This corrugated stuff intrigues me. The best I could come up with is a co-relation with the standard corrugated boxes. The corrugation gives boxes structural rigidity and end-to-end strength along the "flutes" (go to wikipedia and search for "corrugated box"). This same concept applied to the ailerons would make sense. If you get another answer, please do share with me.

With this article, I've made a few changes on the website. The most obvious are the blue shaded links on the top of the page, a new entry "NA Weather", and some other minor cosmetic changes. The Weather page has some images and links commonly used to get the weather around Vancouver, and we check these before every flight.

A major change is the introduction of "categories". I use the words "categories" and "topics" inter-changably. I can now segregate my articles into different topics. All existing articles go into a topic called "General". For now, I've added only 1 new topic : "Aviation Tidbits". In the future, I will be able to add any number of new topics. The topic to which an article belongs is highlighted with the article. This article belongs to "General", and the same is highlighted on the green bar above, to the left of the date and time this article was published.

On the main page, all articles will be displayed, irrespective of the topic they belong to. It is possible to view articles from a particular topic alone, by selecting appropriately from the list on the top right of the page (just above the calendar). So currently I have 2 topics, General, and Aviation Tidbits.

If you only want to see a particular topic each time you visit, you can bookmark a direct access to that topic instead of having to open the main page and then selecting the topic. For example, if you only want to see the Aviation Tidbits topic, then you should first select the topic from the list, and bookmark the resulting page. This new bookmark will take you directly to the respective topic page, bypassing the main page.

The main page and any topic page displays upto 10 articles written during the current month. Older articles can be viewed by navigating from the calendar section - just below the topic selection list.

I made these changes in an attempt to enhance the website, by giving it better structure and usability. If while using this website, you should find any cosmetic or functional deficiencies, please do write to me (use the link above).

Cheers
Mayur Poddar

It's official, my partial flight test is now scrapped. I have to do the entire flight test all over again. With another examiner. And who is it going to be this time? Aha! My CFI of course! He has agreed that my case is twisted, and will give it priority now. We're planning it out, and because he IS busy all the time, and the weather is not giving us any good day in the next week, we may spread it across 2 days - for the ground section and the flight section. The flight section will be an ad-hoc thing, any day the weather gives us 2-3 hours, we'll go up and get it done.

Anyways, I've been getting lazy with the cooking now. Last week was super, with some delicious Kadhai Paneer. Somehow it turned out good. So I've got 2 more blocks of paneer, and I'm going to give Paneer Tikka a shot. This involves a lot more than my typical cooking abilities, but I'm positive I can make it work. I love paneer.

Monday morning I woke up with a tremendous stiff neck and upper back. I got a hot pack, 15 minutes in the hot tub, 15 in a sauna, and 15 in a super hot shower. That gave me enough to be able to move around. Then I got a chance to test my acupressure skills on myself. It worked surprisingly well. What the heck, it's supposed to. By bedtime, I was so much better. I tell you, acupressure is such a neat thing. There's only some lingering stiffness, another round of hot pack and acupressure tonight and it'll be gone.

The one other development is that I've started to consider a winter break, go back to India, study and write the CPL exams in India, and then come back and complete the license here in Canada. As of now, I can do this. DGCA (India's civil aviation authority) allows me to write the CPL written exams to convert my Canadian license to an Indian license, even before I actually have a Canadian license. So I can go and write the exams in India now, without having completed the CPL in Canada. Later, I can come back, complete the CPL in Canada, and go back to India. This allowance is scheduled to change, come April-2007. After which, I will not be allowed to write the exams unless I have the CPL. There are other time constraints, cash-flow issues, license expiry and medical validity situations to be considered. Overall, it's a playoff between the most efficient use of my time over the next year, and the least expense that will have to be borne. And my choices are: stay in Canada till I complete the CPL then go to India and do the exams there OR go to India now to write the exams and come back and finish the CPL. Lots to think about, lots to consider, and then decide.

In the meantime, I completed an online Weight and Balance Calculator for the aircrafts at our school, Pro IFR. This is useful only for those who are in aviation. If you are, do have a look at this website:
http://pro.poddu.com

I'm now going to start writing about my flights and any aviation tidbits that I come across. Yes, I should have written about my flights from the beginning, I've had such a time, so many exciting experiences, but I was just too busy or plain lazy. But it's better late than never.

Cheers
Mayur Poddar

After months of studying, flying, dilly-dallying, when I finally get comfortable flying, and feel prepared to give the flight test, it becomes more a test of my patience. The flight test is in 2 parts - the ground portion and the flight portion. In the ground portion, the examiner tests the procedural aspects of flying, documentation, numerous theoretical applications, and so on. The flight portion is a test of flying skills, recognition and recovery from unusual attitudes, flight safety, and emergency handling.

It just so happens that the CFI at my school is also a Transport Canada certified flight test examiner. But he pleaded "very busy", and passed me onto another examiner. My flight test was booked for Wednesday 11-OCT-2006. The test started Wednesday morning and went half way - that's the ground portion - and I didn't do too badly. Then the examiner and I took a short break, got some lunch. At 1:30pm, we got into the plane (ident FIBX), started it up, and found a technical snag that restricted us from doing the test. For those who understand, the attitude indicator was stuck. So the flight part was postponed. It was rescheduled for Friday, then Saturday, then Monday, then Wednesday, but didn't happen on any of those days due to inclement weather. I remained positive all week, always thinking that something good will turn out of all this delay. Now my examiner is going on the operating table for some minor surgery, and his medical validity is under question. So my flight test status is uncertain. He may not be able to continue my test for another month. I may have to abandon the half-done test and redo the entire test with another examiner. Now, my patience is running thin.

On one hand, I've always admired the professional attitude with which the school is run, and I accept that nobody was at fault, if there was a technical snag in the plane or the weather was not good. But on the other hand, I feel that the school has enrolled too many students, the infrastructure and staff is overburdened, the number of instructors is now insufficient, leading to a general downward trend in the overall quality. Quite naturally, in comparison to the first 3 months I was here, I now feel neglected.

Sometimes I wonder if my calm and composed attitude is pushing me to the back seat. Maybe I should consider "talking loudly and being heard" - will things start to move faster? But that's the way I used to be in the past, when I realised that wasn't the best and eventually worked my way to my present ways. What a world, how do you ever balance things out?

So all this has awakened the mystical guru inside me. There is this philosophy I have adopted in the recent past - while it may be relatively more difficult to recognize your own mistakes and unworthy actions than those of others, it is much easier to correct yours than to expect others to correct theirs. When I run into a situation where I recognize a mistake, I am very tempted to point it out, but I first check with myself whether I make the same mistake, and talk only if I positively know the “correct” way, or should I say, a better and more appropriate way. And you know what, that is closer to the action called “helping” than anything else. Why should I be like those people, who are always around, and who will promptly jump in to point at your mistakes and laugh at them.

The one thing that I'm unable to tackle today is people who will ruin a conversation where someone is trying to learn and understand. There are people who will not wait for others to complete their sentences. There are people who will get annoyed if asked how or why they do something. There are people who will go off the topic of conversation. There are people who use so much profanity. There are people who treat others around them like wild pigs (that's the most polite way I could put it). There is only one answer to all of that. It's your life, there's only one chance, one lifetime, do what you want to do, but please respect and treat others the way you would expect it for yourself. I believe that the way you treat and respect others is a reflection of how much you respect yourself. And respect is more than the clothes you wear, the food you eat, the house you live in, the work you do, and how attractive you may look.

Enough of that. Phoooo (the sound made when breathing a sigh of relief).

Well, I finally got that handheld radio. It cost a lot of money, and now I'm wondering if I should sell it back, cash situation is reaching crunch limits. Maybe if I can get a job later on, I can buy another one. An emergency radio is definitely something every pilot should have. I don't want to reach a day when I may regret not having one.

Cheers
Mayur Poddar

It's probably like learning to drive a car on the streets of Bangalore. If the controls in the car aren't intimidating enough, the traffic will scare the wits out of you. That's the way it goes when learning to fly a plane. At first it was the controls and flight instruments inside the plane. Then it was the conscious thought that there are other planes flying very close to you and you have to look out all the time. Driving lessons cost INR 2,500/- for 15 hours, and that's about all you need to get a license. Flying lessons cost INR 500,000/- for 70 hours, and that only gets you a Private Pilot License (PPL). Initially it all seems so difficult. Gradually your confidence builds. And then one day, you're comfortable doing that. It's only now that I can say that I am comfortable flying a plane, and it's not as tough as I felt it to be this far.

I would like to acknowledge and thank all those of you who have supported me so far. Even those of you who have spoken to Mom or Dad, they have told me. And to me, it counts. It sure gets lonely here, and when Mom tells me one of you asked after me, it makes me feel very good. Thank you so much. I am ever so grateful. I can only hope that you will continue to give me your blessings and wishes.
The good news is that I managed to get myself to the minimum standards for a PPL flight test. The test is booked for Wednesday 11-OCT-2006 at noon. The test will last about 5 hours. At the end, and if everything goes well, I will be a Private Pilot. And Raj is standing here asking me who my first passenger will be? That's something I've not thought about really. I'll chew over it.

So the last 2 weeks went well. There was a lot more flying with Alistair, and he gave me the recommendation for the flight test. At home, cooking activities have slowed down, and reading has taken slightly higher priority. My roommate Salti got a Hyundai Accent, and he's been driving all over the region. And I get to move around sometimes. Yesterday we went to Fruiticana, the very famous Indian grocery chain here, and picked up a bunch of desi snacks. There's something I hadn't seen in India - barbeque flavored baked corn. It's like masala bhutta, but baked. It's large corn, crispy, and spicy. Irresistible. I also found bhel puri mixture. So that was 2 kilos of corn snacks and a kilo of bhel puri. And what I saw next, I couldn't resist. Jalebis! Life is good. Then I saw this movie Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. I tell you, this was the tear jerker of the year. Or maybe it's just me. This Johar guy, who made the movie, he should get a kick in his backside. Or maybe it's just me. My life is scarred, and this one really pinched me. Powerful, rocking dialogues. Check out this one: "They say that time heals all wounds. But wounds from relationships only get deeper with time. Only get deeper." Yeah, I guess, it's just me.

Next week should be rather exciting. There's Thanksgiving dinner on Monday. Then there's the flight test on Wednesday. And if all goes well, a big party on Friday!!! YEAAAAAAAAAAAA. I'm also going to buy a second-hand airband transceiver. This will be my emergency backup radio, if a situation arises when the radio in the aircraft goes dead. YES, that can happen. And you know what, the radio is your lifeline. It's a good idea to have a backup.

Cheers
Mayur Poddar