Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871 in Dayton, Ohio.  He, and his brother, Wilbur, invented, built, and flew to first successful airplane.  The picture above is Wilbur making the first flight.

Philo Farnsworth was born in Beaver, Utah and raised in Rigby, Idaho.  He invented the first completely electronic television system.  The design was based on an idea that he thought of when he was 14 years old.  Farnsworth held 300 U.S. and foreign patents. His inventions contributed to the development of radar, the infra-red night light, the electron microscope, the baby incubator, the gastroscope, and the astronomical telescope.

We entered a hall filled woth air hostresses and no this is not a playboy fantasy story I cooked up. There stood another 30 girls and a couple of guys. Just like us they too had excitement written all over their faces for they too were being inducted the same time we were.

The induction went great. Siddhanta Sharma the then CEO of Spicejet welcomed us. It was probably the coolest welcome anyone ever gave to us. Gradually  the heads of each and every department came up an spoke about what their role in the company and they too welcomed us with all smiles. They made us feel like family and in the months to come even though we never were in touch with the company per say we always felt a belonging in that company.

Of course their was Ajay tarapally who was the idiot of the day as usual. ( He is an amazing pilot and a great guy who just opens his mouth at the wrong time and the wrong place and says the wrongest thing on earth.) Well the problem was he sorta expected the air hostresses to clean up his lunch plate after he was done and of course he said it out loud. He got the blasting of a life time and not only from the spicejet guys but from us too. Well truth be told he was I guess 18 or 19 and well thats how every idiot his age are anyways. He has grown a lot since then.

Well the same feeling of belonging finally came 6 months later when I finally was able to fly my first flight. It was at 5 in the morning but then again no one sleeps before their first flight. The excitement was in each and everyone's faces. Our entire batch were getting to fly our 1st flights that very same day. It was the most anticipated day of our entire lives and one we will never forget. I took the first van ride at 3:30 in the morning and got there searching for my instructor. He was my age a little shorter than me named Shaun Brown. I was his first student. We got introduced and he showed me how to check the weather out and do the weight and balance. Then it was off to the plane. N4153W was her name. I cannot forget that name for the rest of my life. Well I even got it tattooed on my arm. Shaun showed me how the preflight was done and then it was finally the time I always waited for. I got to sit in the left seat atlast after soo many days.

Starting a plane is not as easy as I thought it would be. Even for a small plane like the DA20 its quite crazy. Shaun showed me what all I needed to do and finally i cranked that engine. The roar of the continental engine is still in my mind. He told me what to say on the radio and I was finally cleared to taxi. At first it was crazy to steer simple because you are not used to steering with your feet. You will gradually get it but at first its quite irritating.

We did the runup and finally we got the clearance to takeoff and that was it.  Me along with my instructor push the throttle to full and off we went accelerating to 55 kts before I was told to pull the stick back. There it was. My first takeoff. You could actually feel the wheels lift off the ground and push you through the air. The power was enormous and the feeling was amazing. I still get goosebumps remembering that day. At first I felt petrified as it was soo unnatural but then I finally felt the joy. I was finally flying after soo long and that joy will never leave me.

Shaun basically did touch and goes that day and showed me how to land. Of course I had the controls under his watchful eye. Incase anyone tells you they landed on their first flight I am telling you it wasn't them but their instructor who landed. No instructor will have the brains or the balls to do that on their first flight. No one was born with wings so don't believe people when they tell you this.

I finally landed back and still figuring out how to taxi but that was a great day I will never ever forget for the rest of my life.

P.S- No I didnt take any air hostress's numbers that day cause these damn companies have very strict policies and didn't really want to screw up on the first day now do I.

Shane 54 - Too Late to Turn (Armin van Buuren Remix)
Ferry Corsten - Sublime (Thrillseekers Remix)
A Boy Called Joni - Green Astronauts (Original Mix)

作为Mix的曲目。每一首曲子单独只能起到它自己的效果，但一旦和别的曲子Mix在一起时，就能有无穷的组合排列，产生奇幻无比的效果。顺着三首的次序，我作为DJ想要听者感受到的效果是由Too Late to Turn快速及有节奏的Vocal开头，到Sublime的发挥着震撼整个Mix作用的Breakdown，再到Green Astronauts次高潮的结尾。

这个Mix取名叫First Flight。后来发现既然跟Tiësto Magik 1专辑同名。应该说是那时的我走出了他成名前走的第一步吧。

最近谈到了“升华”这个词，发现其英文是Sublimation。真没意识到，Ferry Corsten的Sublime在整个Mix中起到的不就是升华作用吗！

A lot has changed since that flight. Not much of it good, in my opinion. Travel is, however, still exciting. Seeing and experiencing the marvels of new places, cultures, foods, even the magic quality of the light north of Rome. Today is Wednesday and the fact that I am flying to Italy on Friday makes me think about the first time I experienced that phenomenon. It brings my thinking about this blog together. I had been a group travel manager. Nevertheless, the act of traveling is ultimately personal. The closer the flight to Italy gets the more the details begin: What have I forgotten? Will I arrive at the airport on time? Will flames shoot out of the engines?

This blog will be about travel, my opinions, experiences and stories about other people too. It will only be fun if people read it, have comments and questions. We will see.

Last night we stayed at Mocksville, NC and this morning, May 14th, drove to Nag's Head in the Outer Banks, NC. We have driven 1000 miles from Indianapolis, IN. We were itching to fly, and on our sightseeing after checking into Owen's Motel this evening, we saw 2 trikes and followed them to the Wright Brothers Memorial airfield. It was 7.20pm but there was still a slight breeze.

We took off from the First Flight airfield. Took aerial pics of the memorial and airfield. This is really cool since the first flight by the Wright Brothers happened 105 years ago (Dec 17, 1903). Hopefully we get some more flights in these 2 days but there a strong possibility of rougher weather for the rest of the week. We'll see....Tomorrow we go for our kiteboarding lessons at Kitty Hawk. 

หลังจากแขวนปีกมาสักพัก ก็มานั่งนึกถึงความหลังตามประสาคนแก่ต้องนึกถึงอดีต เด็กสาวส่วนใหญ่อยากเป็นแอร์โฮสเตส ดิฉันก็เช่นเดียวกัน หลังจากฝ่าฟัน สมัครและสัมภาษณ์มานับสิบครั้ง ในทีสุด ฝันก็เป็นจริง สายการบินแรกของการเป็นแอร์โฮสเตสนะคะ แต่ไม่ใช่สายแรกของการทำงาน อ้อ ลืมบอกว่าเป็นกราวน์มาก่อนค่ะ

สายการบินนี้ บินในประเทศเท่านั้น เป็นเครื่องบินเล็กแบบใบพัด มี 50 ที่นั่ง แอร์โฮสเตส 2 คน นักบิน 2 คน เป็นสายการบินทีสนุกสนานเฮฮามาก นายก็น่ารัก เที่ยวบินแรก เป็นเที่ยวบินสื่อมวลชน บินไปยังจังหวัดนราธิวาส ตื่นเต้นมาก พอขึ้นเครื่องไป ผู้โดยสารถามว่า อาหารที่เสิร์ฟ คืออะไร ดิฉันรู้ว่าเป็นปอเปี๊ยะญวน แต่ไม่รู้ว่าไก่หรือหมูนี่สิคะคือปัญหา เป็นแอร์ฯไม่รู้ไม่ได้ค่ะ เสียกรูมมิ่งอย่างรุนแรง ว่าแล้วก็ค่อยๆนั่งยองๆ ลงข้างๆนาย แล้วแอบถามว่า "นายคะ นั่นไก่หรือหมูคะ หนูไม่มี information" นอกจากนั้น ไม่มีเหลือให้รับประทานด้วยสิ เลยเดาไม่ถูก แต่ดิฉันก็บินไป-กลับนราธิวาสโดยสวัสดิภาพ หลังจากนั้นในหน้าหนังสือพิมพ์หลายวันต่อมา ก็มีข้อความชื่นชมแอร์โฮสเตสของเที่ยวบินนั้นด้วยค่ะ

"เฮ้อ! รอดตัวไป" นี่แหละค่ะ ชีวิตแอร์โฮสเตสต้องดูแลลูกค้า สร้างความประทับใจ นอกจากนั้นยังต้องมีความสามารถในการแก้ปัญหาเฉพาะหน้า อันสามารถยืนยันได้จากหลายๆเรื่องในชีวิตการบินของดิฉัน นอกเหนือจากความงาม บุคลิกภาพดี รักเด็กแล้ว ยังต้องมีไหวพริบปฏิภาณด้วยนะคะ แต่นี่เป็นแค่ตัวอย่างเล็กๆ เล็กมากๆค่ะ ยังมีที่ใหญ่กว่านี้อีกมาก ดังนั้นอย่าเพิ่งบ่นว่า นี่หรือคะ "ไหวพริบปฏิภาณ" ฮ่าฮ่าฮ่า
 

I said, it has to go tomorrow but I don't want to pay the Rs 120/- but would send by the regular fare Rs 50/-. I asked if it would reach the next day. They said it will most probalbly and said 99%!!!!!. I then asked them to send it by the regular courier.

The courier was finally delivered only on Friday that week - after 4 days of delay. I was even tracking the consignment online to find that it is "out of delivery" for 2 days but finally delivered on Friday.

I can clearly see what kind of a cheat was DTDC as an organisation. They are trying to cheat customers by charging more than double the fare for the next day delivery. The postal department had given way to courier because of their next day delivery to most of the destinations but I think DTDC is now taking the customers for a ride.

To check this, I had send another courier this week using First flight. The courier promptly reached the next day.

I did not want to take the DTDC delay as a "one off" incident but a clear strategy by the company to cheat customers in trying to push them on the over night deliver with double the charge.

I also spoke to a couple of people who gave a clear negative feedback on DTDC.

So if you are looking at overnight delivery or want your couriers reach in time, think twice before choosing DTDC.

E' spuntato su internet, nelle ultime ore, un video molto interessante. Video che mostrerebbe l'Enterprise nel suo primo volo semi-spaziale. La nave, infatti, le cui riprese dovrebbero essere contenute nel prossimo film di Star Trek, si trova ad altezza "grattecieli" di una futuristica città, probabilmente dove l'Enterprise è stata assemblata. Non c'è ufficialità, ovviamente, sul video che sta imperversando su internet.

L'indirizzo è http://io9.com/371007/first-clip-of-the-new-enterprise-in-flight

          The eaglets grow astonishingly fast on barf. In nine weeks they grew from four ounces to six to eight pounds, and are now actually bigger than their parents (this is because the immature birds have longer feathers, presumably to aid them in their clumsy attempts at flight). Granted, at some point they moved on from barf to solid food provided by the folks, but still: that’s a hurried childhood. Another interesting bit about eagles which I bet you didn’t know, and didn’t care much one way or the other about, is that the females are larger than the males, and the parents share parenting equally. They also return year after year to the same nest and add on to it, so it can wind up being three meters wide; a veritable real estate starter-castle worthy of a full page, full color ad in the Sunday supplement.

          But back to the drama of Birdie and Bogey, as the eaglets have been named by the good people of Port Saint Lucie, Florida. Now is a particularly mesmerizing time in their lives, for they are preparing for flight. Mid morning seems to be a good time to watch them, as the folks are out frantically holding down two jobs each just to keep the young’uns in small animals and fish, and the teens have the nest to themselves. Then they tend toward flirting with danger, as teens will. They stand on the edge of the nest, looking down at Lake Tesoro below, and probably thinking incessantly about what a rush it would be to jump. From time to time they spread their wings and your heart leaps because it looks exactly like they are about to take flight. Then, just when your eyes are glued to the screen, and your palms are getting a little sweaty because you’re just positive you are about to witness the Maiden Voyage of little Birdie or Bogey, it jumps!

          Not off, but up a little bit, just feeling what it will be like to have the wind under his or her wings. Sometimes they even leap-fly from one side of the nest to the other. Its riveting. I don’t know how people can bear the ennui of watching action movies or popular television, when this is available. Go check it out:

http://audubonofflorida.org/friendsoftheeagle/updates.html

Keep in mind that the webcam is in Florida, and it isn't on when its night there.

Today, as it turns out was a balmy 93 degrees Fahrenheit at ground level, and a "partly cloudy day". Since I waited until 1 pm, everything had heated up, causing more turbulence than I would have expected, but nothing like the average new roller coaster at your average amusement park.

I flew in N352SP, a Cessna 172SP that you can see pictures of via this link. Having never before having the priviledge of being a passenger in a small plane, let alone one where the wings are on top, I was both amazed by the views outside the cockpit, and terrified because... There was nothing underneath me. I liken it to riding the little air cable cars at Six flags.

The problem I have now is, having decided this is what I want to do, how do I come up with the estimated 5,000 to 7,000 dollars that it would require to obtain my private pilot's license? That number really seems like a dream at this point, but we can always dream...

Saturday, I believe I'll spend out at Moontown (Web Site). One of my online friends sent me their copy of a book on getting my pilot's license, and I can't think of a better place to sit and read it than a very friendly, very charming, light aircraft, grass field airport. Lee took me out there a couple of weeks ago and it was just remarkable to see that there are still places that do training without the "Gestapo" security people around. People at Moontown actually appear to enjoy flying, most owning their own planes.. :)

Last Christmas, my parents-in-law bought me what's called a "checkout flight" certificate for my first airflight. Being 6'4" tall and ~300 pounds, I have been a little hesitant to go take the actual flight, but now I'm getting up the nerves, do or die. As soon as I get my eyeglass prescription updated, I believe I'll go out and actually do it.

In the meantime, I find myself spitfitting over the fantasy of being able to afford my own plane.

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is the upcoming Cessna Mustang, but since I don't have 3 million to play with, I'm out of luck with that... My second choice in the fantasy world of "Wayne wins a lottery" is currently the Cirrus SR-22, but again, that's $350k without options.

Anyone reading this ever fly?