Come Fly With Me!

Finally! The one long-awaited blog which I waited so long and herd to write, as well as I am sure the rest of you waited so long to hear. You see, as some of you might already know, I have a weird obsession with airplanes. I have wanted to be a pilot ever since I was little, and I drove everyone crazy with it. I wanted to visit the airport as much as I could, much to the disgust and ridicule of  others; from my family even. Now here comes the exciting part of the blog!

I will never forget the day I first set foot in an airplane; to fly it. As a part of my flight-lesson, I was do do a familiarization-flight; the first flight a flight-student flight needs to take in order to get familiar with the aircraft and the who dynamics of flight. I’ll explain them in greater detail in further blogs about t his subject. My heart pounded with excitement in anticipation of my “maiden flight.” I pre-flighted the aircraft; which was a Cessna 172. I had to check the plane, starting with checking the gas tank to see how much fuel was on-board.

After the physical pre-flight, we filled out a sheet, stating where we’d be flying to and how much fuel we had on-board and how many hours it was to last for. After boarding the plane, we conducted a pre-start procedure; meaning we had to check for things like the fuel primer to see if it was in the lock position, and if there was any debris around such as bottles and loose paper which could become hazardous should they come in contact with the propeller. I had to yell clear, and then start the plane. We then did a run-up to ensure that the engine was working properly,and then talk to the tower and tell them where we were going. They’d then let us know of any air-traffic in the area. To make sure we heard them, we’d read back the information to them, after which we would taxi for take-off.

The first take-off felt kind of scary to admit. It was a little windy, and you can just imagine what that felt like in such a small plane. After take-off we climbed to 1000 feet and went over to the “training-area” and the flight-instructor handed over the controls to me. I was nervous and excited. It didn’t feel as scary as I thought it would be. He showed me  how to hold the “right-rudder” to prevent the plane from turning left. I’ll explain more about that in another blog. It was the coolest thing to look down at the world beneath us. It seemed to surreal. I was actually flying a plane! Well, as you know, all good things must come to an end, so we had to return to the airstrip so other people could have the plane to  use. The boring part was to complete the sheet and say how long we had flown for. I can’t exactly remember how we did that though.

So there you have it. My first flight! Of course, I couldn’t wait for the next lesson.  In my next flight-blog, I’ll tell you what what my next flight-lesson was and I may delve into the dynamics of flight I will also try to post another link showing an example of what my next flight lesson was. It will be entitled, “Attitude and Movements.”

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_234PFJD1k8

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Mood Swings and Airplanes ( Could be triggering)

Isn’t it amazing how fast our moods can change? I think it’s  more pronounced in people who are Bipolar and who have Borderline Personality Disorder and I’m living proof of that.

Not too long ago I was feeling really great,and was responding to questions in my Formspring box and commenting on You Tube videos. I guess maybe it was because I started out by watching plane videos; in particular one of a crazy helicopter pilot who was flying his helicopter under a bridge! I found it scary and at the same time entertaining. I was even planning to write an airplane blog to give some flight lessons, but I’ll have to read them again because it’s been ages since I’ve flown; no wait, last year me and this aviation student flew from the airport that the aviation department uses for flight-training to the mall in Kennewick, Washington. There was an airstrip within walking distance and I was like, wouldn’t it be cool to take some girls to the mall in the plane? Not that I’m brave enough to ask a girl out. It was just a thought. Anyway, he actually handed the plane over to me and I got to fly it for a little bit.I was a bit nervous  but I’ll do it again,but I’m straying from the point about my moods.

My moods suddenly crashed and I started crying. I can’t figure out why exactly. It just happened. If anyone else has that problem I’d love to hear from you.  Could it be my either my Borderline Personality acting up or my Bipolar type two? Could it be the combination of Concerta which I should be taking for ADD, but I really want to take it to lose weight. I know at my present weight I should lose any more but I can’t help it. I guess I should be-inpatient or get therapy. I should be returning to the US to get intensive therapy and continue to see my psychiatrist who said he’d treat me for free.  Could it be God working? Sometimes, even though I believe in Him; or want to believe in Him, sometimes I can’t feel Him or see Him at work despite what other people might tell me. As a result that leaves me confused, but I can tell you this much.

You see before I returned to Jamaica I’d been feverishly searching for an eating disorder center that would not only treat guys but that was affordable. That was like searching for a needle in a haystack. A few of the ones I did find were quite pricey and I have no insurance. Many of them in Washington don’t cover high-risk cases and an eating disorder  is considered to be high-risk. It was when I went to my psychiatrist to figure  out options that he introduced me to this therapist that if God wills I’ll work with. He then said he’d treat me for free. Are there many doctors who would do that?

Yeah I just wanted to write this out and vent about my moods swings. I’m feeling a little better just writing this out. I’m going to try to eat some jello although I’m worried it might make me gain weight. And I’m also going to watch Operation Repo on Tru TV. They say that station is based on actuality but it sounds like an oxymoron to me; based on the fact that they aren’t all that real. I guess they’re just based on true-life situations but I’ll quit talking about that lest I get sued. Take care and I’ll write some more another time.

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Air Travel; How Safe?

Given some of the worst air disasters in aviation history involving a single plane, and the attacks of 9/11, people have been asking the age-old question, how safe is air travel? What are the odds of being killed in a plane crash? The purpose of this blog is to show whether or not air travel is safer than other forms of transportation. First of all, lets take a look at some of the factors that have caused some notable plane crashes and the steps taken to ensure they never happen again.

On the third of March, 1974, a Turkish Airlines Douglas DC-10 crashed in Fontain-Chaalis, Oise, France, killing all 345 passengers on board. Until the crash of a Japan Airlines Boeing 747 jet in 1985, it was said to have been the worst air disaster in aviation history. Analysis of the Flight Data recorder, or black box which records ever moment of a commercial jet from the time it takes off till the time it lands, it was found out that the crash was caused by the failure of a cargo latching system that allowed it to blow off in flight, causing a decompression of the cargo hold, causing the cabin floor above the hatch to collapse. The flight controls that ran through the floor got severed, causing the pilots to lose control of the aircraft.

After that crash, there was a complete re-design of the latching system The latches themselves were re-designed to prevent them from moving into the wrong positions in the first place. The locking system was mechanically upgraded to prevent the handle from being able to be forced closed without the pins in place, and the vent door operation was changed to be operated by the pins, so that it would properly indicate that the pins were in the locked position, not that the handle was. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration, (FAA)  also ordered further changes to all aircraft with outward-opening doors, including the DC-10, Lockheed L-1011, and Boeing 747, requiring that vents be cut into the cabin floor to allow pressures to equalize in the event of a blown-out door. This would to prevent further similar incidents in the future.

On the 29th of May, 1979, an American Airlines jet, also a DC-10, crashed shortly after take-off from the O’hare International Airport in Chicago Illinois, USA. Two hundred and seventy-three people which included two on the ground died in the crash. There were no survivors. That was said to be the worst plane crash in US aviation history. Investigators determined that the crash was caused by the left engine breaking off the wing, severing the hydraulic lines which caused a retraction of the slats, a set of flaps on the front of the wing that help to produce lift so the aircraft can take off. The result was the left wing losing its lift while the right wing continued to climb, causing the aircraft to roll almost upside down until it smashed into the trailer park that was near the airport. Investigators made recommendations that  instead of removing just the engine during maintenance and jamming it back in place with the use of a forklift, the whole engine and the pylon should be removed. It was found out that the practice of jamming the engine back into place on the pylon caused a crack that caused the engine to separate, breaking the hydraulic lines which caused the pilots to lose control of the plane. Similar cracks were found on similar DC-10 aircraft.

Another notable crash was the crash of another American Airlines Airbus A-300 aircraft over Jamaica bay in Queens, New York. The cause of the crash was said to be caused by the tail breaking off because of  excessive force applied by the First Officer. The strength of the air rushing against the rudder caused additional stress which caused the tail section to come off entirely. As a result American Airlines has modified its pilot training in order to avoid similar accidents. American Airlines has since then retired all of its Airbus A-300-600 series aircraft.

New laws regulating the operation of aircraft which were brought about my the NTSB and the FAA has helped to cause the number of air crashes to decline.  According to the Wikipedia, 1997 showed a decline in the number of fatal accidents involving passenger aircraft which  has been no more than 1 for every 2,000,000,000 person-miles flown; which in layman’s terms is 100 persons flying a plane for 100,000 miles, which makes it comparable with other modes of transportation, such as a person driving a car for 100,000 miles, making it the safest mode of transportation. This decline can be attributed to safety improvement in aircraft design, engineering and maintenance, the evolution of navigational aids which allows the pilot to arrive at his destination with little or fear of getting lost, and making him able to land in nasty weather which makes it harder for the pilot to see.

In 2006, the NTSB reported the deaths per hundred million miles by car, and 1.7 million deaths per travel by air. Note that these are not passenger miles. An airplane with 100 passengers causes passenger-miles to be 100 times higher. An increase in the number of passengers causes passenger-miles to be higher. Of course, this has lead to the report that traveling by air is the safest mode of transportation in terms of deaths per 100,000 passenger miles.

Planes today are built with stronger and better material. The seats in contrast to those constructed in years gone by are now built to withstand 16 times the force of gravity and are held down by stronger bolts. They no longer pancake together as was the case in earlier days. And because now they’re built with flame retardant materials; the carpet being one of them. According to the the president of the Flight Safety Foundation, this gives the passengers more time to get out should there be a fire. So as a result, more passengers are able to walk away from plane crashes.

I would also like to add that I cannot count on one hand the number of car wrecks I have witnessed; meaning being on spot when the accident occurred. I have never seen a plane crash. I have seen what’s left of a crashed plane, but not a crash in motion. In fact, our house in Jamaica is right in the approach path to the international airport and the planes pass over very low, and I can remember the times if I heard a jet passing over on approach to land how I’d suddenly quit what I was doing and rush out to see it pass over. I can hear a jet and without looking can tell you right away whether it’s a Boeing 737, 727, 757, 777 or an Airbus A320. I have sworn sometimes that I could smell the exhaust from the jet which is such an awesome smell. I am yet to witness a plane crash.  There was one time, however that; well I guess a crash could have resulted close to our house. You see someone had a radio scanner that we could use to hear the pilots of the various planes talking to air traffic control, and we heard a pilot call MAYDAY!MAYDAY!MAYDAY! He was reporting that he was having engine trouble and he was asked if he could make it back to the airport. He said yes and he was able to turn back and he landed safely.

So, how safe is air travel in comparison to traveling by car? I will leave that for you to analyze and draw your own conclusion.

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