The Underage Flyer

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2009-07-13T02:13:00.002+08:00

The Long Nav

2009-06-18T20:32:00.004+08:00

Finally, I'm done the long nav after 3 times being cancelled due to low visibility. The route was WMKJ->WMKM->WMKJ which took me 2 hours plus. It was burning up there and as usual, my skin got burnt. But this time it's for 2 hours. Yeah nigga.

This is ~~piss~~ the official drink of the nav. Gatorade!Bukit Beruang

Haze

2009-06-11T22:43:00.009+08:00

It's the haze season as of now. Not too serious, but still no one likes them. I went out of my house few days ago. I saw this. OMG!!! At first I thought it was those guys spraying the mosquito thing.

Who do I blame? I don't really know. But these guys below are blaming it on someone.

Crazy Nav

2009-06-10T16:15:00.003+08:00

So lazy to update these days sorry.

Brought with me a cold ice cream soda drink for flying, but when I wanted to drink it at 30 minutes later after airborne, it's no longer cold. It has then turned very hot, maybe 40 deg. Sucks so much for me since I really need a cold refreshing drink to counter the hot temperature while flying.

This is Benut. The line that splits between the land and sea is a very nice view to behold. Eye candy.

Those are the mountains that I'll be passing before I arrive overhead Batu Pahat. Here, I was ~~cam-whoring~~ taking pictures when suddenly, there was a slight bump. I felt like I had hit something. I checked the props, everything seems normal. But I really felt like I hit something, I think I had hit a bird. Since there's nothing else I can think of at that time. I decided to get over it and continued. (Sorry little thing I hit on the air, I didn't see you coming at all)

This is overhead Batu Pahat. In which I'll turn my track to Yong Peng.

So I'm done with my nav. Coming back to Senai it seems like the A380 is still doing it's circuit training. I was thinking

"Wah, bestnye land belakang A380!!"

Requested to land and I was cleared for for number 2 behind number 1 (the A380). ATC also informed

"Caution, turbulence"

I did an orbit just to reduce the chances of me getting hit by the turbulence before turning base. After the A380 had done it's touch & go I turned base and thereafter final.

So here I am on final. Everything went normally, I also thought that I did a smooth landing although I flared a bit higher than I should've. But then, the turbulence kicked in, and I scrambled to maintain the aircraft in it's manner. I managed to control it, thank God. When I taxied back to cargo apron to park I realized that the canopy lock is locked from the outside. FFFFUUUU. Just my luck, the Petronas refueling truck was there and the bro helped me unlock it. My friend once was in a similar situation as I was. But he got locked for almost an hour. He breathed from the small cigarette hole for God's sake! Kesian man.

Singapore Airlines A380

2009-06-05T22:25:00.003+08:00

Finally! This opportunity came. A380 coming to Senai for circuit training and I'm flying and I brought my camera with me! :D Sorry for the dirty canopy glass, KLIFA don't clean them. Pfft. Anyways, enjoy!

The turbulence created from the A380 is monsterous! I'll tell more in the next post.

Goodbye to the Most Awesome Pilot Blog Ever

2009-05-26T15:54:00.003+08:00

Goodbye to Yellowherbie's Journeys Across Continents. It's the best ever pilot blog I've ever visited. I never follow other people's blogs, but if I was going to start following blogs, I'll certainly follow his.

His last post

The post that probably made him stop blogging

Link to his last post saved on Google Cache

Thanks for the memories, you've inspired a lot of wanna-be pilots and flying enthusiast. Hope you'll continue back to blogging on your flying experiences.

Jalan- jalan Singapura

2009-05-25T17:08:00.004+08:00

Just for the record, I only converted RM 50 for this trip. Yes I'm super-duper cheapskate and poor at that time too.

I took public transport for the whole trip, since Singapore's public transport are really efficient. Better than Malaysia by at least 10 times LOL.

Phua Chu Kang has a point here

Before I went back I managed to snap this picture. Set the camera to no flash, because I'm scared of waking this dude up. I'll be dead if that happened :P

Feels good man

Oversleeping = Hungry

2009-05-19T01:40:00.004+08:00

After the nav I did (refer post below), I went back and surfed the net for a while. Then I rested on the bed at 7 pm. I woke up and it's 2 am. Facepalm. Shops are closed, I'm feeling unbelievably hungry. I decided to surf the net (again, yes you can tell me get a life I won't mind). Time flies and it's now 3.30 am. I really had to eat, I went out and remembered McD Kulai is 24 hours. FOOOOD!!

Me : Kak, bagi Big Mac set large take-away

Akak McD : Big Mac takde lah dik

Me : Tapi... ni McD, macam mane takde Big Mac pulak?.... Bagi Quarter Pounder je lah

Akak McD : Yang tu pun dah habis lah dik

Monologue of me : FFFFFUUUUU

Me : Bagi 2 Beefburger je lah, kalau macam tu...

I settled for Beefburgers instead. Pffft... Arrived home. What should I watch while eating them?

How I Met Your Mother

Fast and Furious

To my surprise, 2 beefburgers actually made my stomach full. btw, anyone watch HIMYM too? It's awesome!!

Randomness at Home

2009-05-04T22:54:00.002+08:00

Sorry for not updating the blog for a very very long time. I've had nothing interesting to write that'll appeal to readers.

I've been home for more than 1 week since I have no business at KLIFA as of now. I went out as well, but I won't tell you about that :P

I spent time with my nephew, "A" is what I'll call him in my blog. Very quiet little baby, but my sis said that I was so much quieter as a baby, hehe.

I also ate some delicious chocolates that I haven't got to taste for some very long months. I opened the fridge and the it was, 3 Ferrero Rochers in an unopened pack. Heaven to my eyes.

Now you guys can start drooling ;P

Then, there's the house cat. Not really ours, but they lepak at our house, I just gave them food.

All of this are random. I post them to tell people I'm still keeping this blog alive ;p

1 year of piloting course

2009-04-21T19:01:00.005+08:00

Today's the day that marks my 1 year of involvement into this CPL/IR with Frozen ATPL course. How's the progress? I won't comment too much about it just let the numbers speak for themselves.

Overall

PPL ground school - 5 weeks
DCAT ground school - 10 weeks
PPL flying phase - 10 weeks
CAA 6 ground school - 18 weeks
CAA 2 ground school - 8 weeks (as of now)
integrated with flying

Total for now = 51 weeks

Supposedly finish the course = 65 weeks

Flying progress

PPL flying phase - 12.5 hours
CAA 6 ground school - 1 hour
CAA 2 ground school - 29.5 hours
integrated with flying

No PPL

Total for now = 43 hours

Supposedly finish the course = 200 hours

Weeks left to finish the course = 14 weeks

Some maths here

200 hours - 43 hours = 157 hours

157 hours / 14 weeks = 11 hours per week

So, to graduate ON time, I must clock 11 hours per week.

Question here is :

Is it possible 11 hours per week? Yes
Can I do 11 hours per week? Yes
Will I get the chance to clock 11 hours per week? No
Will I graduate on time? No

Bilekah akan aku habis course ini? 20 bulan? 2 tahun? Tak tahu aku menjawabnye

From London with Love

2009-04-16T20:15:00.004+08:00

Hot delivery

My sexy bed surprise

Made in Indonesia, but bought at UK. Yea it's very far I know

Gooners!!

Joining my poor man's jersey collection

How the Hell did I end up Taking a Pilot License

2009-04-12T19:05:00.005+08:00

Remember during early primary school years when we were always made to write an essay titled Cita-cita Saya or My Ambition in both language? Yea I've been there done that. I wanted to become a policeman (yea, the typical ambition for 7 year old kids those days). Why? Because of the awesome 9mm guns that were used to shoot bad guys. I was also influenced by the then popular TV show Gerak Khas on RTM2 at 9pm (yes, I still remember). As I grew older I realized that the show was full of rubbish same as RTM.

Then, at the end of my primary school days, I became interested in keusahawanan. Entrepreneurship as people call it. I was dreaming of big bucks easily as in filthy rich with big houses, supercars, ~~4 wives~~ and endless enjoyment. It was such a nice thought though even for anyone.

Then in Form 3 I took up few engineering subjects as advised by my parents in which I don't have a single interest in. I pictured myself as an engineer which was in itself was ok for me. So I ended my school days as an engineering student.

So, how the hell am I here? Doing my CPL/IR with Frozen ATPL? How??? Well, first things first is that I don't go gaga everytime I see an aeroplane. I don't stare at them for a long time like some other aviation fanatics/wannabe pilots. I never had a lifelong passion on piloting at all. Heck, even the first time I flew (with MAS) I kept my cool. Once on a 13 hour flight I slept most of the time and didn't even tried to enjoy the view.

Here it goes, once I finished my SPM I searched for what kind of career that I should dive into. First choice was engineering as I have the experience in them and secondly was venturing into business. I find both of them lacking the excitement factor (at least for me). So I searched for other options. My parents were chatting about pilots and it quickly made me interested. The pay was a lot too for a Malaysian. My parents were very supportive in my decision and I enrolled into a flying school and here is where I am now. I'm loving it!

Before ending this post I'll share a quote from pprune : -

"There are only a handful of those who genuinely wants to be pilot. Others join the flying school because they are too rich and don't know what else to do in life."

Quite true :p

Dynolicious on Eagle 150 B

2009-04-09T02:09:00.009+08:00

Today I didn't feel like flying since the weather was reported as thunderstorm and rain at the time I supposed to be flying. I waited for 30 minutes and I was happy to see the dark clouds been blown to the west of airfield. I only did circuits and landing today as it's the safest thing to do at my current level of experience and the aircraft that I'm flying. Today also I'll be trying my dyno app (for car) onto an aircraft. See the results below.

See the clouds?

Here is the point where I start my dynolicious app

Note : This was all done while taking-off and it might all be wrong as this app was never created for aircrafts, just cars :p

RMAF's Fokker F28 Fellowship

2009-04-07T19:32:00.004+08:00

Today was just a normal flight day, I did solo training area and I don't want to bore readers with the same old exercise. Today, Putra 03 (the call sign) parked for a while at the cargo bay and I decided to snap pictures of it since I never had the chance to snap it before. It's RMAF's Fokker F28 Fellowship. The pilot decided to go to the loo. From the radio transmission that I heard, they were 13 POB on board, ~~I think they're royalties :P~~. Before this I managed to snap RMAF's 737 during take-off. You can view it here.

MFA's Seneca was also here

When will I be flying jets? :/Still dreaming

End of jets picture taking, back to flying single engine prop aircrafts :b

Sekarang belajar ape? The most hated question by me

2009-04-04T23:11:00.009+08:00

So, here it goes. Since I enrolled into KLIFA last year, I've been facing this problem. Which is, people asking me about what I'm studying now. It goes like this :

"Sekarang dik belajar ape?"
or
"What are you studying now?"

During my early days as a cadet pilot I usually tell them the truth (because I was bangga during those days) in which (in a complete sudden) creates a spark of interest from their boring day job. From there they will ask more annoying questions such as :

"Berape lame kursus ni?"

"Berape agaknye harge kursus ni?"

"Dah pernah bawak kapal terbang?"

"Bawak kapal terbang Boeing/Airbus ke?" (WTF? Eagle sudah...)

"Dah boleh bawak sorang ke?"

"Lepas habis nak kerja dengan syarikat mane?" (Too futuristic)

Especially during lunch break when we all go for lunch wearing the uniform (we don't change it of course). I seriously would just say (if it was the internet world) GTFO and Google it. The funny thing is that it always happen while we're eating. The time when we leisure ourselves with dirty talks and gossips. Yes, I end up answering them in the most polite manner and giving them all the answers.

Even if I took out my epaulettes, I won't look like a taxi driver since I don't have the over-sized belly plus I look too young even if I grew some facial hair. When I'm wearing the epaulettes, I won't look like a security guard as I have the babyface.

So, I've been figuring out this few months of the perfect lie. I haven't found it yet :/ . But, so far if I'm not wearing any uniform, I can lie that I'm a fresh school leaver (baru habis SPM). And to cheat those people that I've lied about studying in some IT college, I need to find a name for that IT college lol.

Killing Time in Ground School

2009-04-01T00:39:00.004+08:00

Seriously, no one studies all the time in class, some (like me) only study for a very small time and just wait for the class to end and continue doing unproductive things at our home.

The first few hours of the day Once we open our Performance 'A', we all went pai seh

Easiest way to kill time, handphone

Then, there's the iPod

and PSP, but I didn't capture any pics though

Tic-Tac-Toe

Look at the face of unparalelled focus onto a game

Kepong a.k.a Conquer (brings back school days memories)Never forgetting the legendary method : Sleeping

and cam whore-ing!

Update!

Besides all these stuffs that we do, we also do another thing, that is, name calling. MUAHAHAHAHA (evil laugh). The usual casualties are our Iranian course leader, Bagan Serai "kampung" boy and the rarely seen (macam biskut) nosewheel landing pilot.

General Handling : West of Gunung Pulai + Pics

2009-03-28T16:41:00.004+08:00

Visibility was shitty

The beautiful dam

How could people live there? No life?

Another view

Pontian Kechil

If you look hard enough, you can see Pulau Pisang

Today was the busiest day for me flying solo as they were 4 aircrafts from KLIFA flying, at least 4 from MFA, 2 from flying clubs and also some private aircrafts beside the big commercial planes

Jessica Cox, the Armless Female Pilot

2009-03-27T00:44:00.002+08:00

I just knew about this from FlyDamnIt. This is just too awesome until no amounts of words can describe how cool it is.

Just think about it, she didn't use the rudder controls since she is only controlling the power and yoke

p/s : She's hot too

Nav Intro

2009-03-24T22:04:00.005+08:00

I finally went for Navigation Introduction last week, I didn't prepare much for it, just the flight plan and flight log. Heck, I didn't even know how to do the radio call (RT) as well.

~~Map~~Chart and Flight Log

Nav Intro route :

WMKJ -> Kulai -> Benut -> Batu Pahat -> Parit Sulong -> Yong Peng -> Simpang Renggam -> Kulai -> WMKJ

The scenery was breathtaking and beautiful. Sad to say no pics as it was a dual flight. I'll take some next time I go for solo :D

I learned how to do the RT for nav. It goes like this ...

"Suria 0X, overhead Kulai this time 1500 feet, estimate Benut 24"
and for reporting position
"2 miles to reach Yong Peng, Suria 0X"

Ground School Restart

2009-03-24T00:33:00.004+08:00

After 2 weeks of no ground school,only flying, my batch finally went back to ground school. Full ground school, no integrated with flying. It's gonna be a boring and sleepy next 2 weeks for me.

Meh.

I arrived at my house in Johor at 0430 in the wee hours as the bus I took left at 0000. I didn't sleep as I drank Red Bull on the bus(yea, stupid of me). I didn't sleep until I went to KLIFA.

We learned Performance-A today

Reference and mug-ups

Only 6/20 guys came today. It was boring as hell. I used my books as "bantal" as it feels so good on my face

6 of us then played this one game on my iPod. Flight Control is the name. Even our instructor joined in as well ;p

p/s : I hold the high score

FedEx plane crashes on landing at Narita airport; pilot, co-pilot killed

2009-03-23T19:36:00.005+08:00

NARITA — A FedEx cargo plane crash-landed and burst into flames early Monday morning at Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo, killing the two U.S. crew members aboard and causing widespread flight disruption at Japan’s largest international gateway.

Transport ministry and other investigators believe the accident was partly caused by strong winds buffeting the MD-11 aircraft as it attempted to land at around 6:50 a.m. Winds of up to 72 kilometers per hour were blowing in the vicinity of the airport at the time.

Before landing, airport traffic controllers warned the plane of the possibility of wind shear—a condition in which wind speed and direction suddenly change—up to at an altitude of 600 meters, according to the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry.

It is the first fatal aircraft accident at Narita airport since it opened in 1978, according to the airport operating company.

The airport’s main A Runway, on which the cargo plane touched down, was closed in the wake of the accident, while the B Runway is operating. A total of 35 flights, mostly international and including those heading to New York, have been canceled and 18 arriving flights have been rerouted to other airports, the transport ministry said.

The aircraft, Flight 80 from Guangzhou, China, had flammable liquid aboard, according to the transport ministry. It took firefighters about two hours to extinguish the blaze, which completely destroyed the aircraft.

Two men were rescued from the cockpit at around 8 a.m. but were confirmed dead at a nearby hospital, the Chiba prefectural police said.

The police said they confirmed with FedEx that the crew members of the flight were Kevin Kyle Mosley, 54, the pilot, and Anthony Stephen Pino, 49, the co-pilot—both U.S. citizens.

Video footage showed the plane touching down on its rear wheels and its nose slamming into the runway.

The plane bounced and its left wing hit the ground, bursting into flames. It then flopped over and veered off the runway with flames coming from the center of the fuselage.

Source : Japan Today

*******************************************************************************************

Scary incident, very bad landing. RIP pilots

KLIFA rumour

2009-03-17T23:49:00.004+08:00

I heard from a friend of mine that he heard from he's friend that heard it from the CEO (I know it's confusing, haha) that he bought 4 Piper single engine and 1 Piper multi engine from US. How true is this? What I know is that comes May, batch 01 until 05 will be flying with the current fleet of 4 single engine. How will they cope with this?

No one knows

General Handling : South of Gunung Pulai + Pics

2009-03-17T22:20:00.003+08:00

Today I went solo to South of Gunung Pulai. I requested for West of Airfield but the ATC cleared me to operate South of Gunung Pulai. My 1st time :p . I just flew near to the border of West of Airfield so that I won't get lost.

The Air Force's 737, Badawi's ride

Looks nice doesn't it?

A lot of houses here

During morning I did circuit and landing, and the visibility of East of Airfield was very bad, since the cloud base was about 700ft. Nevertheless, it looks like I'm flying at higher flight level ;p.

Beautiful

Funny joke by my instructor

2009-03-15T02:22:00.004+08:00

The other day, myself and a few friends were chatting with one of our flying instructor and he told us a very nice joke when he was flying with a student. They were doing navigation

Student Pilot : Terima Kasih (with an Arabic accent since he's Arabic)
Flying Instructor : I have control!! (because he thought he said Kamikaze lol)
ATC : Sama-sama
Flying Instructor : Oh, ok...

ROFL. Terima kasih to Kamikaze, didn't realize they rhyme so much

AirAsia departing Pics

2009-03-14T19:20:00.004+08:00

This is a normal view at Senai Airport at the cargo holding point. This time I managed to capture AirAsia's A320 departing to Kuala Lumpur.

Cleared for take-off and now rolling

Should've went a bit more in front at the holding point for better view :/Bye, my camera's zoom range is out of range

I got karaoke-rolled

2009-03-14T01:36:00.006+08:00

It seemed very harmless at first when I was invited by Ab and H to what I thought was night fishing at Kota Tinggi. So, at 8pm I went to their house and I saw a car parked in front of their house which was not theirs. I thought maybe were following them because they knew the place, so... I was feeling okay then.

In the car, they were playing some 90s (very very slow) songs which I found really awkward and also some very very mainstream current songs. I was in a stranger's car that I don't know and he was playing some irritating songs. Come on, play some songs from The Bravery or Snow Patrol la... The driver, also the leader of the family was talking so much to H, it was like H is the son he never had and he wanted to adopt H. He wanted to bring him to family weddings, family outings and so on. Me and Ab just spoke few words as we don't really have anything worthwhile to talk about.

So, we arrived at the first stop of a very regrettable night. A house. This is the point where we know what was really happening. Tonight's activity wasn't fishing, it was visiting their family member a day before their "bersanding" ceremony tomorrow. I felt so cheated.

The 3 of us had a conversation which went something like this

Ab : Kite kene tipu dengan H la...
Me : *facepalm*
H : Sori ar... aku ingat pegi fishing, tapi rupenye bende ni pulak
Ab : Aku kalau bende2 cam ni sori ar... aku memang tak minat

We then knew that there were going to be some karaoke as well at the majlis. Great(sarcasm). We arrived at the majlis which were only for family members and we were there. I'm not really familiar with crashing a majlis that I'm not invited to. I bersalam with everyone there and sat. Then, the family guy, introduced us and said "Ni semua pilot ni" (dengan bangganya) . I expected that, so typical of Malaysians and Malays as well. H, the kind of son that the family guy ever wanted was invited to karaoke. I lol'd. I recommended him Widuri by Broery as it wasn't a hard song to perform. But, I must say... H you sang it bad, really badly. I had an evil grin on my face.

I don't know if this is a Johorean culture, but from where I'm from (Selangor), we don't sing karaoke loudly (macam konsert) at 10pm until midnight. I had a big culture shock that night. What made it worse (if I was the neighbor) was that it was in a terrace housing area. Which makes the neighbors is right beside you.

We arrived at our house and after saying our thank yous to them, they left. We 3 looked at each other and smiled.

General Handling : North of Gunung Pulai + Pics

2009-03-13T19:00:00.006+08:00

You don't see this at other flying schools

Line up on runway 16 Town of Sedenak, the point where I report established North of Gunung Pulai

Commence practice forced landing (PFL) here

Nice view of Gunung Pulai at North of Gunung Pulai I can see my house from here

11 March round-up

2009-03-12T00:29:00.006+08:00

So, on 11th I had the most tiring day of flying. My first time ever flying 3 sorties in one day which is 3 hours of flying (GILA! FLY EAGLE PULAK TU!!!). I went with "A" (I'll tell more about this very special specimen of human being in later posts, he's very intriguing) to KLIFA earlier since the morning sortie guys were absence (note: I didn't steal any sorties). But, if I can fly more, I'd do it, who would'nt?

I was doing the 3rd sortie of the day, killed time with orbiting on top of UTM Skudai just to see if there were any "jakuns" around there going

"Tengok! kapal terbang...."(with finger pointing)

or maybe some would say

"Ceh, attention-whore betul la mamat tu"

After about 30 minutes of flying, the clouds had become darker but for me, it was still flyable. I checked my phone and I saw 3 missed calls and 2 SMS-es all from my instructor. This was his message

Meh... okla, rejoin. On final there were some strong crosswind, I was like..... shit. I touched down safely but it seems like the main wheels were vibrating too much. One of the things I hate about Eagle, is that it vibrates so much even during normal taxying, I had to bear with this and hope I don't screw up and the aircraft is maintained well.

I went back and arrived home at 4pm. Then, suddenly I woke up at 9pm because of a phone call from my friend and later also a few more calls, hehe (I never even knew I went to sleep lol). I was having like a mild hangover (no drugs & alcohol related) when I answered the call. They were asking for the flying schedule for 12th. I'm the unpaid flight ops guy (kidding guys :p)

I then decided to go for dinner, just when I was "taxying" out, I felt something with my tyres. I checked and they're pancit. *facepalm*

On 12th I have 2 more sorties, hope that I wont be as tired as these 3 sorties.

Ground School

2009-03-09T16:53:00.002+08:00

Ground school is just a term we used in flying school for studying theory.

Currently, the Malaysian DCA is using the UK CAA syllabus.

There are 3 stages in the exam taking, PPL>CPL>ATPL

During the PPL stage, you'll sit for these papers :

1) Aircraft General
2) Air Law
3) Radio Telephony Theory
4) Navigation & Meteorology
5) Human Performance & Limitations
plus
6) Type Technical for Single Engine Aircraft

Then, you move to CPL, where you'll find slightly difficult papers :

1) 2 Papers for Air Law
2) Radio Telephony Theory
3) Human Performance & Limitations
4) Principle of Flight
5) Engine
6) Electrics
7) Airframe Systems
plus
8) Type Technical for Single Engine Aircraft (if you're current aircraft is not suitable for CPL flying)

Lastly, you're at ATPL stage(the hard one) which is divided into 2 itself :

For CA-6 papers, you'll have :

1) Radio Aids
2) Flight Planning
3) Instruments
4) Navigation
5) Meteorology Theory
6) Meteorology Practical

and for CA-2 :

1) Performance A
2) Loading

plus
1) Type Technical for Twin Engine Aircraft

With all these passed, you're just left to finish your hours flying

Flying school offer letter

2009-03-09T16:36:00.002+08:00

DCA approval letter (checked)
Medical certificate Class 1 and Class 2 (checked)

You will then get a flying school offer letter

Below is mine

General Handling : West of Airfield + Pics

2009-03-09T00:03:00.003+08:00

So, today I went to training area to do my GH solo. There's not much I can do there, just practice climb, descend, turn, turn and more turns.

Maintain 1500 ft, 100 knots

Awesome visibility in the evening, not hot at all

UTM Skudai I went lower, hehe Skudai Parade

The toll

So You Wanna be a Pilot?

2009-03-08T13:20:00.002+08:00

AirAsia has a blog competition running now for aspiring pilot wannabees. Just submit a post into the blog and if you're post is good enough, you will be chosen to go into their selection of cadet pilots.

More infos can be found here http://blog.airasia.com/index.php/so-you-wanna-be-a-pilot

Good luck!

Doing circuits + Pics

2009-03-07T21:21:00.004+08:00

At holding point Hold with enough grip, not too hard

Maintain 1000 ft, heading 16, 100 kts

Right downwind for runway 16

After touch&go, notice another company eagle and 2 747s parked at cargo apron Main terminal. MAS's 737 parked, waiting for scheduled departure Holding on west of airfield due to scheduled arrival AirAsia A320

IOI mall Kulai

Sorry couldn't take more while landing, was too focussed :p .

AirAsia X's A340 9M-XAB Xcaliber

2009-03-06T23:16:00.004+08:00

AirAsia X's new addition to their fleet, the Xcaliber spotted doing PEN-KUL

Choosing a flying school

2009-03-05T15:02:00.003+08:00

So, you've got your DCA approval letter and passed your medical check-up, now you are ready to enroll into a flying academy to live the dream you've always wanted to.

Here are the IMPORTANT things that you NEED to have in mind

Money - most flying schools now are charging around the RM 250k mark and will increase in future
Aircraft fleet and flying instructors - check if they have sufficient in both of these with the amount of cadets they're currently having
Facilities - simulators etc.

These are less important than what I explained above and for me are just plus points if you got them. But flying schools are actually advertising it like it's the main reason you must join them.

Comfortable classes for ground school
Delicious food
Comfortable accommodation for cadets
Facilities such as library, gym, swimming pool etc.

So, don't be fool with false and bias advertisement, check the school out first and ask the cadets for current progress in the flying school (especially delays in flying, they usually will tell the truth). As you know, businessmen would say anything to please their future customers and that includes lies.

List of flying schools in Malaysia. I didn't list them out in ranking

1. Malaysian Flying Academy (MFA)
Batu Berendam Melaka
2. Gulf Golden International Flying Academy (GGIFA)
Bintulu, Sarawak
3. Asia Pacific Flight Training (APFT)
Kota Bharu, Kelantan
4. Integrated Training & Services (IT&S)
Ipoh, Perak
5. HM Aerospace (HMA)
Langkawi, Kedah
6. KL International Flying Academy (KLIFA)
Senai, Johor
7. Austral Academy
Sandakan, Sabah

How and What to do to get Class 1 medical certificate

2009-03-04T21:37:00.007+08:00

2. Obtain Class 1 and Class 2 medical certificate

I did mine at Drs.Young, Newton and Partners in PJ.

List of designated aviation medical examiners can be found here

I made an appointment with Dr. Kee, the medical examiner as he only does these check-ups by appointment.

What I did there is :

Urine test - pee in a cup, no biggie (don't take alcohol or drugs the night before, if you do, you're stupid)
Eye check - just say what number I saw in the book given and stood 5 metres away from the paper that has the letters thingy and just say what I saw using either one of my eyes
Body check-up - was asked if I had any health problems and did normal stethoscope breathing check, eye check, ear check as well as the knee hammer jerk
X-Ray check - nothing much, I just stand still for my X-Ray
Hearing check - sit in a small dark box and press a button every time I hear a beep
Blood test
Heart test - some wires were placed on my body and just wait for the results

Not actual chart

With all these done, I got my Class 1 and 2 medical certificate.

I paid RM 235 for the check-up.

Below is my medical certificate

After you've got the DCA approval letter and Class 1 and 2 Medical Certificate, you are free to join any flying school in Malaysia as you like. :)

Requirements to undergo CPL/IR with Frozen ATPL

2009-03-04T13:10:00.003+08:00

Just 4. They are :

Minimum age requirement is 17 years old
SPM 5 credits including English, Mathematics & Science
Obtain Class 1 and Class 2 medical certificate and must not be colour blind
Approval letter from DCA

WTF LOL at LCCT

2009-03-04T03:36:00.001+08:00

Seems fake, but funny nonetheless. Enjoy!

How to obtain DCA approval letter

2009-03-03T13:37:00.002+08:00

Since a lot of people don't know about this, I'll share my experience.

Example of application letter:

Chuck Bass
No. 9000,
Jalan Matang Buluh,
34300 Bagan Serai,
Perak.

1 April 2009

Capt. Dato Yahaya Abdul Rahman
Director of Flight Operation,
Department Of Civil Aviation Malaysia,
No. 27 Persiaran Perdana,
Level 4, Block Podium,
Precinct 4,
62618 Putrajaya,
Malaysia.

Dear Sir,

Application For Approval To Undergo The Commercial Pilot License ( CPL/IR) Course/Frozen ATPL

With reference to the application above , I would like to apply for your approval to undergo the commercial pilot's license course with instruments rating (CPL/IR) and frozen Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL) at any approved flying training schools in Malaysia.

2) I've obtained the minimum required results in SPM (can also add diploma, degree and so on) and I attach here a copy of my results slip for reference.

3) It has been a lifelong passion since I was a young to fly planes. (just write anything here on why you want to be a pilot)

4) I appreciate your cooperation and hope for a reply from you. (something like that)

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,
.......................................
(CHUCK BASS)

To put it in a nutshell, you must have these two in the letter
1. Why you want to undergo the course.
2. A copy of your SPM results. You must have Physics(or any science subjects), Mathematics, English, Bahasa Melayu and a minimum of 5 passing credits all together included.
3. Some say Medical Certificate is needed, but I got mine without them.

You can deliver the application letter in 3 ways

Email
Traditional posting
By hand

Within 2 weeks or so, after you're approved, you will receive the approval letter. Below is my letter of approval.

Original copy of my approval letter.

My friends' solo bath (with video)

2009-02-28T18:19:00.002+08:00

Appetizers (stale bread, muddy water and 2 dead frogs)Showing some love Part 1 Showing some love Part 2 ish ish ish, nangis plak

AirAsia posts pre-tax loss of RM 662m

2009-02-26T21:25:00.001+08:00

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — AirAsia Bhd recorded a pre-tax loss of RM662.357 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2008, compared to a pre-tax profit of RM450.152 million in 2007.

Revenue, however, rose to RM2.640 billion from RM1.933 billion previously, due to higher passenger volume achieved and higher contribution from ancillary income, the low-cost carrier said.

During the year, passenger volume grew by 22 per cent compared in 2007, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

AirAsia’s core operating profit was 19 per cent lower at RM171 million compared to RM211.147 million in 2007, largely due to a 47 per cent rise in the average jet fuel price.

The airline also recorded an exceptional item amounting to RM641 million which related to the provisions for unwinding its fuel and interest rate swap derivatives structures.

This was on view that the restructuring of derivative structure would safeguard the company from onerous mark to market swings, frees up equity and provide a stable cashflow, AirAsia said.

The unwinding cost is estimated to be fully recovered within eight months through savings derived from purchasing fuel and paying interest rates at spot market prices, it said.

On prospects, AirAsia said that despite that the current global economic crisis, it has managed to maintain its strong passenger traffic growth momentum as more passengers switched from full service carriers and used the airline as the primary air travel option.

The airline expects to carry 15 to 20 per cent more passengers this year, to be supported by the launch of new international services to destinations in India, China and Singapore. — Bernama

Source : TheMalaysianInsider.com

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Big loss is big

MAS posts profit despite challenging times

2009-02-26T18:13:00.001+08:00

By Yvonne Tan

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS), despite the challenging times that has seen a number of airlines going bust, has posted a net profit of RM46 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 (Q4).

Profit was 81% lower than the same quarter in 2007 due to the challenging environment compounded by volatile oil prices and slowing demand.

Revenue came in at RM3.70 billion.

For the corresponding period, it had reported a net profit of RM241.92 million on the back of RM4.07 billion in revenue.

The company reported Thursday that Q4’s profit was the tenth quarter of profits for the airline after it instituted changes backed by dynamic pricing, managing costs and innovation.

Source : The Star

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Very good since airlines around the world are having losses. Keep it up MAS!

Airliner Crash at Amsterdam, 9 dead

2009-02-25T21:13:00.001+08:00

By Harro ten Wolde

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Turkish Airlines passenger plane with 135 people aboard crashed in light fog while trying to land at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport on Wednesday, killing nine, a local official said.

Haarlemmermeer acting Mayor Michel Bezuijen said 50 people were injured, 25 severely, when flight 1951 crashed at 10:31 local time (4:31 a.m. EST) short of a runway at Schiphol, Europe's fifth-largest by passenger volume.

The cause of the crash was still not clear, Bezuijen told reporters.

Dutch television showed what appeared to be covered bodies on the ground near the crashed single-aisle Boeing 737 jetliner.

The crumpled plane lay in three parts, with the tail section of the fuselage broken off, and a wide crack in the fuselage just behind the cockpit. The airliner had not caught fire.

"We are in the middle of a field now, approximately 5-6 km from the airport," Survivor Mustafa Bahcecioglu told Turkish broadcaster Channel 24.

"The majority of the passengers are injured but there are people who are not injured. Around 30 ambulances have come," he said.

Airport officials said the crashed aircraft was a Boeing 737-800, flight TK 1951 from Istanbul.

The plane, on a flight from Istanbul, broke up when it hit the ground north of a runway at Schiphol, which is 20 km (12 miles) southwest of Amsterdam's center.

At Schiphol airport, 10 flights were delayed and 10 were canceled, but otherwise operations were as usual.

Survivor Huseyin Sumer told CNN Turk by telephone: "The plane split into three parts. We are calling people to say the situation is not very serious but there might be casualties on the front side of the plane."

The crash appeared to be the worst since an El Al cargo plane crashed into high-rise apartment blocks in a southeastern suburb of Amsterdam in October 1992, killing 43 people, 39 of them on the ground.

The 1992 cargo plane was a Boeing 747. It plowed into the buildings, setting them on fire, shortly after takeoff after two engines had broken off.

(Writing by Reed Stevenson; Additional reporting by Niclas Mika, Gilbert Kreijger, Catherine Hornby in Amsterdam, Philip Blenkinsop, Paul de Bendern in Istanbul and Ibon Villelabeitia in Ankara; Editing by Giles Elgood)

AirAsia needs RM13bil funding

2009-02-24T21:19:00.001+08:00

PETALING JAYA: AirAsia Bhd yesterday sealed a deal in London mandating Barclays Capital to fund the purchase of 15 new A320-200 aircraft worth nearly US$700mil (RM2.5bil) for delivery largely in 2009 despite global banks clamping down on lending.

After yesterday’s deal, AirAsia needs another RM13bil to fund 104 aircraft orders it has placed from 2010 to 2014.

It is learnt that AirAsia is also in talks with BNP Paribas to secure more funding for 14 new A320 aircraft whose deliveries are in 2010.

But beyond that, can it secure all the funding it needs to take delivery of all the orders it has placed?

“We are thrilled to have secured the funding. It is not easy to raise money in (current times). The fact that we are able to do it shows the confidence of the financial community in our business model as it is the worst period for the credit market.

“This financing takes care of our 2009 and part of 2010 deliveries. Getting more guarantees for 2010 will not be an issue as our model is strong and it enables us to raise the money,’’ group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said in London yesterday evening.

He added that “this financing (via Barclays Capital) and the one (being negotiatied with BNP Paribas) will take us till end of 2010.”

“If people cannot get credit after that, i.e. in 2011, it would mean that the aviation sector will really be in difficult times.

“If by then we are not able to get credit, then we will have to cancel our aircraft orders but we hope we will not have to get to that stage. I think two years is a long time and we will cross the bridge when we get there.

“In the immediate horizon we have two years worth of financing (to see us through). We dare say we have achieved what not many airlines could have achieved in current times,’’ he said.

The signing ceremony was held in London to formalise the facility and it was attended by Fernandes, Barclays Capital, Airbus (the aircraft manufacturer) and BayernLB.

The funding via Barclays Capital – the investment banking division of Barclays PLC – comes three months after AirAsia secured a facility for US$336mil (RM1.21bil) to fund eight new A320 aircraft purchases.

The lead arrrangers for that earlier deal was BNP Paribas and Natixis Transport Finance.

The signing yesterday also confirmed a StarBiz report on Nov 13 that AirAsia was then close to securing a deal to purchase aircraft worth about US$1bil.

AirAsia has ordered 175 aircraft with an option of 50 more. Thus far, it has taken delivery of 56 aircraft and will take delivery of 14 and 24 aircraft this year and in 2010 respectively.

The budget airline is on an expansion trail even though many carriers globally including full service carriers are grounding aircraft on many of their routes in the current economic slowdown.

“We will continue to grow and launch new routes. Dhaka will be our next new launch route. We are also seeing growth from the corporate sector, a sector which is new to us,” Fernandes said.

Asked why AirAsia had a sale and leaseback arrangement with Doric for its last two aircraft deliveries and whether it would do similar arrangements for the current order of the 15 new Airbus A320-200 aircraft, Fernandes said: “Doric was a unique arrangement where there were clear tax advantages. Our aim is to own aircraft.’’

Source : The Star

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That's a lot of job opportunities, hehe

Received my DCA exam results today...

2009-02-23T19:14:00.000+08:00

Last week my batch went for 2 exams at DCA Putrajaya, Human Performance and Limitations (HPL) and Type Tech for Piper PA-34 Seneca. Yup, I'm doing twin rating even though I have 20++ hours in PPL single-engine (yea... I know) . Anyways, KLIFA is going to get Piper PA-44 Seminole (that's what they said), so I don't really see the point in doing Seneca rating but since the exam ain't that "hard" I'll just do it.

HPL started at 1100 but from the schedule I downloaded from DCA's website it stated 1130. At 1100 I was still lazying myself (biasela.. pemalas) at my dad's office. Suddenly I got a message from my friend that exam is commencing at 1100. I was like..........
I'm effin' late!! I arrived at DCA at 1115 and got into the exam hall at 1120. Good thing the invigilators are nice enough to let me take the exam (although the supposed time from the schedule is 1130.. hmm). My batch mates were all coming out already, but good thing the exam was what I expected (they never change) and finished the paper in 10 minutes. Next was the type tech paper. Same like what I practised but the answer I got was wrong.....

p/s : I got 100 for HPL and 88 for Type Tech. Mug-ups did the charm :D

Latest Addiction : Firmware 2.0 on Ipod Touch 1st gen

2009-02-21T01:27:00.000+08:00

Ok, here's the story. Apple's software 2.0 was introduced quite a while now. I, have been owning an Ipod Touch 1st gen for more than 6 months, but I never updated it since I thought that I only use the Ipod for listening musics, watching videos and surfing the web. Few weeks ago I have updated(yes, I'm a slowpoke :P) and was really blown away on what I could do with it. I'll be probably doing some reviews on the apps that I have(just to fill in my blog posts, haha!)

Covered in leather Boomwave and paired with EP-630 in-ear earphones

My first Solo + Bath

2009-02-20T06:31:00.002+08:00

Solo is an early point in most cadet pilots flying experience, in which they have gained enough trust from their instructor to fly the aircraft all on their own, from taking off, climbing, turning, straight and level, descending, radio call until the most challenging part, landing. I got mine after 12 hours of flying. It was during a hot afternoon and third week of Ramadhan just to make it more challenging, I was (of course) hungry as I was fasting. But, ignoring what my body felt was what I did as(you know), going for first solo was a big thing for most newbie flyers. The solo went fine as the only thing that bothered me throughout the solo was nerves(yessss.... big ol' nerves).

The next day was my solo bath. I did the bath with a friend of mine who also went for his solo that day. Some people don't want to do it as it was downright disgusting(duh.. mud water and "special" ingredients that was up to our friends to put which usually is really really nasty).

Started off with Major Radzi(principal at that time) writing "something" on my forehead for teh lulz.

With this also is came up with the name "The Underage Flyer" as I was 17 1/2 when I got cleared for first solo. This happened 6 months ago.

p/s : I never wore that shirt again :P

1st Post

2009-02-19T20:19:00.001+08:00

1st post.... to start things up, I'll be telling what to expect in this humble blog of mine. I'll be posting about the aviation world, beside(of course) my own personal aviation experiences and also some random stuffs that I found entertaining. I hope I don't bore you to death! :P

p/s : This is not a personal blog, so you won't be seeing me posting lovey dovey things, unless I can't help myself :p