Kilogramm-Force, Kilopond, and when that fell from grace Newton. It's nuts. One reason why people here in the US cling to imperial is that stuff deson't change all the time.

So I have a cheat sheet in my desk for European stuff :-)

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Well, let's say that Americans tend to be a bit... cautious about going along with something simply because a legislature somewhere adopted it. And for good reason: "Prohibition" made it all the way to being a Constitutional Amendment, for example, and there have been various successful and unsuccessful attempts to require and/or prohibit the teaching of Evolution. But perhaps the most memorable example is this one:

Frank

-- Looking back now, I think I can understand the basic reason why we had to move so slowly. In a democracy, a mere majority is not a sufficient foundation when drastic and far-reaching action is necessary to protect the nation in time of peril. At such a time, the people as a whole must stand solidly together; they cannot defend their country and their liberties with sharply divided counsel. Thus, a bare majority was not enough for the destroyers-for-bases deal, and even less so for Lend-Lease six months later.

The majority had to be so strong and so determined that the will of the country was unmistakable to every citizen regardless of his own views. To have acted suddenly without thorough discussion might have left a dangerous cleavage among the American people at a time when unity among us was more important than ever before. Days and weeks of open debate were needed before there was that solid basis of unity in the minds and hearts of the people necessary for the momentous step we were about to take.

This is not the method by which a dictator builds an army for aggression. But it is the method by which the people of a freedom-loving nation unite behind their leaders to defend themselves against dictators, and eventually to create the overwhelming power necessary to crush them.

-- Edward R. Stettinius / Lend-Lease: Weapon for Victory (1944)

-- Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887 Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney aatt mindspring ddoott com

Learn how to post links correctly in Usenet.

Well, it's true that the US is already partially on the metric system, but many metric measurements are also used with traditional English units. This dual system can sometimes be a bigger problem than using only one of them. A case in point is the famous crash landing of Air Canada's first Boeing 767 plane, Flight 143 in 1983. The case is referred as the "Gimly Glider" in aviation history and there was even a good TV movie ("Falling from the Sky: Flight 174") made of it in 1995 with William Dewane playing the captain.

Seek help.

Probably because many vacationers complained that metric was very unamerican? ;-)

Up north they at least still have the 70's pumps in service:

Some are along Route 66:

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Oh no! Virtually the same problem that caused Air Canada's Flight 143 near-disaster in the '80s.

There once was a time when currencies were so stable they engraved postage rates into the postal scales.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward" 
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com 
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

The reason they didn't stick with it was that all the wheels in Indiana suddenly turned hexagonal.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 

160 North State Road #203 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 USA 
+1 845 480 2058 

hobbs at electrooptical dot net 
http://electrooptical.net

See what unstable leaders do to the economy?

One station still had one of those manual pumps where you pumped a gallon into it, then let it pour into the tank. They had other pumps for cars but it was set up for regular gas, and people used it to fill their 1 gallon can for their mower. :)

I loved those W.W. II style pumps that all disappeared from stations in the '70s.

It wasn't suddenly, they just finally admitted to it. Alaska is still "The land of the square tire." You had to drive at least five miles each time, to knock the corners off. :)

That was back when dirty gas was a real danger--you could have a look at what you were putting in your tank.

I still don't buy gas from brand-X gas stations if I can possibly avoid it.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 

160 North State Road #203 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 USA 
+1 845 480 2058 

hobbs at electrooptical dot net 
http://electrooptical.net

Alaskans are like Texans, only more so.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 

160 North State Road #203 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 USA 
+1 845 480 2058 

hobbs at electrooptical dot net 
http://electrooptical.net

Hard not to deal with them around here. Almost all are pumps at convenience stores. I generally deal with one of the oldest independant stations in the area. It's been there for about 60 years.

Nylon cord tires would freeze with a flat spot if they sat very long. Steel belted radials mostly eliminated the problem. One guy in my company had his old VW bug there and it beat the crap out of you till the rubber & nylon thawed out. All the Army trucks were the newer tires and were a little rough for a few miles.

It was a real problem for decades. Now, it's just an inside joke.

Alaska is bigger than Texas, and they just can't handle being second. :)

You could break Alaska into two and make Texas the third largest U.S. state.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward" 
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com 
Embedded software/hardware/analog  Info for designers:  http://www.speff.com

AFAIK, all Detroit iron is now metric.

--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com 
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX 
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

Which is why the International Space Station is half-metric, half SAE.

--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com 
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX 
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433 
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433