News article
Apprentice’s calm thinking pays off in Flying Spanners
An Alice Springs heavy vehicle apprentice and his boss have demonstrated that calm thinking under pressure is the way to win the Red CentreNATS flying spanners competition.
CJD Equipment second-year apprentice Ethan Staniforth and local branch manager Adam Britten took 23 minutes and 3 seconds to dismantle and rebuild a motor vehicle engine to win the fourth annual Flying Spanners grand final on Sunday.
In doing so, they upstaged their more fancied interstate opponents whose time in the heats – 16 minutes and 8 seconds – broke the record set last year of 17 minutes and 33 seconds.
But the Tasmanian pairing, Tobias Micek and Trent O’Shea, encountered a dislodged rocker bridge in the final, which cost them vital minutes. Until that point, they had been the front runners in the two-team contest.
Charles Darwin University Alice Springs-based Automotive Engineering teacher Russ Horan, who co-judged the final, congratulated the 14 participants for their courage to have a go.
“Overall it was probably the best Flying Spanners we’ve run,” Mr Horan said.
“In each of the four years that we’ve run this competition, CDU Automotive apprentices have made the final, and in three of those years they have been part of the winning team.
“It’s one thing to know your way around an engine, but you also need steady hands and the ability to think clearly under pressure. The real trick is to not be in too much of a hurry.”
Mr Horan said the winners had won two tickets to next year’s Summernats car festival in Canberra and $1000 vouchers for flights and accommodation.
Related Articles
New study shows how quickly surface water moves to groundwater reservoirs across Australia
Read more about New study shows how quickly surface water moves to groundwater reservoirs across AustraliaA new study from Charles Darwin University (CDU), Monash University and The University of Newcastle has presented almost 100,000 estimates of groundwater recharge rates across Australia, by far the largest known database of its kind.
Program to show students you don’t need to be Einstein to study STEM
Read more about Program to show students you don’t need to be Einstein to study STEMA new generation of thinkers and innovators will get a taste of what it’s like to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics alongside real academics in the second year of a Charles Darwin University mentoring program.
Got a chronic disease and fear of needles? A prick-free natural alternative is on the horizon
Read more about Got a chronic disease and fear of needles? A prick-free natural alternative is on the horizonA Charles Darwin University (CDU) researcher is a step closer to replacing the needle to deliver drugs in the treatment of many chronic diseases.
