For the past 3 Wednesday, I have been attending a science course about basic aviation science. I learnt much about the science high up in the air. For example about air pressure high up in the air where the higher you go, the lesser the air pressure and air would be much thinner, which also means that there is less air resistance so aeroplanes can move faster. I also learnt about some interesting facts like human can survive at air at 10,000ft above sea level, beyond that, humans would start to struggle. Other interesting facts are like the lesser oxygen anyone breathes in, the 'higher' they feel, this means when people start falling from a high altitude, and are well, going to die, they are at least happy for their last few moment.
However, all work but no plays makes us a dull boy, so we had some hands on, no, we did not take a aeroplane ride and jump down, but we flew simulated aeroplanes on computers using joysticks and a software called Microsoft Flight Simulator IV. It was an interesting experience, where we could try flying different kinds of planes including passenger jets, or big planes like a Boeing 747. An interesting fact I discovered that was flying a big aeroplane is much easier than just a mini plane, because of 1 simple reason -- Autopilot. We were told that such feature of a major plane allows the pilots of the plane to relax and have a nap while the plane flied on its own, but on a mini plane, this isn't the case, the pilot has to be very concentrated on his flying, a slight mistake could just have he/she and his/her passenger dead.
We learnt other facts like why do planes stall, why is it better to fly against the wind, and many other factors of plane flying. The instructor listed many examples, which made me very interested in his lessons. A particular example was set by our very own Singaporean pilot. The co-pilot made a wrong calculation on a 100 tons worth of cargo, fuel, crew, passengers, etc... and this caused the pilot to miscalculate the speed needed to take off. So the pilot got a speed which is lesser than the actual speed needed to take off. So at his calculated speed, the pilot attempted to take off, but of course, failed. So, the plane was traveling of 2 wheels for the next 600m. When the plane finally took off, they were very near a mountain(it wasn't in Changni Airport) and if they were to remained at this speed or angle, they would be crashing into it. Realising that, the pilot decided to take the risk of adjusting his angle. So he tilted the nose of the plane and it was nearly reaching the angle of attack, which was the angle that the plane would stall, but fortunately, it did not and the plane managed to go pass the mountain. The pilot knew that he could not carry on with his flight and decided to take a turn and land back at the airport. However, he did not take note of his calculated speed was wrong. He landed at his calculated speed and unfortunately, that day was a rainy one and floor was slippery, the plane started to skit nearly off the track. It was only centimeters before the plane would touch the soft grass. So what would happen if the plane land on the grass? Firstly, the plane would slide over towards the side, and the wings of the plane, which contains fuel and the engine, which was till running, would land on the grass and finally break apart. As soon as the wing breaks apart, fuel would start leaking out and sparks produced by the engine would lit up the fuel causing a major fire. Fortunately, the pilot was experienced enough to prevent such major incidents to happen.
This workshop has made me much about science high up in the air. I am currently looking forward to the sabbatical on Advanced Aviation Science.
Thanks for reading :D
