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.