Ranchi! Gliding!
Just back from a week's posting to Ranchi. That's a place very few have heard of, capital of the young state of Jhakhand.
I've spent almost 2 years there since it was carved out of Bihar 4 years ago. No mean feat this, considering the fact that there is absolutely nothing for a person to keep his mind engaged in. So much was the monotony of the routine there that the inherent excitement of my job started diminishing.
Before I delve further, let me elaborate on what work involves. I work on Aircrafts, primarily Helicopters till now, and certify that they are fit to fly. I specialise on a class of Light Twin Engined French Machines called Ecureuils (that's French for Squirrel). Now, one of these, actually the only one that our company has, is flying for the State Government of Jharkhand.
4 years ago when I first arrived there, there was the prospect of learning gliding. I was pretty excited, but as is the wont with all things Sarkari, the club simply never became active. So my dream of mastering non powered flight remained just that. They have 2 machines and now, after my company, Deccan Aviation got involved in the maintenance, one of them, an L-23, Super Blahnik, finally took flight.
I went on board as an observer and the speed of the machine and the amazing manoeuvrability left me spell bound. The craft touched 90 knots (1 knot, nautical mile = 1.8Km) in a dive and the g force on pull up felt like my head was about to snap. Credit goes to Capt. Sinha for the excellent flight.
The glider is basically an Aeroplane, a very light one, with a very long, narrow and tapering wing without any engine of any kind, although some have a small motor to take it to a height, which is then shut off to glide back to earth or to ride the thermals. It is usually towed into the air behind another powered aeroplane or with the help of a winch and cable.
If it hadn't been for airport regulation, I would have had some excellent photographs to show. But you'll find some excellent images if you type "gliding" on google.
I've spent almost 2 years there since it was carved out of Bihar 4 years ago. No mean feat this, considering the fact that there is absolutely nothing for a person to keep his mind engaged in. So much was the monotony of the routine there that the inherent excitement of my job started diminishing.
Before I delve further, let me elaborate on what work involves. I work on Aircrafts, primarily Helicopters till now, and certify that they are fit to fly. I specialise on a class of Light Twin Engined French Machines called Ecureuils (that's French for Squirrel). Now, one of these, actually the only one that our company has, is flying for the State Government of Jharkhand.
4 years ago when I first arrived there, there was the prospect of learning gliding. I was pretty excited, but as is the wont with all things Sarkari, the club simply never became active. So my dream of mastering non powered flight remained just that. They have 2 machines and now, after my company, Deccan Aviation got involved in the maintenance, one of them, an L-23, Super Blahnik, finally took flight.
I went on board as an observer and the speed of the machine and the amazing manoeuvrability left me spell bound. The craft touched 90 knots (1 knot, nautical mile = 1.8Km) in a dive and the g force on pull up felt like my head was about to snap. Credit goes to Capt. Sinha for the excellent flight.
The glider is basically an Aeroplane, a very light one, with a very long, narrow and tapering wing without any engine of any kind, although some have a small motor to take it to a height, which is then shut off to glide back to earth or to ride the thermals. It is usually towed into the air behind another powered aeroplane or with the help of a winch and cable.
If it hadn't been for airport regulation, I would have had some excellent photographs to show. But you'll find some excellent images if you type "gliding" on google.
posted by Sandeep at 11:27 PM
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