Yesterday was good day in a sense as i saw the flights of 6 r/c
aircraft's. Well in a way it was like my first test flight. only
difference being instead of testing own-build aircraft we were
assembled there for a session of seeing these commercial radio
controlled planes fly. The event went well, with only 6-7 people
involved and a total of 12 person present there at the time of flights
, everything went smoothly.
First test flight of a flying saucer type aircraft failed. It couldn't
generate enough lift to be up.After two and three miss starts, one
particular light weight plane did the flight we all were waiting for,
it soared high and was up in the sky for 4 minutes, with making
several rounds above us and finally making a smooth real aircraft type
landing. It got the applause we all were ready to release.
The most expected disappointment was the helicopter, it had some cool
advancements, as i learnt latter, but it was flimsy and fragile and
it paid the price at the very beginning of the show.
The supersonic stealth fighter type aircraft also impressed, as i saw
Sankar Narayan sir, taking much interest in it, probably because he
has selected that very triangular wing configuration and also the fact
that this aircraft was much smaller. But this one had an inherent
disadvantage of no rudder and aileron, so all the work needs to be
done with differential control of the aircraft's propellers!!!
An interesting incident happened when Radha Krish sir piloted the
stealth aircraft and it went straight to the bushes.
One particular thing that i learnt today was about SN sir,( he is
kis's boss,) was that he has foresight and he thought of everything
and he was prepared to have a tea biscuit party after the show and it
was i think his best demonstration.
He is a hard task master and has the unique ability to inspire
people. Full of tales and anecdotes, he never fails to tell you a
tale or something. So here in the NAL cricket ground, during the
flight test, he assembled the talents of Indian Aeronautical and
challenged them to think up of ways to ignite the passion.
At that time, while on the show this all looked like nothing, what
good it is when you see that NAL, India's premiere lab which has
graduates like SARAS, HANSA and LCA, will let there scientists fly
commercial radio controlled air crafts. It looked like shame. But
now i realize the real purpose behind the show and it shows how
clever SN sir is. With this field trip he reignited the flame of
creativity , challenge in everyone present there. He instilled "If
they can do it, why can't NAL"
