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South African (Off-Topic) Quiz


DamhuisClan

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Correct Carbon Hunter, well guessed!! :)

 

Who would have known, I certainly would not have guessed it...

 

“where the magnitude of a quantity is expressed in terms of a unit, a comma on the line is used as the decimal sign in the numerical part of the expression and the digits are separated into groups of three digits on either side of the comma by means of spaces…”

Source: Measuring Units and National Measuring standards Act, 1973 (Act No. 76 of 1973), Government Gazette No. 4326, 5 July 1974.

 

The exception was made, for land registration purposes, by the then Director-General of Surveys, who judged, in his Circular No. 2 of 1971: “it has been decided to abandon the writing of areas, such as 45,236 1 ha with a space after the 3rd decimal figure and to advocate that the four figures be grouped

together viz. 45,2361 ha”.

 

English-speaking countries (plus China, India and Japan) use the decimal point. There seems to be a general tendency to formally declare its use worldwide and the International Organisation for Standardization, ISO, also tends towards using the decimal point over the decimal comma. In view of the South African law, however, the comma shall still be employed in South Africa as “the only recognised decimal indicator for all numbers”

Source: The International Metric System (SI), Guide to the use of the SI in South Africa, The Council of the South African Bureau of Standards, M 33a, 1992

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That was interesting, Jors. I recall still using commas as a decimal separator in high school and university, but it seems to have gone out of fashion. Most people use a point (and so do I, these days). Regarding spaces: before the separator - makes it more readable for humans but not computers; after the separator - bad idea (in my opinion)

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OK - enough time for other cachers - can I answer now?

 

Doesn't look as though there are any takers on this one. I thought maybe Vryburghers would have bitten? :unsure:

 

CH - I know you know the answer so give us a synopsis and ask a question then. :grin:

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Just went to have a look in Mapsource and searched and searched all over Greytown Central... Thought I was wrong till I searched outlying areas... I knew I saw it somewhere....

 

Who were The Bumbling Bees and what did they eventually become known as?

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Wow! They were the Bumbling Bees?! Good decision to change it. Not very impressive when a supersonic jet come by and it is THE BUMBLING BEES! Hahahaha! Good question! How was the show? The pilot who flew with his son that died in the Presidents Air Race last weekend was from our town. Very sad.

 

Okay new question: staying with aviation, who was Dawie Uys?

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............... Okay new question: staying with aviation, who was Dawie Uys?

 

I seem to recall he was either the Captain of the first B747 that was delivered to SAA or the pilot of the Helderberg that crashed off Mauritius?

Edited by cincol
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I really have to start asking more difficult questions! Well done.....(drumroll and pause for effect)..... Cincol! He was indeed the pilot of the ill-fated Helderberg. Even though conspiracy theories still do the rounds a cabin fire is still thought to be the main cause of the accident. Over to you!

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Let's stay with SA aviation then. What was the first ever SAA B747 affectionately known as and why? [if you know the name you will know the reason for the name as well. The "christened" name was LEBOMBO - that is not what I am looking for.]

Edited by cincol
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Back to the previous question, well done Cincol, I was actually chatting with the guys at work on possibly been part of the rescue mission to the Helderberg when it crashed. (Un)fortunately the "Flossie" was really well and truely laden with two Puma helicopters as well as rescue and recovery equipment. They managed to get someone just before me to go over. I think it could have been one highlight of my military career, but then again it may have been pretty traumatic. Followed the story quite a bit so I knew the answer to it right away. Was odd that I was actually talking about it earlier in the day....

 

Was the first 747 not named after the pilots wife?

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wazat was on the right track about a woman's name. No, Vryburgers, not the pilot's horse! :blink: Perhaps some people might give their horse such a name though. So, what was the name and how come?

 

Oh, BTW the name was NOT linked to the pilot who flew the plane to SA at all.

Edited by cincol
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