Is it to do with the goveners fitted to stationary engines? They work by
having two balls on springs on a shaft that rotates at a speed
proportional to engine speed. As the engine speed increases, centripetal
force causes teh balls to spin at an increased radius. The movement out
of the balls is conected to the throttle. At a steady state, the balls are
at a given position for the load, an increase in load causes the engine
speed to drop, the balls spring in and this then makes the throttle
open and increase the engine speed. When the engine is really flying, you
get the balls "out"
Geraint
On Thu, 6 Feb 1997 MHKitchen@aol.com wrote:
> OK,
>
> Now that we have the origins of "one off" and "OK", and I guess everyone's
> still thinking about where the chequered flags came from, here's another
> one....This time, I think I know the answer, so we'll make it a "puzzler".
>
> Does anyone out there know where the term "balls out" originated?? (As in
> going "balls out"???)
>
> Don't strain your brains....
>
> Myles
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