SOLO BATH!!!

Here are some photos from our solo bath. The solo bath has been accepted as a tradition in the aviation world to celebrate new aviators for completing their first solo flight. Here in APFT, apa kurangnya... Hehe.. Enjoy!

 

NOT A GOOD WEEK FOR NAVEX

Well, this week is the worst week for flying ever. Plus, we haven't finished our NavEx yet, and my PPL Test is scheduled on the 27th this month. Weather was poor during the whole week. Haze made it impossible to fly. Despite the rain, the haze just keep coming. According to Malaysia's Met Agency, the haze came from Indonesia's island of Sumatera and Riau.

Visibility sometime plummeted to 400 feet. This morning was very bad. I can only see the Firefly, Air Asia, and MAS coming in for landing only when they're abeam the threshold (actually it was a nice view). You imagine an airliner just suddenly pop in front of your eyes when they're only about 5o feet above the runway. Here are some pictures for you to get a rough idea of how the weather was like this morning!

The sun can barely shine.

Cannot even see Runway 28's threshold.

This kind of visibility shouldn't be a problem to them since they're equipped with ILS or Instrument Landing System which guides the pilot horizontally as well as vertically to the runway or should I say, to the exact center line of the runway.

ILS localizer.

ILS antennae and approach lighting system.

However, for us with small aircraft (which is not IFR rated or Instrument Flight Rules rated) are not allowed to fly in such conditions since the condition requires instrument flying, whereas we only fly VFR or Visual Flight Rules. Such poor weather conditions are refered to as Instrument Meteorological Conditions or IMC. For pilots which are not IFR rated or who flies aircraft which are not IFR rated, we are only allowed to fly in good weather conditions or refered to as Visual Meteorological Conditions or VMC.

Hotspots in Indonesia causing the haze.

Well, now you get the idea how hard it is to fly. Most likely the haze will be staying for quite some time. A week of frustration is a normal thing...

SOLO DONE.. GH DONE.. NEXT,NAVEX....

Well, it's been a while since I've last updated this blog. Sorry for the waiting. I've lack of internet connection while at the Crew Residence and it was kind of hectic for the past few weeks.

Now, let's talk about flying. Well, everything went pretty smoothly after I've last updated my blog. Me as well as all of my batchmates have done our first solo flight. Not only that, we've done 4 solos after the  first one. Thus, we have earned our own APAC callsigns. We obtained it according to the solo sequence from the first one to do it to the last one. Here's the list!

• Goh Hui Shi (APAC 5051)
• Sarabjiet Hans Sohan Singh (APAC 5052)
• Alan Kok Wee Peng (APAC 5053)
• Jenson Choo Chien Ning (APAC 5054)
• Keegan Francis Khoo (APAC 5055)
• Avan Ng (APAC 5056)
• Nik Hazman Azizy Nik Adnan (APAC 5057)
• Khushdeep Singh Dhillon (APAC 5058)
• Jessica Lee Suk Tin (APAC 5059)
• Hasbullah Anthony Hasbi (APAC 5060)
• Mohamad Zafran Mohamad Azmi (APAC 5061)
• Joseph Bryan Ong (APAC 5062)

The first two numbers represent out batch number which is 50 and the second consecutive numbers represent the sequence starting from 51.

Alan (APAC 5053) after first solo. Eventhough the weather was quite bad, he managed to fly.

 My first solo aircraft was 9M-NRR. Well, surprisingly, I got the Piper Warrior II instead of the newest Warrior III. The Warrior II was the old model and 9M-NRR was the 80's model. Talk about classic... Instruments were classic and the interior was quite bad. However, the maneuverability was better than the Warrior III since it was a very seasoned aircraft and the controls were light.

Everything went well during my first solo,except I did it on my second attempt since my first attempt was canceled due to weather and it ended up as a solo taxi to the runway. Haha.. Well, the first solo was nothing much. It was only a 15 minute flight. I flew one circuit, which means one take-off and one landing. Alhamdulillah it all went well...

We've done our General Handling (GH) sorties and currently doing our Navigation Exercises (NavEx). NavEx is very fun indeed. I've flew to Dabong, Manek Urai, Pulau Perhentian and also Penarek. The highest I've flown on NavEx so far is 7000 feet with Captain Maniselvan (APAC 12) while en-route to Manek Urai and Kampung Kubur Datu. Pretty high for a single-engined, 160hp, unpressurized, naturally-aspirated, four-seater aircraft.

Me flying above the clouds en-route to Dabong. Thanks Zafran (APAC 5061) for the picture.

Diverting back to Tanah Merah due to low clouds in Manek Urai.

Alan (APAC 5053) recalculating EET's for diversion to Perhentian.

Abeam Kuala Besut en-route to Perhentian.

Nice view of Pulau Perhentian Besar.

Captain Jackie (APAC 20) overseeing Pulau Perhentian Kecil.

Cruising through the clouds.

Dabong town.

So far, everything is cruising smoothly. Alhamdulillah...

FERRARI OR LIGHT AIRCRAFT???

I was just wondering, if you have enough money to afford a supercar which costs RM1 million +, would you choose to buy a supercar or a light aircraft like a Piper or a Cessna which also costs the same??? Hurmmm... Soalan cepu mas tu.....
 

Cessna 206 Stationair

Cessna 206 Stationair interior (basic)

Piper Arrow

Piper Arrow interior (basic)

Ferrari F430

Ferrari F430 interior