KBR again!

Yes, I'm back to Newcastle.
Nothing much has changed in Kota Bharu,
the monsoon seems to have stopped already
but the food still sucks, life is still boring,
imagine how I feel after being detached to Terengganu
and Ipoh, I had to come back to this place again.
Anyway, I'm gonna start my simulator training for
the twin-engine aircraft soon and
below is my new toy for the next two months.
The Diamond Twin Star DA42!
Bolehlah, take it as an early introduction to joystick.

You can't solely depend on someone or something
for happiness, freedom from boredom or as a stress reliever. 
Never let it become a living habit of which you cannot get rid 
before you're prepared to suffer for losing them. Never.
Alex said I was too serious, no girls will like that.
Maybe. 

No longer single

Even though it took longer than what I had expected,

I finally completed the single engine flying phase on 11-12-13.

Million thanks to all instructors and friends who had given me 

a lot of guidance and help all this time.

What's waiting for me next is the simulator training for twin-engine aircraft.

Flying in Ipoh was fun, no complain and regret.

Pretty much experience I have gained and 

it's certainly one of the best memories 

I have got in the flying academy.

No longer single,

I'm now complicated,

stepping into the two bars club.

Outlet.

Everyone has their own outlet for feelings.
I thought I had found mine but now
it seems that I have to work harder on it.

Weather is not good,
same goes to my mood.
I was sad yesterday, sadder today,
and gloomy days ahead.
Never mind, man man lai.

Pain

We all have problems,

what makes us different is the way we solve it,

no matter how you deal with them, 

accepting them is always the first step to start with,

denying their presence will just pull you deeper into the abyss.

Yes, life is painful sometimes but
what hurts us also makes us stronger. 

Pain is meant to wake us up and brings us to the reality,

it's a kind of wealth which makes us better to hold and cherish

everyone and everything that we have.

So why are you afraid to feel the pain,

which is a part of you?

Hiding them doesn't fix things.

Only by understanding your pain,

you could get rid of it and sadness.

Breathe in deeply and you'll realise that you're not that weak.

Rush

Two papers,
40 hours for single engine,
55 hours for simulator and twin engine remaining.
Now please tell me that I could finish the course by Chinese New Year.

There're too many things I want to do and change about my life,
but I have no initiative and don't know where to start.
How about keeping the to-do-list away until the 21st birthday?
It's an excuse but at least I could be free and happy for few more days.
Rain, you'd better be gone by early November like what the press reported
because I want to fly maximum hours!

A friend of mine told me that I had changed recently.

I've been thinking and wanting to write something about it since then. 

I thought changing was necessary to grow up. It always is.

Without changing, you won't know what you actually want. 

Everyday we come up with some new thoughts, 

so your perception doesn't really matter to me.
I have never, I don't and I'll never care how others see me.
That's who I'm.

Keep calm and it's Scorpio season.

Sociality

They say all human beings are social,

I'm not sure how true this statement is,

I think some people are just naturally more socialable than me
I've always been trying hard to be one like them. 

However, for me, being social doesn't necessarily mean making more friends,
what I'm pursuing is more to break out of my comfort zone

and feel proud for other people's achievements.

In fact, the first part actually seems a little difficult to me 

as I'm over protective and less talkative sometimes

but the main point which I want to bring out is 
please be assured that whenever I say something,
be it congratulations, sorry or whatever,

I really mean it deep in my heart because I never do things for protocols.

If you think I look cool or LCLY,
probably you don't know me well enough.
Anyway, the life is a non-stop learning process.
I'm still learning. Criticism and praise are always welcome. 

Falling for it

Most of the times,

we know it might be impossible,

we know it might be false,

we know it might be a trap,

but we still fall for it.

People are always willing to pay

for what they have wanted or believed,

even though it's only a little convincing.

They wouldn't give up until they get the sour grapes,
until they feel a strike, a pain, in their hearts.

The money is not a big deal to me,

I hope you're not conning me,

otherwise you'll rot in hell,

because you just made use of

your mum's health to get my trust. 

I'll still pray for her anyway. 

Kindness is my weakness. 

Seeking for a stronger personality,
I'm enough with the "OK man",
I don't mind being mean if it's needed.

IPOH

So I'm back to this site after a whole month.
I always wanted to write something
since I last updated the blog in July
but I really had no time to do that
as I was busy flying and moving around.

Things have been great in the past month
except that the haze hit Malaysia again last week.
Because of that, my flying progress has been delayed further.
Anyway, I shall cut the crap and stop telling the misfortune,
I'm currently in Ipoh, still alive,
struggling to get my single-engine flying done.
How did I end up being here? It's a long story.
I'm not going to talk anything about that in public.
Ask me personally if anyone is interested to know.

Even though I have only done two sorties here,
I think flying around in Ipoh should be fun
because this airfield is said to be one of the hardest airport
to be approached because of its mountainous landscape.
I'm no bluffing, this's what the air traffic controller said
when we made a visit to the tower on our first day here.
According to the source that I have got from the Internet,
Cathay Pacific used to send their pilots here for training
because the limestone hills around the airport closely resembled the skyscrapers
around Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport, the top ten hardest airport in the world.
Read the comments here: The source.
Besides, the runway is short(2000m) with a down and up slope
at two ends of the runway, increasing the difficulty for making a nice landing.

To be sure, at this moment, I no longer care
if I'm progressing faster or slower than other batchmates,
I just don't like the feeling that a team spirit is separated into two.
However, the Buddha must have his reason for what happened,
at least I'm closer to my dearest family now,
so instead of blaming the school for kicking us here and there,
I should just enjoy myself and learn as much as possible in Ipoh.

Have been praying a lot these few days,
to the Buddha, Guan Yin PuSa and many others,
hopefully they hear my prayers and I hope my life 
is long enough to be exchanged with :)

Talk to me

Most of the times, the boy just wants to continue talking
so he starts saying something stupid and spoils it all
although he knows the thing, which he's going to say, doesn't feel right.

It's not that I have run out of topics possible
but I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable during the conversations.
Frankly speaking, I actually feel it difficult to go further and deeper,
especially for me or may be both who don't actually like to talk on phone.
It makes me a little scared sometimes but I won't give up trying,
before I get shut down officially.

"And though it's just a line to you,

for me it's true,

it never seemed so right before."-Something stupid

Courage is what I need, not shyness. 

Plane spotting

I believe almost every aviation enthusiast enjoys plane spotting.

Many people, who are not into it, see it as an odd hobby but

it's considered a popular pastime worldwide for people, including me, 

who are keen about airplanes and flying, who are constantly amazed

by the ingenuity of human ability at getting a giant tin bird up into the sky.

I learned this and experienced the awesomeness first hand in the year 2010

when I decided to go for a walk with my camera on a whim

at Kuala Lumpur International Airport which was near to my college

where I did my Diploma in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering.

In 2010. Don't remember I had this phone before.

But you can see how happy I was during my first plane spotting at KLIA.

From Anjung Tinjau KLIA. One of the very first shots I had there.

Sri Lankan Airlines A340-300. Didn't have a good camera at that time

but it didn't stop me from developing the hobby,

AirAsia X A330-300 climbing out from KLIA.

Emirates A330-200 landing at KLIA.

AirAsia A320 approaching KLIA.

Me posting under an engine of Singapore Airlines B747-400

in Singapore Airshow 2012.

The jumbo jet.

I have even met some people who are really passionate, for them, 

plane spotting is simply genetically coded in his DNA.

The hobby itself is actually free but a real spotter will never get satisfied,

they don't mind spending a fortune on getting some really good gear

for plane spotting to make it easier and more fun 

as it has evolved from its roots of using nothing but binoculars

to a high tech, real-time game, some examples of the equipment are;

1. A smart phone or computer which has an internet connection to get the latest update of airport operations(flight schedules) and also the live tracking of the airplanes.
2. A dedicated radar decoded and radio scanner or the application(Liveatc.net) to keep track of the airplane movement, activities and the usage of the runways.
3. Some maps or guides for spotting where you can easily find on the Internet.
4. Some decent binoculars to check out the airplanes in details.
5. A tripod to take some steady shots and videos.
6. A good DSLR with a telephoto lens because the airplanes never flies low and near to you.

Pictures starting from here were taken with my new camera.

AirAsia X A330-300 taxiing to the low cost carrier terminal after landing.

AirAsia A320 "A true Malaysian" livery taking off from Kota Bharu Airport.

AirAsia A320 "World's best" livery retracting its landing gears after takeoff.

Weststar helicopter landing at Kota Bharu airport.

Malaysia Airlines prior to landing.

One Malaysia livery of AirAsia A320.

Piper Warrior 3

Plane spotting actually originated in World War 2

where some countries involved in the war encouraged their citizens 

to look out for enemy aircraft to warn of an impending attack.

Britain even had the Royal Observer Corps which was 

a civilian defense organisation operating between 1925 to 1995.

( Link --> Royal Observer Corps )

Today, plane spotting or known as aircraft spotting 

is not about preventing an attack or terrorism

but about aviation or airplane enthusiasts looking to snap a picture

of the interesting flying craft which they like,

whether they are airliners, fighters, helicopters, airships or hot air balloons,

it's all up to their personal interests :)

This picture doesn't belong to me.

As well as this picture. Airship.

And this also from the Internet. 

It's Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Festival btw.

However, after the 9/11 incident, plane spotting is accused

of being a threat to national and air security,

thus, in some countries, for example, Malaysia,

even though there's no rules against amateur photography on airport property,

the airport authority police have no tolerance for plane spotting,

forcing spotters off the airport whenever they find spotters

near to the sensitive areas at the airport,

that's why I have never been to the hot spots,

like the most famous Ladang near KLIA

to avoid being asked to show my identity card by the police.

"Adik, IC mana?" :D

Probably plane spotting is more accepted in the western countries

like Los Angeles which openly encourages plane spotting 

on their social media outlets, asking spotters to send in their best shots,

anyway, just make sure you know the rules of that particular country

before you start spotting so that you won't get into any legal troubles.

From the Internet. A very nice shot you have there, dude :D

Picture from: http://www.travelstart.co.za

 Make sure your girl won't feel bored 

if you're bringing her to spotting :DD

From the Internet. 

Sexy. I mean the airplane :DDD

From the Internet. Great posture. :DDDD

From the Internet. 

Spotting at a place like this it the bomb!

This is professional. haha!

Besides, there're also some sites or forums on the Internet

where spotters share their techniques, tips, photos,

locations they think are best for plane spotting

and discuss everything aviation related.

Belows are some of the really good sites:

airliners.net

planespotters.net

malaysianwings.net

Malindo ATR72-600 vacating the runway after landing.

KLM B777-300ER Skyteam livery climbing out from KLIA.

Malaysia Airlines B737-800 Oneworld livery resting at the apron.

Malaysia Airlines B737-800 Retro livery taxiing to the main terminal buidling.

The 100th Airbus in the world which belongs to Malaysia Airlines.

Just landed. Turning into high speed taxiway.

AirAsia latest livery. 

Japan Airlines

Malindo Airline B737-900

At the end of the day, everyone who ends up

being an aviation or airplane geek must have their own stories to tell

and plane spotting simply combines their love and enthusiasm for aviation.

"There's always something to see, new liveries, new airlines and new fleets,

bringing surprises to the spotters every time they go spotting."

If you wish to know more about plane spotting,

just do some reseaches about the spots in different airports,

come on any given day, especially the sunny ones,

you'll find enthusiastic and knowledgeable people there

with their eyes and cameras focused on the skies.

Reference : Be an aircraft spotter.

Airborne.

Rock and roll.

Let's fly high, baby.

Asiana flight 214

On Saturday afternoon, an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 smashed onto the runway

when it was attempting to land at San Francisco International Airport,

killing two teenage Chinese girls and injuring more than 160 passengers seriously

before the heavily damaged aircraft was engulfed in smoke and flames.

What was so shocking about this accident was that,
Asiana Airline was considered one of the safest airlines in the world
while their flight 214 was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 777,

which was well-known as a high-technology and safe plane,
since it entered service in 1995.
The accident has become a hot topic in aviation sector today.

The flight, which originated in Shanghai
before stopping in Seoul en-route to San Fransicso,

was carrying 61 U.S citizens, 77 South Koreans and 141 Chinese.

The cause of the crash has not been determined but the FBI has ruled out terrorism.

The plane appeared to have touched down tail-first and short of the runway.

Investigators said the plane was flying "significantly below" its target speed 

during the approach and the plane may have stalled 

when the crew tried to abort the landing just about two seconds 

before the tail of the plane hit a sea wall separating the airport from the bay.

Passenger Janghyung Lee told USA TODAY
that the aircraft rattled wildly before landing.

Thus, attention is increasingly being focused on the actions of the pilots 

but investigators have refused to speculate on the cause of the crash

since they were still in the process of investigation and interviewing the pilots.

Latest news: 

According to USA TODAY, the investigators revealed Wednesday that

the pilot told them that he was temporarily blinded by a bright light 

when 500ft above the ground. The pilots also recognised that 

the plane was going too low and not aligned with the runway centerline.

They continued making adjustments on the approach until

they initiated a go-around or "aborted landing" but it's too late.

How or why they got themselves in this situation,

and why they did not abandon the landing sooner, remains unknown.

The pilot says he's blinded by light prior to crash

It's certainly understandable that some people might be afraid of flying.

Fear is very powerful, especially after we get to know the facts

or rumours from the social media which are yet to be verified

but please be reassured that air crashes are still a rare event.

Every day, people in the aviation industry are working hard,

trying to make the machines better and more accurate, 

strengthening the air rules and revising their policies, 

to make air transportation safer. 

The number of deaths on highways in a year 

might still be much higher than the entire number of people 

who have died in a commercial airplane over the past half century.

References:

Asiana Flight 214: A pilot's perspective

Stories of bravery emerged

abcnews

Now you know how important airmenship and decision making are
Edison! : )

CPL now!

Finally I'm updating my blog again after three weeks.

My schedule for the last month was quite hectic and

left me no room to blog as I was preparing for my PPL flight test.

The aim of the test was to check if I'm able to 

act as a pilot-in-command of an aircraft privately

for leisure flying (I can't get compensated in any forms).

Thank to Buddha that I managed to scrape through.

Passing the check ride means I'm now qualified to fly the aircraft anytime, 

of course it's subject to my type rating, for any non-commercial purpose.

In the previous post, I said I would tell more

about my solo navigation sortie from TGG to KBR 

but I can't really recall much about that sortie at the moment.

So why don't we give it a pass? =D  

I would definitely have more interesting stories to share in the future.

Speaking of the test, it's one of my "longest" sorties in the flying academy.

Even though the test only took 1 hour and 30 minutes,

it's really tiring and tense to fly with the legendary examiner,

who's also the commander of Terengganu detachment.

In spite of that, I tried to keep calm and do all my best 

throughout the whole flight, I made a few small mistakes, 

luckily his mood was good on that day and 

he gave me a pass with an average performance.
Having stepped into the CPL flying stage,

I hope I would have the same amount of confidence

like what I had in the ground school before.

After the flight test, I straightaway went to KB for license documentations 

with a batch mate, who had also done the test, by bus on that night.

The need of travelling was a hassle but we had no choice because 

it's APFT's procedure and we wanted to get our PPL license done ASAP.

We're lucky that we didn't need to wait long for 

chief instructor and chief ground instructor who we needed their signatures, 

so we managed to settle all documentations in a morning.

With the permission from the warden, I went back home for a few days afterwards.
It was a short break but at least I got to see my dearest family again after so long.
The last time I went home was during the Qing Ming festival on 31st March.

I always enjoy being at home, do you? 

Too many thoughts in my head but I need some time to sort them out.

Anyway, I learnt something from the General Handling sortie the other day 

which was a pilot must dare to speak out when he/she has doubts 

about the safety or any decision of other pilots.
It's not merely his mistake even though I was not having the control.
It was a scary but valuable experience.

NAV7

What goes around comes around.

Haha! Gonna update about my NAV7 soon which I did yesterday.

Probably after my SOLO navigations

to Redang island and Kota Bharu.

Hello off day!

If you ask me what I don't like about TGG detachment,

it must be the hostel because I'd always prefer 

to stay alone and have some personal space 

as it does affect the level of my comfort sometimes.

I don't have any opinion on my roommates, 

but try to imagine the noises and annoyance 

when everyone is in the room, talking on the phone, 

chitchatting with someone about something

which you're not interested to know(You can't close your ears though :P) 

or when everyone is watching their own favourite YouTube channels. 

For example,

someone's watching "Pranking shows" while

you're listening to Beethoven or ThePianoGuys

and none of you wants to use headset or

turn down the volume. (Example only, Don't "terasa" :P)

Was thinking to wish my father Happy Father's Day

but I feel embarrassed. Maybe an sms will do.

Love, is that really hard to say?

Anyway, off today! Hello weekend!

Continue "Heartbeat..I can feel your heartbeat."

Next destinations for navigation:

P.Redang 

Kota Bharu

And many more in CPL stage.

NAV 4 done.

I finally did my first navigation solo this afternoon after so long.

As Capt. Fuad (APAC19), together with Kelvin, were flying

exactly the same route with me at almost the same time, 

I knew there's nothing for me to worry about,

I basically just followed them all the way since start-up until landing, 

It was quite a relaxing sortie and I pretty enjoyed myself up there.

Anyway, the most interesting part was the landing

and it's what I'm going to say here today.

In fact, I started the engine 10 minutes after APAC19,

but I came back right after them, only two or three minutes later.

Listening to the radio transmission from Terengganu Approach,

I was shocked and I believe the others also did

because, starting from Dungun, my actual elapse time 

between waypoints became shorter than the estimates. 

"APAC5362, traffic APAC19 is 4 minutes ahead, same routing."

"APAC5362, traffic APAC19 is 3 minutes ahead, same routing."

I checked everything, indicated airspeed normal, RPM normal,
I was sure that I was on track but how on earth I was faster,
maybe I got some magic or tailwinds pushing me behind :P
or they did a few orbits somewhere I think.

Until.

Me:"APAC5362, turning final to land."

Approach:"APAC5362, continue approach, number 1 on short final."

Me:"Continue approach, APAC5362."

Approach:"APAC19, expedite vacate via Bravo."

Approach:"APAC5362, clear to land."

Me:"Clear to land, APAC5362."

Approach:"APAC19, clear to cross runway via Alpha, continue taxi for dispersal via Charlie."

Approach:"APAC5362, number 2, number 1 vacating via Charlie for dispersal."

Me:"Number 2, number 1 vacating via Charlie for dispersal, APAC5362."

At this time, I already safely landed and slowed down on the runway

waiting for APAC19 to cross the runway from Alpha continue for Charlie

because the controller instructed me to stay number 2.

So I took my sweet time, continued taxiing with a turtle speed

like a boss on the runway for a few hundred meters
to keep a safe distance from traffic ahead.

Wanted to take some photos while I was taxiing at first
(It's safe because I was taxiing with 5-6 knots only)
but I was scared that the controller could see me :P

Photos taken enroute would be uploaded later! :)

Dungun in sight.

And this is how I pronounce : "Dungoooooong"

Was listening to the radio transmission between Terengganu Approach 

and two America-registered aircraft, which were heading to P.Redang,

while singing "heartbeat" on the way back from Dungun to WMKN.

The weather was depressing.

It's a fun solo navigation anyway.

My route for this solo navigation.

WMKN-Cenering-Penerak-Dungun-

Penerak-K.Berang-Cenering-WMKN

Hazy all the way

 but still managed to see near objects.

Approaching East of KT town.

Me:"APAC5362, east of KT town, 1500ft, airfield in sight!"
Approach:"APAC5362, maintain 1500ft, join right hand downwind runway 04."
Me:"Maintain 1500ft, join right hand downwind runway 04, APAC5362."
Me:"APAC5362, right hand downwind runway 04 to land."