Dick Smith - Earthroamer around the world

[explore this]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/...obal-adventure

http://www.aapimage.com.au/search.as...&viewtype=GRID

Broke down and delayed for several months:
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...001021,00.html

There's more info on this out there somewhere... anyone... anyone...

[egn]

May be more detailed info will be presented in Australian Geographic as Dick Smith is involved there.

If someone is seriously interested in traveling Australia I can only recommend to become member of the society. I am member since nearly 20 years and own most of the magazines. They are really high quality similar to Overland Journal and contain valuable information about a lot of nice places to visit.

[haven]

Dick Smith is the first person to pilot a helicopter around the world, and he has flown a Cessna around the world on two occasions.

I'm curious to learn more about what electronic engine controls failed, and why it took months to get a replacement. I'll ask ER what they know.

Chip Haven

[Bill@EarthRoamer.com]

The actual cause of the breakdown was an oil leak – not faulty electronics. An oil line fitting developed a leak resulting in oil pressure too low to fire the injectors. Unfortunately, this breakdown occurred as the Smith’s were attempting to make it across Siberia before the onslaught of winter.

The problem originally occurred near Almaty Kazakhstan where Dick first started experiencing problems with low turbo boost. The Ford dealer in Almaty took the truck in for repairs and we assisted Dick by putting him in touch with a Ford dealer here in Denver. After our Ford dealer diagnosed the problem, we shipped Dick the parts for the repairs and the shop in Almaty performed the repairs. (In hindsight, we should have just flown in an American mechanic with the repair parts and the knowledge to make the repairs). The Smith’s then proceeded to Mongolia, but unfortunately the dealer in Kazakhstan (like many dealers in the US) had not performed the repairs correctly resulting in more problems. The Smith’s then took their EarthRoamer to Khovd City, Mongolia and returned to Australia to wait out the Siberian winter while the repairs were being made.

Although they had their share of problems, I think this quote by Dick sums it up nicely…

Breaking down in the truck was one of the highlights of the trip, Mr. Smith told reporters.

The Smith’s kept a detailed journal and took many photographs of their trip around the world in EarthRoamer XV-LT #15 and I expect that they will publish a book. It’s a fascinating story!

We work very hard to build the best expedition vehicles in the world, but mechanical things sometimes break. Not knowing the outcome when we depart on an expedition is what makes it an adventure!

Bill Swails
Chief Designer and COO
EarthRoamer

[Bella PSD]

Not knowing the outcome when we depart on an expedition is what makes it an adventure!

Well said!

Louie

[explore this]

Thanks for piping in Bill!

Hopefully more details will surface on the route, experiences, etc., as this is a big testament of the ER...

[ujoint]

Nice to see you on the portal Bill!! I was just at the local RV dealer today, looking at a really nice class A. I still walked away saying "It's still not an ER!!"

I plan to visit your facility in the next few months. Can't wait!!!

[TheOtherLeft]

The Smith’s then took their EarthRoamer to Khovd City, Mongolia and returned to Australia to wait out the Siberian winter while the repairs were being made.

Although they had their share of problems, I think this quote by Dick sums it up nicely…

"Breaking down in the truck was one of the highlights of the trip, Mr. Smith told reporters."

So they broke down, flew back to Australia, but still call it a highlight of the trip??? Are you sure he wasn't being sarcastic?

Dick Smith is a very well known figure down in Aus and some of the things he did was legendary, like towing a fake iceberg into Sydney Harbour as a joke, but being broken down for 6 months would push anyone to their wits end.

[Harald Hansen]

It seems like he was being sincere. He's talking about all the friendly and helpful people in one of the articles linked. Seems like that could be an uplifting experience despite the troubles.

And how typical is it to bring out Borat in any article about Kazakhstan?

[30percent]

I'll be looking for his book on this trip. What an amazing adventure it must have been. EarthRoamer should be honored it was one of theirs! Ford should take the heat on the break down though, I doubt it was an ER addition or customization that caused the truck to break down for 6 months.

I have to read between the lines and say, I think they waited out the winter for 6 months, so was in no hurry to get it fixed until they planned on returning. But that's a guess.

If I run an R/C EarthRoamer for 2500 miles, is that the same as going "around the world" in scale....?

Cheers