NOTE:
1. Pilots must insure that all surly bonds have been slipped entirely before aircraft taxi or flight is attempted.
2. During periods of severe sky dancing, crew and passengers must keep seatbelts fastened. Crew should wear shoulderbelts as provided.
3. Sunward climbs must not exceed the maximum permitted aircraft ceiling.
4. Passenger aircraft are prohibited from joining the tumbling mirth.
5. Pilots flying through sun-split clouds under VFR conditions must comply with all applicable minimum clearances.
6. Do not perform these hundred things in front of Federal Aviation Administration inspectors.
7. Wheeling, soaring, and swinging will not be attempted except in aircraft rated for such activities and within utility class weight limits.
8. Be advised that sunlit silence will occur only when a major engine malfunction has occurred.
9. "Hov'ring there" will constitute a highly reliable signal that a flight emergency is imminent.
10. Forecasts of shouting winds are available from the local FSS. Encounters with unexpected shouting winds should be reported by pilots.
11. Pilots flinging eager craft through footless halls of air are reminded that they alone are responsible for maintaining separation from other eager craft.
12. Should any crewmember or passenger experience delirium while in the burning blue, submit an irregularity report upon flight termination.
13. Windswept heights will be topped by a minimum of 1,000 feet to maintain VFR minimum separations.
14. Aircraft engine ingestion of, or impact with, larks or eagles should be reported to the FAA and the appropriate aircraft maintenance facility.
15. Aircraft operating in the high untresspassed sanctity of space must remain in IFR flight regardless of meteorological conditions and visibility.16. Pilots and passengers are reminded that opening doors or windows in order to touch the face of God may result in loss of cabin pressure.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
HIGH FLIGHT
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth Of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred thingsYou have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,I've chased the shouting wind along, and flungMy eager craft through footless halls of air. . . .
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space,Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr
Up, up the long, delirious burning blue I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace Where never lark, or ever eagle flew —And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod The high untrespassed sanctity of space,Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.
— John Gillespie Magee, Jr
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
FRIDAY NIGHT
Friday night was, I can quite safely say, one of THE MOST INSANE NIGHTS OF MY LIFE! Now Im not bragging or anything but I have seen my share of insane nights. Started out as a crap day. Friday the 13th, need I say more? I was due for my solo and all I needed to do was nail my landings. Not flying for 2 weeks because CASA were taking their time with my license didnt help at all. Needless to say, I screwed up. Everything was perfect except my flair( keeping the nose wheel off the ground for a while when you land). After an hour of crap landings, we decided to call it a session. I stormed back into the building in a really REALLY bad mood. My instructor Charles heard about what happened and walked up to me. preflight the plane he says, We;re going up to fix your landings. I nodded stormed off to get my stuff. 5 minutes later, I was preflighting my plane with a snickers bar sticking out of my face. I was going to fix my landings and nothing was going to stand in my way.
We were coming in to land and everything seemed alright. Then, Plonk, landed on all 3 wheels again. F***, I mutter. Relax man, goes Charles (while we;re still rolling along). I give her full power and as I do, he very calmly explains my mistake and how I should fix it. Something he said clicked and I nodded. Coming in for the second landing all seemed well, got closer and closer to the ground and then Squeak! the sound of the back wheels hitting the tarmac first. The best feeling ever. After a couple of pretty nice landings, we taxi back to the parking bay. You tired? Charles asks. Nope, why? I reply. we are going to see if we can get you another pre-solo check. By this time all my friends, or as they call them over here, mates are at the pilot bar. It is also about an hour to sunset by now.
I preflight my 3rd plane for the day and anxiously wait at the pilot bar for my class 2 instructor. The sky was already a deep gold and I was pacing a bar filled with tipsy friends like a madman. And then, I get a phone call. Its Charles, the guy was on the ground! I rush onto the tarmac only to see a Mooney taxiing at an excruciatingly slowly. I jump into my plane and and get myself ready. Couple of minutes later the testing instructor jumps in as well. Fixed your landings? He asks. I think so I reply with a nervous smile.
After the fastest run-up I had ever done, we were airborne. Around to crosswind, downwind, base and finally onto final approach, I set the plane up for the landing. 60 knots, check, Carb heat off, check, flaps 3, check, centerline, check. As the ground got closer and closer I thought, this is it, if i screw this up, there wont be any time left to do my solo anyway. Above the ground now, leveling off, I take a deep breath, pull the power and feel the plane sink slowly. I ease back on the controls and Squeak! Touchdown. Nice landing he says. Whew... We soar off into the sky for a second one. And this time, He requests the option on downwind(option to stop, get out and release me for my solo). My heart starts pounding now. I come in on finals and Squeak! Another good landing. He makes me taxi him to the run up bay where he gets out and gives me a thumbs up. JUST FLY THE PLANE!!, he yells over the buzz of the propeller. I give him a thumbs up and he slams the door shut and jogs away.
So there I was, by myself. I will admit, my legs did shake a little bit. CALM DOWN, I told myself. At the moment, Something made me look on the roof of the Aero club building. Perfect I thought as I counted like 12 of my friends watching me, more pressure. But it sure as hell was nice to know that I had my them watching me, cheering me on. As you can tell from the video on my previous post. JULIET BRAVO X RAY CLEARED TO LINEUP, I hear on the radio just as my thoughts begin to wander. I read the clearance back and line up on the runway when I hear, Cleared for takeoff, Juliet bravo X ray. This is it, I thought, no turning back. I gave her full power and she just lunged forward without the excess weight.
When I got up to 1000 feet, I looked around and was simply awestruck. The suns head was poking just over the horizon, quite like a little kid peeping over a wall, splashing a sea of gold onto the land, river and lakes. In complete contrast, the sky was a deep blue, almost black. It was amazing. Okay, I thought, time to land this thing. Final approach. Everything looks good. CLEARED TO LAND, JULIET BRAVO X RAY. Here we go, here we go, here we go, Hold, hold!! Squeak! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was ecstatic as I slowly taxied off the runway. Juliet Bravo X ray, congratulations on your first solo, goes ground control, and I acknowledge him. Charles, my instructor, was already waiting for me at the parking bay, I could see that typical Charlie-grin all the way from the runway. I do my checks and shut the plane down. Congratulations!, he says. He looked pretty proud at that moment.
So we walk towards the RACWA( Royal Aero Club of Western Australia) building where the class 2 instructor shakes my had and congratulates me. A photograph of me ringing the traditional bell and a couple of photographs later, we make our way to the pilot bar where I am greeted by a roar of clapping, yays and hugs. It was truly amazing. My friends are amazing. I buy all of us a round and beer never tasted so good. That, was just the beginning of my Friday the 13th.
We were coming in to land and everything seemed alright. Then, Plonk, landed on all 3 wheels again. F***, I mutter. Relax man, goes Charles (while we;re still rolling along). I give her full power and as I do, he very calmly explains my mistake and how I should fix it. Something he said clicked and I nodded. Coming in for the second landing all seemed well, got closer and closer to the ground and then Squeak! the sound of the back wheels hitting the tarmac first. The best feeling ever. After a couple of pretty nice landings, we taxi back to the parking bay. You tired? Charles asks. Nope, why? I reply. we are going to see if we can get you another pre-solo check. By this time all my friends, or as they call them over here, mates are at the pilot bar. It is also about an hour to sunset by now.
I preflight my 3rd plane for the day and anxiously wait at the pilot bar for my class 2 instructor. The sky was already a deep gold and I was pacing a bar filled with tipsy friends like a madman. And then, I get a phone call. Its Charles, the guy was on the ground! I rush onto the tarmac only to see a Mooney taxiing at an excruciatingly slowly. I jump into my plane and and get myself ready. Couple of minutes later the testing instructor jumps in as well. Fixed your landings? He asks. I think so I reply with a nervous smile.
After the fastest run-up I had ever done, we were airborne. Around to crosswind, downwind, base and finally onto final approach, I set the plane up for the landing. 60 knots, check, Carb heat off, check, flaps 3, check, centerline, check. As the ground got closer and closer I thought, this is it, if i screw this up, there wont be any time left to do my solo anyway. Above the ground now, leveling off, I take a deep breath, pull the power and feel the plane sink slowly. I ease back on the controls and Squeak! Touchdown. Nice landing he says. Whew... We soar off into the sky for a second one. And this time, He requests the option on downwind(option to stop, get out and release me for my solo). My heart starts pounding now. I come in on finals and Squeak! Another good landing. He makes me taxi him to the run up bay where he gets out and gives me a thumbs up. JUST FLY THE PLANE!!, he yells over the buzz of the propeller. I give him a thumbs up and he slams the door shut and jogs away.
So there I was, by myself. I will admit, my legs did shake a little bit. CALM DOWN, I told myself. At the moment, Something made me look on the roof of the Aero club building. Perfect I thought as I counted like 12 of my friends watching me, more pressure. But it sure as hell was nice to know that I had my them watching me, cheering me on. As you can tell from the video on my previous post. JULIET BRAVO X RAY CLEARED TO LINEUP, I hear on the radio just as my thoughts begin to wander. I read the clearance back and line up on the runway when I hear, Cleared for takeoff, Juliet bravo X ray. This is it, I thought, no turning back. I gave her full power and she just lunged forward without the excess weight.
When I got up to 1000 feet, I looked around and was simply awestruck. The suns head was poking just over the horizon, quite like a little kid peeping over a wall, splashing a sea of gold onto the land, river and lakes. In complete contrast, the sky was a deep blue, almost black. It was amazing. Okay, I thought, time to land this thing. Final approach. Everything looks good. CLEARED TO LAND, JULIET BRAVO X RAY. Here we go, here we go, here we go, Hold, hold!! Squeak! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was ecstatic as I slowly taxied off the runway. Juliet Bravo X ray, congratulations on your first solo, goes ground control, and I acknowledge him. Charles, my instructor, was already waiting for me at the parking bay, I could see that typical Charlie-grin all the way from the runway. I do my checks and shut the plane down. Congratulations!, he says. He looked pretty proud at that moment.
So we walk towards the RACWA( Royal Aero Club of Western Australia) building where the class 2 instructor shakes my had and congratulates me. A photograph of me ringing the traditional bell and a couple of photographs later, we make our way to the pilot bar where I am greeted by a roar of clapping, yays and hugs. It was truly amazing. My friends are amazing. I buy all of us a round and beer never tasted so good. That, was just the beginning of my Friday the 13th.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Australia
T'was about a month and a half ago when I landed here and so far it's been pretty good overall. Perth, believe it or not is one of the most expensive cities over here. An the inflation going on in the country at the moment really doesn't help. All that aside, the flying here is BEAUTIFUL. It's a little cold when you go up there. I got to experience what it was like to go upside and spiral towards the ground. You actually float in your seat if you're not strapped in properly. Amazing stuff. The crappy part about Wester Australia is that everything closes so damn early. I mean, This gigantic fucking mall right next to my house (about half the size of mid valley) closes at 5 everyday. And I finish school at 5 so it's a mad dash if i need groceries. Yes, I actually dash for groceries now, laugh it up. Made a few friends here as well. Not really close to most of them but they're pretty okay people. The other night I went to a club and OH MY GOD.. I was really tipsy. So anyway, these 2 girls from med school come along and sit down next to my friends and I We make some small talk and after a bit, they asked us what we do and we said we were student pilots. Naturally, we asked them what they did, and they said they were in med school. Like a moron, I go, "oh, you can examine us then"... hahaha Oh my god... And I make fun of people who come up with lines like that. ARGH! Felt bloody lame.
~fiN~
~fiN~
Saturday, December 8, 2007
After the exams.
Bad things happen in threes right? Heres what happened.
My exams were over. Nothing left to do but have as much fun as i possibly could before i left malaysia on the 4th of january. Life was AMAZING. Paintball, swimming, movies, friends and waking up whenever I wanted to bloody wake up. And then came paintball day. It was Diana, Tijo, Me and Shaun versus Shaun's friends from methodist college(cock suckers... You'll see why in a bit).
I was already high strung. My visa form for australia said 8 weeks processing and I didn't bloody have 8 weeks( It was already the 30th of november). Alright, fine, I still stayed positive. Ureeeya used to work in this agency that helped students get their visas to study in Australia so I hoped her ex boss might be able to help me out. When we reached the building he wasen't there so we waited outside. We laughed, I made fun of her, bla bla bla (haha) everything was fine. Until I get a call from Shaun. "Oh, three out of 5 people from my side backed out. 2 are twins and one backed out because he says he would feel left out." WHAT THE HELL!? HOW CAN YOU BACK OUT ON THE DAY ITSELF AFTER I GET 5 PEOPLE FROM MY SIDE TO COMMIT THEIR TIME AND MONEY?! Well, it wasen't Shaun's fault but it really pissed me off. I had to pull Ureeeya and Azim(sometimes known as Fadzil) into the game. Which i completely didn't mind doing but I shouldn't have had to. Homos...(the methodist guys)
So we finally get enough people for paintball. Great. I calmed down a little. Maybe I'll stay in Malaysia for another 4 months and enjoy myself more. Might be my last major holiday forever because the school only has 8 days off in the entire course and when I start working, well, airlines never stop working. So. Back to the paintball game. I decided to use the protective vest thing for the forst time ever. I have my fair share of scars and didn't intend on adding to my collection. It was a really fun game. But NOT ONCE did I get shot where I was protected. Yes, big time ouchies. BAD THING NUMBER 2.
The very next day,I had a swimming competition. As I took my shirt off and walked towards the pool for warm-up, I turned heads for all the wrong reasons. One of my friends pointed at the circular bruise on my shoulder( one of many i might add) and asked me what had happened? " Over excited girlfriend." I said and we had a laugh. My first race was shit. So was my second. Dropped out of my third because I felt so unfit. One whole month of not training left me pretty unfit. Damn A levels(and swedes). But my day doesn't end there. After the meet, i got changed and got into my car with 2 friends. I was giving them a lift home. We were driving, talking and having fun. All of a sudden i feel something on my leg. Like an idiot, I look down. BANG! I hit this car in front of me. FUCK! Everyone was okay but my car was pretty banged up. and so was the car infront of mine. The third car suffered barely any damage though. This angry guy wearing an MUFC shirt gets out and starts shouting at me.(I hate MU fans) I calmly get out of the car and apologise and as I do i notice people on the swim team i know driving past the accident. How embarassing, god. Anyway, long story short, I made a police report and went home.
My parents have been getting on my nerves ever since. I mean its not like I drove recklessly or anything I got distracted and it was an accident. I understand their frustration, my dad really pissed me off when he said, " You don't have the brains to drive a car, how do you expect to fly a plane?!", I simply ignored him and walked upstairs. My car has been at the workshop since the monday after the accident. Yesterday I went to MPH and bought 7 books. All of which I intend to finish. Something to keep me busy while I wait for my car. Till then, I rot at home..
*breathes out*
~fIn~
My exams were over. Nothing left to do but have as much fun as i possibly could before i left malaysia on the 4th of january. Life was AMAZING. Paintball, swimming, movies, friends and waking up whenever I wanted to bloody wake up. And then came paintball day. It was Diana, Tijo, Me and Shaun versus Shaun's friends from methodist college(cock suckers... You'll see why in a bit).
I was already high strung. My visa form for australia said 8 weeks processing and I didn't bloody have 8 weeks( It was already the 30th of november). Alright, fine, I still stayed positive. Ureeeya used to work in this agency that helped students get their visas to study in Australia so I hoped her ex boss might be able to help me out. When we reached the building he wasen't there so we waited outside. We laughed, I made fun of her, bla bla bla (haha) everything was fine. Until I get a call from Shaun. "Oh, three out of 5 people from my side backed out. 2 are twins and one backed out because he says he would feel left out." WHAT THE HELL!? HOW CAN YOU BACK OUT ON THE DAY ITSELF AFTER I GET 5 PEOPLE FROM MY SIDE TO COMMIT THEIR TIME AND MONEY?! Well, it wasen't Shaun's fault but it really pissed me off. I had to pull Ureeeya and Azim(sometimes known as Fadzil) into the game. Which i completely didn't mind doing but I shouldn't have had to. Homos...(the methodist guys)
So we finally get enough people for paintball. Great. I calmed down a little. Maybe I'll stay in Malaysia for another 4 months and enjoy myself more. Might be my last major holiday forever because the school only has 8 days off in the entire course and when I start working, well, airlines never stop working. So. Back to the paintball game. I decided to use the protective vest thing for the forst time ever. I have my fair share of scars and didn't intend on adding to my collection. It was a really fun game. But NOT ONCE did I get shot where I was protected. Yes, big time ouchies. BAD THING NUMBER 2.
The very next day,I had a swimming competition. As I took my shirt off and walked towards the pool for warm-up, I turned heads for all the wrong reasons. One of my friends pointed at the circular bruise on my shoulder( one of many i might add) and asked me what had happened? " Over excited girlfriend." I said and we had a laugh. My first race was shit. So was my second. Dropped out of my third because I felt so unfit. One whole month of not training left me pretty unfit. Damn A levels(and swedes). But my day doesn't end there. After the meet, i got changed and got into my car with 2 friends. I was giving them a lift home. We were driving, talking and having fun. All of a sudden i feel something on my leg. Like an idiot, I look down. BANG! I hit this car in front of me. FUCK! Everyone was okay but my car was pretty banged up. and so was the car infront of mine. The third car suffered barely any damage though. This angry guy wearing an MUFC shirt gets out and starts shouting at me.(I hate MU fans) I calmly get out of the car and apologise and as I do i notice people on the swim team i know driving past the accident. How embarassing, god. Anyway, long story short, I made a police report and went home.
My parents have been getting on my nerves ever since. I mean its not like I drove recklessly or anything I got distracted and it was an accident. I understand their frustration, my dad really pissed me off when he said, " You don't have the brains to drive a car, how do you expect to fly a plane?!", I simply ignored him and walked upstairs. My car has been at the workshop since the monday after the accident. Yesterday I went to MPH and bought 7 books. All of which I intend to finish. Something to keep me busy while I wait for my car. Till then, I rot at home..
*breathes out*
~fIn~
Saturday, November 10, 2007
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