The Winged Beauty!

Airbus said in jealous aspirations of Boeing once -"It's not the looks that cut the air!!"

A Boeing 737-800 Air India caught on camera by me departing from Calicut Airport!

What happens when two roaring Pratt & Whitney jet engines are attached to 300 tons of metal alloy? It flies! Amazing huh!?
Of course a lot goes on before that happens. Even so, the thought of 300000 kgs of metal staying in the air for hours unaffected by gravity!? It Never ceases to amaze me!! And one would think that you'd jump in the air and stay airborne for atleast a little while being mostly less than a quintal (1/10 of a ton :P) as we are... Doesn't happen does it?
So here's what goes on (in short) before the 300tons of Aluminium, Titanium and Kevlar alloy can fly- Art!!
Careful engineering analysis of every inch of the surface makes it aerodynamic. And also, Mind it! gives it the capacity to carry 300 plus people across the globe in a matter of few hours...  A hollow spindle shaped body that stretches from nose to tail for about 75 m and contains seating arrangement for 300 or more passengers, 200 cu meter of space for cargo and a fuel tank with a capacity of almost 200 tons of Aviation Fuel, besides the various wirings, hydraulic lines and air passages, all beautifully panelled from inside for comfort and outside for the sleek yet lofty look, (or for aerodynamics ;)) cuts through the air like an arrow. The flattened hollow wings curving Oh! so slightly upwards and tapering back somehow attached so strongly to the main body that they can endure speeds of upto 900km/hr without tearing off, defy gravity and carry her so far above the ground that she soars above all mankind at heights of upto 13 kms from sea level - The Arrogance she claims is unbeaten! The hollow wings also contain extremely purified aviation fuel and attached to this beautiful masterpiece of engineering is another triumph of great human intelligence and uniqueness- My roaring Pratt & Whitney's! Oh my! The goosebumps... I wonder if you've ever heard the roar of a jet engine from near proximity, (not from the inside comfort of the soundproof body of an aircraft, but actually standing outside- Just outside). In one word its Deafening!! As the engines start you'll see the tiny men standing outside from the small windows of your seats plug their ears and instinctively take a step back... And then the turbines slowly start to rotate till they whizz past at about 15000 cycles per minute and look like solid discs instead of fan blades, that are actually slicing up the air in streamlined flow through the insides of the engine. What goes on in there is a matter of science, engineering, aerodynamics, fire and fuel! But what happens outside is that these two engines attached one on each side of the main body under the wings thrusts the humungous 300 plus tons of airplane so fast on the runway that she gets airborne in a matter of about 48 seconds and remains so for the next 14 to 16 hours till you cross the globe halfway through and land her back safely in the arms of gravity! What beauty! What mesmerising, captivating marvellous feat!

Me on the day of my familiarisation flight in Air India

So next time you travel by air think of the unimaginable artwork you're sitting in, the roaring piece of human mastery that beats the gravity, cuts through the air and whizzes past the lands and oceans as if it owns them. As if it rules the world!!

And I for one among many others, humbly so stipulate one of these beautiful beasts!!!

I wrote this much before this trailer was released but I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd add it to my post for everyone to watch!

Aviation: The Invisible Highway (Trailer #1)

The Orphan Thrust

Photography Courtesy Capt. Rahul More

When I leave those two levers on the central pedestal unguarded by mistake, my instructor calls the situation "Orphan Thrust".
Two HUGE engines producing 27,000 ft-lbs of energy which actually means it produces 36,600 newtons of force to move the bulky baby through a distance of just one meter... And well, as you might have already guessed no flight lasts but a few meters... To call this live beast an Orphan? Well... well... one might want to reconsider!
She soars through the skies like a majestic queen, so alive, so frighteningly fast, so dominating, so unearthly... and yet so true!
She sucks in the very air in her heart, flaring up to cut through everything, dead or alive in her path soaring with the glory of a victor...
The Orphan Thrust is sure dangerous... :)

The Ecstacy Of Flight...

B737 sim and me!! :)

Ah well... "There is no limit to the joy of flight...."

Those words, while they may seem inconsequential to a casual reader, I entreat upon everyone to read those words more carefully... there IS no limit to the joy of flying...

4th day of the Year 2010 at 2200hrs I flew once more after 15 whole months ... At this point when I held the control column of the huge aircraft in my hands a second time afresh and landed her I for the first time realized how much I had missed this... Two years back when I had flown for the first time the realization of a loss or depravity had been eliminated, for then I had not known at all what flying was about. But now when I got back I realized how much this was a part of me... how much I had missed this... how much this had been pushed back in my head as a consequence of the innumerable things happening, short term aims in life, the fast moving rush and crowd of a new and busy city!

The pleasure of being in control of that huge machine, the pleasure of handling her, the pleasure of the knowledge that she was zooming across the skies at speeds of 300 knots cutting through the very clouds whose kingdom these huge vast skies were... Its a joy in you that has been leashed in a long time and it knows no bounds...

My big machine was new to my unskilled hands and it wasn't the best I had performed but it was more than just memorable... it was unforgettable... 0300 hrs in the morning I returned to my room after four hours of continuous flying, but surprisingly I was not tired... At least not enough to make me want to doze off before I had told all my friends that I was flying again!

I slept at 0500 am that morning happy like an idiot.

And this was only a simulated flight. I was already dreaming of my actual flights that night.

For those of you who are flying here is a message- Don't ever leave flying! Don't EVER regret having done this. What you have achieved 90 percent of the world cant even dream about... It's the most awesome feeling... :)