SfMtS

OCS!

2012-01-15T18:40:00.000+08:00

ducks taking off from a river in bern, switzerland

just passed out from BMT previous sat, passed my 2A bike license (finally...) on fri, reporting to OCS this tuesday under air wing for pilot vocation...

my takeaway from BMT? group photo quality -sucks-...a handphone camera could do better...

oh yea...spotted venus a couple days back...lens flare combined with chromatic aberration caused the whole thing to appear purple...n its too small to be seen properly...well cant expect much from a spotting scope acting as telescope...

oso started doing some tests for a new room sound system amplifier...now looking at doing an audio crossover to split into lows, mids and highs to give better control over the exact frequency to control, as well as more options here and there...no time to complete though...

ItsBeenAMonth...

2011-12-03T20:35:00.001+08:00

a raven flares just before landing in bern, switzerland

its just a flash to december...BMT in enhanced batch really is short...went for live range, got marksman, nxt wk going for field camp, after that will be live grenade and then some other misc events, followed by the POP (passing out parade) in jan...

jupiter is well up in the sky, venus is rising by the week so i hope to see it after my POP...tink im really getting into planet-watching...

JupiterAtLast

2011-11-01T18:05:00.001+08:00

started compiling my shots of the moon even though i have not managed to get all the necessary shots to make a full compilation...these are some of the shots of the early crescent stage in the 1st quarter...largely lacking the 4th quarter shots though...wont be able to get them due enlistment...

found jupiter in the night sky after some time...saw the 4 galilean moons as tiny specks of light surrounding the orange ball...could only make out the orange colors and stripes without being able to see much more details...could not take a photo of it though...tried many methods of shooting a photo but all came out very bad...what i saw looks something like this but slightly smaller (pic taken from online)...

finished flying my PPL renewal hours, enlistment is finally coming up in 2wks and hoping to get a look at venus before going in...

YetAnotherExampleOfWhatBoredomCanDo

2011-10-07T22:23:00.000+08:00

picked this up from the common corridor above my house this morning...was bored enough to go upstairs with my bushnell discoverer n try a bit of practice for a few hours...in the meantime, still trying to proceed with my moon phase shots although the sky is overcast...also trying a bit for astrophotography but no luck finding the planets yet though...

i jus realized that i spent half a year trying to find stuff for me to do almost every day...a bit more than a month before i finally enlist...suppose i could afford to wait a little longer...WHY do i hav to get such a dumb enlistment date...

no class 2A test dates avail...meaning i probably hav to wait quite a while before i can finally upgrade my bike license...probably after BMT n OCS...sian...now hoping every half-hour or-so that someone cancels his test so i can get a slot...

OhWell...

2011-09-21T10:28:00.000+08:00

a shot at the full moon on 120911

went for 19 straight days shooting the moon phases, and then broke the streak due weather today...was overcast through last night, meaning i could not get a view of the moon and am now missing a shot...hopefully i can finish the compilation without too much hiccups although the weather does not look that good for the next few days...

and to celebrate my new amp that i finished building, my ipod touch 3.5mm jack has been loose for quite a while...resulting in intermittent audio...might need a new one soon although im trying to work a way around that...

coming up nxt wk : me working 5 consecutive days starting thursday doing full-day relief teaching for 2 sessions due PSLE...not that i get to invigilate...im relieving the teachers sent to other schools for invigilation...gonna be hell although i cant deny the pay

and im intending to maintain currency for my aircraft license for another year meaning i need to spend a bomb to fly the required hours for currency...

MoonPhasing

2011-09-07T08:29:00.000+08:00

been shooting the moon phases recently, trying to do a compilation of the process as it goes over a month...still many more days to go...so far the photos are looking quite good for the final compilation...

and the amp i've been working on is great...finished the entire build day after i got the case design idea and have been using it ever since...much more portable although slightly more bulky due to several additions like a low pass filter for a lot more bass and use of gold-plate sockets instead of the usual types...

and in the meantime, still stoning away at home...

WhenBored:Hack

2011-08-19T19:45:00.000+08:00

this shot of the F5 greatly reminds me of the french mirage 2000, especially the cranked refueling probe...just that few differences that screams F5...

started my relief teaching post in my primary school...lower primary are really a handful...much prefer to take the upper primary where they understand when you strike a deal with them...at least i can kill some of my excessive time...pretty decent pay for the working hours, too...

went kayaking with scouts last week when they went for the 1 star course...still having trouble doing an eskimo roll on my own...but i really want to take 3 star and then mebe go onto 4 star river kayaking...

finally solved a long-lasting problem of designing a case for a new portable amplifier...came up with countless designs trying to fit all components into a flat box for the pocket and failing terribly...managed to come up with a suitable design at last yesterday, and the case is ready to go right now...probably going to assemble it tomorrow...

got my hands on an asus transformer eee pad yesterday...on loan through the asus campus elites (ACE) program...still...theres quite a few compelling reasons not to get one though...

NDPCelebrations

2011-08-10T17:54:00.000+08:00

well im gonna rot frm now till late october where i can finally take my class 2A test...finished all lessons within a month as expected but now need wait till end october for the test...tinking of going relief teaching for a while to pass some of my time....

went to see the NDP celebrations at the floating platform yesterday, as well as last wk during the preview...this year with some helis flying close to the audience compared to last year's F-15 aerial display...

S-70B naval heli making an appearance this year

CH-47 dropping off divers

state flag flyby wasnt that spectacular either seeing as the helis came from the direction of sunset, ruining most photos...formation flyby of 5 F-15s was just a simple flyby, with the F-16s and F-5s nowhere to be seen...

F-15 formation flyby with A/B visible

fireworks display this year was much better, with a lot more controlled firing of fireworks compared to some years, although my lens did not manage to capture the whole view as i was too close to the fireworks...dun really wan post too many pics here seeing as my com's mouse is giving me problems...finale was good, with the sparks lasting in the air for a good 15s

fireworks display

ChiongingForClass2A

2011-07-26T22:31:00.000+08:00

a meter apart, observing each other

picked this up in macritchie reservoir along the boardwalks...they are almost everywhere but it was some trouble looking for a good spot to shoot

anyway im going chiong for my class 2A bike license to upgrade it for better bikes...dun tink im changing bikes though, at least, not before enlistment...intending to sell my bike before i enlist

and in the meantime, desperately finding something worthwhile for me to do...

StarsAreGreen...AndBlue...AndWhite...

2011-07-21T09:53:00.002+08:00

close-up of a star (cos i dun tink its a planet)

another experimental shot at astro-photography using unorthodox equipment like a bushnell discoverer spotting scope at 60x magnification

did a couple of shots churning out all sorts of colors with the same star...had blue initially, then green, then white...make up your mind la...

StuckInTime

2011-07-09T21:06:00.002+08:00

a suspended flagpole for STC (020711-040711)

it's been less than a week since STC (sixer's training camp) for scouts concluded, yet I am already back where I was before, stuck trying to find something to do while time moves on around me...it comes as almost a shock everytime i am reminded people around me are still attending school...

STC has given me yet another reminder that i need to get moving on rather than sit and await my enlistment in november...perhaps i will spend more time going on photography trips all over...but still...

i want problems to rid the stagnation of my mind...

Memories - WhenThingsGotHumourouslyWrong

2011-06-23T17:13:00.000+08:00

just ended scouts 4D3N mobile camp...summary of events :

-watched the stunned faces of ventures after they brought a box all the way from serangoon to woodlands only to realize that they have nowhere to put it thereafter

-watched the ventures sleep in a van as they claim it better than outdoors or in tentage...2 were smart enough to give up...

-watched at least 6 people hit their head on the exact same spot -and- position while being led blind by a fellow scout

-watched a wild rat fly at least 2m into the air after getting scratched and then shaking it off

---

anyway...went for RSAF open house quite a few weeks ago, this time showcasing the new F-15SG everywhere (display, arming, cockpit, simulator, aerial display)...then went to hougang in the afternoon to watch the aerial display again this time from another viewpoint...

F-15SG A/B t/o (after-burning take-off)

smoke ring formed after the F-15 flew through the smoke

F-16 landing

formation leader breaking away

another view of the F-15 taking-off looking like a ballistic missile as usual

EuropeDays19-21

2011-06-13T07:50:00.000+08:00

day 19 (8th) with a completely burnt-crisp pizza after attempting to heat it up...no idea how it happened...

it was only inside the microwave for less than 5min when there was a smell across the entire room...

navigating the maze-like tunnels in the london tube

squeezing with a crowd in madame tussauds wax museum

wax figures does not look as real as the one in hong kong though...

and HK at least has some visitor control...

some games for visitors to play while in the museum

there's quite a number of rides/games there to play compared to HK

a 5-kg gummy bear in the museum shop

inquisitive squirrel along the way to buckingham palace who greets everyone along the way

just another day at the buckingham palace

props for the prince's wedding was just being taken down when we arrived

doing stunts in front of the pariliament house (left) and big ben (centre)

at westminster's abbey cathedral

taking photos at the tower bridge

-this- is london bridge...

or at least labeled 'old london bridge'...new is not anywhere...

day 20 (9th) while shopping around...

that is a mac store building with a flag hanging just above the bus

at the mac store attempting to tap wi-fi from them

his face was almost -everywhere-

day 21 (10th) while going to the airport

at least SIA has a leeway of any number of luggage pieces compared to the budget airlines we took...

on-board an A380 departing from the busy heathrow airport, london

an early sunrise up at 36'000ft

sunrise over singapore changi on landing

EuropeDays15-18

2011-06-07T12:43:00.001+08:00

day 15 (4th) on a walking tour around barcelona, spain

inside an old cathedral...many buildings in barcelona have a long history

another cathedral that has been in construction for more than 100 years

at a pet shop near the shopping district

a well-presented dinner at a restaurant
wanted to try some tapas (side-dishes) but we ended up with a main course

day 16 (5th) while shopping

roads in barcelona are meant for both pedestrians and cars at the same time

...although cars can hardly move due to the high traffic volume of humans

last-minute shopping in a H&M mall, which occupies the whole building

most of the shops are multi-story malls with security guards at entrances

a quiet evening at narbonne, france, population ~1000

finding some dinner before we transfer to another train to toulouse, france

as it is a small, self-contained town, it speaks mainly french, which took us forever to order some food

near midnight at toulouse, france

finding a way to the airport which is situated unhelpfully at a large highway interchange, making it almost impossible to walk in

a night at toulouse airport, france

day 17 (6th) with heavy air traffic in toulouse, france

at the airbus factory awaiting the tour

first-ever translucent engine

outside the airbus factory hanger (background)

it spans 500m and can assemble 3 aircrafts inside

getting wind-swept while walking to a tram station after the tour

walking in toulouse can be considered a sport, considering the wind conditions there...love it though...

3 airbus beluga aircrafts sitting near their hanger, with a 4th a little to the side

largest cargo aircraft currently, made to transport A380 parts to toulouse for assembly

in the morning, we watched beluga no. 5 take off from here, now it's back (in the middle)

queueing for customs check at gatwick airport, london, england

queue at background is for EU passport holders, empty queue in foreground for all other passports...

something, somewhere, went terribly wrong...

another night at yet another airport

sure saved us on hostel fees though

day 18 (7th) - london's welcome for us...by closing our main line to our appartment...

we had to detour to arrive at our appartment as the metro station sits right smack centre of the line closures...

twix and mars drinks sold off-the-shelves in london, england

unpacking in our appartment after a long day around london

facilities there are quite good, save for the lack of wi-fi available

EuropeDays10-14

2011-06-02T10:18:00.001+08:00

day 10 (29th) at einstein haus, bern, switzerland

watching the prince get married in our hostel's common room

a really nice selection of swis army knives and other knives and tools

chocolate blocks in a shop

walking in the really small town of interlaken, switzerland

at migros, a local supermarket

the night view in interlaken, switzerland

day 11 (30th) in st. beatus holen cave, halfway up a mountain

at the base of beatenbutch mountain overseeing the lake,

just before we take a cable car halfway up and then scale the rest of the mountain

playing with snow after 1 hour of climbing up the mountain

enjoying the scenery while still climbing the mountain...still quite long way to go though...

at one of the checkpoints near the peak...that's as far as we can go before we miss the last bus out

it overlooks the lake pictured above on the other side

looking down the clif edge

cooking instant noodles for dinner after a tiring day in mountains

(no more pasta for once!)

day 12 (1st) suiting up for canyoning in canyon grimsel

group photo after 1.5h in freezing waters doing jumps and slides from height

we saw and heard emergency vehicles in -every- city we went to...

day 13 (2nd) back at bern, switzerland waiting for our night train to spain

back at the same hostel cooking dinner

(we sneaked into the common room to use the kitchen)

day 14 (3rd) in barcelona, spain, after an overnight train

food everywhere looks so cheap compared to switzerland...

having a proper meal in a restaurant after cooking for the past 2 weeks

watching the flamenco(tap dance) performance, unique to barcelona

EuropeDays6-9

2011-05-28T22:32:00.001+08:00

day 6 (25th) at another section of the berlin wall, germany

seen at the brandenburg gate in berlin

playing with helium in a fairground behind the brandenburg gate

at the reichstag, which is conveniently near our hotel

day 7 (26th) at an IT store...shops was closed last 2 days due to the weekend...nice keyboard layout...

(not entirely clear here, but the layout is different and includes some german alphabets)

recycling machine for bottles which issues a reciept to refund the cost of the bottle

early day 8 (27th) on an overnight train to zurich, switzerland

breakfast while sheltering from rain at zurich

at bern, switzerland after a long walk in zurich, looking for our hostel

the tiny city of bern, where everything is almost within walking distance

a detailed map in the hostel showing where everything tourists wants to know is

day 9 (28th) near the bear park (background) in bern, switzerland

having a refreshing swim amidst quite a number of watchers

another 2 bears having an afternoon nap

taking a break along a riverside (out of frame) while walking to the zoo

an open-concept zoo at tiergarten, bern, switzerland

visitors are allowed to climb into enclosures

pelicans at their nest

EuropeDays3-5

2011-05-23T20:57:00.003+08:00

at (the top of) parc asterix, a theme park in paris...sitting in a roller coaster car...

the coaster there is good!

shot when halfway through a corkscrew

seroyen (back) and ai lin on a sled-type coaster

(trains are not attached to the track)

(and i was bouncing in the overly-spacious car trying to take photos)

watching a dolphin show in the park

at the louvre museum, site of mona lisa's potrait, paris

overview of the eiffel tower at montparnasse tower, paris

day 4 at amsterdam, netherlands

bicycles is a common mode of transport

at keukenkoff tulip garden, amsterdam

seen at the garden

dawn of day 5 at a deserted berlin HBF train station, germany

catching some rest after an overnight train from amsterdam

wanted to see this at paris but dint make it...so we saw it at berlin...

...without a torch...

ai lin with the sunrise at berlin

it's easter!

berlin's famous green walking man

at a section of the berlin wall

EuropeDays1&2

2011-05-18T18:08:00.000+08:00

alright i know i came back last wk n am late in this post but was tired and quite busy lately...anyway all photos of the europe trip is uploaded into my dotphoto album already...and onto europe itself...i wont be posting wad we did there as it will be too long a story since it spans 21 days so ill jus post some random thoughts here...

4 of us for the trip, at the airport

(from left) vina, seroyen, ai lin, lim sheng

street signs next to a traffic light in london

a quiet (and cold) night at luton airport, london

groceries shopping at paris - no carrier bags given!

at sacre cour cathedral, paris (or at least, climbing to...)

the interior of sacre cour; 1 of 2 cathedrals visited

sunset at the arc de triomphe, paris

grp photo halfway up the eiffel tower, paris

MoonShooting

2011-04-17T22:07:00.000+08:00

well caught tis pic jus a few hours ago after a sunburn at ECP during a scout's meeting...much thanks to my new bushnell discoverer spotting scope tt i bought...finally got it together after quite a lot of waiting and considering...amazingly hard to use though (in photography terms of course)(which is why the whole thing is off-centered AND blur - nothing photoshop cant solve)

anyway ill be going europe semi-backpacking for 3 wks tis wed as part of a graduation trip with ai lin, seroyen and vina...going quite a number of countries with very little budget and not quite enough time...gonna love the temperature there though...hell of a post to make when i return...

SenaiStudyTrip_Day3&4

2011-04-04T11:40:00.000+08:00

well senai days 3 & 4 nt much happened...day 3 was mainly ATV (all-terrain veh) where we went to a 'playground' for the vehicle consisting mainly of rough terrain and slopes (all grass though...)...dint brg my camera there for obvious reasons...first detail went there n seroyen fell so they gt delayed...then ai lin somehow backed the vehicle into a deep ditch and we ended up waiting almost 3h for the first detail to come back so we could go...

when we went, 2 vehicles were U/S (unservicable) so me n wei yang waited while philip n shi wei zoomed around...aft tt i requested to borrow the motorbike they brought as escort to play...so i went and zoomed around the 'playground' on the bike while wei yang waited for the ppl to fix up one veh before joining us...aft both vehs are servicable, i changed to the ATV then started drifting around corners

other than tt dint do much else for day 3...day 4 was mainly photo-taking and the journey back...dun wanna post photos here as theres nthing much...its all in dotphoto...

---

n i jus went w/ my parents for rsaf surety documents...had to initial on every page of the document but well...it secured my going to tekong instead of NDU (naval diving unit)...jus need wait till enlistment and OCS...then prob another huge document for me to initial on for my contract

SenaiStudyTrip_Day1&2

2011-03-27T19:39:00.000+08:00

went to senai as part of a study trip with NP together with 11 other classmates & 12 other year 1s...main highlight was to go there fly a cessna 152/172 general aviation aircraft...for me was mainly to reece the flying clubs there as i wan to lift my navigation restrictions for my PPL...

anyway day 1 we went there via bus, cleared customs to desaru fruit farm to take a hike...had seafood lunch then checked into the hotel for dinner...

having breakfast in johore

(frm left) shi wei, ai lin, philip

(frm left) yi huai & yi zhuang doing stunts together at desaru

a gloomy weather during the bus ride to le grandeur hotel

(previously known as sofitel)

vina and shi wei at the supermarket picking out stuff for the nxt few nights

an overcast night at the hotel

day 2 was mainly flying for the year 3s...half an hour joyride in a C172 then changed students mid-air for the other person's half hour...went up there, watched philip fly the a/c then took over n started pulling some Gs...did mostly steep turns cos we are on full fuel n cant do much...then aft tt managed to get another joyride in the back of the C172 with Ai Lin while Hazman went alone on his flight...went for dinner at a restaurant and then celebrated mr. lee's (AT course manager) birthday for him despite his attempts to hide his birth-date

a 'cessna' decal on the wingtip

ai lin snapping a photo of the scenery during the joyride

decked out in flight suits in front of a B747F

(frm left) seroyen, wei yang, wei chong, ai lin, philip, shi wei

birthday celeb for mr. lee

(front row frm left; lecturers) Teo JP, Yeoh KB, Lee YH, Tan CH, Jian JM

(back row frm left; 3rd year graduants) lim sheng, shi wei, yi huai, ai lin, wei chong, philip (back) seroyen (front), wei yang, hazman (back), vina (front), yi zhuang, edwin

-to be continued-

Updates

2011-03-04T18:21:00.000+08:00

caught tis pic today cos i was bored...seriously...y cant t-storms in s'pore be much more exciting?all i see all day is single bolts of lightning...

well found another job aft finishing my attachment at jet aviation...wanted to carry on working for e company full time but HR ony offered an intern's pay...now im in a call centre almost full-time but drawing a part-time pay cos i want flexible hours...

oso finished my flights to apply for a CoE for my flying license...basically im extending my license validity for another year or its gonna expire tmrw...intending to go m'sia lift restrictions for navigation flights once im free to do so...

n im back to working on my mini air-con again aft almost 1 yr...more working on its power supply rather...now im trying to hack a computer PSU to gimmie more volts stably...confusing circuits though...

USSAbrahamLincolnVisit

2011-02-19T16:43:00.000+08:00

first things first, attachment is over...meaning i will hav nthing to do till i enlist...looking for a job alrdy...n oso im looking to renew my flying license...gonna expire soon n i feel like converting to lift restrictions...jus started on simulator for the diamond aircraft n e fleet practically gt grounded...

oso completed my update for the VU...made another one using a bigger base and more control over the output...now i have a dimmer for LED brightness...oso changed the green leds to blue n it looks really great...

n to the aircraft carrier visit...organized by NP for 20 students frm AT and MOT to visit the nimitz-class carrier today...went there visit the flight deck, where all the aircrafts are parked, then to the bridge n then the mess deck n finally the hanger...mostly F/A 18s C/E/F there with some E2s and a few EA-6B coupled with a bunch of helis tt i cant ID...photos are uploaded into dotphoto...

view from the yacht club

at the docking berth

F/A 18s arranged in diamond formation on the flight deck

view from the bridge

front shot of a F/A 18

EA-6B

grp photo of AT students

LedVUSystem

2011-01-16T20:34:00.000+08:00

well finally finished my LED volume unit (VU) system tt ive been working on for quite some time...had probs with e connections, then was the control of volume to read...anyway...fyi a VU is something that reads the volume and expresses it graphically...in tis case its a vertical bar that lights up based on how loud e volume is...so when playing music it jumps up and dwn...managed to geddit working aft modding quite a lot of stuff inside inc changing almost half the components after my initial design failed...so now its in my rm as permanent deco...now trying another design for experimental purposes to improve the control...

anyway its been a quick 5mths since intern started...now left with ard 4+ wks before my intern ends...n another prob 5+ mths before i can get into air force...

syfc finally allowed us alumni to fly the new diamond DA-40CS aircraft...although i hav alrdy flew 2 out of 5 sorties to renew my license, ill be spending the remainder 3 sorties on the diamond...i dun like e a/c cos its a left-hand joystick n its damn light with lots of lift...but i like the constant speed prop n powerful engine...

USAFC-17Globemaster

2010-12-14T22:23:00.000+08:00

spotted tis USAF C-17 globemaster on approach to paya lebar when i had nthing to do last wk...still waiting for a shot at the f15s...

recently jus changed my photography gear by replacing my current bags with 2 slingshot series bags tt is much more ergonomic, more internal space and yet takes up lesser physical space while maintaining a good protection on my gear...been looking to buy one of these since a very long time ago...next will be the completely waterproof dryzone bags...still expensive shit though...

SYFCPiperCommemoration

2010-12-04T01:40:00.000+08:00

well syfc jus (ok nt tt recent alrdy...was busy n all...) held a commemoration flyby for the piper and CT-4E as they are retiring in replacement for the diamond aircrafts...jus a simple flyby with the CT4 doing stunts as expected...Tan SK did a knife edge break at 500ft n chiong straight for dwnwind...damn nice...me and nicholas the ony students there watching...so the photos and vids are highly exclusive...haha...

CT-4E starting up

CT-4E take off

formation flyby at 500 ft with 2 piper and CT-4 in the lead

CT-4 knife edge break

oso on the same night...spotted lighting flashing in the night sky repeatedly...had nthing better to do than to head upstairs as my camera is jus lying there after the flyby...

lightning that is blocked by clouds

NSMedical

2010-11-15T20:18:00.000+08:00

well went for NS medical tis morn...totally redundant screening cos its nt really tt through...dint do alot of tests unlike the air force medical...wasted half of my 3h there waiting, either for the stupid fire drill to wrap up or queuing up for the results or waiting for the photographer to come back frm the fire drill...all in all, PES A as expected...

currently hopping depts all over jet aviation for attachment...as my superior is away in HK last wk, i went to supply chain dept...tis wk he's on leave n im in e hanger...as hanger has quite little work to do, ill most likely be popping into supply chain several times tis wk...

im starting to -greatly- enjoy my internship...

OfficeWorkAsUsual

2010-11-03T19:50:00.000+08:00

attachment still going on as usual...admin work interjected with bits of fun stuff...gt transfered to planning dept ytd for a short while cos my dept had nthing to do...planning then transfered me to supply chain n i happily landed nicholas there some stock taking work...

every wanted to click on the 'print' button many times? jus did tt in office today...helped print at least 200pcs of paper duplex as a priority job...jus spammed print cos its many documents to be printed...stood there for 5min watching the printer eat paper and other staff trying to find their docs in the midst of my stack...

still getting used to my bike...its acceleration seriously sucks for a sports bike...its even slower than some scooters...but mid-range acceleration is okay...n i realized i sometimes ride better with a pillion (nicholas so far) than solo...

BikeAtLast!

2010-10-16T19:14:00.000+08:00

jus bought a 2nd hand bike today frm an owner in jurong...spent the morning doing the transfer n then realized i havnt got a cashcard to enter my carpark...lol...anyway its a honda CBR150 sports bike...insurance for it cost a bomb cos im still under 21...

attachment at jet aviation still going on smooth...staring at excel all day in my office n finally i got to see some paper after having to print the stuff i was working on...oso managed to work in the hanger floor last week for 3 days cos my boss went overseas...worked initially on a G550 before transferring to a challenger 605...first did visual inspections on the challenger, followed by some pannel removals, finally engine oil change...was fun climbing up n dwn the aircraft, standing on the engine pylons and working in awkward positions on the engine...danny is going overseas again so ill hav a chance to work there again...

syfc still changing its fleet of piper warriors to the diamond aircraft...most ppl are flying the diamond alrdy n the alumni has to learn the diamond external checks so we can teach new courses...went dwn today in the aft to help with the mentoring to find tt alot of us dint know what some stuff was...lol...

HKDay8

2010-09-24T20:03:00.001+08:00

RSAF interview past wed...went quite nicely...was more of a chat with the head of transport & a psychologist...passed n now awaiting for medical...

1st wk of attachment to jet aviation has ended...was posted to the camo (continous airworthiness management office) dept n is mainly updating the service bulletins (SBs) of aircrafts, checking which are relevant & which are completed...i get to sit in a spacious personal office playing music all day...dwnside is tt i dun get to do much w/ aircrafts...sian...

anyway for hk day 8...dint do much cos we needed time to travel to the airport...mainly went ard doing last min shopping n eating more local snacks...took a night flight back n tt wraps up my trip in hk...

in a hawker centre for breakfast

buying bo luo bao, a local bun with

at a bubble tea shop

at the train station towards airport...a farewell photo with wai han

HKDay7

2010-09-19T16:54:00.000+08:00

jus passed napfa last wk in maju camp...its amazing how i managed to scrape a silver for SBJ, sit & reach and 2.4km...i hate their electronic system for situps...theres a man's voice counting the reps & it made me laugh halfway through...but i still scored well for it anyway...

attachment starts tmrw morning n im really hoping i can get to work on the aircraft...heard tt its mostly desk job there...finally hav somethingy to occupy me for half a year...now wishing i can buy my bike soon so i can ride to work w/o having to wait for bus every morn...

anyway for HK day 7...went back to macau to sight-see this time for a while...

some hotel somewhere random

another hotel somewhere random

macau tower, also somewhere random...cos its all taken frm inside a bus

took a bus to somewhere near an attraction, sort of got lost in the streets of macau & went back to the venetian hotel after buying some local products somewhere...

caught a bus to near the border to zhuhai & went there...spent the whole afternoon there at zhuhai shopping before catching the ferry back to HK...nearly missed the ferry as we could not find the bus terminal for bus to the ferry term...ended up having a local who helped us flag a cab to the ferry term...

at a local produce store in macau buying peanut biscuits

at the border between macau & zhuhai

DFS after entering zhuhai

first sign of confirmation tt we are in china...

empty ferry back to HK

HKDay6

2010-09-13T08:19:00.000+08:00

well HK day 6 was spent in macau...its an hour ferry over there...mainly we wanted to go see the place n pop into some casinos here n there...took a shuttle bus to the venetian hotel frm the ferry term n went past a whole lot of nice-looking places...ended up at a really nice hotel where we explored the place n entered the casino...its open for above 18 so all of us got in...

walking into the venetian

view frm some randaom place in the venetian...below is the casino

gt stuck there for quite a while n then went over to another hotel called sands...another nice place n we walked ard e casino for a while before going back in the ferry at night...tts pretty much for macau...nthing much to explore except casinos and fancy hotels...

at the sands figuring out where else is nice to go

helipad above the ferry term...u can pay 2k HKD (~S$450) to take the heli to HK in 20min

night view frm the ferry term...sands hotel is highly visible with several hotels in backdrop

HKDay4_Day5

2010-09-06T19:52:00.000+08:00

day 4 wasnt much...mostly shopping in the day...morn went for dim sum breakfast below our hotel, then went ard walking through shops n malls...did a ton of stupid stuff all over the place before going for bbq at night...

dim sum breakfast with wai han joining (2nd frm left)

at a display in langham place, a famous shopping centre that managed to cramp a lot of stores within a very small space available

wai han having a go at catching ice-cream

wei chong doing stunts in H&M departmental store

HK style of bbq is different frm s'pore...they hav a pit with coal provided & buffet style uncooked food ard...then you get e food, a long skewer n cook e food on ur own...so all of us gathered ard e pit, e person started e fire with a damn cool blowtorch n we had a damn gd fire in seconds...

bbq at a roof of a restaurant

yong kun with his bread

attempting to save cybil's bread frm disintegrating (literally)

day 5 wasnt much oso...spent e whole day shopping near victoria harbor...walked all over the place for e whole day...went to some japanese restaurant for some sushi, ordered something tt we tot was similar to popcorn chicken...turns out to be fried chicken joints...seriously joints...had a heck of time eating those...tts all for day 5...

random

fried chicken joints served in a japanese restaurant...looks exactly like popcorn chicken until you bite...

the level layout of the shopping mall...from bottom, MTR, LG, G, UG, Lobby, 1F...care to guess which level to go for the outside world?

enjoying supper in our hotel

HKDay3

2010-09-01T20:06:00.000+08:00

right it will be 2mths before i can get my bike...s'pore went out of stock for the model save for a few shops, n they ony hav yellow color n im looking at red...so happy waiting for me...

anyway HK day 3 wasnt much...went nyong ping 360 aka giant buddha...took a cable car up frm citygate outlets shopping center near the airport...decided to get the crystal cabin to skip the queue...even then still had to wait for a bit before getting...ony diff is tt it has a transparent flooring so we can look down below us...

transparent flooring in the cabin

(random) grp photo in the cabin

reached there to another very hot day...went up to the buddha to take a look but dint go to the upper levels...stood there perspiring and having ice cream before going dwn again...camped at starbucks for quite a while, shopped ard the area and went back aft tt...

view of buddha frm the cable car

a "do not climb" sign on the rail...

went to the shopping center which comprises of all the branded store outlets...had a heck of time in esprit as everyone went on a buying frenzy cos of the price...dint do much else for the rest of the day...went back to the hotel n tried making our own cheese dip for nachos...had quite a fun time experimenting on our formula to make the cheese taste stand out...

HKDay2

2010-08-26T09:40:00.000+08:00

right...before HK...going to get my bike real soon...been looking at sports models frm yahama n honda for a long time n was decided on the yahama R15...slightly pricely though but tink im ok with tt...oso intending to add a silencer to the exhaust if the noise is terrible...oso depends on price n all...

n i found a new way to boost bass greatly by adding capacitors...now experimenting on ways to make the sound quality nicer...bass sounds awesome but overall sounds slightly weird...

HK day 2 - ocean park

went straight to ocean park aft brunch via cab...queue for the bus was way too long...arrived there with an unnatural crowd of tourist there...seems every tour agency wanted to go there tt day too...so spent most of the time squeezing past tourist ard e park...

crowd at ocean park's entrance

grp photo at some random place

cybil and wei chong doing stunts with kids toys in a shop

went for mine train n took a on-ride video...still having probs streaming e vid to my comp though...will try post once done...walked all over e place n then decided to go look for shelter cos its way too hot...went to the aquarium, took a few more rides n evac-ed from the place cos e others was complaining abt e heat...dint do much there but at least 1 gt a vid...lol...

ended up walking through shopping centres for e rest of the aft, bought a ton of groceries at night and had junk food all the way...

stingray in the aquarium

another stingray near the bottom of the aquarium

regeline and yong kun in the panda enclosure

panda sure knows how to relax

groceries frm a supermarket near our hotel

HKDay1

2010-08-19T11:10:00.000+08:00

first of all - national day...went dwn to esplanade for NDP and to shoot some photos...since the photos of the aircraft are almost same as the preview i wont be posting...so ill ony post the fireworks photos...

when it starts getting smoky

aftermath shot of the swissotel...really nice...

anyway went to hk with a few other poly friends frm 10-17th...day 1 was nthing much...took an A388 to HKIA, landed slightly late, went to royal plaza hotel an hour late, checked in n went straight to victoria peak...

queue for the tram was amazingly long and theres a counter for group tickets so we skipped at least a hundred ppl for e tram ride...went up after squeezing into the tram and proceeded straight to madame tussauds wax museum as it will be closing in an hour...did candid photos all over the place as usual (my second time there) although i was jus simply helping to take the photos...came out and went to the rooftop gallery for a night view of HK...and tt ends day 1...all photos of the whole trip are alrdy uploaded into my dotphoto acc...ill nt post too many photos here so go to my acc if you wan see all...

our A388

at the wax musuem

frm left : me, yongkun, (wax model), cybil, regeline, wei chong

night view of HK

another grp photo

NDPPreview

2010-08-01T19:49:00.000+08:00

CH-47 & 2 AH-64 with state flag

F15 flyby

F16 flyby

G550 with F5 formation

F15 on AB going into vertical climb

F15 with slight vapor trails

F15 on tight turn

F16 spraying out several thousand dollars per second

well went dwn for e preview ytd to shoot some planes...went dwn at 1800h cos i dint know the timing for the airshow and flypast n all...so ended up camping there for half an hour before the flypast started...then waited another half hour before the 3min aerial display...dint bother waiting an hour for the fireworks so i went back right aft tt...

going HK with friends right aft national day for a week...hope theres a good vid cam for me to take another epic video of a roller coaster ride in ocean park...n looking forward to buying a motorbike aft i come back frm HK...

F16Joyride

2010-07-21T19:47:00.000+08:00

alright jus uploaded e photos of the actual day into my dotphoto account...only uploaded e photos of me and e grp photos though...

went to 145SQN for the flight briefing, had some safety brief (stuff like e ejection seat, mission etc) then suited up for flight with LU CJ...put on a g-suit followed by a survival vest and life-jacket...tried on the helmet and mask for tightness again and then went out to the hanger...

pilot did external checks while we watched, took some grp photos and individual shots and then went up the plane to strap in...quite comfortable inside the plane although its hard to clip the harnesses and stuff...everythingy inside looks damn fake and plastic...nt sure why...

started up and taxyed out to the runway for takeoff...did a 20s afterburner t/o which was damn shiok...once the AB kicked in, the whole plane jerked forward and accelerated damn fast...did a formation departure with 2 other planes towards south china sea where the training area is...climb performance of the plane was damn good also...was at 8'000ft within a very short while...

established in the training area, went to 13'000ft to break mach 1 (dint feel much though except the a/c decelerated very fast after breaking the sound barrier)...did some 3 g-turns for warmup then started the mission...

1st part was our plane to intercept an un-ID plane (lu) and then to kill if hostile...my pilot MAJ "BJ" spotted the plane at 5nm visually...i only saw e plane at 1nm away...did a flyby and then went in to shoot...shot a missile then GUNS GUNS GUNS...during all these did quite a few 5G turns here n there which was quite ok...g-suit was rather painful when it inflated at 5G on the stomach...practically squeezed my stomach in half...

2nd part was lu's plane to intercept a confirmed hostile a/c (us) and kill...this time spotted their plane slightly earlier than before although BJ spotted it damn early...they came in behind us while we ran...another set of 5G turns during this phase...tried lifting my hand and couldnt stop my hand frm shaking up n dwn violently...was oso damn hard to look behind as the canopy and harness are blocking...

aft tt did a bit of formation flying and had a good look at the plane in the air frm all angles...waited for a rejoin with 4 other a/c and then did a formation rejoin and landing back at changi after circling quite a few rounds with the other a/c...at one time had 6 a/c circling nicely behind us

when landing, overflew teklong at 300ft and landing with a B777 beside us...lucky ppl in the B777 who had a nice view of an F-16 landing right next to them...taxyed back to the shed, shutdwn and tts all!

wished i could have a chance to control the a/c though and wished we could have went above 6Gs...went for a joyride and only experienced less than 2/3 of what the F-16 could do...sad...

suiting up

testing of helmet and mask...pilot who flew with me on the right (MAJ "BJ")

me with plane in background

me and lu (3rd frm left) with the 2 pilots

grp photo with the YFC guys

F16Joyride(EquipFitting)

2010-07-06T22:20:00.004+08:00

well its been quite a while since my last post...flew a $18k joyride today...anyway just some updates first...

continuing frm my aircon, been building a number of amps for both home and portable use...currently completed a home amp system with bass boost, several portable led blinkers that blink according to music, and now working on a more powerful portable amp with bass boost...lazy to take photos of em...

for my Class 2B license been waiting for 1-half mths alrdy for TP...its on 220710 n i intend to pass on first attempt provided they dun moderate me to fail...otherwise im slacking ard waiting...

now on to my f-16 joyride...been randomly selected for the joyride and was ony informed of it several wks back, together with Lu CJ, hakim (Lim NH) and joshua (Lim JS)...was too lazy to post tt...went for flight suit, g-suit n helmet fitting a few wks back...was damn fun...flight suit looks damn nice, gloves had a really nice feel n e boots was super comfortable...

g-suit n helmet fitting was ok...e mask is damn tight on the nose and mouth...wore it for a few mins n had a triangular mark on my face...then went for testing of the g-suit n mask...did a check on e seal by force-feeding air to us...at a push of a button we get pumped with so much pressure its hard to breathe out...did tt twice to check e seal...joshua had to go 4 times...aft tt he was gone-case...cant even rmbr his own name for a good 5 seconds...

g-suit testing was oso fun...plugged it in n they test pump air in...was damn comfortable with a bulge on the stomach...joshua pull stunt again...they pump air in, forgot to stop the pumping cos e technician was talking to him abt other things...ended up with a damn big bulge on his stomach and effectively looked like he jus doubled in size...

well in my nxt post ill post wad happened today with the pics once i get em...

MiniAirCon

2010-05-24T20:25:00.000+08:00

peltier module soldered with cabling half way done

my mini air-con - built frm 2 computer fansinks with peltier module in between

close up of the middle peltier (i know its blur n i lazy retake another shot...)

alright i know im quite late in postin this, but basically been modding alot of stuff lately...mostly was working on my air con project tt started off quite some time ago...

started off with lots of ideas a few years back, ony last yr (i tink) when i actually started on anythingy...went off with a fan initially built frm computer chasis fans powered by the computer supply...then upgraded with an on/off switch before changing to the control box i hav today (refer the my led lighting post)...

basically built the air-con frm 2 cooler master fansinks with a low-power peltier module in between...peltier is basically a heat pump when applied with a voltage, moving heat frm 1 side to the other...

anyway couldnt find a high powered one anywhere except online n i too lazy to change now...mebe will do so sometime later...e peltier could provide a temp diff of 30deg when attached to a small heatsink but here it ony gave a 10deg diff...now (literally) changing it to have 2 modules in between hoping to get a higher temp diff...

oso had a lot of current flow probs with this thingy...its rated 3A but its ony drawing 2.2A usually...was tinking of buying a variable power supply to force 3A across...oso had to split the cabling for the fans frm the peltier as it gave a lower current flow when connected together (dunno y)...

so air-con more or less done but lots of upgrades needed...now oso building a personal 1-channel mixer for my computer including amplifier, bass booster and tone controls...oso looking at some led lighting to go along with it

SYFCGraduation

2010-04-27T23:40:00.001+08:00

syfc grad ceremony on sat 240410...pretty much okay aft e hell we went through e previous wk regarding e grad vid...some photos...

students of siva (my instructor)(far right)

some graduands photos...colin in centre has nt grad yet...

NP students grp photo...now ony left colin (centre)

how the syfc grad vid came abt :

160410 fri - gt a msg saying tt all alumni are supposed to go dwn on sat to help film the graduation video...

170410 sat - went dwn early to help in the filming...dint do much actually as they still hav nt really asked for external help...they had to shoot everythingy frm scratch cos e previous was rejected totally...in the end decided to offer help in editing aft seeing everybuggy run ard looking like stressed kids...

180410 sun - ran dwn to raffles twn club aft scout meeting to continue editing e vid...stayed there till 1am plus...

190410 mon - went dwn aft sch to suntec tis time to continue more editing...oso stayed there till quite late...ended up being chased out of starbucks n scouring the vicinity for a power point to continue editing...left at 2am tis time...

210410 wed - vid was shown on tue...rejected many several parts again cos of dunno wad reason...everyone looks more stressed than ever nearly to a comical level...tis time they had 1 day to shoot, edit and submit the vid...so went dwn right aft sch to e club to help in e shooting of more vids...then aft tt edit e vid there on e spot...ended up being chased out by e guard jus aft we finished exporting...

220410 thurs - vid had somemore probs even before showing it...had to rush dwn aft sch (again) to do more editing...then it was shown right aft tt...was approved in some non-convincing manner...

230410 fri -vid was shown for a confirmation...guessed there would be probs but nthing so big such as a major change...right before the rehearsal...so suck thumb n rush dwn again right aft class to do shooting and the changes within half n hour...then had the rehearsal n finally GM has no more comments regarding the vid...nt tt he could say anythingy since its the day before...

240410 sat - vid was finally played after exporting 11 different changes and 3 storyboard overhauls...

SUMMARY :

edition 1 : 1 day to shoot, 2 days to edit

edition 2 : 1 day to shoot, same day to edit

edition 3 : 1h to shoot, 30min to edit

my thoughts on this?

-NO COMMENTS-

PayaLebarPlaneShooting

2010-04-13T22:53:00.000+08:00

well went over to paya lebar again tis aft cos had nthing better to do at home...camp there for a few hours till it almost rained before going back...mainly was VH-PFK doing circuits...tt plane used to fly in seletar...oso had a chinook n apache flying ard occasionally...when i left some commercial jet started doing circuits...wasnt interested in commercial so left right away...

VH-PFK turning for final

CH-47 doing circuits

sch starting nxt wk n im still waiting for my RTT so i can get a PDL...aft tt jus abit more to geting my license...

RidingLessons

2010-03-30T21:56:00.002+08:00

well its been a few wks since i enrolled into CDC for the class 2B license...went for 4 theory lessons tt was common sense, went for e-trial test n passed all papers without even studying...now waiting for internal evaluation before taking riding theory test (RTT) for PDL issue...

currently doing 3 of 8 lesson on riding...had to attend e first 2 twice before passing...3rd prac nearly bagged it...traffic was damn bad n had to move on to other stuff...which ended up me failing...

i dun like the way they run the school there...they teach u how to maneuver n expect u to learn it on the spot...nt much time to practice coupled with bad traffic conditions causes one to fail the lesson on the first try...they could hav issued a bk on wad they will be teaching n how to execute the maneuvers...seems to me more like they attempting to fail ppl on purpose...

o well...anyway meeting some ppl frm Garena tml for com club...somethingy called Carboxy War in RP aft tt which needs LD welcoming...then goin reece ubin on thurs...n getting pissed off at how inept i am when it comes to transporting paperwork...been racking my brains for e past few days how to brg a couple sheets of paper to ubin for me to write on w/o damaging them, yet having gd accessibility a/r...

FHTPassed!

2010-03-13T20:23:00.003+08:00

passed fht on sat 060310 after spending ard 1.5yrs in syfc...its been a long time...alrdy i miss flying the CT4E...its a great plane to fly...cant wait to fly a PC-21 in the air force...

anyway now im taking a class 2B license (motorbike) before taking a class 3 license...went for my orientation alrdy a few days ago to learn the basics of e bike n all...theory lessons comin up n then prac...hope i can complete it fast so i have more time to upgrade it to a class 2A license

FHTComingUp

2010-02-26T23:00:00.003+08:00

alright jus a random quick post...fht (final handling test) for syfc coming up, studying aircraft systems like crazy for next wk, jus finished poly exams, going stone for quite some time during hols, starting active leader role in scouting n almost finish handing over presidency of computer club

yup tt wraps up quite well...

Airshow2010

2010-02-10T20:50:00.001+08:00

singapore airshow 2010 is finally here...and yes i am more than 3 days late in posting the photos cos i am damn busy these few days (weeks actually)...went for the trade day on fri with the poly ppl n collected a bunch of souvenirs there...went again on sat n collected a bit more souvenirs n watched a ton of ppl...aerial display wasnt much...fri dint get to see the T50 cos it was banned frm flying for 1 day cos it flew less than 100ft on thurs...oso dint get to see the F-111 cos thurs gt a engine prob n it called mayday...sat went see again...T50 flew this time but nthing much to see...F-111 dint fly again so theres basically nthing much to see there...even the static display oso nt much...saw a -model- of the F-35 (y nt real thingy), went in a few private jets (damn nice inside) n talked a little to the F-111 pilot...nthing much of interest alrdy...photos are alrdy uploaded to my dotphoto (gt alot)...

anyway here are the photos of the aerial display...

B-52 flyby

F-16...tink the smoke is jus to allow audience to see where is the plane...

F-16 doing a tight turn

finishing the turn

AH-64 turning

formation flight of F-16 and AH-64

another shot of the F-16

'bow' by the apache

F-16 sprial vertical climb

A-10 doing tight turn

A-10 doing aileron roll

A-10 turning

M346 in aileron roll...noisy plane

another shot of the M346

T50 doing aileron roll

T50 in a vertical loop

back in poly on fri for AT fun day...bbq at kismis field...went there n helped in the fire starting as usual (a bit ony...gt a lecturer there who knows how n i dint bother doin much partially cos too tired)...participated in tug-o-war which ended up as inter-level instead of inter-class...ate a ton of stuff...spent most of my time taking photos...anyway photos of the fun day are alrdy uploaded to my dotphoto (thanks to reminder frm colin)

AreaSolo!

2010-02-03T20:10:00.000+08:00

whew finally flew first area solo today after being delayed for so long...was real great...went to area in the morning with almost no clouds, went up to 4'500ft to setup a bit of stalls n steep turns...did a ton of turns all over the place n a few stalls before recovering...flew damn near another plane oso...saw e plane coming towards me at 5'000ft while i was holding above seletar at 4'500ft...was trying to do slow speed flying while he zoomed by above me...damn nice...

yea before tt was flying alot of sorties n skipping a lot of sch for it...want to finish my flights fast n clear my ppl before hols if possible...otherwise im celebrating 1.5years of being in syfc somehow...

LEDLightingSystem

2010-01-12T23:39:00.003+08:00

well heres e pics for my led lighting system as mentioned in my previous post...complete with a control box for a choice of RGB and CMY colors to my preference...oso has a switch tt controls a fan in front of me for personal cooling...

control box...left most is master, followed by RGB, bottom is fan...box size is about 10cmx7cm

setup of led tubes on the ceiling...i dun use e fluorescent one anymore...

red

green

blue

cyan

magenta

yellow

white

this is the white light produced by the fluorescent light...its ony a bit brighter than my led tubes n running at more than 10x the cost with less than 50% efficiency...

BackFromHK

2010-01-03T20:22:00.000+08:00

went hk frm 23-28th for scout exchange trip...ill post in my dotphoto acc...n i jus finished my led lighting system in my room...will post pics nxt time...

231209

landed in hk after a transition flight to bangkok (!?)...had to wait in the plane for over an hour for then to change staff shift and also clean e plane up...saw a 100km/h tailwind on the way there (!!!)...went to their campsite and went for supper...

at the airport

took a shuttle bus into shenzhen, china (we were next to the border)...spent 15min stuck at the customs cos they nvr seen a s'pore passport...entire passport gt checked n UV-ed...went to some restaurant for supper then back to hk...spent 10min there tis time cos e superior told em passport is real...wth...

their campsite main building...actual campsite is behind the building

241209

went to a train museum in the morn cos gt no place tt opens so early...then went over to their scout HQ (BP International Hotel) to visit...quite the same when i visited 2yrs earlier...even their lobby christmas deco is the same...n i saw this in their scout shop...

lol

scout shop display

went back to their campsite aft lunch...they had a jamboree where all units frm their district (8 of em totaling a few hundred) gathered for activities...theirs is a monopoly game theme where they all had game cards n were supposed to walk ard to 30+ stations to play games...they actually built a full-scale playground...

at their campsite

setting up a kids playground

prep-ing the flying fox structure

nice tent...

lots of christmas decos in camp...

did almost nthing there cos its quite late alrdy...joined in their opening ceremony at night...did nthing else e whole day...

air scout unit

251209

morn went to a station for cycling trip outside...took a shuttle bus to some place nearby n went for short ride...spent e whole time helping the organizers...they ony had 2 ppl taking care of 30+ n most of em dunno how to ride...

came back for lunch then walked ard with 5 girls who are brging us ard...did a whole bunch of stations (mostly do nthing much)...went out with the leaders for dinner in some pecking duck restaurant then came back to e camp...

one of e stations...jus design ur own badge to keep...tts all...

another station to play with circus stuff...

yet another station...break the most number of artificial plates...tts brendan playing n e 5 girls watching...

rico lai (GSL and our contact), his daughter, brendan, me

outside the restaurant waiting for our turn...whole bunch of ppl waiting oso...

261209

continued our activites for almost e whole day...went on their 'playground'...n oso tis time went to a horse ranch to ride a horse as part of the activities...

me, 4 of the girls, station IC

at the horse ranch

saw this 2 dogs there n shot these for fun...

something wrong with the eyes or wad?e dog looks damn nice but e area surrounding e eyes is very dark...

they had a campfire at night...mostly was entertainment show...stuff like magic performance n dance performance...aft tt was a whole chunk of action songs...quite different frm s'pore campfires...presented a token of appreciation to their GSL aft e campfire for hosting us n took a whole bunch of photos with everyone...even had individual photos...shoot till i cant see cos of e flash...

brendan, rico, me; token of appreciation

grp photo of their unit

aft tt leaders had a 'meeting' (they called it) in the building...basically we went there n it turned into a casino-like place within minutes...went ard playing games for a while then had a buffet supper...talked a bit with some leaders frm macau then went back...

271209

woke up n helped take dwn their campsite before taking a whole bunch of photos again...

grp photo

grp photo of all who are attending to us during our trip...

then aft tt they continue to pack up while we left to tour ard a bit...went to ladies street (something like a really big night market in s'pore) n then took train to victoria harbor...took a ferry over to hk island for dinner...

was really foggy there...building was covered partially by clouds...

starcruise in background was there same spot 2 years ago when i came here...

checked in to some remote (but nice) hotel for the night...finally had some time to ourselves...wanted to go ard shopping a bit but theres nthing much there...e hotel is a few days old n a shopping mall is nxt door with most shops closed...but e hotel concept is damn nice...

281209

wake up, went to airport, fly back...simple...

our plane in foreground, another being towed behind, one taxying behind, one taking off in background (upper right)...n here i am standing in front of e radome being fried...

Updates

2009-12-20T23:28:00.000+08:00

lol was tinking to post this almost 2 wks back but forgotten abt it...

051209 - ME (mechanical engineering) christmas party

helped out in PA side for e event...also did some deco before tt...was having a big prob w/ e christmas lightings cos alot of em was soldered badly and the connections kept coming out...was repairing one halfway n gt (would you call it electrocuted?!) sort of shocked or something...no idea how to classify tt...but i was holding a chip in my hand n wanted to transfer it to my other hand when i suddenly felt current running up my arm...cant move it for mebe 2s then managed to let go...-really- numb after tt...n it was connected to mains so i dint know how e hell i managed to survive tt...2 thingys i learnt aft tt...

1. christmas lighting are -not- fun

2. electricity can cut - really deep

yea till now my hand still has the burn marks of the current (had ard 8 large ones n alot other smaller ones, but now ony left 1 very visible mark on thumb)

051209-071209 had a annual camp w/ scouts...nthing much happened there...unless you count the usual stunts pulled by tai keong...

anyway some updates...

took my last 2 syfc papers on 111209...had to skip AM practical for tt n now gt a warning letter by e division...lol...gonna find some letter to throw to em...dint even realize tt it was my exam e nxt day on thursday night...was helping philip's friend fix her hard disc case...usb port on the chip came out so i took home to solder...finished soldering the stupidly small chip n was abt to test the thingy when the chip gt stuck on the cover...so i pulled it out to try again n the pin inside the port came out...stun there for a few seconds...

-i have never expected a pin to come out from a usb port-

oh ya n i passed e papers with great effect

decided to skip low level circuits first to do instrument flying (IF) for syfc last wk...cos circuits too full...hard to get planned for sortie...IF is damn easy...gt my first score 6 for IF...

went kayaking today morning w/ scouts...quite ok...wanted to kayak the whole day but end up ony gt 2 of us staying...sian...

n im going hk quite soon frm 231209-281209...going for some scout exchange prog thingy with another group...spent most of tonight doing up the gift for them...

i realized i spent quite a lot of time (and money) on modding electronics these days...jus finished up a 2W amplifier with a nice case n all...now hav quite a few amps sitting in my drawer plus a bass booster...oso created my own audio male/female converters...going to wrap up my room lighting quite soon with additional led tubes of different colors...now tinking of making my own control box to switch on/off almost everything in my room...lol...

'mallowsKilledMe(IThink)

2009-12-03T22:59:00.005+08:00

random quote : "last night i dreamt tt i ate a 10-pound marshmallow, and when i woke up the pillow was gone"...

well had a hell of a week...since last thurs...

ended sch, went to bbq w/ yep ppl at the loft in poly...ended up staying overnight w/ em cos i had nthing better to do...ate a whole chunk of 'mallows...

spent fri slping...wanted to wake at noon to go for sitex but was too lazy to get out of bed...ended up slping almost the whole day...

sat was nt much better...went for bbq since afternoon till late night w/ scouts this time...ate another chunk of 'mallows...

sun had ld training...packet of 'mallows leftover frm ytd...ate tt oso...

woke up on mon to find my voice gone...lol...tue oso quite bad...went for flight n couldnt talk properly to tower...oso developed a flu-cold-runny nose combined...blocked on one side n runny on the other...wasted half a box of tissues at home within 4h...

wed was slightly better...nose still runny but nt tt bad...voice oso getting slightly better...

today was relatively okay...unless you count waiting 15min for blogger to load so i can type this random thingy...n another 5min tryin to load the below random...

ELearningWeek

2009-11-21T07:59:00.000+08:00

well sch had an elearning wk last wk...which was both stupid n fun...

mon - airworthiness legislation (AL) nearly killed me...forced me to open e bk for mebe e first time...had to refer to online notes n e bk at the same time...

tue - flew PFL...finally managed to fly it well mainly because no one taught me how to actually fly e PFL...ony learnt e ct4 pattern...flew w/ LU CJ for solo...lucky i managed to stay behind him all the way cos he is some sort of aviation hazzard...known to do funny stunts like cut in front of you on final...

wed - more AL elearning...oso another killer...had to open my bk for e second time...sian...strength of materials (SOM)...logged in to a virtual classroom chat thingy n saw tt quite a number posted "hi (name) was here bye~"...so i followed suit with "hi [insert name here] was here bye~"...

thurs - supposed to fly steep turns...seletar ground was...well...

me - "seletar ground, skylark 82"

sel grnd - "station calling, hold position"

(after a transmission by another plane)

"skylark calling say again callsign"

"skylark 82"

(some time later where nothing happened...)

"skylark at the yankee, say again callsign"

"skylark AIT-TOO"

(some time again later where ony 1 piper did a touch n go)

"skylark at the yankee, say again callsign"

"...skylark 82..."

"confirm skylark 92?"

well i was quite pissed cos they asked me repeat my callsign several times but they said its cos i was speaking quite softly...but my comms system cant possible affect my transmission wad...

(after i finally started taxying out of syfc)

"skylark 82, we got a met warning coming in, do you want to hear it?"

stun...who dosent wanna hear a met warning?!wth...so ended up doing 1 circuit for landing...total of 0.2h n wasted more than half my time waiting for seletar grnd...wth...

aft tt went back to sch via bus for practical lessons...gt stuck shortly after farrer flyover on bkt timah rd cos of jam...shortly thereafter e jam cleared n vehicles were stuck cos of flash flood...so it took me one entire hour to clear from e flyover to hua chong instituition, which normally takes 1-2mins...but it was nice...monsoon canal overflowed n a stretch of rd was covered in water up to knee height...reached sch 1.5h late but lecturer dint even say anythingy...

finally fri...went sch for prac...tis time at least i dint hav to listen to lecturer drone on abt how to draw a graph...had a 5min crash-course in component design (COD) cos i dint do it ytd...later goin syfc for flight again...

OfficiallyBackToPiper

2009-11-01T22:08:00.002+08:00

yep finally its official tt im back to the piper...after cancelling sorties a few times cos of weather...flew PFL today but mostly did glide...dint even complete 1 PFL...had 1 halfway n cancelled cos i screwed it up...then cant do again cos of departures...we had to land twice consecutively to make way for departures...so ended up flying glide solo...still quite ok nonetheless...

com club dint hav much done during the hols...still at square one since the hols...no progress on any events n all...sian...

been spending the entire hols clearing my syfc ground papers...do until sian alrdy...now start to cool off...taking my last 2 papers before the term break...dun wanna mix w/ sch work....btw i passed RT oral at last...was more like a normal conversation towards the last part...

now tt term's started its back to a routine 8-9hr lessons again...sian...lessons all very spread out this term...lots of breaks in between...the other path for my course has a much cleaner timetable...sian...

BackToPiper...

2009-10-18T21:39:00.000+08:00

well jus some updates...back to piper in syfc cos ct4 instructors going for course, plane license expiring in dec n instructors need renew license oso...i.e. unless we can clear our FHT by dec, no point flying ct4 anymore...wasted e whole hols cancelling ct4 flights cos of weather...sian...cant even get a last flight with it...

n ill be taking my 3rd RT oral exam tis thurs...if i fail again ill be off syfc alrdy...gotta pass...sian...2nd time supposed to pass...then all kinds of funny thingys came out n i stun till i fail...

hols will be over in ard 3h...seems like always tt i wasted my first half of e hols...ony till e last few days then i realized tt i dint get to do alot...

recently made a small mod on blue led lightings for computer chasis to extend it out to my room as external lighting ...operates under 3W...oso mod e switch as e old one cmi...mebe a pic sometime if i rmbr...so now do i realize tt e white fluorescent lighting is actually alot more reddish then we tink...when i switch both on i get really white lighting...

i wanna do more mods...

SYFCNavTrip

2009-10-09T20:44:00.000+08:00

been quite some time...lazy to post...anyway...some updates...dotphoto account has expired...moved it to a new account [articsnipershot_2]

for com club jus finished e photoshop workshop...turnout was rather low though...dosent matter anyway...

as for syfc...been studying almost e entire hols for the ground sch papers...intend to chiong to finish our grounds and then concentrate on a/c systems...its gonna take a while for the ct4...

anyway went for a nav trip with syfc, 3 planes n 4 instructors on e 1st n 2nd...was planned to go to subang and melecca and then back to seletar within the day but gt some interesting turn...

overhead johore (senai)

low level clouds all the way...this was at 1'500ft

took off in the morning to head for KL first...flew via johore, melecca and then up the coast to subang...landed there in ard 2.5h ard noon...first thingy when we arrived...

"9-OD, vacate (runway) via Foxtrot, taxy to parking bay 40 via November"

so we turned off at F, ended up looking at some crossroads and dunno where the heck was N...so we went on for a while longer...saw bays 36 and 38 written on the ground...no 40 anywhere on the airfield layout nor signs on the ground...went to 36/38 and then saw a concrete pavement tt looks like a parking bay...so we went there...then some guy came n started marshallings us so we followed him...ended up parking in the middle of the concreted area n walking off...bit stupid...no lines on ground to follow...

they helped us to settle the refueling while we went for lunch in the airport...came back ard 1330h to take off for melecca...then we realized tt they refueled 8 liters instead of 8 gallons...so we had to wait like crazy for the truck to come to refuel some more...

landing in subang

the airfield was closed shortly thereafter for an aerobatics practice...so we gathered outside to watch 2 F16s zoom around releasing smoke all over for 15 mins...lucky i brought my camera n gear along...halfway into the practice we realized tt they were e thunderbirds, USAF aeros team...but they dint do much...some flybys, a touch and go, head-on passes, finally one direct overhead low level and then they landed...

USAF Thunderbirds F16

head-on pass

coming in for the overhead pass...

failed to get a nice shot of the actual overhead...ony gt half the plane...

landing

aft waiting for ard 2h, fuel came in and we practically fled the airfield as we are going to be late...seletar airfield closes at 1830h and we left subang at 1630h, meaning we need to rush alot to make it back...nt tt we as students care...if we fail to make it back, we get a chance to stay at m'sia overnight on syfc expenses...

went to melecca as per normal but dint do much there...i was in the lead plane n was 10min ahead so we landed first...landed on the r/w n tower told us to vaccate via the furthest taxyway...so we had to zoom dwn e r/w at 60kts (we lift off at 55kts...) to make way for an a/c behind us...went to some cramped parking bay...it was so small we cant fit 2 pipers in properly without chopping off a wing...e other 2 landed n they were directed to another parking bay...when we looked over there was 4 other pipers waiting to cross r/w to park...totaling 6 pipers in another equally cramped bay...some airfield this is...

melecca airfield...its a tiny runway...

the cramped parking bay...(our a/c was behind this line)...

its probably 6-7 steps from one line to e other ony...

2 other guys waiting for us to take off

(the other 4 pipers has vacated alrdy...image 6 pipers in this area...)

once e other 2 landed, we requested to take off back to seletar without shutting down...went up n took a shortcut to johore...arrived at johore at 1815h with e other 2 planes behind by 10min again...n thingys gt interesting above johore...we attempted to contact syfc to tell seletar to stay back a bit to wait for us...no response...tried talking to johore approach...they called paya lebar approach...PLA said they cant accept us into singapore...e other a/c tried talking to seletar tower to no response...PLA oso said we cant land in paya lebar...

finally we had to turn round back to senai airfield to land there for the night...e other 2 a/c were above it at tt time so they landed first...we came dwn and there was another crappy taxy instruction...

"9-OD taxy to park at cargo area"...it was a big piece of land with lots of a/c n no lines to indicate parking bays...so we asked specifically where...

"uh...taxy to park next to the light color a/c...i tink its a piper..."...2 empty spaces on both sides of 2 pipers...both are lightly colored...so we asked again...

finally at this point some chopper moved off n we were told to park in its position in a corner...then ground told us to shift one of our guys plane next to us...problem was theres nt much space...n e other 2 planes had alrdy shut dwn...so we had to park ard 45deg to accomodate another plane in...e other plane had to be started up and then taxyed next to us n parked nicely....

hazy landing conditions in senai

about to flare

our other 2 planes shutting down

n since there was no one to receive us we had to walk ard e parking bays looking for an entrance to the terminal...then aft some discussion with e airport police they voided our exits from subang n we went to sofitel resort to stay after dinner...5-star place, very nice, been there before last year with NP...really great there...whole bunch of us had some drinks there...too bad no cards to play...

nxt morn we fled the resort and went back to the terminal...again had to walk all over the parking bay back to our a/c to take off...the rest, as they say, is histoy...

LoftStayover

2009-09-17T11:58:00.002+08:00

jus came back frm a stayover in the loft in NP...somethingy like a 5-star hotel place...spent 2 days there playing all sorts of lan games...quite fun but turnout a bit low...

supposed to fly 2 sorties on tue n wed...both gt cancelled due poor visibility...haze was damn thick...sian...now we intend to chiong our sorties before end october as the instructors are going for course aft tt for 1mth...meaning we cant fly for 1 mth...

n theres a bit of prob w/ my dotphoto acc...they said its expiring soon...so im tinking of creating another account to upload my photos...

anyway....had a few events goin on past few wks...had a 2D1N cycling with scouts...then had a photography competition in ubin n finally hougang rangers gangshow...ended shooting lighting effects for the gangshow instead...nthing else to shoot...some photos...

at the war memorial park for the cycling expedition...

had a bbq at night...used a table tt ended up liddat...

photography competition photos :

theme is Nature at it's Best!

Calm, strong winds

Mixed Emotions

Peace Disrupted

On the Edge, Together

Silent, Yet Movement

Solitary (won consolidation prize)

hougang rangers gangshow...was shooting lighting effects instead...their theme was disco pop

YEPDay14

2009-09-08T19:15:00.001+08:00

syfc :
first PFL (precautionary forced landin) today...basically same as glide circuit cept tt u glide for 2500 ft...gt lots to say n lots to do...but still quite ok...will get used to it in a while...takin airlaw paper tis fri...shld be able to pass...

com club :
gt a rm bked out for e photoshop competition on 021009 n 051009...loft bking still goin underway...shld be able to do it...

scouts :
kayaking gt to be postponed...gt first class hike tis wk so cant proceed as e scouts need to plan...hougang gangshow tis sat oso...aft tt will be exam break for scouts...oso exam break for ventures as most are in jc...

n my dotphoto account is expiring soon...currently doing a hard transfer of most of my photos to another account somewhere...most likely will be photobucket...

yep :
140409
really nthing much today...walked to a shopping mall for breakfast...went back to e motel to prepare for check out...had to book a room in order to store our bags inside as our flight is due only in the evening...basically did almost nthing till afternoon where we proceeded to e airport...did nthing again till our flight back to singapore...first thingy back here...its damn hot...

yea tts all for yep...sorta length posts these few (mths?)...

shot tis in e shoppin mall we had breakfast...

along some street somewhere...

in e airport...

YEPDay13

2009-08-30T18:12:00.002+08:00

syfc :
yea been gliding e ct4 circuits twice now...happily messed up my normal and flapless circuits as a result...stupid of me to do tt...anyway now we may get kicked back piper almost anytime if somethingy goes wrong...gonna hav to handle e ct4 carefully now...

com club :
loft booking has be approved but now dunno wad other paperwork needs to be done...gt quite a few hols events planned out...stuff like photoshop workshop n all...gt lots of details to iron out though...

scouts :
kayaking expedition coming up nxt...gonna hav to check out some details...lucky its my hols now...gt all e time i want to check...

yep :
130409
had breakfast in some shop selling small bites...went aft tt to some shopping area to walk...did nthing cept walk e entire day n trying to find out what birthday present to buy for wai han...came back to e motel with a few others after dinner to setup e surprise party...decided to flood e entire floor w/ balloons...our surprise went really well as wai han dint even realize tt we are up to somethingy...basically tts all for our day...

sign outside the shop we had breakfast in...

glass floor in one of e shops...

cybil burried under a whole pile of jackets...

blowing balloons...

found in the motel rm...

birthday cake

grp photo...somehow managed to squeeze ard 30 ppl into 2 beds...

YEPDay12

2009-08-18T19:40:00.001+08:00

had a bit of prob posting...had to do half this post in HTML...

syfc :

yea ct4e is back up...test flights completed, and soon it will be okay for solo flights, meaning ill get to continue flying during the hols...gonna hav to chiong cos im laggin alot alrdy...

com club :

new stuff has arrived last wk...one eee pc and a xg station...still nt sure how e xg station works but will play w/ it if i get to...loft bking submitted but gt lots of complications...

scouts :

cycling expedition on e previous sat was quite fun...went frm ecp to war memorial park, bedok and finally changi...brought my cam along but ony could take photos when we stopped for the lights or rest...they are alrdy uploaded into my dotphoto acc...

yep :

140309

shuttle bus took the entire night...arrived in e motel at 0400h n found tt check-in timing was at 0800h...had to pay extra charges to check in early...dint like e attitude of e staff there...n e place really sucks...lots of probs w/ e rooms n lots of stuff dint work...

cant really rmbr wad we did aft tt but went for lunch after having OTOT...went to some place in town via bus for a quick bite then took a boat to a tourist island for a walk...

basically had OTOT until i dunno when...walked n walked n walked ard half e island...saw mainly buildings inside...theres stuff like an aviary and observation 'stone' but all had an entrance fee...n its really expensive so we dint go ard much...pure tourist trap island where those paying nthing can only walk...

found ourselves on e beach extremely far frm our original jetty at 1700h and we had only an hour or so to board the last ferry...ended up finding an alternate jetty near us and went back mainland...walked to first a night market then to a shopping district...had dinner by buying a bit of everythingy we could find to try their food...

finally ended up back on the main street and decided to go back after an entire day of walking...

our motel...sucks...

assigning the rooms...

just outside the motel...blue overhead line is e BRT (similar to our mrt, but busses runs on it)

walking to lunch...

lunch in some coffee-shop-like place...

crossing the sea to e island...

at the island...

map of island...its huge...

houses in the island...nt sure if anybuggy actually lives here though...

go dwn?sewers?

bishan rd yeah...

a new business for barbed wires...

still walking...

sunsetting...

wound up on a beach...quite a distance frm where we started...

on a boat of e island...

they put it this way cos e female toilet was on the left...said ppl kept walking into the wrong one...they dint seem happy abt us staring and laughing at it...actually told us off for laughing...

in a night market...

we dint dine there...jus saw e shop n talked to e owner for a bit...

in a shopping district (more a shopping road than district)

on e way home...wanted to take e BRT but e last bus jus left...gotta walk all e way...

YEPDay11

2009-08-01T13:11:00.004+08:00

syfc :

ct4e is up soon...flew as a guinea pig almost 2 wks back to test drive the new engine...2h of straight and level...ended up dodging clouds in the air on a fixed power setting...so when descending managed to pick up lots of speed...when coming back dwn to land went to almost 170kts on downwind...fun...

com club :

jus returned our batch of stuff to ASUS...gonna get a new batch soon...nt sure wad yet though...n we are tryin to get a place in the loft duing the hols...stayin in a 5-star hdb for free...

scouts :

meetings back on...planing some activites for the scouts...cycling mini-expedition coming up soon...supposed to reece tonight but may not be able to make it...kayaking nxt mth...looking forward to it...

yep :

130309

nthing much today...morn had to paint a wall as memorial for e school...whitewashing was done yesterday so could start doing outline...helped out in the outline...slacked while waiting for people to buy e paint over...then started doing colors...oso did a few random stuff like chasing roosters n all...

aft tt had some free time...me n philip went to play with e fireworks we bought yesterday...started on a stick thingy by cutting it up n experimenting wad the components were....oso lit up a few stuff to try...

aft tt we finally wrapped up w/ e wall...had a grp photo n then a friendly basketball match w/ e china students...aft tt was dinner celebration as we are leaving aft tt...e sch put up some performances n stuff...our side oso had an item frm each grp...

aft tt was fireworks celebration...me n philip n a few others went out early to setup...quite nice to look at fireworks tt is only 3 stories high and directly above you...cos i was holding a stick thingy for the effects...had all the gunpowder raining dwn on me n philip...oso tested a 'bomb' engineered by me n philip...put it in a too big container so cant see much effect...should have done in a small bottle...cos we were afraid e bottle will fragment n become a mine...

aft tt we packed our stuff n took a shuttle bus for xiamen town...

starting on the design outline...

random...

painting...

...and painting...

...opps...

completed design + designer...

playing with the stick thingy...inisde is the gunpowder n other stuff...

our little experiment with a bit of the brown powder...blackie was oso quite fun...sparkled alot an flew all over the place (really flying), burning a small patch in philip's jacket...

grp photo...

grp photo of my class...

setup for the stage...

buffet dinner...

...and now the fun part...me with the stick thingy tt we cut up...another jus launched by philip...

philip with another stick...

firecrackers (on the wall)...pictured is also a stick thingy...on the floor on the right is 3 cans of fireworks...

our little 'experiment' in a big bottle...

...boom...wasnt as big as supposed to go though...bottle only flew half a storey up when its supposed to do alot more...

YEPDay10

2009-07-15T22:20:00.001+08:00

updates first as usual...
syfc :
CT4E just had its best down-time ever...well nt just but some time back (almost a mth)...a/c structure was overstressed cos of too much Gs being pulled...landed (not me) with the canopy rivets popped out and the engine slanted sideways...hope to get some photos frm them if possible...had to go dwn for mths this time...gd news...high chance tt it will be up in a mth's time...

com club :
gt our new components some time back...tested last wk n somethingys wrong...cant boot up...changed the motherboard today...gonna try again tml...ACE stuff going really well...just received our first batch of products to test...3 sound cards, 1 router and an Eee Pc...took home a sound card to play while others took home e other stuff...gonna try e eee pc some other day...mebe e router oso...

scouts :
temporary dwn cos of H1N1...jus a precaution but we cant operate...had a productive exco last wk...our first n last exco meeting...hope to pull of an overnight outin before e others go off for their A-lvls...

yep :
tour day...took a public bus out of e village to transfer to a tour bus...went to a place called tau yuan cave...main highlight was a narrow crack in a rock that makes the sky a thin narrow line...no english name for it though theres a chi name...reason below the photos...n oso theres downhill road...reason below later...

went in n walked n walked n walked...hit a spot that sells some souvenirs...oso had air rifle and crossbow shooting there...played alot on the crossbow...was damn fun...came back dwn after reaching the peak...

had lunch in some restaurant then went to a stone forest next...totally stonned throughout the whole thingy...go there look at stones...wad a tourist trap...

finally went to some super old bridge to LOOK at it...lecturer even said we dun hav to get off e bus if we dun wanna...

at night we (mainly me n philip) had some beta-trial of fireworks we plan to set off on the final day...now tt was wad i call fun...

bus stop sign in the village

entrance to the cave

cave exterior

water dropplets are dropping...

first its "a ray of sky"...

...now its "one sky line"...

"downhill" road...

...that goes up...

climbing up to e cave entrance...

cave sign...

at the entrance...only one can pass at a time...and its only 1 way...aka...traffic jam...

philip in the passage...

inside the passage...

...lol...

looking upwards...

after a while the passage becomes much wider...

at the souvenior shop...wanted to get one but cant brg into singapore cos its all real bullets...defused of course...

air rifles...

and crossbows...

playing with the crossbows...

grp photo...

yea dwnhill road again...still going up...

nt sure if the sticks were intentional or nt...

...?!

doing stunts on reaching base...

...

china's imitation of BMW...found near the restaurant...its the only thingy they are gd at...

its all stone...

...and more stones...(lets cut short the stones)

to the old bridge...

inside the bridge...

surprising clear-cut difference of water color

fireworks!...testing the capabilities of a stick of thingy...

shoots 5-6 times...time to do experiment tomorrow...haha...

YEPDay9

2009-06-05T22:48:00.009+08:00

wow all these are supposed to be up 2 wks ago...been having some probs w/ my photos...sumarized version:
syfc :
dint fly for 1 mth cos CT4-E went dwn for maintenance...flew 2 sorties aft tt very badly...i actually gt to fly 0.8h for solo once...now went dwn again cos aircraft integrity was damaged...rivets popped out cos of overstress...tis time will be dwn for some mths...oso went for night flying some tuesdays back...watched the instructors fly frm e back...quite nice...cant even tell which is the runway cos singapore had too many lights...chee ps (an instructor) flapless was damn nice...came in extremely low below the trees...

com club :
ACE selection done..n we jus received a loan frm ASUS...P5N-T board and a 9800GX2...great...but having budget cuts frm SDAR for our new PC...buying components tml...

scouts :
round southern island kayaking previous weekend...frm kallang to changi n then to ubin...we had to change pairing of people several times cos of strength differences...oso gt a number seasick...dint brg my cam though...all in all - fun...

yep :
first thingy of the day - visit strawberry farm...e farm was quite near the sch...walked over ther e n heard the farmer drone on before plucking strawberries to buy for ourselves...lucky i dint get any for myself cos aft tt we had a flood of em in our rm...

then came back n slacked ard...ended up going dwnstairs to play badminton, basketball, table tennis etc...supposed to draw a memorial on a wall for the sch but we had to wait for the whitewash and the outline to be done by others first...

while we were waiting, mr leong took some of us to visit the projects by previous teams...oso saw a underground fertilizer thingy (cant rmbr wad was it)...e previous year did a piping system for water to run from a reservior damn far to the sch...they had to walk up and dwn the mountains everyday in the cold...

aft tt we went for lessons with the kids again...this time played simon says w/ them...aft tt we had a basketball friendly w/ e china guys...they are rather strong...lost to them in the end...meanwhile...another grp of us were playing volleyball using a fake volleyball filled with air...e ball flew all over the place...

went back to our rm after dinner to find the whole rm filled with balloons...one grp's presentation was to do a balloon show...aft tt i borrowed philip's tripod to do some night shooting...at the same time a grp of ppl was outside playing (forgot the name) game w/ e kids...

going to the farm...

plucking the strawberries...

a super tiny one...

huge cabbage...

Mr. Leung playing badminton...

backyard toilet...

toilet "bowl"...

underground fertilizing thingy...

reservoir in the mountain...

another shot of the mountain from the school...tts how far the previous grp had to walk...

piping that runs from the reservoir to the school...

playing in the playground...its really hot then...

in the music rm playing their piano...

playing simon says...

pre-basketball briefing...

basketball match starts...

volleyball on another side...

it flew 3 stories high...was holding the camera horizontal when i took this...

finally we caught up the score...

balloons galore...

more balloons...

a night shot...

playing games...

YEPDay8

2009-05-26T10:02:00.002+08:00

syfc :
ct4e is back at last!!!still need to wait 5h of engine run time on dual before it is cleared solo flights...nvr mn...bravo will be back soon from its engine overhaul...rt oral going ok...but still havnt practice a lot of stuff...

com club :
ASUS Campus Elites (ACE) program kickstarting off very soon...now selecting members for the top 20...

scouts :
heck i decided not to upload those lost photos...ony uploading those this year onwards...lazy upload alrdy...round "southern" island kayaking going off soon...cant wait though...

and i finally bought my dream D300 DSLR!!!finally got a gd camera w/ a gd sensor tt doesnt gimmie grains...n i love the fps...8fps is really great...selling away my D80 to joven frm com club...still gt some parts left though...gonna sell them soon to recover cost of the D300...

yep :
supposed to go back to the sch by 4 today...decided to go dwn earlier n then go to the town instead...so we took their family's minivan halfway dwn the mountain n then walked frm there...reached sch at 8 n broke into our dorms cos we dint hav e keys...dropped off our stuff n went off to the town...

went there n had a food party...went frm stall to stall buying a bit of everything to try...then went to a shopping centre to get a present for e birthday girl...ended up in kfc to try their egg tarts...finally went back to gather w/ e others in sch...

then we had some OTOT to practice our grp presentation for the farewell party...aft tt had a debrief to talk abt what we experienced in the village...oso e local news showed our project tt night so we also watched it...

back in our dorm (actually another dorm cos we couldnt get into ours)...this is wad we saw in their kitchen...

tts their table

in town trying abit of everything...

more stuff...

cameras at a junction...abit of overkill...

getting a present...

jia beng kidnapped by these 2...

in kfc deciding on e menu...

kfc's egg tarts (they are really nice)...

wei jia and wai han...

back in our dorms playing games...

shi wei and philip working on our presentation...julian looking...

and we are on the news...

shi wei practicing our song...

YEPDay7

2009-05-15T22:21:00.004+08:00

syfc :
another wk before the ct4e comes back...sian...been chionging my RT oral tis few wks in replace for the lost time...going to fly tis sun on a piper to get a bit of feel back...supposed to fly tue but gt IMC for 2 waves...so did rt oral for both waves...lots of theory on it...n now my instructor going on holiday frm today till end of mth...by e time he comes back i can go apply for exam...so nt much practice...gotta cramp lots when he comes back

com club :
gadget3 roadshow was okay...gt some hiccups in the first day but settled dwn pretty quickly...nxt time we organize an event, gotta have a real committee to do stuff...a few ppl take on e whole thingy was quite tough...
n asus is really going quite a lot out to support us under the ASUS Campus Elites program...technicians holding courses, sponsorship of computer parts n all...really great...

scouts :
yea dotphoto album still dwn though...havnt even started uploading them back...nt no time, but keep forgetting...when rmbr, its too late to start...

yep :
yea its one whole day in the village w/ e other kids n e yep guys who came w/ us...went out in the morning although its freezing cos we are in the cloud layer to visit e other homes...then dunno how but we ended up playing mahjong w/ our own ppl the whole afternoon...

late aft we went over a short distance to wai han's hse for dinner...its the best looking hse in the village although its in a secluded place...3 hses joined together like a terrece hse but theres a common corridor...anyway the entire village are one family...one's father was another's uncle n so on...

spent the rest of the afternoon there helping the family make dumplings for dinner...then aft tt celebrated the kid's (forgot which) birthday...made our way back w/ torchlight cos the fog was too bad...cant really see the road we are stepping on...those torches are real powerful...intend to get one for myself...singapore probably cant find one tt powerful...spent the night watching mr bean on my kid's tv...

in the morning

a short while later...

stone steps in the hse...somehow they seem better looking w/o rails...

walking to wai han's (pictured) hse...fog still very bad...

algae-covered pond

its the only proper-build toilet for miles around (physically miles around)...our side uses a shared toilet tt has only the bottom half of the walls...no proper bowl/sink...jus a hole covered w/ wood...(alot better than another team whose shared toilet has maggots...at first they thought its a white layer of dunno wad stuff...after doing business, you see the whole chunk of stuff starts moving...and in a few hours, you see a white layer again...your business has dissappered...)

their traditional warmer...made specially frm some thing (the family dint know how to make as it was made by the previous gen...)...looks like a pile of ash initially but after blowing, it starts burning...it can last really long

prep-ing dinner...peeling the yam (i tink) for the skin of the dumpling...birthday girl pictured

dumplings made from the yam from above after kneading it w/ water

birthday cake

a shot at night on the way back to our hse...fog was so bad we cant even see much moonlight on the grd...

YEPDay6

2009-05-01T13:06:00.003+08:00

so sorry for getting so late in posting...abit of prob w/ my photos...

some more updates...
syfc :
ct4 jus gt grounded for servicing (some time back actually)...2wks of no flights...one under service n another doing engine overhaul...sian...chiong RT oral lor...listened to ATIS for the first time on tue...information in 30s that tells you everything u needed to know for landing...wth...

com club :
cca fiesta over at last...all the flood of emails finally dying dwn...really thank asus for supporting us alot...gadget3 gadget bazaaris up next tomorrow...hope theres enough manpower to help man booths...its been really rushed getting the bazaar up...

scouts :
campfire over...photos still nt up yet though...wont b up for some time...n my photo albums are all dwn suddenly...contacted dotphoto for an answer...they said cos its been inactive...sian...hav to re-upload everything...ill take quite some time...

n i jus bought another hard disc...gt one external one dying alrdy...been giving out strange sounds since dunno when...decided recently to get a new one to replace n then send my old for service...oso built recently a nice table fan out of computer fans...really nice one and also a lot better than the conventional fans you buy...mine only cost $15 in total n eats ony 9.12W per hour...how nice is that...ony tt i need be careful not to overload my PSU...

yep:
my grp's turn to go to xiamen town to visit...took bus after breakfast to town n then walked ard till lunch...first thing we did was book a hotel rm to bathe...tts wad all e other grps did cos we dint bathe since we hit china (temp too cold...dint perspire n oso too cold water to bathe)...another grp joined us cos they finished their stuff early...

went for lunch in a restaurant...food there was nice...walked ard a little...my grp went hunting for a guitar for a performance for the closing ceremony...walked ard quite a bit finding 2 guitar shops before settling for one...had to rush back to meet our meeting time to go back to the school...

reached the sch late n had to rush-pack our stuff as we are going for a farm stay for 2 nights w/ a kid...me n wei chong walked w/ a few other ppl to the kid's village 7km away...hiked for 2 hours till almost dark before hitting the village...

in the bus (the bus's windscreen

bus stop (most likely an interchange though...)

yet another bank in china...i see banks everywhere...n they all have diff names...

booking a hotel room

"mirrow" light...loved the english there...gave me quite a hiccup laughing...

in KFC waiting for the other grp to arrive

random photo...grp of ppl suddenly ran to the tele box n asked me to take a shot...then all went in...n it was raining...

Philip and Shi Wei testing guitars

road to the village (yes its uphill!!!)

halfway (i hope) up...view of the plantations

halfway (i hope again)...fog going in n out as we enter the cloud layer...i was holding an umbrella n still getting wet...too much water floating ard...

finally get to see the village...sorry for blurness...was too tired by then...

their fan...for heating purposes (works like a fan but comes out hot air instead...has oscil func n all)

YEPDay5

2009-04-15T18:25:00.000+08:00

updates first:
SYFC:
now flying a few more normal circuits before i go on to flapless circuits...hopefully i can control the brakes effectively fast or else im screwed every sortie...

ComClub:
having the CCA fiesta on mon n tue...need go back to sch tis sun to setup e deco...sian...we will be loaning a gaming computer frm asus...it will be damn nice...

Scouts:
campfire tis sat! been the main talk since a mth ago...dragon training was damn fun...at least we get to do luminous dragon again after so long...

YEP:
continued our work on the solar panels...had to move the piping up to the roof...then aft tt we installed the remainder of the panels by adding in the solar cells...spotted a bird's nest under some tiles near the roof access...completed all the panels before going dwn for OTOT...
moving the pipes up

adding in the solar cells

bird's nest (2 of them)
china's way of doing things...

another example of china...

completion of the solar panels

broken solar cells

YEPDay4

2009-04-04T14:00:00.004+08:00

first thingys first...updates...

flying side i jus flew my first solo for the CT4E ytd...quite ok...finally know how to handle the a/c properly...one of my landings during dual had a really loud squeak according to my friends...tink its cos i landed sideways due to crosswind...forgot to straighten out...aft e first solo gt dunked by them as tradition...kitson prepared the mixture...strawberry milk with whipping cream...nthing much...he rot-ted the milk by leaving the -closed- packet of milk there...tan sk (an instructor) made me eat a raw egg w/ shell n all...spat it out in the end cos i dun wanna spend an hour in the toilet getting the shells out...anyway im cfm into the ct4e alrdy...

now oso quite busy w/ com club stuff...being president adds alot of workload to me...gt lots of events to plan n all...oso we went over to ASUS office last mon to play ard w/ their gadgets...they let us try all the gaming hardware n all...damn nice...

now back to the YEP...

2nd day of work...morn my grp slacked ard cos the solar panels dont start till much later...watched e other grp do their gardening before going up to the roof to start work...ytd's grp had alrdy set up 2 frames there...our job was to set up the remainder 8 frames...did it quite fast as there was quite a number of us n it was rather easy...basic assembly work...then aft tt we started to demolish the roof tiles to make way for the frames (the roof was tiled with concrete slabs raised on bricks)...tt was the fun part...took some mallets n all n started smashing everything we could reach...then started tossing all the debris aside n moving the frames into the gap we created...aft tt we realized tt we did a little too much work n so was given OTOT the rest of the day...

climbing up to the roof via the old-fashioned method...using a ladder...

view from the rooftop

main school building

assembled frames for the solar panels

demolition work to clear a path for the frames

YEPDay3

2009-03-26T10:19:00.002+08:00

lots of fill-ins these few days...flew conv 5 4 times alrdy...ytd finally to clear it...was cancelled trice cos of weather n all...today going to fly 6 later...frm 5-8 will be circuits...landing still abit off for me...still flaring damn high cos i scared tail strike...ended up sinking almost 50ft once

anyway for yep day 3...
basically slack around the whole day...went to a market in the morning that only opens on every 3rd, 8th and 15th day of the month...supposed to be my group doing some garderning to plant our own vege while the others started on our solar panel project...but ended up raining before we started...so we had some OTOT playing cards n abit of basketball...the solar panel people were also stopped and so everyone was called down to do some art n crafts...had to trace out a picture n cut it out...hella difficult...ended up almost everyone gave up...at night we celebrated wei chong's 18th birthday (he let slip he had a birthday just on day 2 night)

breakfast

in the market their national anthem in the school

wei chong cutting cake...
had a grp photo...

and then got smashed....

YEPDay1

2009-03-18T14:31:00.000+08:00

so im finally back frm china after 2wks there...was back last sat but was organizing all my photos during these few days...lots to catch up on n stuff...china was nt tt bad...loved the weather there...constant 10+ deg all the time...finally get a chance to see clouds at eye level...photos are still going online at the moment...ill b blogging on the happenings over a few wks...anyway went there to do some service work for yangxi sec sch somewhere in san ming, fuzhou province...

day 1
first day was basically travelling all the way...took morning flight till aft at xiamen then transfered to coach to the train station then train for 7h all the way up the mountains into san ming...arrived at the school past 10 for supper, dropped off our stuff n slept...yea tts one day gone...

during the takeoff runon the 737 above china

train ride
flap-lowering mechanism
on the trainshi wei doing stunts
some english there...pood virtue...
more englishin the dorm

day 2
day 2 was jus another slack day for us...had their opening ceremony then OTOT until 4...went to meet our assigned class to get to know them n all....tts all...

done by previous YEP students

view from the school...thats their main gate...behind that is more stairs...just like NP...

classroom block view from our dorm

found this guy just outside my dorm...

their flagpole in the parade square

opening ceremony

shi wei doing more stunts

in the classroom with our kids

GoingOverseas

2009-02-27T14:01:00.002+08:00

flew conv 5 last wk but was DNCO-ed cos of poor vis...oso partly cos of my bad flying...screwed up almost all the way for departure...but stalling itself was fun...did w/ flaps n had wing drop 3 times out of 4...first time i had wing drop, dunno y i jus added more rudder in the same direction...abit of natural reaction...

oso was supposed to fly ytd...a/c was not serviciable cos e engineers had delays repairing it...sian...

anyway ill b going on an overseas study trip to china frm 1-14th march...ill oso b doing 1 module for nxt sem there so i dun hav to take the module...if i pass, i can get 1 day off per week frm sch...

LawyerJokes

2009-02-16T22:59:00.002+08:00

jus added some more jokes on lawyers...just below the archives...took em frm mostly a book...

exams are coming up and i realized tt i ony learnt a single thingy frm my ETE lecturer this sem...that he cant teach...was reading through his notes this morn, refered to my own notes, then looked at the examples...dunno how to solve anythingy...took me hours to solve the simplest questions...at least i dun hav to study much for the other modules...

going over to china for the first 14 days of march...doing a project in some sch in san ming...better start stocking on some rations now...

CT4E's fun, but tough...gotta work a lot harder to stay in it...

my life's boring as always...partly due to study breaks...partly cos i hav no inspiration to go anywhere...

Conv4

2009-02-12T12:51:00.002+08:00

flew turning today...not good...cant really see the attitude change until the altimeter went haywire...ended up having to practice holding the attitude for a while before i got the hang of it...

circuits was fast as normal...forgot my dwnwind checks and ended up nt doing anythingy...jus flew for final and did landing trice...then did clearing engine n a/c suddenly veer off to right...tot the brakes failed but it was cos nose wheel was not straight...liddat oso can...sian....

Conv3

2009-02-05T17:56:00.002+08:00

went for climbing and descending today...oso did a bit of turning n circuits...shiok as ever...did the take off, entered area bravo...flew left n right cos of clouds...this time gt to appreciate how fast e CT4E flies...flew in n out of clouds trying to evade them n saw them zooming by...descending with flaps was nice...at full flaps, felt like some slow-mo roller coaster...going extremely steep n slow...turning was hard as usual....need to b able to see the attitude nicely then can do...kept going up n dwn...oso tried steep turns...45 deg n 60 deg...constant 2g all the way for 60deg...damn nice...

then went dwn for circuits...oso damn nice...fast as usual...followed a touch n go...then did the take off again...missed the 200ft after t/o checks cos was going too fast alrdy...did it at 350ft...missed the 500ft turn...turned at 600ft n missed the 1000ft leveling-off...went to 1100...did downwind checks n nearly missed the turn for base...flew to final n tried landing...flare n closed throttle...nose drop suddenly...sian...landed on nose wheel n took off after stablizing on r/w...

nxt circuit same thingy...missed the after t/o, missed the turn n this time leveled at 900...then power drop like crazy n sink to 800ft...lucky no piper ard or i would hav crashed...went back to 950ft before going for base...on final forgot to drop flaps to full until reminded...landing was nt much better...flare, close throttle, sink, hold back pressure...2nd sink e nose dropped again...sian...lucky nvr hit nose wheel...

all in all another fun flight...

CNY2009,Conv2

2009-02-01T18:55:00.000+08:00

cny once again...went out on days 2 & 6 for cai qing as usual...this year is not so bad compared to previous years...nt as many stunts...even bayshore is better...nt much stunts came out this year...ony one small centipede n a high green...

n i jus flew my 2nd flight...taxy was better a little than previous...at least i went straight this time for a while...flew straight and level today...was quite ok...trimming was fun...click e trim button like crazy all the time...its quite hard to control e a/c in perfect s&l cos e trim is not accurate...did a bit of climbing n descending n turning oso...siva oso pulled a wing over for me in the air to lose height when rejoining...damn nice...g-meter went up to 3+ g...then a few 60-80 deg turns just above seletar when waiting for rejoin...damn nice...oso half-did one touch-n-go...went off the line quite a lot when taking off...stupid rudder controls...

Conv1

2009-01-24T17:52:00.002+08:00

flew my first CT4E flight today...aircraft is damn nice...but e cockpit is very high...quite hard to see the taxy line...n rudder is damn stiff...cant control taxy straight at all...went to area, did effects of control all over again...

checks wise im still ok...stupid kitson (first guy to fly CT4E in my course) do checks until vitals so i had to chiong until there...n he oso took some notes frm e previous CT4E PPL holder n instructor scolded me cos i dun hav it...overall its quite nice handling the aircraft...epecially when its at high speeds...very responsive...but i seriously hate the rudder controls on ground...

CT4E!

2009-01-22T20:10:00.003+08:00

sort of long time ago alrdy...but i gt into the CT4E all of a sudden a few wks back...ops just asked me to go dwn one day for the cockpit assessment...its to see if the body dimensions can fit into the cockpit...aft tt im cfmed into the CT4E...

so i gt a new checklist to memorize, new plane, n a whole new experience...too bad aerobatics are taken out of the syllabus...

CT4E glass cockpit

FirstSolo

2009-01-09T18:06:00.000+08:00

flew first solo today morning...damn fun...flew for a while w/ OM before dropping him off for the solo...took off n went for a circuit before landing...winds were damn nice too...headwind all the way...oso brought my phone up to take a pic of myself flying...oso shot a few others but dint turn out nice cos of sun...

on ground before flightin air alone, 800ft

when landing i flared too much cos used to 2-man weight...ballooned a heck before finally landing nicely...then did stupid stuff like request for whiskey 3 when im supposed to go 2...then taxy to bay alpha 4...waited there for quite some time n thought OM went back to SYFC alrdy...so requested permission to taxy back...then started moving off when i saw him walking towards me...gt scolded a ton frm him before going back to the shed...then went in for a debrief...still gt into PPL aft all though...he said i prob set a record by nt waiting for instructor...

oso i gt temporary nomination for president for comp club until handing over...wanted to take the VP cos i dun wan be P but still kenna...sian...

Sortie14

2009-01-08T16:27:00.001+08:00

jus flew 14 aft much waiting...n the ops oso told me tt i will be flying solo tml w/o flying 15 first...so tml ill b doing 16/17 for my solo...aiming for the CT4E plane...

162Outing

2009-01-05T22:20:00.003+08:00

its been a few days alrdy but anyway...went for a 162BFC outing on sat evening...jus a few of us were there...met at city hall, brought my cam and we walked ard the entire area the whole night...spent quite some time in marina sq finding a place to eat...ended up having dinner at suntec...sent kitson to the mrt station by running through the citylink mall cos we were chasing him...aft tt went over to the esplanade for a grp photo then we left...

Sortie14GotDNCO-ed

2009-01-03T16:07:00.002+08:00

whoo...love today's wind...14 knots from bearing 320 on runway 03...tts 13 knots worth of crosswind...way out of student's capabilities...went for flight n took off, did a circuit, touched-and-go-ed then baldev requested landing...there goes my flight...

oso wasnt planned at all this wk even though i booked...auntie thought i had no booking n so dint gimmie flights...or else i would have completed first solo by now...sian...now stuck to the once-a-week flying cos of sch...

NewYear,NewPhone

2009-01-01T18:45:00.003+08:00

jus changed my phone ytd...got a motorazr V9 cos i wan try a flip phone...cant trade-in my old one cos the screen cracked...sian...

new year countdwn ytd was oso nt much fun...went to vivo w/ some other scouts as we did every year...it was rather last min...ony recieved the msg at 1630h asking me to go dwn at 1730h...then waited at vivo frm 1900h all the way till midnight...ended up playing w/ cards the whole time cos theres nothing to do there...then we oso couldnt get a spot to see the performance so we stoned in a corner w/ a few hundred others...fireworks display was oso nt tt nice...lucky i dint brg my camera...would have been a waste of effort...

aft tt went to kovan to play pool...then went over to prata hse for supper at 0430h then went home...

Sortie13,HKExchange

2008-12-28T18:06:00.003+08:00

completed 13 ytd with the OM...quite okay flying w/ him...went quite well...also landed quite nicely cept tt theres quite a bit of crosswind in the last few landings...landed 30deg to the runway...also missed the centreline almost all the way...nevertheless still gt a 5

oso had an exchange w/ hk scouts frm 241208-281208...had a bbq on 241208...brought them out for sight-seeing on 251208...off-duty on 261208...went dwn on 271208 in the morn cos i was flying in the aft...LD training w/ them on 281208...pics are alrdy in dotphoto from my part...

here are some of my artistic shots...main shots are in dotphoto...

Sortie12

2008-12-26T16:55:00.002+08:00

flew 12 today in late morning...much better than 11...in fact better than normal...winds are much more okay...4-6knots only...yingqiu frm my course had his first solo delayed the third time alrdy...poor him cant complete phase 2...cos the winds was damn strong in the early morning...

my wave was much better...winds calmed dwn a little...so im able to fly much better...did circuits again...oso tried flapless and demo-ed glide circuit...hot day though...jus aft slight rain during first wave so the sun was shining rather strong...touched dwn sweating slightly...gt back my 5 again...

flying 4th wave tml...sortie 13...

Sortie11HappilyScrewed

2008-12-23T18:30:00.003+08:00

jus flew 11th sortie today...dint go like wad i wanted...partly cos of the sun...also cos of the wind...but i was flying dwnwind n my rpm went haywire once...another time was tt my height bounced up to 900ft...another constant at 750ft...then almost all my turns to finals went short...ended up left of r/w n had to correct again...

also i cant do efato (engine failure after take-off) properly...messed up the order...oso still having probs w/ taking off...instructor kept saying tt i dint coordinate my rudder as if lift off but i dun really understand...dun see anythingy wrong wad...went up straight...

also did radio failure practice once...nt as easy as i tot...trying to keep flying 500ft while rocking the wings to attract attention...ended up w/ my first grade 4...its my first deviation frm a straight 5...sian...

ytd had com club AGM n interview for nxt committee...nthing much...applied for VP n publicity head...jus dun really feel like being P...

tml HK scouts will b coming over n joining us...gonna hav a bbq tml night...then 25th ill b out w/ them walking ard...so wont be ard whole of christmas...

Sortie10,Sim8,P5Camp

2008-12-21T21:37:00.002+08:00

did my 10th sortie and 2nd circuit last fri...quite okay...much better than the first circuit...approach pattern was a little better, though a little high all the time...landing was also getting better...

had to book a sim on sat despite my going for a camp...im alrdy behind time by quite a bit...so went for sim early mornin on sat n did emergencies...pretty much easy...most of it i alrdy know...jus need practice...

n i was at a camp frm fri till tis afternoon...i was chairing the camp which was meant to intro the P5s into scouting and theres quite a number of stuff which was last min...n oso prog was inturrupted quite a bit due to LD practice and performance on sat...but it was still quite okay...

also held an investiture for the upcomming ventures...made them walk to macritche and back...wanted them to walk further in the original plan but there was a bit of time constraints...

came back frm camp today at 1430h, then unpacked everythingy and decided to sleep a little cos i slept at 2 ytd n had a mini drill at 3 for the venture inves...then i woke up to find tt it is alrdy 8...missed the alarms tt i set...

Sortie9

2008-12-17T20:00:00.002+08:00

supposed to do first circuit ytd but gt IMC...asked ard for almost an hour before someone told me tt it stands for instrument meteorological conditions...visibility was damn bad...

so did it today instead...windy on the outside, hot on the inside of the plane...so much for an improvement...so ended up battling 10-15knots of wind throughout the day...did quite badly for the sortie...take off n started fighting wind...turn for crosswind okay...on dwnwind was damn bad...flew straight n the aircraft drifted left cos of wind...also pretty turbulent...turn for base still okay...final was the worst...played 3D yoyo w/ e aircraft as i tried battling the wind and maintaining straight for the runway...

went on liddat for dunno how many times...dunno how the heck the instructor count the number of landings...i lost count aft 4-5 landings...then we gt called off the runway to give way for a glider to land...waited in the sun for 15min while the glider taxyed and then had to give way for a jet to land...finally took off again n accidently had to do 2 go-round cos of wind...

then i had another bout of taxy problems on ground...came in to park the plane n went too fast...dint even apply any power n the a/c accelerated for no reason...then i was stupid enough to let it accelerate...ended up charging into the shed...

came back damn sweaty...when i left the aircraft my shirt and pants was slightly damp w/ sweat...really hot out there n the wind was killing everybuggy out in the circuit...

CT, Sim7

2008-12-13T15:54:00.004+08:00

had my CT in this past wk...EG2 on tue was okay...ETE on wed nt much probs...eng mech on fri was damn easy...finished it in 25min doing very slowly...now im facing 3wks of hols...nxt term is even shorter than this term...ony 6 wks before the exams...

was actually booked for sim on thurs...sim went down on wed cos there was a power outtage and it refused to start...then they took 1 whole day to repair the sim and my flight gt cancelled...did the sim today morning instead...circuits was okay...at least it still had the shape...tried ytd and got rather terrible results...oso practiced engine failure after take-off and go-round...nthing much...

finally can get to go for my circuits flights aft more than 1 wk of waiting...gt a flight for 2nd wave on tues...

mon there is a briefing for a china trip tt im going...oso photog club is holding their agm...hopefully i can get into their committee...im aiming for gold for CCA...

and its been quite a while since i last used my camera...hopefully i can go somewhere to shoot during the hols...

ARealGreatDay

2008-12-08T22:07:00.005+08:00

yea it has been 25 deg C for almost the past 24h...real great...havnt experience this in a long time...

n i gotta wait till thurs for flights...tml syfc is nt opened for dunno wad reason...im nt planned on wed...earliest i hav is thurs...sian...

lots coming up in recent mths in scouting...having an exchange w/ HK scouts...they coming over, we be their tour guide for 4days...same goes for our side...though its ony a few ppl involved...oso theres a P5 camp tt has been pushed frm last mth till now...im heading it n its going quite okay...n theres a new long-term plan to increase membership in our unit through other units...gonna be busy for quite a while now...

at least i hav somethingy to do for e hols...

Sortie8

2008-12-06T16:38:00.003+08:00

well i actually did my sortie ytd...went dwn to syfc for fun cos comp prog lesson was cancelled, then ete was optional...left 1h maths which i skipped...then i asked if there is a flight available n they gave me for 2nd wave...haha...

quite fun la...flying w/ raman...went up to bravo n did stalling w/ power n another w/ flaps...then we still had lots of time n he decided to pull some Gs for me...showed me a wings-over (slightly >90 turn in a 3D fig-8)...G forces was damn nice...then he flew into a cloud n let me touch them...wind frm the prop was quite strong...then we came back n landed...was doing my aft-landing checks n he stopped me...says i did it the wrong way round...same went for shut-down...say i did it the wrong order...

today went back there again cos gt a GM's talk...was basically a feedback session...then came back n watched some guy do up my new modem w/ singtel's mio plan...

reformatted my macbook ytd cos i wan speed it up n oso free up unnecessary data...my startup-shutdown cycle was damn slow...now im reinstalling everythingy necessary...

COMPASSTest(ScrewedRoyally)

2008-12-04T18:36:00.003+08:00

went for my COMPASS test today at defence tower B, DSTA...went there rather early, but had to wait for 8 to start the test...then we went in n they told us tt we had to report to recruitment...went to CMPB, then went to SAF recruitment...finally found the place...wrote our name dwn n then went back to defence tower...wth...

gt a briefing, then went to stations...did the usual stuff...stuff like maths, reflexes, co-ordination...screwed up quite a number of stuff...then finally gt one tt fly a plane through boxes...oso screwed it up cos of the sens...plane responds damn slow despite the apparent airspeed...osos screwed up multi-tasking...damn diff...first was keep crosshairs in centre, then they added in counting down numbers in changing steps...quite ok oso...last one was had to keep track of crosshairs, numbers and colored shapes at the same time...totally flunked the last one...on the second number i forgot the count...then lost the entire thingy...in the end gt 2 correct n 11 wrong for jus tt section...

then gt some other common stuff like mentally forming of cubes, psycomotor like reversing axis n all...sort of did badly for wadever tt they showed me the score...tt was part one...

then come part 2...first one they gimme a grid w/ planes n locations on it n asked easy qns like wads e fastest way for plane 1 to go to location 1...second n last was stupid n i dunno for wad...

gave me a manual n 4 mins to read it...first page...states there follow the instructions on screen n ans qns given...then gt content page...2nd page...rules for ans qns...they gave me stuff like this...F-E must not be more than 5, D-A must be more than 7, N-Z must be less than 17...i was like wads tt???...then below it...values must be correct or it will produce a fatal error...if it happens, refer to error list (nxt page)...then below still gt stuff like if there is no instruction n no error, enter in 100...i was tinking wad error?!...then 3rd page...error list...error 1 : disk failure, carry out operation code 1...error 2...3...4....23...wth...dint understand a single thingy...went on to 4th page...operation code 1...code 2...3...6...wth again...oso dint understand...

then the test started...as stated in the first page, the screen will show numbers, words and symbols...i looked at the screen...4 quadrents...first one was "enter the number 23"...2nd quad was a progress bar thingy...3rd n 4th were graphs...i was like wth am i supposed to do?!this went on with occasional stuff like "fatal error 13"...so i refered to error list no. 13...carry out op code 3...so went over to op code 3...type in error code...i was like wth...went on for almost 30qns before finally finishing...

at the end...i still dunno wth is the last test all abt...damn tired...i wont be surprised if i scraped a just passed for COMPASS or even a fail...though i would be damn sad if i failed...

then went sim lim to get a firewire PCI card...nthing much cept tt i wan trans data faster rather than USB...

aft tt i had a flight on 4th wave...went there n it rained quite a bit...cancelled in the end...

MAPASTest,ArmyRecruitment

2008-11-26T19:08:00.004+08:00

jus to let ur know...photos in this blog will be coming in much less often cos im in sch...'sides i dun really have lots of places to shoot...

went dwn for my MAPAS (tink it stands for military aptitude personal assessment scheme) test today at CMPB, depot rd...took a heck to get in...took a walk in frm jln bkt merah cos i tot it was nearby...walked frm 0820h-0830h before reaching the gate...there was a queue at the security checkpoint...then by the time i cleared the check, it was alrdy 0855h...arrived at the test centre jus before 0900h...sat dwn n took the test...

basically its a series of tests on your mental skills...first test was figure pattern...then aft tt number pattern...then more numbers tt u had to count...then count alphabets...then mathematical probs...suddenly pop out one on mental rotation of shapes...then reflexes on the number-pad...more numbers...numbers plus alphabets...then another random physics test...gt somemore tt i cant rmbr...last one was easy...memory...jus simply wrote dwn everything n regurgitate...

finished at 1130h, half hour ahead of time...took bus to NP for aft lessons...came to clememti, then stupidly took a bus in the wrong direction...5min later then i realized im in jurong...crossed e rd n waited for 20 whole mins before the nxt bus came...sian...at first i could have arrived at sch early enough for my FAT test tt i sacrified for the MAPAS test...

aft sch we went dwn to a army (roadshow?) w/ philip, ailin, wei chong n hazman...walked ard collecting the different formation badges...then gt caught by the comentator n asked to put on some camo on our face as a competition...me n wei chong had to do the camo n in the end wei chong won...took a heck to remove the camo...

Sim6, Sortie7

2008-11-22T14:51:00.003+08:00

did my sim 6 last thurs...went all right as expected...practiced stalling in diff configs like clean stall, stall w/ power n stall w/ flaps...then aft tt practiced stall in approach...all by myself cos instructor is showing a pilot and his son ard the building...then let both of them play w/ e sim a little...by the time i gt e sim its late...then practiced...cant seem to do the approack thingy correctly...accidently landed 4 times in a row...gt a 6 for sim as usual...

sortie 7 today was nt bad...went w/ siva at last...this is the 3rd time he is taking me out of 7...anyways we went up frm runway 03...climbed n climbed continously cos theres lots of funny-shaped clouds...had to do ballet in the air for almost half n hour before starting on my actual training...stalling is rather easy...then went back dwn for circuits...at least this time i dint screw up my rejoin checks...went overhead, called, descended, then did downwind checks...follow through landing, then went for touch n go again...then came back for another landing...aft tt there was some prob w/ the comm system while i taxyed back to my shed...gt sorted out in the end...

this wed is my MAPASS medical...frm wad i heard its a test on reflexes, co-ordination, iq, eq n stuff...hope its nt too hard...tried a sample test and scored quite okay...n ill be missing my FAT test...of all times...

nxt thurs will be my COMPASS medical...nt sure do wad...but its similar to MAPASS...cept tt its 5h long...wth...hope i dun freeze to death in e building...

TakeOff, Stall, Land!!!

2008-11-13T22:54:00.000+08:00

right i forgot all bout my 5th sim training last wk...nt much happened...did turning for sim...quite ok...abit of height gain/loss here n there cos nt used to it...overall still quite gd...finished in half an hour...

sat actually had my sortie...but i was supposed to have an ex-co meeting in the aft...could nt make it back in time so i cancelled my sortie on fri...then last min somebuggy said he cant come for ex-co so had to fix ex-co on sun instead...wasted a flight...

so today flew sortie instead...went w/ Tan S K again...he took me for half my flights alrdy...he let me do take-off...damn nice...went rusty on my checks for depart and rejoin...some people were filming and we had to do a formation flying for a while...so i sat n watched him n another plane fly together for a while before we broke off...both planes were very near to each other...could easily see the pilot n student in the other plane...then we did turning aft tt...gt abit of problems holding the height...kept losing height gradually...but still went ok in the end...

then we had some time n we did stalling...he demo a standard stall (when nose drops)...g-forces damn nice when nose drop...then lemme try twice n then an incipient stall recovery (on stall warning-much-earlier)...incipient stall cant feel anythingy...lose mebe ~50 ft ony...

screwed up rejoin almost all the way...called wrong, then descended frm area bravo too late, resulting my hanging a gd 700+ft above my expected overhead pt for recovery...had to circle once to get to correct height, then forgot to call overhead...circle again...finally went to dwnwind...

then he had to show me the positions for runway aspects (high/low on approach) so we had to do touch-and-go...he talked me through on the landing...then went one round n gt traffic...so had to do another touch-n-go...this time he let me follow through on landing...then let me take off again...went another round n finally gt clearence to land...this time he let me do landing...guided me through the landing but i was controlling the plane...damn shiok...walked out of a/c feeling funny cos of 3 consec-landings...

PASSED PHASE 1!!! - i think...cos he dint say anythingy bout passing or failing...ony told me to read up on stalling 1 & 2 for nxt flight...then ops rm told me to report for another funny medical (compass medical!?) so i assume i passed...

HotDayIndeed

2008-11-02T10:40:00.003+08:00

days getting hotter?

try this...

typical singaporean's (like me...)

yea a fire broke out jus...could smell somethingy acrid when i walked out for breakfast but dint think much of it...till i came back...jus took the pic for fun...now there still outside my hse (fire's on top)...

OneFail,AllFail

2008-10-27T11:29:00.002+08:00

spent the night continuing my recovery for the hard disc...i was done w/ the FAT partition the other time, but when i wanted to access my NTFS partition on sat morn, somehow it failed oso...started seeing read/write errors all over the place...shortly aft tt i cant access it at all...

so i spent the entire day n night and dusk doing another recovery for it...dunno wads e prob...mebe its cos of partitioning differences or something...

n e stupid prog is infuriating...i dunno wads its prob...when i use progs tt eat alot of system resources the recovery will run damn fast...when my comp is idling, it dosent run at all...then all of a sudden it run damn fast when i left it idling for dinner last night...when i came back, it left another hour for completion...so i stayed up an hour to wait for it so i can save my progress...an hour later it still needs another hour...but when i checked it was running fine...stayed till 1+ by snoozing during the hour's wait twice...then i accidently slept till this morning...when i woke up still have an hour to go...

n jus now when i left it alone for breakfast, it suddenly finished scanning...all the time my computer is idling...

A(NotSo)PerfectSortie

2008-10-23T22:06:00.002+08:00

yea i jus did my 5th sortie w/ Tan SK again...weather was quite cloudy due to rain all over the place...but we still managed to go up cos theres no lightning risk then...went above the clouds at 4-6'000 ft for training cos we cant see anythingy below tt...

did climb and descend which was quite easy...covered everythingy n touched on specfic and non-spec aim pt while doing circuit...he let me do almost all the checks inc. rejoin and dwnwind and almost all the r/t oso...inc. depart and rejoin r/t...damn shiok....can practice the stuff in the air rather than doing in a sim...ony until base then did i screw up leveling off (lol)...

was doing glide descend frm 2'500 to dwnwind...so descend then entire dwnwind leg all the way till base...started turning to base alrdy still descending...then mess up cos i was too engrosed keeping the descending turn correct...he tell me level off cos im going below 800ft...so i stun half a sec...i tot we r supposed to continue gliding aft turning for dwnwind...so i pull attitude up for level w/o increasing power...resulted my airspeed lost quite a bit...some stupid mistake...forgot how to level off...but i still gt a 5 for tt...had some 6 in my breakdwn but majority was 5

i oso jus joined another cca in poly cos photography club seemed abit dead on activities...chose computer club rather than a sports one cos i dun wan brg another attire to change to sch...quite okay there as the committee knows what they are doing...they gt some seminars going off, sponsorship coming in and plans made all over the place...i was asked to join sub-com on the first meeting last fri...naturally accepted and now im alrdy involved in the sub-planning of a seminar in mid-nov...i tink its gonna be a SKY Media Production Team all over again...

StupidHardDiscCrashes...

2008-10-20T18:30:00.004+08:00

well i jus managed to recover all the lost data frm my hard disc that (crashed?did magical act?)...took a heck of time for tt...spent all my free time during the wk n the whole weekend...but i managed to geddit back 'ne ways...i realized tt rate of recovery seems proportional to CPU useage rather than CPU idling...let it idle while i read n it took half n hour to get back one file...then chat on msn n a few files done...wth...somemore all e files is almost same size...so wad i did in the end was play games during the weekend and check on its progress after every game...by end of sun it was finished...lol...

...waste time...waste space...waste efforts...waste reading hours spent playing games to geddit done faster...

n i realize (not for the first time, just crap-teculating on it...) tt the lecturers we hav seems not to know what they are doing...spent an entire day at sch not paying attention and yet being the one who can do the questions...

oh yea...did i mention my modules im taking this sem?pretty useless...besides being pretty...

Engineering Mathematics 2 (EG2) - quite ok...gt calculus which can spice my the lessons for me...
Engineering Mechanics (EngMech) - first lesson (2h) AND practical (2h) spent talking abt vector forces polygons...sian...
Computer Programming (ComProg) - learning C using a software for C++...fun if the lecturer knows wad he is doing...
Fundamentals of AT (FAT) - dunno 'ne thingy bout it yet...first wk spent waiting for the arrival of the notes...lecturer seems nice though...
Electrical Tech and Electronics (ETE) - nothing to say yet...first lessons and started abt names like nano- (-9), micro- (-6), mili- (-3) etc...expects us to know all frm pico (-12) to Giga (9)...havnt really started on electronics yet...
Aerospace Computer-Aided Design (AECAD) - quite ok...i hate the software though...completely user-unfriendly as it can be...but its alot more advanced than AutoCAD...
IS Creative Applied Thinking (CATs) - completely redundant...creativity is somethingy that can almost nvr be taught...but i QUITE like the concepts...why quite like cos first lesson my lecturer push me to my limits on creativity alrdy...gave us dunno how many shapes n make us see as many thingys as possible...2h lesson and my brain is drained...
IS sports and wellness (SW) - also completely redundant like all IS modules...'cept tt we get to play games...i chose badminton...lesson plan is highly depressing though...

MacbookUpgrades

2008-10-16T22:27:00.003+08:00

well gt a bit to talk about...but first...

saw qi kang last sun working at popular, kovan...i walked past him n dint even realize...then i was looking around n saw him...lol...caught up abit on our sch n stuff...'ne ways i was at kovan looking for a joystick...in the end i gt a logitech one for $75...oso bought a another hard disc case to replace my old one...stupid port is so loose i keep getting d/c whenever somebuggy touches it...

new case wasnt much better...came back home n pluged it in to test n the first thingy i noticed is tt i cant eject...shut-dwn my comp n pull out then try again...sides, hard disc seemed to be boiling inside the case...this time...somehow i lost all the data on my FAT partition...no idea how it happened, no idea how to retrieve...in the end i spent the remainder of the day doing recovery for the data...took all the way till almost 11 to just scan for data...havnt even start recovering...gonna do it some other day...

oh yea...flying a flight sim using joystick n yoke is alot of diff...keep rotating for yaw everytime i tried rolling...oso tried playing fps games using joystick for fun...lol...

back to topic...macbooks...they released an upgrade dunno how long ago...saw the update a few days ago...changed the case, changed the processor (1066Mhz!!!), changed the RAM (DDR3!!!1066Mhz oso!!!), even the graphics frm intel to nvidia (256mb!!!still shared though...)...

macbook pro 15" (nt the 17"...) oso gt the same upgrades...cept tt the pros gt dual graphics chips (somehow...)...can change between energy-saving or graphics-intensive (half n hour diff ony...)...now i tink the 15" is almost better than the 17"...

i cant wait for the imac upgrade...(or perhaps the mac pro...)

Sortie4

2008-10-09T19:30:00.002+08:00

jus came back a while ago frm my 4th sortie...was raining the entire afternoon...dint look like we can take off...first wave n 3rd wave was cancelled cos of haze n rain respectively...4th wave (mine) was put on hold...then w/ 10 min to go we were cleared for launch at last...flying w/ NG C T this time cos siva wasnt ard...hasted through checks before starting the engine...attempted to use wrong key again (4th time alrdy...) then forgot to put pump on before taxy...then dint realize tt i can call R/T to Ops cos theres another person calling on coms 1...i was on coms 2 n i forgot...then ng ct took over n called himself...aft tt i forgot to do instrument checks...taxy too fast again n he took over the entire take off thingy...i wanted to do engine run-up n he scold me again saying i wasnt supposed to do it...

aft tt we took off n he showed me departure procudures for runway 03 then let me fly ard...did a bit on straight n level at diff power before touching on climb n descend...then came back for landing...air traffic sort of flooded when we tried landing...2 aircrafts in circuits, another 3 hanging overhead waiting to rejoin for landing, and another 2 waiting to rejoin overhead...we had to do touch-n-go before getting permission to land...another guy gt called to do go-round straightaway...finally landed with my left ear funny cos of a slight cold...taxy back n kenna frm him again cos i dint look at marshaller...then went for debrief n still gt a 5 anyways...then he realized tt we were supposed to do engine run-up...nvr mn...

oso did abit on 'wings' CAI ytd n today (been in syfc for the whole of this wk watching ppl do sim cos gt nthing to do)...damn boring...teaching on stuff like how various instruments work, then oso gt stuff like weather n metrology, stuff on human factors n alot more...gonna go tml n do somemore cos i dun really wan go syfc on sat...

Sim4

2008-10-04T23:37:00.002+08:00

thurs
went out to orchard w/ a compact camera to reece for a prog for the scout unit...went up n dwn 3 times frm sommerset to orchard taking notes of stuff tt i can use...came back n gt everythingy in order...now its up to some fun in early nov...haha...

fri...
had my 4th sim...went there early to watch 163 do sim 2, helpout a little on checks, then jump in...flew for climbing n descending, then descend w/ power n flaps...nthing much all quite easy cept tt i need to rmbr to stop at the desired height...went off height quite a few times...

sat
had the last brief of syfc on circuits...nxt wk we start on OTOT CAI (computer aided instruction)...meaning i can choose when to go dwn to do my CAI...im nt gonna go on sat alrdy...rather go on a wkday n save sat to slack ard...in the meantime...waiting for flights...following wk im gonna start sch...can ony fly on thurs aft...sian...hav to use wkends to fly alrdy...