Mid term breaks are something that everyone looks forward to at NDA,for we get a 5-day break from our routine :
5-days of continuous sleep, 5 days of liberty, 5 days of guests , 5 days of girls, 5 days of sleep (ok I mentioned sleep before but.. then…sleep……its divine for us)
During my fourth semester mid term break she had come over to Pune all the way from Bangalore just to see me. It was her first time in Pune. She wanted to see around the city, do her usual curios shopping , wanted to learn about some tribal painting [she took ‘Indian Culture’ Classes at a school in B’lore] and above all she wanted to see NDA for herself. The NDA about which I had vividly [ to be honest a bit too vividly] described to her.
She came over to NDA on that Saturday morning [beautiful she was as always] I received her at the gate and welcomed her to the cradle of military leadership. Since it was the fourth day of my break and she was to depart the next day to Bangalore I had to take her through a very speedy sight seeing around NDA. I took her to all the buildings and monuments,within the 8000+ acres, rich and vibrant in their grandness and splendid architecture.
I also took her to the Sudan block , the main building of the NDA. The central foyer of the Sudan block is a white marble floored, white marble walled, white marble pillared circular hall. On those shiny white marble walls hung huge portraits of those great alumnus of NDA who had laid down their lives for our nation, along with a description of their gallant deeds.
She went around the hall admiring those portraits and reading about each person with keen interest. All of a sudden she called me and pointed towards the portrait of a very young looking officer and said, "HE was just 21!! , He died so young, how can someone so young……" I acknowledged and said, "yes he was just 21".
But then I noticed something on her face. It was an expression that I had never seen before in those beautiful eyes. An expression I couldn’t understand. I got a very strange feeling. I could not make out what was wrong. I asked her about it. But she said "nothing". It was a kind of anxiety that I had never seen before……she immediately left the room….
After an hour or so she said goodbye and left me all alone…still pondering over that expression I had seen in her eyes…..
But then I finally came to a conclusion….
May be it was because a joker (she always said I was one) who by default was her brother…was standing right in front of her..and he just happened to be 20 years of age, with just a year left for his graduation from the same NDA.
9.25.2005
9.07.2005
Touching The Sky !
Take off path clear
Release brakes & open full throttle
RPM 2500
80 km/hr - nose wheel up
90 km/hr - unstuck
Climb at 105 km/hr
…..and for the first time in my life I had broken that connection with land…I was up & above the whole world…in a whole new dimension……I was FLYING…..
Since the day one at the AFTT (Air Force Training Team of the NDA) I had been preparing for my first sortie, the day I would fly for the first time in my life. I was dearly looking forward for that day. But the monsoons had delayed our flying for long. We were eagerly waiting for the skies to clear up. Each day we would arrive early morning at the AFTT anticipating a clear sky but to our despair.
So we spent all the time memorizing the umpteen checks that have to be carried out before, after and during the flight.
Soon the Gods heard our prayers and the skies cleared up.
Out of the 50 odd batch mates that we were, my turn was somewhere around the 45 mark. So by the time it was my turn, my excitement was boosted up by all those who had flown by then.
I kept gazing at the never ending blue while my course mates played around in the air with their crafts. I kept praying (a thing which I had not done for quite some time, but maybe I felt I would be getting closer to him than ever before) for clear skies when my turn would come.
It was a fine Monday morning. We reached the AFTT by around 6.15 am. By then all the "6 beauties" were lined up in the dispersal area ready to take you for a ride high up among the clouds. We checked the flight schedule and lo!, mine was the second sortie of the day.
I started memorizing all checks again and again. It is said that a good pilot should have all the checks at his fingertips. I was confident about my checks but then..i don’t know why?...maybe it was the anxiety working up in my mind. A mixed feeling of excitement & fear with a dash of thrill was brewing in my mind when I saw my aircraft come back after the first sortie.
7.30am : it was time for me to take on the skies. I went and strapped up in the cockpit. Within 5 minutes my instructor(Sqn Ldr NKBala) came and strapped up besides me. I started off with the checks. I did all my checks with perfection or so I thought. I missed a thing or two here and there. I was nervous (it had never happened before but I was nervous..maybe it was ok to be nervous when its your first flight…)
Within 10 minutes I was taxying her (we always address the aircraft as "her") out of the dispersal area to the far end of the runway. Once we were lined up for take off SqnLdr Bala told me "now you just sit back and enjoy the flight"
He released the brakes and opened full throttle. She rushed ahead with full power. At 80km/hr he lifted her nose wheel up. At 90km/hr he unsticked and she took off into air…once airborne she climbed steadily at 105 km/hr till an altitude of 3500 ft…then we leveled out and maintained the same altitude.
From then on SqnLdr Bala gave me a running commentary of all the features that we were seeing. Everything looked so tiny from up there. Even the enormous Sudan block seemed like a small box with a dome on top. Then he explained to me the functions and uses of all controls and instruments that occupied more than half the space in that small cockpit.
There was a beautiful cloud formation right above us. Sqn Ldr Bala took her right through the cloud through a hole in it. Above it was heaven or so I felt. I could see tiny whiffs of clouds flying beneath me. They seemed so soft & delicate. Water droplets were striking against the face of the cockpit and flowing in streaks to the rear. But the best was yet to come. There was a rainbow about 500m ahead. My instructor said. "Ok, now you have the controls…do whatever you want but take me to the pot of gold beneath the rainbow"
It took me quite some time to get used to the controls. But once I got the hang of it, I was on top of the world…I could now say that I was really FLYING…
Now it was time to land. We headed back to the runway. As we were nearing it SqnLdr bala told me "hang on" and opened the air brakes. She went into a nose wheel dive. It was like going down a vertical fall in a roller coaster ride. He then aligned her for landing. Landing is the toughest part of any flight. The runway grew broader and broader as we approached it and finally we touched down.
After taxying her back to the runway SqnLdr Bala left instructing me to carry out the post flight checks by myself.
I sat there in the cockpit for another 3-4 minutes just relishing my reverie which had come true.
I HAD TOUCHED THE SKY !!
Release brakes & open full throttle
RPM 2500
80 km/hr - nose wheel up
90 km/hr - unstuck
Climb at 105 km/hr
…..and for the first time in my life I had broken that connection with land…I was up & above the whole world…in a whole new dimension……I was FLYING…..
Since the day one at the AFTT (Air Force Training Team of the NDA) I had been preparing for my first sortie, the day I would fly for the first time in my life. I was dearly looking forward for that day. But the monsoons had delayed our flying for long. We were eagerly waiting for the skies to clear up. Each day we would arrive early morning at the AFTT anticipating a clear sky but to our despair.
So we spent all the time memorizing the umpteen checks that have to be carried out before, after and during the flight.
Soon the Gods heard our prayers and the skies cleared up.
Out of the 50 odd batch mates that we were, my turn was somewhere around the 45 mark. So by the time it was my turn, my excitement was boosted up by all those who had flown by then.
I kept gazing at the never ending blue while my course mates played around in the air with their crafts. I kept praying (a thing which I had not done for quite some time, but maybe I felt I would be getting closer to him than ever before) for clear skies when my turn would come.
It was a fine Monday morning. We reached the AFTT by around 6.15 am. By then all the "6 beauties" were lined up in the dispersal area ready to take you for a ride high up among the clouds. We checked the flight schedule and lo!, mine was the second sortie of the day.
I started memorizing all checks again and again. It is said that a good pilot should have all the checks at his fingertips. I was confident about my checks but then..i don’t know why?...maybe it was the anxiety working up in my mind. A mixed feeling of excitement & fear with a dash of thrill was brewing in my mind when I saw my aircraft come back after the first sortie.
7.30am : it was time for me to take on the skies. I went and strapped up in the cockpit. Within 5 minutes my instructor(Sqn Ldr NKBala) came and strapped up besides me. I started off with the checks. I did all my checks with perfection or so I thought. I missed a thing or two here and there. I was nervous (it had never happened before but I was nervous..maybe it was ok to be nervous when its your first flight…)
Within 10 minutes I was taxying her (we always address the aircraft as "her") out of the dispersal area to the far end of the runway. Once we were lined up for take off SqnLdr Bala told me "now you just sit back and enjoy the flight"
He released the brakes and opened full throttle. She rushed ahead with full power. At 80km/hr he lifted her nose wheel up. At 90km/hr he unsticked and she took off into air…once airborne she climbed steadily at 105 km/hr till an altitude of 3500 ft…then we leveled out and maintained the same altitude.
From then on SqnLdr Bala gave me a running commentary of all the features that we were seeing. Everything looked so tiny from up there. Even the enormous Sudan block seemed like a small box with a dome on top. Then he explained to me the functions and uses of all controls and instruments that occupied more than half the space in that small cockpit.
There was a beautiful cloud formation right above us. Sqn Ldr Bala took her right through the cloud through a hole in it. Above it was heaven or so I felt. I could see tiny whiffs of clouds flying beneath me. They seemed so soft & delicate. Water droplets were striking against the face of the cockpit and flowing in streaks to the rear. But the best was yet to come. There was a rainbow about 500m ahead. My instructor said. "Ok, now you have the controls…do whatever you want but take me to the pot of gold beneath the rainbow"
It took me quite some time to get used to the controls. But once I got the hang of it, I was on top of the world…I could now say that I was really FLYING…
Now it was time to land. We headed back to the runway. As we were nearing it SqnLdr bala told me "hang on" and opened the air brakes. She went into a nose wheel dive. It was like going down a vertical fall in a roller coaster ride. He then aligned her for landing. Landing is the toughest part of any flight. The runway grew broader and broader as we approached it and finally we touched down.
After taxying her back to the runway SqnLdr Bala left instructing me to carry out the post flight checks by myself.
I sat there in the cockpit for another 3-4 minutes just relishing my reverie which had come true.
I HAD TOUCHED THE SKY !!
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