Monthly Archives: August 2008

Flying

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Being a passenger on an airplane of a major airline is one thing. It’s a comfortable, safe, and relaxing ride to your destination. To be a passenger of a small aircraft is a little more different. It’s more cramped, nerves are tested a bit because it’s not as stable due to smaller engines and a smaller craft. However, it’s pretty fun to go to the land and see how an aircraft take off and land from such a close perspective…

Now to fly an aircraft… That requires a lot of fortitude right there…

It was about two and a half years ago when I made a trip down to Southern California to visit some family. One of my uncles was looking to earn his pilot’s license through hours of training and flying. So he figured that I might be interested in coming along for one of his flight exercises. I was a little nervous saying yes to the idea at first, but I had trust in him, so I decide to go.

My uncle and I get into Long Beach Airport and I could see small aircrafts all over the place. I was having butterflies and wondering if this was such a good idea. I had issues with going on roller coaster rides and my inability to actually be able to ride one without feeling sick. Knowing how an aircraft works, I had a feeling it was going to be the same. We met up with the flight instructor and headed over to the hangar and found the aircraft that we were going to use. We had to our with a pre-flight diagnostic of the aircraft to make sure everything was alright.

Fuel… Check.

Flaps… Check.

Landing Gear… Check.

Everything looked pretty good. So it was time to get onto the plane and start flying. But just as I was about ready to board the plane, my uncle jumps into the backseat. I got confused. I ask, “Ummm… aren’t you suppose to be in the pilot’s seat?” He responds, “I’m not the one flying.” I still was confused at what was going on. “So is he flying it then?” I ask, pointing at the instructor. He responded, “Nope.” Then it finally hit me and this sense of fear just goes through my body. I knew those butterflies were not just random… It was simple.

Am I really going to have to fly this bloody thing?

“Get into the seat and strap your seatbelt on,” my uncle said. So I got in. I was in a bit of shock still because I was scared of the thought of flying this aircraft. I don’t know how to fly aircraft. Even with an instructor in the plane, there’s no way I could do it. So I start trying to remember all the things that I could from video games. Apparently, playing flight simulation games paid off for once. I had a general idea of the flight panel and what I needed to do. There was the throttle. There were the pedals to roll the plane. This might not be so bad after all. All I could think at that point was “Thank God I played those flying games”.

We went over the flight procedures and eventually prepared for take-off. I was getting worried. It’s possible that I would do something stupid and crash this plane and we’d all die in a fiery crash. I start thinking in my mind, “Help me God. Help meee…” So we start taxing the plane onto the runway, waited for air traffic control for permission to go and got onto the main runway. “Here we go…” I thought. As we started going down the runway, the instructor is barking through the headsets, “More throttle and pull up!” I start pulling on the wheel and we’re finally off. Wow… We’re not going to die here anyway.

But as we were finally in the air, I was amazed at the sights that I could see. I could see Long Beach underneath me. Santa Ana was just right next to it. The water looked clear and blue. It was an amazing sight. Not to mention that, I was actually flying this plane around the air above it. I just looked through all the windows and I was in complete awe. It was nothing like I expected. As we kept flying, I felt a lot more comfortable flying the craft and the beauty of the city below me (aside from the industrial areas next to the water). It was something I couldn’t have seen through any other view, not even from a large airplane.

Eventually, our time was almost up, so we had to land the plane. As we start heading down, I was having a difficult time trying to land the bloody thing, so the instructor assisted me thankfully. Aircraft always have two wheels for the pilots just in case one of them go awry. And as we landed, I was amazed. We were actually safe. We didn’t die in a fiery crash! Wow…

My uncle took over and practiced some take-offs and landings. I got the chance to see him fly and I was impressed. He had such good composure. While some of his attempts weren’t necessarily the smoothest, they were still pretty darn good. A lot better than mine. That’s for sure.

His time finally ran out and we landed the plane and taxied it into the hangar area. As we got out, I was pretty happy to finally have my feet on hard ground. My uncle wrote out a check to the instructor to pay for the flight, fuel, and other expenses for the flight session. We started walking out to the car and he asked, “You enjoy that?” I just nodded and had a pretty big smile on my face. It was definitely one of the most memorable experiences that I’ve had and one I would definitely suggest to anyone out there. Fly a plane once in your life. See what it’s like to be in the pilot’s seat in a plane. It’s an amazing experience, to say the least.

Just make sure you save up some money though in order to do it…

The 2008 Olympics

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I’ve always been a fan of the Olympics. I could remember watching the Olympics in 1992, when I followed Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and the rest of the Dream Team squad crush all their opponents in rout to their gold medal in Barcelona. That followed with Atlanta in 1996 (and the Olympic bombing tragedy), Sydney in 2000, and Athens in 2004.

The Olympics is a special event. Every four years, the world gets an amazing opportunity to see all its’ best athletes gather together in one city to compete in various events. It isn’t all about who wins or how many they win (usually is though), but the stories that each athlete brings to these events. How they may have had to endure through various struggles from their past to get to where they are today. Or how they overcame obstacles, physical or emotional, to persereve and succeed. It’s amazing to hear the stories that the broadcasts bring in with their coverage. And then there are the controversies and the suprises as well.

For me, these were the stories that really came out from these Olympics (in no particular order)…

Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals… Maybe it was luck. Maybe it was a bit of skill. I don’t know. Two events could have prevented him from beating Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals, yet somehow, him and his teammates managed to beat the odds to do so. Why was the record of seven gold medals in one Olympics so difficult? Imagine having to work out, swim in one heat, finish that, prepare for another heat 45 minutes later, then another one after that, workout still, have time to eat, and then go to bed, and start all over again? For seven days straight? It’s amazing how he managed to do that. His coach prepared him for it though and the formula worked. Eight medals… All gold for now the world’s newest golden boy… And remember this. He’s only 23.

Gymnastics… I have to admit that I’m usually not a fan of gymnastics. While its beauty and artistry are impressive, it can get rather boring to watch over and over again. However, I think this time around, I managed to actually have some respect. Watching the men’s events, it’s impressive how strong and tough they are. Watch the parallel bars or the still rings and you can see what I mean. Try doing those moves. But like every Olympics, there is some kind of controversy. This time, it was the age of some of the athletes. Whether the Chinese chose athletes too young or not remains to be determine, but think for a second… 16 year old… 68 pounds. Is that right? In any case, Liukin follows the footsteps of her parents and wins the all-around title… and somehow, the U.S. men managed to get a bronze medal.

The beast known as Usain Bolt… While Phelps dominated the water, Usain Bolt did that on land. It wasn’t so much the fact that he won three gold medals or beat them all in world record time. It’s how badly he did so. Watching the first heat of the 100 meters, I knew that guy was going to be hard to beat. When you have a 6’5″ sprinting and beating people while jogging, how do you expect to beat him while he’s at full speed and effort? That was what the 200 meters showed. When he put out a full effort, there was no chance that anyone could beat him. The second closest competitor was at least 0.50 seconds behind him (that’s a huge gap in sprinting). His gigantic size and stride will make him dominant in future major events for many years to come for this 22 year old runner.

The U.S. dethroned from their title as “World’s Best Sprinters”… One of the big reasons why the U.S. dominate in the medal counts is their amazing performances in the sprints in track and field… However, this Olympics was not the case. Instead, the Jamaicans took the spotlight, dominating those events easily, as the U.S. teams faltered big time when it mattered. Could it have been the jitters? Was it because they couldn’t handle the pressure? Or was it the lack of drugs… I mean…

The murder in Beijing and the men’s volleyball team winning gold… The first official day of the Olympics was marred by tragedy. The men’s volleyball coach’s father-in-law was murdered by a madman, who later committed suicide. He left to be with his mourning wife and family-in-law. As he mourned, the team had to do their best without him. And they did. They proceded to win match after match, overcoming some of the best teams in the world. It eventually lead them to the gold-medal match against the defending gold medal champions and number one team in the world: Brazil. As their coach returned to help lead them, they struggled early, losing the first set. But after getting rid of their jitters, they started to regain their composure. In turn, they started making shots and mounted a comeback. One set… Two sets… Match. Gold medals. While tragedy overcame the team in the beginning, the team managed to stay strong and win one for their emotional coach.

Lopez Lomong… This was definitely an amazing story to hear. While he did not manage to medal, it was how he even got there that was amazing. He was originally from Sudan and was separated from his family when he was six. Spent 10 years at a refugee camp in Kenya, living off one meal a day. In 2000, he walked five miles just to watch the Sydney Olympics and eventually wanted to be on the big stage someday. Eventually he did as he got into the U.S. and became a citizen. And as the U.S. poured into the Bird’s Nest stadium, there was Lomong in the front of the group, carrying the U.S. flag proudly.

Chinese and their attraction to gold… While I don’t agree with their training techniques (basically training from the toddler years), it has contributed heavily to their success on the podium. And not just on the podium, but at the top of it. They’ve got 51 gold medals to the U.S.’ 36. That’s a huge margin. But maybe that has to do with some other factors as well, like U.S. somehow dropping their batons in both men’s and women’s 4×100 meter relays.

Lin Dan, Angel Matos, Usain Bolt and several other athletes… Bolt comes up again, along with Lin Dan and Matos. Why? I think if they were to have a competition for unsportsmanlike conduct, it would go to one of those three for sure. Probably others that I can’t think off the top of my head. Lin Dan and his over-the-top display after winning gold (throwing his shoes into the stands?), Angel Matos for kicking a referee after being disqualified in taekwondo, and Usian Bolt for his display in the last fifteen meters in the 100 meter dash. Which one would you choose? I would say probably Lin for gold in lack of sportsmanship because his lasted at least a few minutes.

The U.S. Basketball team winning gold… The Redeem Team stood by its name, winning the gold medal against the Spaniards, in a fairly close championship game. To see the gold medals and title of Olympic champions under the U.S. name again was quite relieving. Coach K’s coaching and Jerry Colangelo’s design were heavily the reason for their success. They found a winning formula that worked great and saw them play unselfish basketball (for the most part… the championship game wasn’t so much that).

Russia and Georgia playing each other in beach volleyball… The Olympic Games were slightly overshadowed by the fighting going on between Russia and Georgia. War broke out and that became the focus, despite the fact that the Olympic Games usually signals to all nations to set aside their arms for the two weeks to cherish the gathering of athletes and nations across the world. Then came the match-up between Georgia and Russia in women’s beach volleyball. Rather than competing on a battlefield, they competed on sand… across a net. And in the end, politics and bloodshed were not the focus of this match. It was sportsmanship, friendship, and unity. It showed how much sport conquers above war.

There were a lot of other stories throughout the games. The Chinese woman’s marathoner that overcame career-ending surgery to her long distance track and field career to compete in the marathon and complete it… The ending of Olympic careers for Laura Wilkinson (diving), Lisa Leslie (women’s basketball), and others… The end of baseball and softball as events in the Olympics… How Beijing managed to spare themselves in light of the issues with smog, their politics, and other issues…

So many more, but the fact of the matter is that the Olympics are finally coming to a close. The ceremonies will likely have been completed by the time I finish this post and the torch will be passed onto London as they host the 2012 Olympic Games. One thing is for sure: Just like all the other Olympic games, these games will be ones to remember for people all over the world.