fulcrum

Blue Angels

2010-08-11T23:22:00.000+05:30

Johnny Wander

2010-06-01T15:30:00.001+05:30

link

T-50, new footage..

2010-05-24T19:09:00.002+05:30

amazing new footage of the russian fgfa sukhoi t-50..!

Plane crashes and the ensuing danse macabre..

2010-05-24T18:16:00.000+05:30

this has been a bit of a bad year for aviation. the AF447 crash in the atlantic, the yemenia crash off the coast of moroni, the turkish airlines crash at amsterdam schiphol, the afriqiyah airlines crash at tripoli and now the air india express crash in mangalore. each of these crashes led to extensive reporting by the media, as they well should be covered. but somehow when it comes to aviation, the media never seem to get even the basic facts right. this, in turn, means the general public never get to know the facts about these accidents. all they get are some twisted half truths which further propel the aviation related myths that are already existent in their minds. whenever i see these reports, i am usually reminded of something i read in the outlook magazine long back, in the diaries section that they used to publish on the last page. it was a story about a reporter who was rushing to cover a mig-21

crash that happened near palam airport, and even before he reached the site he was relaying back 'facts' to his publication, making outrageous claims that there were 30 people on the aircraft. i would think that pretty much everyone knows that a fighter plane cannot carry more than 2 people, 3 in some cases. and turns out the journo's cabbie corrected him and told him that very same fact.

even though these journalistic lapses are generally annoying, the fact that so many crashes happened this year meant that the annoyance has been slowly creeping within me and taking the form of full blown anger. and the reporting by indian media in the aftermath of the air india express crash was the last straw that broke the camel's back. do they even think before they send out these reports? there are some basic journalistic ethics that need to be followed but i guess in these days of sensationalism, those go right out the window, and titles like 'BURNING PLANE' in font size bazillion are what sells. even so, i feel compelled to write this, knowing that this may not make any difference.

the accident : we are all too keen to pass verdict before we know what happened. this has been the case with pretty much every accident, not just air crashes. in india, if two vehicles collide, almost 90% of the time the blame is placed on the bigger vehicle. unless the smaller vehicle did something ridiculously and obvsiously stupid, the smaller vehicle gets away scot free. similar rules are extended to the sky too. the first half-fact is usually treated as the final cause of the accident. in this instance, there are reports which state that the pilot missed his touchdown point on the runway byh 2000 feet. this was immediately labelled as pilot error, and some of todays papers insist that this was the cause of the accident. none of them talk about other possibilities and facts. no one mentions that the actual zone on the runway where he can safely touchdown extends at least a thousand feet, and that even if he missed that by another thousand, he might still have had enough runway left to stop his plane. no one talks of the millions of possibilities that couldve caused the pilot to miss by thousand feet, if at all he did that. i would say that there are a good number of plausible scenarios where the pilot need not have been at fault. yeah alright, truth is boring.

the point here is this, avoid speculation. its stupid, it propagates unnecessary lies, and i personally think that its disrespectful to the people involved. these crashes are a reminder to us of the dangers inherent in aviation, no matter how much we've tried to mitigate them. and people sitting on armchairs on the ground and commenting on the jobs of those who actually face these dangers angers me. to the media, please state the known facts, and please verify them before stating them. if you wish to speculate, do so intelligently, through someone who actually knows a thing or two about not just flying, but air accidents on a whole. the so called aviation experts presented on the tv channels so far are prize chumps and jackasses in my opinion, who are spouting half baked opinions. get credible people, if you wish to discuss this incident, and not someone who would disrespect the dead crew for a few soundbytes.

the airline : air india suffers from what i like to call 'the aeroflot syndrome'. the airline has done a lot of cutting edge stuff over its lifetime, but being a state owned carrier it will always have public perception going against it, especially in terms of safety and service. sure, some of the service points are debatable, and i'll gladly debate that another day in another post, but i see the safety perception as a bit unfair. i wouldnt go out of my way to vouch for their safety, but i will say they are as safe or unsafe as pretty much any other airline in india. their maintenance practices are probably better than average, would be my personal assessment. but note, its only a personal assessment. in any case, some sections of the media making dubious hints at air india maintenance etc would be well advised to stay clear. i mean, what is it with these people? cant they wait at least for the interim report of the accident investigation? and if you look at the air crashes the past year, it includes a first rate carrier like Air France, as well as carriers like Yemenia who aren't exactly well known. it includes brand new airliners as well as old ones. what does it all say? nothing. wait for the individual damn investigations to conclude.

the airplane : the 737-800 has had 8 hull loss incidents so far. if you count from the first generation 737, thousands have been built. this one had a line number 2481, and was two years old. what does that mean, again? probably nothing. we dont know YET. there is always a section that comes up with dubious assesments of the aircraft type, sub-type and even manufacturer. the 737 is not unsafe. nor is the a330, which had two crashes in 12 months. hell, even the tu154 that crashed with the polish president on board, which is a soviet era aircraft known to have a bad safety reputation, is acutally quite a safe aircraft since many of its accidents were caused by factors beyond the aircraft or crew. a few were shot down by missiles, one ran into snow ploughs on the runway that atc had failed to clear, and one was in a mid air collision due to atc error. yet even aviation buffs give me a weird look when i tell them i want to fly on a 154. i do not have a deathwish, i insist it is a safe plane. sure, there have been planes with design flaws, but the planes involved in this year's crashes dont have any known serious flaws, and to insinuate otherwise without proof would be irresponsible. even in the case of the fedex cargo md-11 that crashed in narita, this holds true. the md-11 has certain quirks of handling, but i doubt it has been established as a design 'flaw' yet.

the airport : mangalore airport has a bit of a peculiar runway, which is elevated, and has steep runoffs at either end. it is debatable whether there was adequate space in case of a runway overrun. people will second guess the decisions behind making the runway the way it is now, and it is very probable that the runway may have played a part in the accident. probable, not conclusive. but guess what, a sizeable number of airports have such problems. we build airports where we can, not necessarily where we ideally should be. we cannot always build perfect airports, sometimes they have to be built within some constraints. in madeira, portugal, the runway extends out in to sea on huge pillars. this plane would probably have been a goner there too. what does that say? nothing. airports arent perfect, we have to work with what with have. huge runways on plain spaces are probably possible only in deserts. where there is population and terrain around, we adjust and work a little harder. deal with it.

the crew : one of the initial statements i heard on the news was that pilot error was ruled out because the captain had 10000 hours flying experience. sure, but that does not rule out error. it probably does minimize it, but does not rule it out. but ill concede that one since it's at least not disrespectful to the poor chap. then came the news that the pilot is a british national of serbian origin. there have been some two-bit publications making an issue out of foreign pilots working in india. the nationality of the pilot probably had nothing to do with the crash, such generalizations are borderline racist i would say. for example, all russian pilots arent drunk, all chinese pilots arent bad with english, and all spanish traffic controllers aren't atrocious with their accents. some are, but only just as many as you would find in india, england or the united states. in any case, the key is respect. indications of pilot error or not, speculation on their actions is useless at this point when no facts are known. also, i have a bone to pick with the pilot unions who have brought in pilot workload as a factor. the wreck hasnt stopped burning yet, and these hacks are already pushing union agenda. there isn't anything yet to prove pilot workload as a factor, and pilots should be the last ones making such claims before the investigation is complete. at least out of respect for two dead colleagues.

in conclusion : there is never one single cause for aviation accidents. it is always a series of systemic faults and flaws that culminates in an accident. sure, it may have been triggered by something immediate and plausible like pilot error, but there are always systemic underlying causes. in every damn accident. and the reason we have improved aviation safety over the years is because we have studied these over and over again, and imbibed the lessons industry-wide. in country like ours where there have been incidents where aspersions were cast over the findings of investigative proceedings in the past, the media has an important role and opportunity here to bring us some honest investigative journalism. it's always easy to make scapegoats out of pilots, and if the media stupidly plays up half truths, the real truth may get lost in the cacophony. sure, you could call it pilot error, and train all pilots flying to mangalore a few extra hours on the simulator to understand the airport better, but the systemic causes will strike elsewhere in a different form and incident, and claim more innocent lives with it. the focus should be on an honest investigation, and to learn the lessons from its as soon and as effectively as possible.

A brief history of pretty much everything

2010-02-18T23:11:00.001+05:30

PAK-FA

2010-01-29T11:49:00.002+05:30

First pic so far of the Sukhoi T-50/PAK-FA, on her maiden flight. This is the first all new Russian fighter since the collapse of the Soviet Union. I can't begin to describe how excited i am.. :)

Boom Shack a Lak

2009-02-17T17:06:00.002+05:30

Apache Indian - Boom Shack-A-Lak

I used to love apache indian, its what i grew up on :D whatever u might say, i still love his brand of reggae :P

Hazmat Modine

2009-02-06T14:30:00.001+05:30

Hazmat in Moscow: "Bahamut"

Love this band, love the song.
Bahamut, by Hazmat Modine.

Tonight we fly

2009-01-13T15:43:00.002+05:30

i love this song. for years i was under the mistaken impression that 'gin soaked boy' was their only good song, but divine comedy have got so much more, as i've recently discovered :)

C or F?

2009-01-01T18:25:00.003+05:30

Brilliant airplane, the Alenia C-27J Spartan. Aptly named too, i guess. But this image did leave me wondering if i should file it under fighters or transports..

INS Tabar 1, Pirate Trawler 0

2008-11-21T12:37:00.003+05:30

A krivak 3 stealth frigate is a bit of an overkill against a stolen fishing trailer with small arms, but well done to the IN for taking on the pirates when the rest of the so called powerful navies are pussyfooting around.

F, not A, for this 319

2008-11-20T12:31:00.002+05:30

Seriously, what the hell does he think he's flying? an F-15?
Brilliant.

SIA 345

2008-10-28T14:49:00.002+05:30

Made a sketch of the SIA Airbus 345 lookin at a scale model i had, the other day. Proportions are fucked, but what the hell.. at least im drawing again..

KC 30 wins!

2008-03-10T11:51:00.004+05:30

The better tanker won. I sure can hear a lot of whines from america, but the better aircraft is clearly the victor. Im not a big fan of the USAF, but I do respect their guts in this decision. It doesn't look like it was an easy choice, given the political baggage. By no means is this plane gonna supplant the Il78 Midas as my favourite, though :)

LH Close Call

2008-03-07T18:47:00.001+05:30

Looks like even the venerable LH could've had a worse day than the beautiful Ariana.. Hamburg, this week, A320, Hurricane Emma.

Anti-Gravity Helicopter

2008-01-08T11:28:00.000+05:30

Cool effect that happens when the FPS of the camera is the same as the RPS of the rotor.

My 330 :)

2007-12-18T17:07:00.000+05:30

The extremely beautiful Airbus 330 (D-AIKH) of LH that took me from ORD to FRA. Love this plane :)

parkour + soccer = parker? wait that didnt make sense..

2007-12-07T13:56:00.000+05:30

Football - Click here for funny video clips

I am jealous. In a nice way, but jealous nonetheless.

Till the end of time..

2007-11-18T13:34:00.000+05:30

i didn't think you'd object anyway.

The Golden Eagle

2007-11-15T07:43:00.000+05:30

And finally a decent video of the S-37 berkut. The ultimate evolution of the Sukhoi Flanker. A sobered down version will see the light of day as the PAK-FA project, in which India might take a stake. PAK-FA stands for Perspektivnyi Aviatsionnyi Kompleks - Frontovoi Aviatsyi. Go figure.

And what did the mad Russians do?

2007-11-11T14:34:00.000+05:30

They took a piss over everyone at Aero India that's what they did. I still remember clearly... the americans showing off the F-teens, doing their darnedest best to capture the crowd's imagination. They really sounded desperate, when their almost propaganda-like voice over called their planes the defenders of freedom, et al.. the C-17 doing admittedly impressive flypasts, but wasn't good enough.. the Swedes had a go with their little gripen, but that wasn't up to scratch as well. Hell, even the LCA or the Sarangs or the IAF Su 30 MKI solo which was far better than most that we'd seen all day, was not the best.
The best of the lot, was one diminutive bright red and white mig-29 OVT fighter from russia that took to the skies in the afternoon with some faintly familiar western classical music playing on the klaxons... and the crowd went quiet looking at the awesome spectacle that followed. I remember wanting to shout out, cheer that mad pilot, but like every other person in that crownd, i didnt want to ruin the moment. Five-odd minutes passed like a dream, with the plane showing us stuff we didnt imagine was possible. I mean, i had thought i'd seen it all with the Su-30MKIs this year as well as last, but this guy stood all of that on its head.And the crowd erupted in applause as soon as his show was over and he flew away from the airfield. Not even the surya kirans could match him in the intensity of applause received. I saw a few teary eyed folks after that.. and no, im not joking.. in less than five minutes, this russian plane had taken a piss over all the other contingents in the airshow, at least from the lay-crowd's standpoint. If the Mig wins the MRCA order, he'll have had the last laugh on top of this, as well...
Anyway, the Russians are doing it again right now at Dubai Air Show, and unless Airbus are gonna fly a squadron of 380s barrel rolling in formation, this guy's gonna take the cake again...

Ive added a video above, that hardly does justice to what i saw.

But Luke, I am your father..

2007-11-02T04:41:00.000+05:30

Luke : Other kids dont have to put up with this sorta thing..

Whoa. Just, Whoa!

2007-10-28T20:33:00.000+05:30

This makes the honda ad look sissy.

TED Videos - 5

2007-10-09T17:54:00.000+05:30

My Hero Burt Rutan speaks on the future of space exploration. And makes some very valid points. I'll get to those once i get over the fanboi-ness regarding the sideburns :D

But really. Some great insights into the importance of exploration. You might not be a designer or an aviator but if you think you're inquisitive, listen to this man.

TED Videos - 4

2007-10-03T18:01:00.000+05:30

Think you were educated? Think again. Ken Robinson speaks..

Sukhoi mounts a Challenge

2007-09-26T17:42:00.001+05:30

Sukhoi has unveiled the superjet 100, its contender for the regional jet market. With backing from a lot of heavyweights including boeing and snecma, this first all new post-soviet has notched up some orders already. I love russian jets, especially sukhois and migs. and like a little kid backing his team in a football match, i often close my eyes and pray.. that this plane makes it big, and as a long shot, that alliance air buys these so that i might fly on them on a day not too far away. So far all I've seen is its Sam146 engine at aero india 2007.

goodluck and godspeed, sukhoi.

Stark.Raving.Mad

2007-09-23T15:07:00.000+05:30

In utter boredom, i bring to you people who are madder than i am, or can ever hope to be. We have with us mad stuntmen...

... mad pilots (god bless them)...

...mad russian pilots (as if there weren't enough)...

...mad transformers geeks... ok thats enough madness for now i guess. anti boredom campaigns rule.

Cold War Kids - We Used to Vacation

2007-09-21T18:05:00.001+05:30

Continuing with the music video trip.. this is a band i've just started listening to, so can't really recommend them since i dont know too much. But i do like what i've heard so far, and am putting this up. I like the video as well, perhaps a tad more than the song..

Stop - Kopek

2007-09-20T16:17:00.000+05:30

Animated video for a song named 'Stop' by a band called 'Kopek'. I know very little about them except the fact that they are an indie outfit, and they don't seem to have a website as yet, or even a wiki entry. But the song is good, as is the video. Got it from here, actually. There are some stills as well as the animatics there.

EDIT : they do have a site, and its pretty neat as well...

Just for Laffs..

2007-09-16T15:22:00.000+05:30

Now i know why viral videos are, um, viral.. was just sittin around bored when i came across the above two videos, and nearly fell outta my chair laughing despite the fact that i've seen them before. I've come to the conclusion that there are too many bored people in the world, though the conclusion is not one that puts me in a Sherlock Holmes sorta league. Anwyay...

King Antonov the 2nd

2007-09-16T14:38:00.002+05:30

I now have a roommate, and his name is Antonov the Second, King of Suburbia. I missed Antonov (the First, in picture) a lot the other day, and i suspect that this had something to do with the fact that both egress routes from my house lead via an aquarium. So i snapped, and stepped into one, and now A2 is here. Of course, i rather foolishly forgot that i am going away for two months, so now i have to arrange another royal quarters for his highness.

Edit: King Antonov the 2nd is with us no more, he passed away a few weeks back. R.I.P.

Kuznetsov Carrier Ops

2007-09-06T21:00:00.000+05:30

Sukhoi SU-33

Some really cool footage of the Naval Sukhois in action off the deck of the Admiral Kuznetsov. If old soviet footage was great due to their furtive, archival nature, i think new Russian military footage is awesome in their ability to impress and showcase capabilities. And a great plane as well, though we'd be getting the sister MiG-29 Ks cos these are too big for the Gorshkov nee Vikramaditya.

More Fulcrum

2007-09-02T15:07:00.000+05:30

Some pretty cool footage in this 15 min video about the MiG-29 fulcrum. Pretty exhaustive, covering a lot of variants and aspects like maintenance as well. I'm on the lookout for a good video of the OVT Fulcrum, i've seen it with my own eyes at aero india and i was amazed at what it could do. Hope we buy these for the airforce ;)

No Fokker Comes Close

2007-08-31T15:56:00.000+05:30

Found these while looking up the spitfire. The spitfire, apart from the prolific WW2 aircraft, also is the name of a brand of british beer, who've used that in beating the germans (er, their beer that is) to a pulp. And the brand is not even old, it started only in the 90s according to their website. But the whole play on words regarding the war makes for some pretty cool advertisements. My personal favourite is "No Fokker Comes Close".

Please excuse all the red though.

Agent Venkatachalam

2007-08-30T17:08:00.001+05:30

If the Matrix were made in south India, this is what the agents would look like. Meet agents sundarakantam, venkatachlam and balasubrahmanyam.

On Gifts...

2007-08-29T18:54:00.001+05:30

A lot of people don't consider a book an imaginative gift to give. I beg to differ. A book is the only gift you can give that can match all the colors in the spectrum of human imagination. Those who think that gifting a book means you're short of imagination are perhaps stuck on the physical, the material. A food processor or a carpet for a housewarming gift might be deemed practical, a birthday gift based on a person's interests might be deemed imaginative on the giver's part, but me, I'd rather gift books any day. For, between those two covers could lie the answers someone is seeking, the questions that might set one off on new journeys, or the simple thrill of opening up to something you haven't known before. And for me that's more thrilling than a toaster or a pendant any day.

Yeah, music might come close, but books are still tops...

TED Videos - 3

2007-08-28T15:18:00.000+05:30

Ze Frank is funny as hell :)

MAKS - 2007

2007-08-28T11:19:00.000+05:30

Its that time again, when fans of Russian aviation get shivers of anticipation runnin on their spines.. it comes every two years, lasts a week and leaves us with stuff to talk about till the next time it comes around. It the Moscow airshow MAKS, a.k.a Moscow Air and Space Salon in the Russian. I've been planning a pilgrimage to this show which happens in the airbase at Zhukovsky in the Moscow region. I've invited all and sundry to go with me, and some fellow aviation lovers have agreed as well. The plan was to fly on one of those cheap Russian airlines out of mumbai or goa, reach moscow and backpack around to the old soviet airbases and aviation museums, watch MAKS, ensure one flight on a Tu-154, travel to Vladivostok on the trans siberian and then get back. But then, a trip is not possible before MAKS2009, as none of us had any money to make it there this year.
Which is kinda sad, cos this year we would have seen the Tu-144 restored to its former glory. That and the Tu-160 flying displays. Oh hell, they way the Russians are headed these days, I wouldn't put it past them to have the 144 back in flying condition by the next MAKS. That should make a lot of people proud.

Images from Airliners.net

Devotchka, The Love for.. etc

2007-08-23T18:57:00.000+05:30

Small story based on a true incident that happened a few days ago. And also, my love for their music. Click on pic to read.

New meaning to pencil light?

2007-08-22T15:02:00.000+05:30

Cool vid of how to turn a pencil into an emergency light source. Not all that practical, but quite cool nonetheless.

KTM Fanboy :)

2007-08-22T13:40:00.001+05:30

Click on pic to see text in detail. Duh.
Also the result that occurs when you have a wacom and lots of time on your hands.

Bea.st

2007-08-22T11:34:00.000+05:30

This guy at www.bea.st does some pretty cool techno sculpture and suchlike stuff. Check out this lightbulb for instance. It looks like a wireless floating lightbulb. It levitates between magnetic fields and uses magnetic hall effect sensors and a PD feedback system to stabilize the bulb while floating. LEDs inside the bulb turn AC power to DC and emit light. Check out the site for more.

бомба царя - Tsar Bomba

2007-08-21T17:30:00.000+05:30

For those of you who were wondering about my gtalk status message for the last few days, here's the explanation.. it reads 'Tsar Bomba' of the king of all bombs. It was the name of the largest thermonuclear device ever exploded, dubious kudos to the USSR. It was so massive it could only partially fit into the bomb bay of the Tu-95 bear bomber, and its fallout still haunts the island of novaya zemlya. In fact, to reduce fallout its yield was reduced to 50 from 100 megatons. More on it at бомба царя

Volga V-12

2007-08-21T15:00:00.000+05:30

This is one of my transfer posts.. as in, I've posted about this before on my stumbleblog. But hell, i bet you automobile freaks haven't seen this one in your rush to drool overs the latest lambos, ferraris and beemers. This, folks, is a Russian car by the name Volga V12. It is a coupe. I have not seen pictures of any colour but black. These were made by the same factory that made the venerable GAZ cars. And, imo, it is the most beautiful car ever. Its spinning off so many retro concepts in my head that i wish i could sketch better :D It is also the ultimate gangster car, sitting perfectly with the vision of the russian post-communism mafiosi and oligarchs. One cool car.

That first pic is a modded version btw.

Verdammt..

2007-08-17T02:21:00.000+05:30

Just.. that last post was too wide. verdammt.

SXM

2007-08-16T21:23:00.000+05:30

http://view.break.com/350055 - Watch more free videos

Princess Juliana Airport at St. Maarten Island in the Netherland Antilles. Absolute spotter heaven, i wanna go there someday before they install ILS and ruin the feeling of gettin blasted into the water by jumbojets flyin overhead.

Russian Traceur

2007-08-04T12:35:00.001+05:30

Some of the best skills i've seen in parkour so far.. awesome. Restart the club anyone? ;)

Magazine Covers..

2007-08-04T12:22:00.000+05:30

Some cool magazine covers i came across somewhere.. don't remember where though. Anyways, here they are, and my favourite is the national lampoon cover :) The first one is andy warhol drowning in a campbell soup can. meh.

TED Videos - 2

2007-08-03T16:44:00.000+05:30

This is Al Gore's follow up presentation at TED. I know i should put the "inconvenient truth" presentation first, but i can't find a video of that as yet. Will change things when i do. Anyways, great stand up comic, mr Gore.

444 SSBJ

2007-08-03T16:35:00.000+05:30

Sorry about the Tupolev trip, but a bit more digging brought up this new piece of info. There is another Russian supersonic business jet on the boards, the Tu-444 which i believe draws heavily from the Tu-144 experience. This is apart from the Sukhoi Gulfstream JV which sukhoi is rumoured to be taking forward alone. This in turn is apart from all the western studies and proposals including one presented as recently as the Paris airshow. It seems supersonic people movers might return after all, albeit moving fewer and richer people. Will post more on supersonic projects of the future once i do some more research, including on the Tu-244, an apparent second coming of the 144.

Tu-134 Cigarettes..

2007-08-03T15:45:00.000+05:30

The soviet version of Mirage Paan masala? Perhaps.. but then we even have airlines named after beers these days, so i guess I'm not too surprised. But then I'm impressed by the fact that the 134 might have been a 'brand', that people might have thought of it as a cool airplane of that age..
This is the airplane in question..this particular airframe was in east german interflug service. i like it for the fact that it looks like a scaled down version of the 154 minus the number two engine, plus the glazed nose. The nose was changed for the B-3, and it coulda looked a pretty decent RJ, but there are too few of them around. A lot are in business configurations apparently.

Tu-144 - The First SST..

2007-08-02T19:18:00.000+05:30

Tu 144 Landing Video

Awesome video of the Tupolev 144 landing.. it was an awesome but ill fated plane. I sure wish it had as good a run as the Concorde. One of the airframes in storage was brought back to flight condition as part of a multilateral effort to research SST technology, dubbed the Tu-144 LL. The landing sequence is just mindblowing.. looks more like a fighter...

Old Hat..

2007-08-02T19:13:00.000+05:30

Old Hat yeah, but still one of my favourite Banksy works...saw it again today so thought i'd post it.

Gogol Bordello..

2007-08-02T18:18:00.000+05:30

Start Wearing Purple

Yet another band i discovered on my band trawls on the net.. i kinda like their sound, eastern european and gypsy influence.. bit of russian or ukrainian in the lyrics, and the total madness of it.

Rating - Θ Θ Θ Θ Θ/2

TED Videos

2007-08-02T15:23:00.000+05:30

I've decided to post all the TED videos i can here, i just recently discovered them despite their having been around on public domain for a while now. Anyone who is a designer should see this methinks. actually everyone should see this. anyway.. here goes the talk by Sagmeister.

Liveries...9W and AI 737s

2007-07-31T22:21:00.000+05:30

The new liveries of 9W and AI are kinda weird on some of their aircrafts methinks. Though i generally dont think much of the new 9W colors, they do look better on their 737s than their 777s. On those the blue part looks too long while on the 737s the colours are kinda balanced. The A330s are ok, cos i like the form of the aircraft anyway :)

But its just the opposite with AI it seems to me. The AI livery looks great on the 777s and even the A320s, surprisingly. But the 737 freighters seem kinda bloated and ugly like they probably are, since the livery isn't doing much on them anyways. And this has just bothered me somehow, dont even ask :)
Though again, for the record, the new livery looks ok on the A310 freighters. Wonder what the 747s will look like.. yeah, I cant wait to see those.

Iraq's Victory

2007-07-31T17:38:00.000+05:30

If there is a better example for achieving the impossible than Iraq's victory over Saudi Arabia in the Asian Cup Football tournament, if there is a more inspiring example of sport as an uplifter, then I'm yet to see it. To come up with a ray of hope like that when the whole world seems to be screwing them is much better than winning on any other stage, especially where overpaid losers like beckham and rooney do. Congratulations is all I can offer, and I'm just a small voice that might not be heard. But yeah, congrats nonetheless.

A400M - Airbus Heavylift

2007-07-26T18:46:00.001+05:30

This, in all its computer generated glory, is the new venture of Airbus, the A400M military transporter. It is aimed as a Hercules replacement, and considering there aren't too many in that category being developed right now, it is expected to have a decent run amongst the large number of Hercules operators who will be looking for a replacement pretty soon. It is a high performance bird, capable of mach .72 cruise at FL370. Four huge European turboprops power it, and these engines are not only more fuel efficient than turbofans, but are also more advanced as even propeller controls have been brought into the FADEC. Of course, this one is facing delays as well, but hopefully things wont go as bad as it did with the 380. Of course, I might as well state here that i believe that once the problems are cleared and she enters service this October, the 380 is gonna prove successful and more orders would follow. Meanwhile, some more A400M pics , all the best to this first dedicated aircraft of airbus military (after 310 and 330 MRTTs :) ). Can't wait to see her in the skies...Airbus flight decks are great as a rule, but this one further ups the ante. Twin HUDs too, btw.Hopefully a sight that's coming soon to an airbase near you :) Also, cant help but comment on the 3D renders released so far. They have been of great quality, giving an excellent idea of the aircrafts capabilities. I'm not saying that this is a guarantee of performance or anything, its just that airplane buffs can get a better idea and start having fun arguing on a.net :) Now if only they'd hire these same guys to do some renders on the XWB...

AI New Livery

2007-07-18T20:38:00.000+05:30

There you go, pics of the soon to be created AI merged entity aircraft. The livery is not as good as the old-new one, which was to have been for AI alone, but it has its fans too and I guess these things are rather subjective. The pics are of VT-ALC the third 772, VT-EQT A310, which has been converted to cargo configuration in germany for AI Cargo, and an A320 VT-PPA for what was Indian Airlines. The merger announcement is expected this month itself, and AI beat 9W to the post by starting their Nonstop to JFK from BOM on August 1st, (Jet starts on Aug 5). All the best to them. I would have loved to see an A340 in the new livery, but that is not to be. I do hope they get A380s and not the 747-8.

The Mongrel

2007-07-18T20:28:00.001+05:30

Did a bit of exploration on surface modeling in Rhino 4 and this is what I ended up with. I christened it 'Mongrel" 'cos it resembles a lot of planes i know and love :) Especially the Rafale. Will do more work on it in terms of detailing and then rendering, soon as I can find time. I suppose I had a ground attack fighter in mind considering the upturned nose.

Operation Wright

2007-07-18T19:06:00.001+05:30

These are the pics of the concorde cardmodel I made as part of the aeromodelling workshop I'm conducting for my team at work. Will post more soon as i can shoot some. We have named the workshop operation wright, with phases in paper planes, card models and the final step of a flying electric model. Hopefully I'll be able to better document the flying model.

Mig 29 K

2007-06-21T20:05:00.000+05:30

Mig-29K - Funny video clips are a click away

These babes are gonna be flyin for the Indian Navy soon, off the deck of the Admiral Gorshkov nee INS Vikramaditya. The aircraft in this video is a testflight/airshow version, the actual production version has some marked differences.

Not airplanes, but hilarious nonetheless :)

2007-06-21T11:01:00.000+05:30

The case for the Beluga

2007-06-09T12:27:00.000+05:30

There are those (esp from Seattle) who say that this aircraft is ugly. I beg to differ. This is just for those Boeing cheerleaders who keep crowing that airbus planes (in general) are ugly and Boeing's are beautiful. Apart from the fact that their refrain is completely pointless since the airlines care more about frugality than looks, they also seem to be forgetting Boeing's own Quasimodo, the 747 LCF.
Now, THAT'S an ugly airplane if i ever saw one. And by the time the XWB arrives, there wont be any competition for the looks.

PS :- I completely regret that rant, its just that all these pro boeing idiots that I run into on aviation forums are kinda pissing me off.

Strizhi - Стрижи

2007-06-01T18:05:00.000+05:30

Well, there you go. Thats the Strizhi Mig-29 UB. Much cooler plane.. and i'm planning to paint my bike in this scheme, down to details like stencilling :)

Russian Knights

2007-06-01T13:18:00.000+05:30

Hmmm, a harmless lookin bunch of middle aged ol' russians right? in fact, they look so nerdy and innocent that you'd think nothing was amiss except for that menacing Sukhoi right behind them. Well, looks can be deceptive, for these men are capable of mayhem in the sky. Not likely? read on then..
They are part of the Russian Knights, the second best air show team in the world. These guys fly Su-27 flankers similar to the one shown above, and their antics in the sky are matched only on the ground by my antics on the bike :D kiddin.. my bike cant do any of the wild stuff below...I could probably rig her up to shoot flares like this dude here, but i don't think I'll be able to go upside down.. might end up scratching my AGV :P These 'ere guys don't pay no attention to stuff like regulations. They aren't all that welcome at European air shows for the same reason. They have no qualms flying over the spectators. They've been cited for that more than once.
Shooting flares off is their standard air show trick. These flares are actually magnesium sticks that are used in self defence against an attack by heat seeking missiles. These are even hotter than the engine due to Mg's high flash point, and the sensor on the missile is lured their way. It's fitted in a dispenser between the twin tails of the aircraft. And its used to awesome effect.
And why are they second best? Heh, they probably are the best, but then i have a soft corner for the Strizhi Team.. they fly Fulcrums, have a better colour scheme, a cooler name.. i could go on..:) Will post them here soon enough.

Mach Daddy

2007-05-30T12:17:00.000+05:30

Well, our favourite airline has finally been cleared to fly in the US. After a coupla years of legal wrangling and lobbying, they have everything needed to take to the air in one of the most protectionist domestic scenes today. So why were they lobbied against? simply because they're good. There is no airline that is more of a maverick than Virgin, and they're getting into all sorts of cool stuff these days. Like the names of their planes, for example. The first one was named Jefferson Airplane, and was inaugurated by Grace Slick, who went on record to mention that Grateful dead would have been a bad name for an airplane :D The rest were all named in a contest open to the public and sports such cool names as Mach Daddy, Virgin & Tonic, An Airplane Named Desire, Chic Mobile, Unicorn Chaser, Fog Cutter and Jane. But the names that take the podium are Airplane 2.0, Contents May be Under Pressure, and ... Winner of Naming Contest ; that last one by a dude named Sahil Dilwali. Trust an Indian to maro a ganda fatta, eh? :D

Sturmovik

2007-05-23T20:37:00.000+05:30

In case you were wondering which corner of Russia I'd gone to find the name for my blog, well, here's the explanation. Pictured above is the Soviet Il-2 Shturmovik (Ил-2 Штурмовик) ground attack fighter, whose name I've borrowed for the blog. Along with its successor the Il-10, it is the single most produced military aircraft design with a production run of 36163 units. It played a crucial role in the Soviet victory in WW-II, as it could fly day and night and penetrate the thick armour of the Panzer and tiger tanks of the Nazis. The enemy nicknamed it black death while the soviets called it the flying tank. It also had a great capacity to absorb damage, leading to the German nickname Betonflugzeug or 'concrete airplane'.

And I've played the Il-2 sturmovik simulation game as well. And I've named my bike after it. Need I say more? :)

Rare AI Birds

2007-05-23T18:46:00.000+05:30

An Ilyushin 62, a handful of DC-8s, a 767, a few Tristars.. what in heavens name am i talkin about eh? Well, all these are/were part of the Air India fleet. Honest! I even got pics to prove it :) Did a bit of hunting on good ol' A.net and found some interesting pics of old/rare AI aircraft.
This here is the Il-62 (NATO : Classic) that was leased from Aeroflot in the late 80's. Here its seen back with the soviets, waiting full repainting into aeroflot c/s. AI had apparently evaluated Il-96s as well before deciding on 747s. If the USSR hadn't collapsed, we would perhaps have seen that sight...And I told you we had Tristars as well :) ... i stumbled across a die cast model of an AI tristar while browsing through the IndUS Aviation store in Bangalore, and did a bit more of research on them. I could find only two registrations, V2-LEJ and V2 LEK. V2 is for Antigua, btw, and VT is India. It sure is a beautiful airplane.This is a Boeing 767 that AI has on its rolls right now. It has been leased from flyglobespan UK, and has a British registration. Its not gonna be around for long, and should go back by the time the brand spankin new 777s start rolling in from Seattle. This aircraft is sporting the unfinished new livery, which is being changed for the third time now to integrate elements from the Indian livery since the two airlines are going to be merged in
July.

And these DC-8s used to operate with AI cargo in the late seventies and 80s. Apparently they had both the low-bypass-engined DC-8-63s as well as the high-bypass-engined DC-8-73. I don't know exactly how many they have operated, but all the ones I found pictures of were leased aircraft. AI cargo started out with DC-3s but i havent found any pics of those.This wasn't exactly a rare bird in its time, but then not many people know that AI used to operate Lockheed L-1049G constellations. These curvaceous tri-tailed beauties were all named after various queens in Indian history, like the Rani of Jhansi for instance. Speaking of unusual AI birds, I might as well add this one to the list. This is one of AI's leased A310s. This particular aircraft had been leased from CSA Czech airlines for a year and sported a livery that was a hybrid between AI and CSA. An AI A310 was the first fixed wing aircraft i ever flew in, and i'll probably write about that flight later :)
And why is this brand new 772 unusual you ask? Well, its unusual because this livery is probably never going to be used. The new livery will not have the centaur logo of AI, it will have an orange konark wheel instead on the tail and the engine nacelles, while maintaining the same red on the ivory base. The new airline would be named Air India.

N.B.- The pics are blatantly copied from Airliners.net ... hope they dont sue me or anything :P

XWB - The Babe..

2007-05-22T16:16:00.000+05:30

Aircraft being referred to in the feminine is nothing new. But i really dont think there has been one worthy of the title 'babe'. Until now, that is. Until the A350 XWB. I've heard of planes being called elegant ladies, old ladies, even pin-up sorta names, but i tell you this one is a babe. Put it in a swanky farmhouse party and it'll be right at home. Check out those windscreens out front, i doubt ray-ban will match them anytime soon. And those wings.. ooohh.. well yeah i agree its kinda wrong to be turned on by a plane, but this is the best I've seen so far. Its probably also the first time airbus has given some consideration to the looks of its plane.
They have long held the view that air doesnt yield to style, but with this one it apparently does, and how! The plane promises 30% more fuel efficiency than the competition (read : the 787) and better aerodynamics and 60% construction is from new materials. And its rumored that the xwb-1000 could even force seattle to run for cover with a new 777 variant. I only wish they could sort things out fast at Toulouse, Hamburg, Hawarden and all the other places to come out with this baby as soon as possible. I cant wait to see it in the sky, and this coming from a guy who nearly blew all his savings plannin on seeing the 380 on its first visit to India.

I wonder if Honeywell is gonna do the cockpit for this one :D?

There have been quite some orders so far, including three of my favourite airlines Aeroflot, Kingfisher and Finnair. I was kinda holding the opinion that the new Aeroflot livery looked good only on the soviet beauties, the Tu-154, Il-86/96 etc (It woulda looked great on a Tu-144 as well) but this one's shattered that opinion. Of all the airlines that have ordered this plane so far, the russian livery suits it the best.

Kingfisher has orders for five of these.  Someone should give that chap an award or something, for bringing some cool stuff to Indian skies. The KF livery looks better on the 350 than it does on the 380. Anything as big and red as the KF 380 should be enough for a headache :) But I'm guessing that their A345s should give Virgin's livery a run for its money.
And Finnair, as usual is as cool as ever. The white fuselage, blue tail and the 'F' logo all make the aircraft look tailor-made for them. I'd always liked their colours on their MD-11s, and also the 'Official Airline of Santa Claus' stickers that they used to have at one point. This plane should do just as nicely.
The only other livery I'd like to see on this is the bare metal look of American, but i have a feeling thats gonna be very very unlikely.
One of the important things to be noted about this plane is composites. The website promises 60% new materials in construction, but also says that it is going to use repairable composites. One of the major concerns about composites in aviation is their tolerance to damage. They do not get damaged gradually like metal, they tolerate stress to a large extend and then snap. So smaller damages caused by bad landings or handling accidents could potentially warrant replacement of the entire part, unlike metal where a great degree of serviceability exists. I kinda think that this is a potshot at the 787, which is the first major commercial airliner to use composites extensively. How far Airbus would be able to deliver on their promises remains to be seen, but for an airbus supporter like me, this could be the future of long range aviation.

The magnificient flying paintings..

2007-05-15T18:48:00.001+05:30

Guess whats in store for aviation nuts in India? well, here goes.. First off, the new liveries. Indian Airlines shortened itself to 'Indian' and adopted a new livery some months ago, and everyone else seems to be following suit. Air India's new livery has appeared on the net after its new 777-200 LR took to the skies for test flights. They haven't gone and ruined it like the last time with the sun livery, this time it is rather cool. The warm beige-ish colour and the stylized archer logo in gold is pretty good, and has class. And the famed window detail is still there, albeit smaller.

By contrast, Indian seems to have done an attention grabbing bid. The livery is stark, pretty much an LCC sort of thing. But the saving grace is the wheel graphic in deep blue, contrasting nicely with the loud orange. Besides the engine nacelles, like in AI, are a nice touch. But I got fooled once, thinking i was going to board one of their brand new 320s. Only on the airstairs did I notice that my flight had double bogey landing gears.. seen only on the oldest of Indian's 320s. Buggers had started repainting them already. The older ones have blotchy white paint, in case you want to tell the difference.

Jet is what I hate though. I've always had a thing against them for having a livery too close to that of Singapore. And when they finally changed, they didnt go the whole hog. Just a half hearted introduction of yellow to the front of the fuselage. I would've ranted more were it not for the sexy yellow uniforms they have given their cabin crew. That and the fact that they have ordered some 330s along with their 777s and 787s. And again, its not that the aircraft dont look cool, its just that i would have loved some more change. Of course, to each his own.

The one that takes the cake, though, is Air India Express. Its nothing short of revolutionary. Like the first AI 747s with the palace in the sky livery that was intricate and out-of-the-world for that era. The photographic stickers on the tail depicting bits of Indian culture, from art to dance to architecture, is simply brilliant. Each aircraft has a different picture on either side of the tail, each more intricate than the next in detail. It remains to be seen how AIX can manage maintenance on these, but for the moment I'm willing to put my money on these beauties for the title of 'most beautiful 737s in the skies' today.

An ode to my bike.. ;-)

2007-05-09T20:30:00.000+05:30

a few reasons why i love or not-so-love the karizma.....:)

Absolute power... the modified rx 100 135 etc, as well as all pulsars are easily left behind... waaaay behind.  not to mention some city cruisers :D

Of course, with great power comes great responsibility. the other day i was drivin at around a 100 on mg road when somthin whacked me upside the head.. was my own bag that flew off at that speed, but being attaced to me by a shoulder strap, swung around and hit me. and im left wondering who dares catch up with me, hit me on the head and disappear at that speed... hayabusa?

Looks man, looks. babes dig you on this machine.. u really have to ride it to believe it. get on brigade street and, well, if there arent too many karizmas around, u have the entire attention. and this is only slight exaggeration. its the best when u overtake guys ridin with their gfs like they werent moving at all,  then slow down, allow them to catch up, give the girl a look/smile, and pull out again.

You begin to indulge the lesser bikers a bit. the usual means of doing this is to let them catch up, overtake, and just when they are baskin in the glory of havin overtaken 225ccs, treat them to a blast of your exhaust.

Of course the babes would be no good if the bike were designed, like the pulsar, to crush your balls everytime you hit the front brakes or attempted a stoppie.

Whatever be the little troubles with the bike u cant get angry at her... one look at it in the morning sunlight and you feel all your troubles belong to someone else...especially that guy with the Platina next door :) 

People are always out to get you...the first thing they ask is mileage:(

For a splendor, fill it shut it forget it. for 'zma (fill it, shut it) infinite loop. forget (filling) it at the end of the month.

Makes you a sentimental man. oh yeah? try riding at 100 with no glasses on :( you'll be in tears of joy literally...

Makes you a well dressed man. i've started wearing cotton trousers for fear of my jeans scratching the tank.

Makes you an important figure in world politics and directly influence oil prices. considering that your annual fuel intake more than matches the total intake of a few african countries...

Your hatred of auto drivers comes a full circle. first you hated having to deal with them at all. now you resent their very presence on the road. especially when you're tearing down mg road at 100 and lo, the stupid auto had to cut left...

Source of constant amazement. especially at traffic signals when you notice that the traffic on the road is actually moving... at karizma speeds you are inclined to treat all objects as stationary.

Will not go slow. will never ever go slow. the bike will commit suicide before going slow. not in first gear, not in any gear. no sir. only when u turn the engine off, switch to neutral, get off and push does it go slow. and even then, i doesnt look slow enough and you have that niggling fear in your mind whether shes still drinkin a bit of petrol as an after hours snack.

You occasionally feel like kissing her.  damn.

Ok didnt feel like writing anything new to put here, so here's an old piece.