parallel parking....

That was great James! I am thinking of getting some plastic tires for my truck, so that I can use his technique.

I have seen quite a few people struggle at parallel parking lately and it makes me wonder if it is still part of the drivers test. I just have to stop and watch the attempt. Sometimes real life is funnier than anything we can think up as entertainment.
 
When I got my class A CDL I had to parrallel Park a 52 foot trailer with the tractor attached. try parrallel parking a 70 some foot vehicle..:eek: and I only had to weeks to learn how.


Don,
and that's a skill most OTR drivers use every night... unless they're lucky enough to find a pull through spot at the truck stop.

I always kid new drivers... who are stressing about taking their road test. I ask if they've practiced parallel parking, then ask them if they could do it with something that Bends in the middle. Usually their eyes get as big as dinner plates and they gasp. One of my son's girlfriends came back to me and said that my joking like that made her feel at ease on the actual test. Thinking of my quip when she was parallel parking made doing her test easier seem simple in comparison, which of course it is (not that parallel parking a semi is hard, for a good driver)
 
That was cute.
Can't remember the last time I had to parallel park.
Once upon a time, I was good at it.

I suspect that you could still do it without too much jockeying around. Biggest problem I found when I have tried it after not having done it for a while, is remembering when to start the turn. You know right away when you did it wrong, you don't even have to finish the turn.

I have seen people attempt it lately that really had no clue how to do it. The last was a women who ended up with both back wheels touching the curb together. Her car was perpendicular to the curb! I especially like those people who try to fit into a space that is smaller than their car and I don't mean by a little! Can't they tell just by looking there is no way they will make into that space???
 
There was a time when we all had to parallel park, Only shopping was on Main stree, downtown, no Malls and hugh Walmart parking lots with everybody trying to squeeze into the handicapped places.... Was a skill we just learned. I can still do it today. A while back I was driving my P-U truck (Super Crew Cab w/8' bed) only place available was Parallel and it looked like a Smart Car hole.... got her in there and a few inches from the curb, to boot. My friend said "I'm impressed" (I was too) but when I grew up, that was all there was. (ever try to push start an old Packard from a Parallel parking spot?)
 
Try parallel parking a 800 foot freighter that has just sailed from Dublin into a berth with 10 feet of clearance between the docks...that does not bend in the middle. Of course 3 tugs pushing on it helps!
 
That kids got some nice moves for a 2 year old. I see a future drift racer . . .

I myself love driving standard transmission front wheel drive cars in the snow. One time I had parked on snow covered side street when a friend and I were picking up some pizzas for folks at work. There were no cars on the road or parked near by so I showed off a little as we were heading back to the office.

Put it in reverse, cut the wheel all the way to the right (towards the curb) and slammed the clutch out. The tires are sliding on the snow so the rear end isn't really going anywhere. As the cars reaches an 80 - 90 degree angle from the curb you crank the wheel quickly to the left, push in the the clutch, shift into first and let the clutch out again. By this time you are moving forward in the other direction.

If you do it right the car does a pirouette pretty much around the rear wheels in a smooth motion without coming to a stop. My passenger was a car guy and to this day he reminds me of that move - he says we didn't even disturb the cheese on the top of the pizzas . . .

Of course the first time I ever drove a front wheel drive car FORWARDS in the snow I missed a turn, hit the curb, ruined a rim and racked the front end so far out of alignment I should have had the unibody pulled to straighten it out. That car ate tires from that day forward. . .

Cheers

Jim
 
Travis,
When I was in the Navy we could Parellel Park an 8000 Ton 435 Ft long Nuke sub without tugs..
We had an Outboard motor we could lower from the bottom of the sub. It could be rotated 360 degrees. One of my jobs was to operate it.:D

Yeah azi pods. All the yachts had them, but to be honest with you, in a crowded Marina for pleasure craft, with skippers of questionable operating skills, they really should have all the bow, stern and azi pod thrusters they could.

The tug I work on does too though they call it a Z drive. Its the same thing as an azi pod just powered via driveshaft. Its great because you can really gain control, and of course you don't have to be concerned with propeller drift either like on the single screw tugs. Its also easier for the deckhands because you only have to put a single line up on a ship...after that you can tug, push or quarter at anytime without adding more lines.
 
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