flying

its the forth time weather fouled my area solo(meaning going up to the training areas myself, only) and my wiser self senses that i'll screw up big or really big if i attempt to operate a piece of high tech equipment(the camera phone) and a low tech machine(the plane) at the same time. and of course there's the small matter of me running out of blue-tec to secure the phone with. i'll post some videos from youtube instead. with 3 weeks and 6 flights left, im really feeling the heat. havn't finished studying the aircraft systems and this morning's navigation exam was less than confident. nevertheless, the end is near and i'll get through it one way or another.

my very 1st flight was on 27/4/06, the day before my birthday, can't remember how i felt, excited i suppose? following that i can't say that the excitment faded but anxiety built up. each flight has new objectives, briefing/debriefing, assessment by the instructor and improvements demanded by him. its very easy to *t00t* up. an angry indian shouting constantly into your ears amidst the engine noise is definitely not good for health. frankly im quite suprised i made it this far, 1/3 pass medical, 1/4 pass interview, 5/25 pass phase 1, 2/5 pass phase 2. the remaining 0.00667(3 s.f) of initial applicants whom are in phase 3 will almost definitely get the licence. hmm...but maybe im not suprised, they say you either have what it takes or you don't...hai~ im just naturally pro:p jokes aside, flying(as the pilot) is very - do i say, systematic? - there are well defined procedures everything and checklists to save my ass in every situation but when the wings drop off. its not at all romantic like in pearl harbour, the bright sun and clouds make you think its hot but actually you're freezing in that inadequate flight suit at altitude. (temp dec at 1.98C/1000ft) i'd expect all of these to get worse next time, airforce or commercial, except for the freezing-my-ass-off part since any plane less pathetic than the current 1 i fly has climate control.

after all the ranting, do i feel its worth it? hell yea?!~ where else in the w0rld do you get paid $500 for getting a private pilots licence? maybe 1 of the 6Nations. having this licence also allows me to skip the Basic Wings Course in airforce where the majority of n00bs are sent packing, not that i've no confidence in myself nor am i a n00b. pratically this licence is useless in sg but its a intermediate step to something higher, a necessary step. in a few weeks time, the 1st chapter of my would-be career would have been written. till then, i have alot of things to study~.~

Lishan(if you read this at all): syfc.sg says you need to be singaporean, i don't know if pr will do

Generviefe: pilots really do say [you have] and [i have], its 1 of the many rules. for multi-crewed aircraft, there's a [pilot flying] who flies and a [pilot not flying] who talk cock on the radios.

skip the other vidoes if you're lazy, but this is a must watch - eh, for econs! Star Alliance - The Airline Network for Earth. These planes can't be more majestic, maybe flying is romantic afterall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCd5KW1ojiI

this guy from syfc took a video of a glide approach, meaning throttle idle and landing the plane without power to simulate an engine failure emergency. apparently he didn't use blue-tec: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYk-HL4ijzk

here's a flight sim 9 video with actual atc voices of an approach into kai tak(old hk airport). kai tak is considered to be 1 of the most challanging approaches and the few airports where the autopilot can't land itself. too bad i can't do this for real as its closed in 98: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6Gkpxz_2ts

building the A340-600 in under 2min: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HTtkgiw9pI

thai A346 t/o. if you listen carefully, the engines spool up to a intermediate power before going full. throttles advanced to 40% N1 and the pilots see that its stabilized, then they go full. during the t/o roll, you can see the sluggish wings lifting itself 1st before hauling the 300t goliath. at V1~140kt, the pilot removes his hand from the throttle as beyond this speed the plane must t/o even if an engine drops off. at Vr~150kt, he pulls back on the stick to raise the nose. after rotate, the plane climbs out initially at V2+10~170kt. got to love the sound of the engine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VVfUzVpB6o

thai A345 landing. touchdown was really smooth, auto brakes and reverse thrust(when the engines open up) slow the plane to 80kt, the pilot brake manually at his discretion to taxiing speed~10-20kt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NHZ0gNCeeg

pin: you should have flown in style with thai last december, tiger's puny A320 is no match!

crosswind landings: extreme winds demand extraordinary techniques and excellent skills. respect!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KewDaYDG1i0

this combines the difficult kai tak approach with difficult winds, he should have gone around though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY9Dr7U9ZWE

to sum up, this is what happens if i screw up really big: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pS4ne7R7es

god saith youtube!