----- Original Message -----
From: Haywire <haywire@telus.net>
Date: Monday, July 5, 2004 3:16 am
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Into the blue again :-)

> > All hard drives have a spinning platter with a
read/write head
> riding a
> > cushion of air just above it.  Go to 10,300' and
there isn't much
> of a
> > cushion left.  The head will fall into the
platter turning at
> 7500 or
> > 10000 rpm.  I think you'll be lucky if the drive
ever works again.
> >
>
> Hi Ernest;
> Another theory I heard is that the disc case is
sealed so that at
> the lower
> pressure it deforms the case enough that the heads
are no longer
> aligned and
> that by drilling a very small vent hole into the
hard disc case
> this can be
> alleviated. No evidence to back it up but it is
something to consider.

Don't even consider it.  HDs are assembled in a
clean room.  We're talking people with funny hats
and shoe covers.  A lot of technology goes into  a
filtration system that can remove sub-micron
particles.  The heads ride very close (magnetic flux
strength drops off geometrically), and the closer
the get the heads, then higher the read/write
density.  I just takes one spec of grit to ruin the
works.

That being said, I once worked with a guy who would
dissamble dead or squealing drives, grease the
bearings and put them back together.  They never
lasted long, but he said he kept all his important
data on floppies.  


> However, I ran the system recovery disc's and
everything is
> working again
> although I lost allot of data, but I've been
thinking for quite
> sometimethat I should reformat my drive anyway. I
just wish that
> I'd gotten around
> to backing up more data.
> Last night I loaded Jepp FlightMap onto this old
Toshiba and I
> took this
> flying today all the way up to 15,300' and had
absolutely no
> problems at
> all. It worked very well and in some ways is more
appropriate to
> the task.

My favorite place to be...the LAGGING edge of
technology. 8*)  

Any idea of what type of drive it is.  I've been
considering a 'temporary' dead simple data
aquisition PC.  Figured I'd run microLinux off a
couple of floppies.  A HD would simplify things a bit.