vicram

It was like GooD Fortune!!! For those of you who have no clue What I am talking about , imagine F1 racing but with aircrafts!!! And its not like the usual. This is like a circuit which each aircraft will complete and the times are compared with one another. They tour around the world (UAE, Spain, Russia, Germany, Turkey, Hungary, UK, USA and finally in Australia) and compete under various elements and weather conditions. Some of the pilots even build and modify their own aircraft and to see them do the maneuvers and stunts made me glad I wont be pulling such stunts with my aircraft!!!

The race was held over the swan river and a makeshift landing strip was made in the middle of Perth city itself and that strip was smaller than Padang (Singaporeans and Malaysians might be familiar) was fantastic to say the least to see them coming in to land around the high rise buildings and the weird wind directions that would have been caused due to the deflection.

Armed with my chocolate milk and sunglasses I enjoyed a whole afternoon of aerobatics and fantastic piloting. Some pics for your viewing pleasure !!! Till the next post Kudos J   

To a cool Winter afternoon I arrived. Laden with my luggage to last me for a year’s stay in Perth. The cool fresh air on my face I took a deep breadth and prepared for my passage into the next Phase of training.

Winter brought with it the winds and the torrential rains. It had already been raining for 2 weeks continuously before I had arrived and it didnt seem to be letting up till later in the week. My maiden flight on the Cessna 172, a more powerful and stable 4 seater aircraft was exhilarating to say the least. It was a much nicer ( for lack of a better word ) aircraft to fly in than the Cessna 152 which we were playing with back in Singapore. And the Training Area was like Oh my God!! The land was bigger than Singapore by large. With a vertical airspace restriction of 6000 feet it was like the playground to fly in. Practicing various maneuvers by the ocean and keeping clear of the escarpment of hills to the East. The joy of flight was enhanced by the very beauty of flying in this beautiful picture.

I began my training with an Aussie Chap and later switched to a more experienced Japanese Instructor who was just as Asian as any Japanese could get but dedication was not something he lacked. A gem of a guy on the ground when we were in the air he grew horns like the devil, I daresay I probably burst a couple of veins in my ears becos of his screaming in the air. High Standards were his expectations and even a 20 feet difference in height maintenance was followed with bellowing, I swear could scare elephants away!! But nonetheless, credit to his creative teaching technique I cleared my first Solo flight on 6.9 (Sept 6th nice no. Yeah haha!!) and the aircraft I was flyin had the registration VH-BZI (Bravo Zulu India) It was my Day!!!!

Whilst I was learning how to fly properly I had another project going on by the side. And yes people it is Official!!! Vick finally has his driver’s License!!! A month of intensive driving on Aussie roads and learning the rules here coupled with a few lessons from an Australian Driving Instructor, I passed my Driving Test on 26.9 So yesh this baby can FLY,RIDE AND DRIVE next to conquer would be the the sea but we’ll see about tht when I return. Hence, time passed as I settled into a routine of hitting the gym,flying and driving.

Then, began a string of events tht got me really frustrated. As I was getting used to the Japanese Instructor I got another Instructor change yet again this time to a Canadian Instructor but who was a nice enough chap and was an excellent teacher as well. But for those of you who have had instructions on a one to one basis would understand the frustration one would got through if you had to change instructors in the middle of your learning phase. Anyways, I had a few flights with him and yet again I had another change and yet again another!! And in 2 months I had 5 instructors,already!!

Soon came the Test that would decide my fate here. Phase 1 progress check, an hour and a half of flying as PIC (pilot in command) with the SI (Senior Instructor). The weather was not fantastic and the winds were picking up! I briefed the SI and he asked as PIC would I make the the flight I said no! But since it was a dual flight I said it would be alright to go. He concurred with me but he advised me that it would not be too good on my records if I were to go ahead with the flight and we had to cut it short due to weather or otherwise. So I waited yet another 4 days for the next time I get to do my check flight. The whole waiting is a torture by itself as you dont get to fly and you tend to get less and less comfortable with flying a good sortie. Then came the next time I was up for the test again this time the weather was fine but the winds were gusting and there was a maximum cross-wind of 15 knots (28km/h) doesnt look too bad eh but trust me it is the aircraft limit to land with 15 knots of cross-wind. By this time, I was raring to go and I was only signed to handle cross-winds of 10 knots. I told the SI once again tht I would still go ahead since it was a dual and he told me tht I cannot blame the strong winds if he felt that my flight was not up to mark. And with that in mind I walked to the aircraft prepared to test my mettle with the given conditions. It wasnt a perfect sortie but he felt tht I had handled the aircraft well enough with the given conditions and he was actually happy that I made the landings with the 15 knots of cross-winds. Phase 1 Check Passed!!!! Next Phase 2 Navigation!!

Thus, I spent the first 2 months of Aussie Stay!!! More on Phase 2 in my next post!!!

Inspiration to blog again sprang from nowhere. 20 months since my last post my apologies for the long wait but as most might know I only blog when I have interesting stuff to add and to share the joy of my journeys with my loved ones back home.

Well to start from the beginning please bear with this one, long entry as I have a long way to update.After a fantastic stint in Holland and a Gruelling final year in Aerospace with 19 modules and FYP ( not find your partner Jeya its, final year project this time around !!) I managed to survive the system and graduate many moons ago. And to the disappointment of my parents I violently refused to be bogged down in an Engineering job as they might have envisaged. I took on the mantle of a full time tutor, part tme skate coach, part time intructor at an adventure camp and even managed to get an invite to join a firm doing Private Banking and offered a management position at the Skate School!! But for those of you who have known me in years past know where my passion lies and waited I did for that one golden opportunity. Going for innumerable interviews from a myriad of job opportunities just for the interview experience and only to turn them down on the account and faith that soon I would be joining SIA.

The day came finally ,from the time I sent in my application to the day I received an offer to join the Cadet Pilot Program. Through gruelling interview sessions where you get fired questions all around from a Panel of 10 Senior Captains and Officials from SIA which months of preparation and years of study helped me get through, the computer tests on psychomotor skills and other stuff , the situational tests, the informal session, and the medicals they were just the few months in my life that I felt crawled on forever. And the day, the post arrived a day before my 25th birthday. Few moments in my life could have matched that very moment. The once in a lifetime opportunity!! The dream of most and the reality of a select few, to be an Airline Pilot for one of the Best AIrlines in the Aviation Industry. It was a glorious moment indeed!!

The Journey hath jus begun. To begin with was 3 weeks in Lumut,Perak. A test of mettle and endurance and teamwork. Thrown into the wilderness to battle snakes, leeches, wasps and hornets reality hits you hard if you were under the impression tht it was just about learning how to fly. 60km of Kayaking in the straits of Melacca. Jumbo sized Jellyfish, and huge centipedes were rather common sight. Climbing and trekking through the hills of Pangkor Island and finally emerging from all of this alive makes you appreciate the wonders civilisation and makes you respect nature.And of cos not to forget 3 days alone in a solo expedition where we were left on a hill with minimum equipment to just pitch a shelter and to stay alone. With no contact from ya other mates, time to reflect and to embrace solitude.

Following which came the ground studies in Seletar. Singapore Flying College and in every sense of the word it seemed like going back to the University. With war torn accomadations to live in and study and materials enuff to start a bonfire,the second phase of trainin began. SPlit over 2 phases, the tech phase and the ATPL phase. The tech phase had  6 exams to study for in 7 weeks. The exams were multiple choice answers but here comes the bummer. It was a whooping 75% to pass the paper. Anything less was considered a failure. Not too bad for starters then came the real deal, ATPL(Airline Transport Pilot ’s Licence) 18 weeks of hell, a professional exam conducted in the belly of the Terminal 2 where few have ventured. 8 exam papers over a period of 3 days. Never had I studied for an exam like I studied for these. I take a look back and I can safely conclude it was comparable to back in NTU together with the fact tht 75% was the passing mark. Challenging indeed. Subjects included Meterology, Instruments, Navigation, Meterology Practical, Airlaw, Human Performance Limiaitons, Radiology,Flight Planning, Gas Turbines, Theory of Flight, Loading Aircraft, Radiotelephony, Electrics and Airframes.Hence, came the end ground school phase in Singapore and my journey continued to Perth which will be covered in the next post.

Kudos ya’all Happy Reading!!

What inspires us ?? To do our best , to go the extra mile ? Some are born motivated, some need to be motivated but some can just about find motivation in the simplest of things….Which am I ?

Life is filled with mystery … you never know what you are gonna feel, what you are gonna experience. yet so many of us are too busy worrying and chasing our lives wondering about everything and anything. 

After years of experience good and bad I can only reach one conclusion, everything is a choice. A choice that is so simple yet many fail to see how easy it is. We are too engrossed in all the external factors in our lives. About people, emotions, money, fame, face, everything that at the end of the day we lose sight of the issue at hand. Be it studies, life, relationships, food, sports even a simple decision becomes so complex.

The choice no matter how bad the issue at hand can be is yours. And the only thing that one has to worry about is to do or not to do. To be happy or to be sad. To feel contented or to feel miserable….why oh why is everyone so fixated on the rest of the world when all you need to do is decide on what is in your own control…YOUR LIFE!!

And I realize I find motivation in everything. From the rising sun that goes on for billions of years, to the ant that only lives weeks at end. Nothing in life is forever,yet it goes on and nothing waits for you!! Your life is yours to live. The decision is yours to make. Inspiration is yours to realize!!

I am no stranger to the play of emotions I have been in the gutter and I know how miserable it can be. But at the end of the day, be it a broken leg or a broken heart or a broken spirit there is always a choice to stand up and say I choose to Fight, I choose to be Happy, I choose to live Life to the fullest.

Come hell or high water I shall Face My Fears and Live My Dreams!!

And I hope that everyone will feel the same as I do after this post!!

Choose your life, its Yours!!

HAPPY MIRACLES

As the engine drones, my mind wanders. How Life would be without Miracles? What are Miracles? What is Happiness? Just then, I realized, everything is a Miracle. The sun rising, the birds chirping, the rain pouring, the stars shining, even me Smiling! What is not a Miracle? Just because we do not understand everything that happens in our lives all the time, can that mean we are unfortunate? Unlucky? Sad? If we were to understand everything then, where is the Miracle in Life? Happiness is in discovering things you never knew or understood! Happiness is in discovering yourself! Happiness is in knowing you are given another day to wake and make someone smile. To learn something new, to accomplish something! Be it Great or Small, nothing goes by unnoticed. Reflecting on oneself can be depressing if one only wishes to think of all the bad. Give it a twist and think if all the Good; the Smile will come naturally and Life will altogether change. Wake up each day, as if it were going to be your last. Easier said than done but achieve it I shall. And go to bed each night knowing if I were not to wake the next morning, I have led a Life filled with Happy Miracles.

U can never seem to get enough of it…another interestin trip I should say and even managed to catch a glimpse of the TEMPLE CHURCH built by the Knights Templar as read in Da Vinci Code,(now how many people can claim that hehe!!) Anyways, 2 weeks in London was quite eventful. Checked out a University there for a degree in Piloting as well (50000 GBP can u believe it !!!) Well flying is rather expensive aint it. London is of course famous for its River Thames and there are loads of bridges across it at different points and guess what I crossed all of them hahaha yesh how bored can that be huh(9hrs of walking around in total), NOT actually was really interesting walking with my good buddy Caleb who gave up valuable study time to tour Central London with a friend from the Equator haha ( Thanks Mate!! )and guiding me through the streets of London. Spent some quality time with family and guess what even managed to play a few badminton and cricket games. Anyways, pics are uploaded for your viewing pleasure. Take care and till the next update…..VIc

ZEELAND!! No I dint mis-spell it. HAhaha for all of you who are wondering where this is,its a province in Holland. In the Southern portion just before Belgium. Well, a drive there took about 8 hrs and the gang and I visited some of the  famous Dams and Dykes in the Netharlands. We also stopped by a beach and boy is that what you call a BEACH!!! All in all it was a good and enriching experience even the Dutch friend of mine was going to some of the places for the first time in his life and we were driving around with a map dated back in 1985 hehe some cool road trip huh. Well we managed to get there and back in one piece and even stopped by one of the older historical town Zierikzee to capture some shots. Check out the albums. Ok tata for now!!!

Ahhh for the non flight enthusiasts who have no idea wat the heck I am blabbering abt.Zero G is when you feel a state of weightlessness when the weight of your body is counteracted by an opposing force hahaha, in lamer terms I was floating :P  Today I had another new and exciting experience in a Cessna Citation Pte Jet. A Flight test they called it. The beginning was rather exciting enough 6 of us in a small jet way cool man. But the real show began after we did the expts. The pilots took us through some manouvers. A steep turn at abt 60 degrees.Commercial Airliners only do 25. And a parabolic flight where you feel 2 G and zero G forces. Gosh, thank god I have a strong stomach it definitely is not for the faint hearted. Well, the pics are added to the gallery for your viewing pleasure. tAke care.

Ahhh alas I guess everyone will be wondering what I am rambling about. To all of you who are still students, U can definitely relate to my state of euphoria. EXAMS ARE OVER!!! Well true to my nature first place I headed to was the Sports Centre to have a good workout hahaha another exhilarating 2 hours of grimacing and pantin’ and ended it with a good run.And then it was a time to be merry with the folks in Delft namely just the 4 Singaporeans and we celebrated the way we know best…..EAT!!!! hahahah Well wasnt exceptionally good like wat we get back home but I guess it was a break form the old bread and soup stuff, we had FISH!!! hehe yeah sounds kinda sad doesnt it. A far cry from a celebration back home, Satay,Seafood,etc. Well as they say, you never know its value till its not there anymore. Anyways, good luck to all of you who are having exams or to those who have them coming up. To those who dont have such things in their lives, be HAPPY!!! With ME!!

Hmmm the TAMIL NEW YEAR is here and I am stuck with an exam the next day!! Sigh oh well, HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of ya who are reading this blog Well was a rather good day , have started my work outs at the gym here. They seem to charge inexhorbitant fees for the usage and I plan to make full use of it hahaha. Went on an expedition yesterday hehe more like got lost friend of mine had to go fix his hp and we cycled to the next town a good 10km away but lo behold we couldn’t even find the place and were going in circles till we decided to ask for directions.  Guess What ?? We were in the wrong town. Golly!! Stupid map well then we managed to find the place in the end and made it back home on one piece. A good 30km I think. MAybe I mite consider cycling in Singapore when I am back seems really small compared to what these people do, but then again hmmm Chances are some mad driver would RuN me over! IMPATIENT SINGAPOREANs!! oh well till more updates. Cheerio.