NOSEWHEEL STEERING

Mungkin ramai yang mempunyai persoalan di dalam kepala, macam mana kapalterbang mengubah haluan semasa bergerak di atas taxiway atau landasan sebelum dan selepas terbang? Macam mana kapalterbang nak parking?









Kapalterbang kecil seperti Cessna 172 atau piper yang sering digunakan oleh pelatih pelatih selalunya menggunakan differential braking, dengan cara menekan brek untuk mengubah arah. contohnya kalau nak membelok kekanan, mereka akan tekan brek sebelah kanan sahaja, kalau kekiri, sebaliknya lah. Kapalterbang yang besar, boleh juga menggunakan kaedah itu tetapi kurang efektif dan kena support dengan differential power, iaitu dgn menambah power sebelah enjin sambil menekan brek sebelah yang hendah dituju.









Kapalterbang yang besar besar menggunakan kuasa hydraulic untuk steer the nosewheel. Ini dinamakan nosewheel steering atau dipanggil TILLER . Fungsinya sama lah macam steering kereta, cuma steering nya tak la sebesar steering kereta. Tiller ini pun bukan link direct ke nosewheel. Tiller ni apabila digunakan akan memberi signal kepada hydraulic servo, which in turn akan menggerakkan nosewheel ke kiri atau kekanan mengikut input dari tiller. Kiranya macam powered steering lah. Semasa kapalterbang bergerak perlahan, pilot akan menggunakan tiller ini untuk steer kekiri atau kekanan tetapi apabila kelajuan pesawat meningkat, contohnya semasa takeoff, nosewheel control akan diambil alih oleh rudder yang mana pilot akan menggunakan rudder pedal pula untuk mengawal haluan sehingga la pesawat berlepas ke udara.






Tiller on the Airbus 340-500. Dah boring sangat ,sambil minum kopi, took this picture.

Canadian Air Force SNOWBIRDS

This is RMAF CL41G, TEBUAN. Picture taken in 1982, when I was a second lieutenant,22 years old. Now these kind of planes can be found in various bases and museums as exhibition only.

This is the same varient, Canadian Ct114 TUTOR. Until now, they still fly these planes for their National Aerobatic Team, The SNOWBIRDS.

Why cant we do the same ?

KARENAH PENUMPANG

Baru balik dari 37 hour layover kat Casablanca. Masa pegi, headwind kuat sampai flight time yang selalunya 7 jam lebih jadi sampai 9 jam. Ada sekumpulan 40 orang dari Pakistan, nampak gaya macam first timer naik kapalterbang. Semasa dalam penerbangan siap boleh suruh pilot pusing hala menghadap ke Kiblat. Masa tu dah berada sebelah barat Mekah dan kalau nak alih haluan sampai 180 darjah. Nak explain kat dia orang ni pun susah sebab tak faham Inggeris. Alasan dia orang , nak sembahyang jemaah so senang semua menghadap ke depan kapalterbang.

Kapalterbang ada laluan dia yg tertentu dan tak boleh ubah2 sesuka hati. Lagi pun minyak cukup2 jer untuk route tu, kalau terbang menghadap ke destinasi lain semata mata nak sembahyang menghadap kiblat, mau mati enjin kerana kehabisan minyak. Dalam pesawat ada entertainment system, boleh tukar channel ke map mode dan boleh tengok arah kiblat dari situ.

Dah settle yg itu, dia orang berkeras juga nak sembahyang berjemaah, masalahnya mana ada tempat. Siap dgn azan lagi dalam kapalterbang so penumpang2 mat salleh semua panic la, tau tau jer la kan bila dengar laungan Allah hu Akhbar dia org dah sinonim dgn letupkan diri sendiri dan sebagainya. Kena la explain kat mat salleh2 yg paranoid tu. So jalan mudah, I switched on seat belt sign, dan semua kena duduk kat tempat masing2, walau pun cuaca sangat baik dalam smooth flight.. Dia orang ni menunjukkan macam la Islam tu rigid sangat, padahal banyak flexibility nya dalam mengerjakan sembahyang.

Perjalanan balik, tengah malam dari dari Casablanca ke Abu Dhabi, 6 jam lebih jer sebab this time angin tolong tolak dari belakang. Tengah sedap2 tidor , controlled rest ok , dalam cockpit, dibenarkan bila dah ngantok sangat asalkan sorang jer yg tidor, tiba2 berbunyai fire alarm..

Rupanya smoke detector sudah detect ada asap dari dalam toilet kat belakang sekali, economy class. Cabin crew buka dari luar, dapat tangkap 2 minah morocco tengah hisap rokok dalam toilet tu.. punya la bengang. Apa nak buat, bagi verbal warning jer la... dah tak tahan sangat la tu.

macam macam hal... nak tidor dulu, bayar balik hutang tidor.

Al Ain Airshow 2011 Part 1

04 Feb 2011, watched the air show at the Al Ain Airport. Armed with my newly purchased EOS550D with Sigma 70-300 lens, well actually it was my first assignment. Photo shot taken with auto focus, making full use of the 3.5 fps capability. Here are few pictures out of hundreds that I shot. Enjoy...

Al Ain Airshow 2011 Part 2

Italians fit out flying machines for our magnificent men - The National

Italians fit out flying machines for our magnificent men - The National

DEPARTURE TO LONDON LHR

Took off from AUH Abu Dhabi International Airport at 0420 UTC or 0820 local time, Runway 13 ,Easterly direction then turned left to the West and had a good view of the airport on my left hand side. At the end of the runway, western side with the red roof is the Ferrari world, the theme park where the fastest roller coaster in the world situated.

Abu Dhabi city view from the North at 8000 feet above sea level. 3 years ago, the number of the buildings is half of the present.

Basically there are 3 choices of routes to London from Abu Dhabi. Over Saudi, then Jordan, Syria and Turkey on the first half, or over Iraq then Turkey or over Iran then Turkey. The shortest one is over Iraq which open recently for commercial but due to the turbulence over that area, the company chose routing via Iran.

In winter, the visibility always good.

This beautiful view I captured when we were flying somewhere near Tabriz, North of Iran.

IN-FLIGHT DIVERSION

Yes I am now in Milan Melpansa Airport, resting in the hotel room before my flight back to AUH. Earlier , I was supposed to land at CDG, Paris but due to heavy snow fall the airport was closed just before we reach our top of descend. Initial diversion was to Llyon, LFLL but we were few minutes late, all the parking spaces taken by the diverting planes. Munich, Frankfurt, Orly, Brussel all covered by the snow as well so the best choice that left for me was LIMC, MXP or Milan Malpensa....

Touched down uneventful at 0837 local time, waited in the plane with some the angry looking passengers until new set of crew arrived to take over from us. Luckily another set of crew was ready at the airport to fly the passengers from Milan to Abu Dhabi. Company decision, we will do the Milan to Abu Dhabi sector after rested for minimum of 12 hours at the hotel and the original crew for that flight will bring the passenger to Paris... hmmm good luck guys..

Points to consider, the weather over Europe in winter can change drastically. Taking extra fuel always help ( in my case, I took 2 hours extra holding fuel ). Duty Period and Flight Time Limitation are always the limiting factors in any diversion, so keep the table handy. Try as much as you can to console the angry passenger for not taking them to the place that they wanted to go.. Overall, Safe Flight Always..

VISITING OLD FRIEND

Our friend, classmate, schoolmate and his bed was beside mine in the same dorm when we were in RMC... Prof Dato' Dr Radin Umar , now he is the Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan Tinggi was not very well due to an illness. After a few operations and medical observations, Alhamdulillah he is back to normal everyday life and back to his office. We paid him a visit recently and after been given green light by him after the quarantine period was over.

Me and Prof Dato Radin Umar

 

Prof Wan Zaidi of UTM Skudai and YB Yaakob Sapari, EXCO Selangor

Me and Adzmir, another ex RMAF partner in mischief during our RMC days.

Among us, Oficers in Armed Forces, lecturers, doctors, Lawyers and judges, Pengetua Sekolah, Politican and Businessman. Good mixtures in a friendship circle.

Bye bye Dato', thanks for the advices and tips on how to keep healthy and sharing the agony and feeling before entering the operation theater. God bless you.

SIMULTANEOUS APPROACH

" Etihad 472 clear to land runway 25 R , Traffic on your left coming to land on 25L "

This simultaneous approach on both runways is common, especially at heavy traffics airport. I have seen it at London, Paris, Beijing, JFK but not at KLIA... In these pictures, I was on final approach to land on runway 25 right and at the same time another plane is making an approach at the same time on runway 25 left. WIII Sukarno Hatta International Airport. Well, that's the idea of having two or more runaways...