Chalet

We do apologize for the late, late entry but as all our writeups go this one's as good quality as the rest. And no we haven't been on the loopy juice.

Night Riders

So night cycling it was. 

Without headlights, helmets, or a clue where we were going. Just sail into the wide blue yonder, or black since it was nighttime. Seek, and ye shall find.

Whatever la hor.

With our resident Joker playing chaffeur, Yiming drove down to the chalet with everything loaded into his car. Needless to say we wished he would crash but didn't. After everything Yiming, Edwin, Wai Siong, Lina, Alex, Chua, Su, Wen Hao, Carine and Kelvin went to cycle. At night. 

As luck would have had it, Alex's bike self-destructed halfway through the journey because - and we suspect that this is true - that it didn't much like him. Anyway Alex wasn't alone because Carine volunteered to stay with him. Alex, thank Carine. Must.

First stop, Ah Gu -- uh sorry we mean Changi Village! Where you see many people! Some of whom aren't man! Man!

Continuing on after not mentioning that we saw many Ah Guas at Changi Village, we cycled alongside the runways at Changi Airport (no confusion here. Planes are planes. They don't attempt to be someone they're not.). Yiming, Alex and Lina, having rather good eyesight at night, spotted the A380 taking off and were very excited that they saw it. The pilot didn't find it amusing.

12am broke, and Alex the birthday boy got whacks on his back. Nah not really, we just wished it were so. Beside the runway was where Alex celebrated his 18th year on Planet Earth and we sang a song to duly commemorate it. Good on you, Alex. Keep living.

Next stop was Bedok Jetty where we got a chance to rest our overworked bikes and butts. Yeah you try cycling non stop there and see how you take it. 

With Su complaining the loudest among the group we decided to head for Macs at Bedok so we could get some R&R. The pictures tell of the unspeakable torture we had to endure..

...at the hands of the "Big Mac". Oh the bliss of having aircon and a large cup of Coke in your hands.

Following the terror of McDonalds we cycled through Pasir Ris through Tampines and we reached our home away from home at 4am, having cycled for 6 hours straight. 

It honestly is a most fun experience cycling at night. Much different from the day. You get to see things you don't see in the day (Ah Guas. cough.) and stuff at night seriously looks better. Come on, don't tell me you didn't like the Formula 1 night race. Damn you.

Anyway, here be miscellaneous photos to complete this post. 

SP Development Program

So there went Aviation Club's Development Program - which has to be said was a very disaster-ridden event. More about that crashed plane(s) later.

Firstly, those who signed up for the event got thrown fistfuls of aviation action when they arrived for the program. We had RC modelling and flying in store for them and boy did they love it. they learnt how to build chuck gliders too, like how you would if you were starting to learn to build your very first plane. And then we made them compete with one another in our very own "So You Think You Can Chuck" competition. Okay so it didn't really go by that name but you do understand right? They competed for furthest distance and longest airborne time ("what good hangtime, eh?"). No seriously, they did. 

Following that they got a taste of the simulated crashes that make our simulator program so real and exciting and then it was their turn to fly for real. Obviously we had trained pilots standing by should anything befall the plane and/or pilot but seeing as we are an aviation-centered club we tried our best to think of the plane first.

Again, seeing as we're a very, er, adventurous club we like to do things that may shock the ordinary bystander. And boy do we excel. First, Alex's plane met a tree and they liked each other so much that they stayed together for a really long time despite the efforts of pitiful humans to dislodge their deathly clutches/loving embrace etc etc...

Since we do think of everything that might happen, we fortunately had planes on standby, and we flew those. Glendon's and Yiming's to be precise. To make a long story really short, Glendon's plane knocked itself cold and Yiming's plane took one last, mighty swing at the air before its motor burned itself out. So really it wasn't a very good day at the office. 

Much like McCain's presidential campaign now then, really. But then again he does have his good days.

And it did end on a good tune. What happened to Alex's plane, you ask. Ah. Seeing at it is us Aviation gobs are too busy having our feet planted firmly on the ground (ironic, that) we decided to use ingenuity, intelligence and wit to get his plane out of the tree. We started throwing things at it. And rope. So much was thrown and so much tree was shaken till the leaves started falling down like so much green confetti. Looking at that we can safely say that SPAVC has saved the environment.

And here be pictures for all you who didn't understand the 7 grey patches up there...

Punggol 21 Mid Autumn Festival

Punggol 21 Mid Autumn Festival 2008

Meeting Location: Punggol MRT Station

Event Location: field next to Punggol Plaza and Blk 168A.
Event date: 8.09.09

Meeting Time: 1630
Event Time: 
Attire: Casual with Club T shirt (Any) - prefered
Admission: Free
What to see: Fixed wing electric planes, Nitro Helicopters; NO night flying
CCA Points: No (don't think we have - will still try to ask)

Apologies for sending this out so, so late but at least we do things last minute and not on the minute. Anyway, the event is pretty much self explanatory so whoever does want to go, please do leave a note on the tagboard and Henry shall keep track of the numbers. 

Club Chalet

No it's not a new club you can join.

As part of the ongoing program to foster stronger bonds between club members, Lina and Sabrina - 2 lovely girls from the club - have organised a chalet especially for us all. By the club, for the club, know? If you do want to join, do contact them for further details and payment.

As such money is always an issue here so let's get it out of the way first. Those who are coming for the chalet and staying overnight are required to pay $15. That's fifteen dollars. Those who are simply coming for the BBQ will pay just $13, thirteen (Ed: no nonsense about paying only $2 if just staying overnight...)

The chalet will be held at HomeTeam NS Pasir Ris Holiday Chalets, located at No. 125A - 125H Pasir Ris Road, next to PA Holiday Chalets. It's quite a mouthful so do try to write all this down.

You are all invited (read: SP Aviation Club. None from Ballet or whatever) to come down to the chalet to have fun and make a general nuisance of yourselves.

Personal insurance is not provided

RSAF Open House

There's a new show in town, and it's just over.

The 29th of this month saw us going to Paya Lebar Air Base with the school of EEE and seeing as the RSAF demonstrated their incredible prowess at removing aerial threats. Obviously there was no live firing demonstration that ended in flaming wreckage and plane bits everywhere but it was just amazing seeing multimillion-dollar aircraft shooting across the sky and blasting out our eardrums at the same time.

Some of us had the privilege of flying on the C-130, a massive 4-engined beast that is the workhorse of the Air Force. It isn't the prettiest or the fastest or the most stealthy but this aircraft is the backbone of the Air Force's logistical operations. In addition to being a troop carrier it also functions as a sort of airborne Mercy Relief, ferrying supplies into storm-ravaged areas, most notably when the RSAF participated in the relief operations in Meulaboh, Indonesia when the tsunami struck on Boxing Day of 2004. No matter its job, it was still fantastic fun flying on it. The onboard air-conditioner was creating a major racket but the view! From 1500ft up, it's fantastic. Most of us have been in commercial jets far higher up but the thrill of seeing the ground in an unpressurized, noisy and plainly uncomfortable just enhanced the thrill.

Talk about getting your money's worth.

Back on the ground, some of us got t-shirts signed by Zoe Tay's hus - uh we mean the Black Knights. These hot-shot fighter jocks were on hand for photo-taking and autograph signing sessions. No words can be said of them but of pure respect. Doing aerial pirouettes and fancy manouevres takes nerves of steel and balls of iron (Ed: seeing as it is they're all guys...) and these guys can do it all. We approve.

And here be photos...

National Day

Just watch this video.

AWESOME!

National Day SP Aviation

Poly 50

Told you Dragonboaters had plenty to fear.

A little preamble, before we declare ourselves Lord Of Lanes (LOL). A huge thank-you to Wei Yao for flying his heli for that day's National Day event held before Poly 50 and bringing some much-needed recognition to our club. We wouldn't have been on anyone's radar had it not been for your tick-tock and whatever magic you work with that helo of yours.

And now please give a rousing WTF welcome for Team WTF! Yes for once SP Aviation has joined the prestigious event for running many miles without pause for breath till you die, also known as Poly 50, and we have come, wait for it, first!...

...not really. You see, we started with 10 members, all of whom then dropped out, only for 8 of those lunatics to come back and wanting to run. So that they did, braving the scorching, blazing sun and utter lack of pretty cheerleaders. And - hold your breath, ladies and gentlemen - because we, the Harbingers of Doom, the Runners of Lightning, the Fliers of Air Machines, have come in 68th out of 77th! And stop laughing, you, because that is hugely respectable given our utter lack of running experience and/or prowess. No Olympic gold medal or even a bronze, but what does that matter when we've got such a team on our side?

A whirlybird-thing

He's running for President

Henry neck-and-neck with a fellow Olympiad

Chua's long legs give him extra boost on the straights

Edwin encounters a speed bump

We few, we merry few, we band of brothers...

ZOMG flag's flying on its own...oh wait...

Numb3rs

Yiming's long legs - wait, no...

"..and the pack winds in through the infield, engines roaring as Lina blasts up the gears to take second..."



The winners, with the President in a strange pose. Presumably due to sniper fire.

Edwin, Lina, Carine, Alex, Henry, Yiwen, Chua and Yiming - you guys have done the club proud. More of this stuff, please.

flyflyfly

If blog entries were any benchmark with which to measure our club against, this entry would rank right up there with Martin Luther's speech and Abe Lincoln's famous oratory. We have spoken. Dispensing with the preamble, this week looks set to be properly explosive with many activities in store.

First up we have the important event on National Day Eve. If you haven't yet guessed it's on the 8th - which is just a couple of days away, do be reminded - and our team of Black Knights will be on display for the very first time in all their glory. Watch as they take to the skies and hear the symphony of engines as they tear past you on full afterburner. Well, almost. The show will start at 1700h and everyone is expected to be seated by 1600h. After the show has ended we will be makaning with the Director of EEE and several other of his colleagues, so no flip-flops or singlets or we'll make sure that's the last thing you wear. It'll be held at the Multi-Purpose Field, so do be there.



Now just a bit more, so do bear with us. For this Wednesday - the 6th - there will be no CCA meetup but do come down to the clubroom between 1200-1300 to make payment for your equipment that you'll be getting. It costs $90 in total so do beg, steal, borrow or perhaps sell one of your kidneys on ebay like the fashion is now so that you can get your stuff quicker.

And before we forget, yes, SPAVC is participating in the Poly50 run! With our Team WTF (Ed: get that thought out of your head. now. it's not what you think) we're going to blitz our opponents and make them wish they had never been born. Do support us - Team WTF - on the 6th at 1630 on campus, behind the Admin building, near the library. With a team of runners comprising of extremely fit and highly motivated young men and women there is no doubt that we are in a prime position to clinch the gold trophy and bring glory and honor to the club.

Dragonboaters, you have plenty to fear.

Update

Fellow clubbers!

Just a short blurb to keep the fire burning inside all of us. Not literally la, but you get the idea.

This Wednesday shall be very interesting because it involves electricity. Electrical connections more like it. T1553 shall come alive with the sound of engines roaring (screaming, actually) as you guys fix up your planes because your parts have arrived. Yes, all your electronics have arrived so you may proceed to electrocute yourselves to high heaven and back. Please don't however, blame SPAVC for any burns you may suffer. Don't forget, you guys signed up for a dangerous game.

***

ExCo members please do note that we are meeting at 1900h in the clubroom after CCA on Wednesday for His Edwinness to address us humble servants of Ye Olde Kingdom.

We Fly Again

Hello and welcome to another episode of "Planes On Rooftops" again.

Now as you know at SPAVC, we all derive certain pleasure from seeing planes fly around in circles and watch as hapless trainee pilots attempt to effect a proper landing of their dinky Depron planes that will never happen in this century or the next. We all laugh in the face of these frankly useless pilots and dream of one day shredding their planes with our mighty ducted-fan, eleventy-million horsepower RC fighter jets.

But one thing we desire the most is to watch the guy on the ground, holding his controller uselessly and watching in dismay as his plane flies overheard, behind a building and lands spectacularly on the rooftop where no man has ever gone before.

See, it's easy to fly a plane but quite another thing to handle it precisely. And that is what Alex precisely forgot how to do when he landed his "flying wing" (we have no idea what to call it) atop the sports stadium complex's roof and had to climb all over the place to get at it. Nothing would get between him and his beloved aircraft so he effected a daring rescue in broad daylight which earned him cheers and praise all round. He climbed over the parapet wall, walked gingerly on the roof (lest it broke and he fell through and died. It's okay, we have hot glue.) and saved the plane from death.

Nevertheless the freshies had their fun taking turns at the controls of the orange (and plastic) B-2 Spirit. Of course, Alex and Yiming were on hand to save the day should any of those intrepid pilots take a nosedive and spectacularly obliterate that multimillion-cent plane.

And here be pictures...

Names, Schmanes

As you can see from the just-closed poll that many readers and viewers have favored the name "SPAVC Red Warriors" over "SPAVC Black Knights". 

Owing to the way things are done in club there will still be much discussion over the names, which will then become an argument and then finally degenerate into an all-out fistfight over who should name the team what. 

Nevertheless an overwhelming number of you chose 'Red Warriors and we thank you for taking time out to do our little survey.

New Post!

Great News!
What?
The blog's back!

Would have been back earlier, if not for our imbecilic blog administrator dragging his leaden feet and making all of us wait. Remind us to shoot him on sight.

Anyway, a quick recap of the week. Bear in mind that we're on the verge of a major event (we're not going supersonic yet, by the way) and all this stuff is leading up to it. First off was our first flight simulator session for the greenhorns. As much as they crashed so much that it made the Battle of Britain look like a passing shower, overall they did brilliantly. After much practice though they managed to fly smoothly, some going a bit further and threw their plane around the screen, which unsurprisingly crashed. But great job guys, you all did superbly for first timers.

Next up, which is tomorrow, we'll probably be having some more simulations to make you greenhorns be less green and horny and probably Alex - our resident genius and pilot extraordinaire - will be teaching you some basic electronics relating to the servos and motors and rubber bands and whatever other gizmos that make a plane fly.

And no post will be complete without some Youtube. And here it is! 3 planes flying over SP over the first time. Not exactly in formation or any particular order because we're still cadets but it's still cool. Watch it!

New Activity!

Stop slacking around, dear members.

Because we're gonna have the first activity after the exams! And speaking of your exams, how have they been? Good? Rubbish? Remember to tell you parents your marks, we don't want to be inundated with calls asking us how come their son/daughter have been spending on CCA but not on studies. You have been warned.


Anyway to cut to the chase, there will be a CCA session tomorrow, 2nd of July at 1530-1800. There will be flight simulator training and some more interesting stuff to look forward to. Do meet at FC5218 which is where our clubroom is located.

Bring along yourselves, an adventurous mindset and a healthy dose of fun pills. We shall not hesitate to feed you into our propellers should any of these rules be broken.

Above All

Ever look up at the skies during National Day and wonder where had all the fighters gone? Those sleek, majestic machines, every bit as polished as a Formula 1 car, screaming across the sky and enthralling all in their very supersonic wake. Well this year, they're going to make a comeback. In all their livery. The Black Knights will come back to makes the crowds p*** their pants with their spectacular maneuvers. Dips and dives and rolls and spins, such maneuvers are testament to the efforts these brave men who have put in so much to bring out the very essence in aerobatics.

Which isn't to say we can't be like them. We've some highly qualified pilots around here so we're not that short on talent. Problem is, we're short on planes. And that's where our new Extra 300s come in. Of course they're not as big as the actual F-16s used in that aerial ballet you see. They aren't even real Extra 300s to begin with.

They're made out of foam! Depron, to be exact. And 10 of us Chosen Ones be flying them during our very own National Day in SP. The school however isn't exactly organising things the way we'd like to be so we're making this happen on our own accord.

It isn't easy, this. We've got plenty to learn, not least of which is coordinated formation flying. Anyone who has had to privilege of seeing any of us fly know that our flights end mostly in losing control and crashing sensationally in a shower of Depron and servos. So that's one area we need to improve on if we want to deliver a show worthy of its weight.

Bring on the afterburners.

MST

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.


No duh.


But all play and no work makes Jack even more of a idiot.


As such, SPAVC wishes all our members who are mugging hard for their Mid-Semester Exams GOOD LUCK and we do sincerely wish you score well for these important examinations so that you may advance with the speed of the wind and tenacity of a typhoon in your course.








P.S. If your name ain't Jack then it don't apply.

SPAVC Freshmen Welcoming Camp

Take a look at that picture and tell us you wouldn't like to be part of our fantastic group which over 2D1N's worth of fun and games have bonded into a dynamic and highly motivated group.


Tell us you'd rather have your face painted bright pink with sunflowers and rosebud petals in your hair.

Tell us that you'd rather join SP Drifters.

You wuss.


So then...exactly what is so fun about a group of aviation-crazed guys and gals coming together for a camp? Well for starters, we had something called fun. And fun is what happened...

The first day was especially for ExCos and seniors to bond with each other (Ed: Gay romps in the clubroom are not counted. You know who you are.) and it was spectacularly exciting in every sense of the word. Our secretary's face got painted by Glendon, who busied himself in "face art" i.e. dabbing splotches of black camo paint on any face he could find. He was especially cruel to our secretary who bore the full brunt of his "talent" and who was subsequently the brunt of our jokes (all together now: Yiming is a/The Joker...). We played several games like Trust Fall and something which involved moving a stack of cups from point to point without demolishing them. Some pictures to prove our point that ExCos are not boring...

Multiracial family. There's Gopal on the left, Ahmad on the right, and some random Chinese guy...

Let's all stop laughing at our secretary. We mean it. (Ed: This isn't the worst picture. I have another.)

Gentlemen, start stacking

Armageddon is brought forward a couple of years


Lina turns a blind eye to everyone...


...but doesn't mind a boogie with the woogie.



* * * *

The second day started off with a bang for everyone involved. The realization of the camp actually starting hit everyone hard and we all psyched ourselves as best as we could, ready to face the challenges that they day had in store for us. 16 of you freshmen arrived and everyone did their best to make them feel welcome. As much as we would have liked to give you guys a warm and fuzzy welcome to the camp, it is unfortunately not in our veins. So we decided to shake things up a bit by making them sit on each other and also do the caterpillar. No butts were harmed in the making of this game...

We hate to mention it, but Glendon and Wai Siong look like they're having fun

More "sit-on-me!" looks

This water is really, really cold. Kai Yi's face says it all.

We know a caterpillar has more than a few pairs of legs, but this is ridiculous

Edwin does the smart thing by directing everyone. He got it in the end.

Have you ever felt like the hair on your body was being ripped from its roots? Well actually that was exactly what happened to several unfortunate people while playing this game that involved saying your name while at the same time performing a series of claps in tandem. Get your timing wrong and get your hair pulled off. Problem is, it's not your head or facial hair: it's your legs that suffer. We'll spare you the gory details and instead let you focus on the pictures taken of these victims of torture and abuse. And they say females make better beauticians. Ta.

Clapping hands belie the torture awaiting those legs

Those faces look worried

Self-explanatory. Oh the humanity!

A freshie's leg getting ready to be landscaped.

Hmm...Alex's or that poor freshman's?

Alex relishes the thought of having his manly strands being forcibly removed

After we had finished, well gardening, we made our way to have fun with some more activities before heading for our Amazing Race. Exciting bit that, with many teams doing their best to race to the next station before the others caught up. It went relatively smoothly and all the teams had a great time - either having fun with ketchup or trying to shoot beans onto aluminium plates at the different stations. It was all thanks to Lina and Wai Siong, who did their best to keep everything running smoothly and properly. Though the game progressed with some hiccups, they managed to tide it over. Good on them!

With the race ended, it was time for some nightlife after dinner. Not exactly bartop dancing stripper stuff, more of the scare-me-silly kind that only a Night Walk can give. The freshmen were made to watch the film Shutter, which was obviously meant to scare the s*** out of them before sending them out. And effective it was too. We name no-one but some of us did hear loud screams and cries of HELP MEEEEEEEEEE from the frightened fellas whom we sent out. Either they were really frightened or it was from someplace else...bwahaha.

* * * *

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and the third day was there for that exact reason. But Aviation Club being Aviation Club, we won't end such a fun day without something really exciting. And that's where the War Games came in. Waterbombs flew, people (and cameras) got hit, a security guard came by and a van got blasted by blue, yellow, green, orange and red waterbombs. What more fun could you possibly, possibly ask for?

Devious masterminds masquerading as Yi Wen and Wai Siong

"...Bomb bay doors are open, we have a clear target"

"I can't believe I'm holding a blue bomb. Like, spiffy, dude."

Yu Ren gets intercepted by a gang of black-clad men, intent on stealing his playtoy

"Mr President, your balloon is in danger"

As the camp drew to a close, we had a closing ceremony for the freshmen, where they were presented their parting gifts in the form of the camp t-shirt, a bright orange affair with "SP Aviation Club '08" printed on the back in stylised form, and where some of them received awards for the Best Glider and Most Good-Looking Glider. Eh, prizes damn good okay. Got potato chips and plane wheels and Milo packets. Don't say we didn't treat you well...

El Presidente presenting some cereal to an unsuspecting soul

El Presidente presenting some crackers to an unsuspecting soul

Pretty much sums up everything: planes, t-shirts and beautiful girls

And hence drew to a close the first ever Freshman Orientation camp ever properly held by SP Aviation Club. Everyone indeed had fun and made some new friends during the course of this camp, and those who already knew each other before the camp got to know a little bit more. No doubt some screwups happened and they affected the course of the camp somewhat, but in the end they were corrected and everything was normal again. In the future, we shall be more prepared, to bring you guys a better oiled and slicker camp, and we hope that we shall see all of you soon again.


SPAVC FOREVER!