science.09 – “Take off and Landing” at “Seletar Airport”

As part of A* (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) and Singapore’s Science Centre to promote science, the two bodies organised the annual Science month. I’ve never heard of it in the past year. I only recently know about it after reading reports on The Straits Times and a event’s guide on my school library.

Since I am interested in aviation, I participated in aviation-related events. There are only two actually. One of the event is “Take off and Landing” at “Seletar Airport”, organised by Singapore Polytechnic.

The event started at 9 am till 11 am. There were about 14 participants took part, mostly a group of five Sec 3 students from Bedok North Secondary and three teachers (I don’t know from which school).

At first, the lecturers brought us around the laboratories. There were lots of plane diecasts as well, mostly military and SIA’s aircraft. They also have aircraft engines (mostly turbofans) and a real aircraft (I guess it’s Cessna but it has no flying licencse).

After much talking about the facilities, the group then was separated into two. One group consisted of seven person went to see the grounded A-4 Skyhawk jet while the other played Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004. Now, if you’re interested in playing such games, you can visit Indoflyer’s Flight Simulator Section for more informations.

I went for flight simulation. We were supposed to fly Cessna 172 from Seletar Airport to Seletar Airport. But some people changed the aircraft. I was one of them. Instead I piloted Boeing 737-400 owned by one of America’s airlines.

My take off went smoothly despite “snow” in Singapore. The landing part was quite hard as my plane had a very steep landing in Johor. On my second attempt to land, however, thing was quite different. It was quite a smooth landing although I didn’t land in Senai Airport but on a clear field without crashing onto trees or house. The lecturer-in-charge then said “All passengers are safe.”

They taught some basic skills of handling an aircraft and physics such as force, pressure, yaw, roll etc. Also discussed was some requirements to be pilot (1.64 m, good eyesight etc).

Enough of Flight Simulator, then my group was brought to see A-4 Skyhawk.

A radar is always put outside the aircraft. A stick pointing out of the tail is used to measure wind speed, pressure etc and it got more to do about computation.

The cockpit is quite spacious with the brake still there. They say the aircraft is still useable.

This is a photo of Dover MRT station.

The nose of A-4

I guess there is something missing here.

A-4 Skyhawk is used by Singapore Air Force from the 1970s till 1990s. It is still useable but it was grounded to pave way for the arrival of F-16. Most air forces in the world but only the basic model of the aircraft. They then improved it by themselves. Why? To confuse enemy? Singapore is pouring hundred millions of dollars just for aircraft researches.

Last shot of Uncle Skyhawk

All in all, it was a good experience. Perhaps I would enter the world of deskpilot (if I could). The other aviation related event is coming next week.

Singapore Army Open House 2009 – Part 2

Is this a tractor? Or perhaps used to help in earthquake’s or landslide’s disaster zone?

A robot used to prevent bomb detonation? This reminds me of Indonesia’s Kopassus (Komando Pasukan Khusus or Special Fores Command), one of the best military group in the world (in terms of using brain).

And by the way, I was on the other venue showing the military equipments.

A helicopter is a rotary-wing aircraft, where did I learn that?

This artillery somehow reminds me of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Look at the humanity side of the picture

Too bad that photo-taking is not allowed in the cockpit of this helicopter, must be security reasons.

Is this the Hawk helicopter? Sorry, I don’t memorise types of military aircraft or helicopters. I only memorise types of commercial aircraft.

This is such a huge vehicle.

That’s the end of my report on Singapore Army Open House. Since this is believed to be my last year here in Singapore, yu won’t see me reporting about this event in the future (hopefully I still could). Next year, I’ll be back to Indonesia. I will report of the annual Sanur Festival, Bali Arts Festival and more of Indonesian events. So long Singapore Army.

Singapore Army Open House 2009 – Part 1

Last week, the Singapore Army held an open house from Thursday, 3 September till Monday, 7 September. I went to the open house on Saturday, 5 September. The open house is held between 9 am till 7 pm if I’m not wrong. I came quite late at about 4.15 pm.

The open house was held in Pasir Laba camp and the nearest MRT station is Joo Koon (the last station on the west side of the green line MRT). The walk from the MRT station to the camp reminds me of ‘hash’ activity I participated about five years ago by the by-pass road connecting Sanur and Gianyar in Bali (I’m talking about the distance).

Joo Koon MRT station

The army is kind enough to give directions on how to reach the camp. But after the visit, I was doggone tired (my feet skin was torn a little bit after walking).

Passing through Singapore Discovery Centre

And due to some security reasons, I didn’t take the photo of the Pasir Laba camp’s gate. I don’t dare to take any photos of military or police camp including in my own country.

So, there was a security check before I got in. No X-ray scanner (unlike the Istana Open House), they checked my bag manually and gave me a brochure on the event.

Some tanks were showcased.

The Third Generation of the Army and due to privacy reasons, I censored some of the faces.

This reminds me of one of the 80’s comedy show “Warkop DKI”. Dono, Kasino and Indro were determined to be security guards and their instructor was a mad guy (the real instructor was locked on the toilet by his twin who pretended to be the instructor).

There must be a bomb simulation earlier.

I’m not trying to capture the plate number of their vehicles.

Woe is me as I went there alone so there was no chance for me to be narcissistic (anyway I’m not one of them).

This field is only one of the venue where they showcased their fighting equipments.

I’ve never been to North Korea before but this statue reminds me of some of the statues in there.

That’s part one. Part two is coming up next.

Highlights 04/09/09

Courtesy: Media Indonesia

Julukan Indonesia sebagai negeri yang rawan gempa nampaknya memang layak untuk disandang. Pasalnya, negara kita ini seringkali digoyang gempa yang tak jarang juga menimbulkan tsunami. Dapat kita lihat pada grafik di atas yang didapat dari harian Media Indonesia (04/09/2009), empat gempa rawan tsunami di kawasan Sumatra. Tiga di antaranya bahkan terjadi sejak zaman penjajahan Belanda dahulu. Bagaimana dengan masa sebelum penjajahan seperti era kerajaan Majapahit atau Sriwijaya? Bisa saja gempa serupa terjadi namun mengingat adanya poor record, kita tidak tahu.

Pulau Jawa hanya memiliki satu fenomena pada tahun 1994 di Banyuwangi, Jawa Timur. Bagaimana pun, grafik di atas menunjukkan bahwa kejadian tersebut berpusat di Samudera Hindia. Empat fenomena di kawasan Nusa Tenggara, satu di Nusa Tenggara Barat (Sumbawa) yang juga kejadian di era kolonial. Tiga lainnya di Nusa Tenggara Timur (diurut berdasarkan waktu kejadian, Sumba, Lomblen, dan Flores).

Kalimantan relatif aman tetapi di Sulawesi, tiga fenomena tercatat. Yang mengkhawatirkan adalah Maluku mengingat Maluku adalah wilayah kepulauan tanpa mainland, tidak seperti kawasan Indonesia lainnya. Dengan kondisi geografis seperti ini, korbannya bisa jauh lebih besar. Tentu saja, kita tidak boleh lupa bahwa kawasan Indonesia timur memiliki jumlah penduduk yang lebih sedikit. Tiga fenomena di Banda (1674, berarti ketika bangsa Eropa baru tiba di Nusantara), Seram (1965), dan Talabo (1998).

Di Papua hanya tercatat satu yakni di Biak pada tahun 1996. Ada lima fenomena yang besar kemungkinan akan berdampak pada kawasan utara Indonesia (Sulawesi, Kepulauan Sangihe Talaud). Fenomena tersebut tercatat di Sangihe, Indonesia (1856), Panay, Filipina (1948), dan Mindanao, Filipina (1897, 1918, 1994).

Fenomena tersebut bisa diantisipasi dengan kesigapan aparat dan kesiapan warga menghadapi bencana di mana pun dan kapan pun.

Courtesy: Media Indonesia

Media Indonesia mengajar kita bagaimana agar rumah kita bisa bertahan saat gempa dan tidak cepat roboh. Klik pada gambar di atas untuk memperbesar dan semoga ini berguna. Dan semoga juga gempa di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat dapat memberikan pelajaran bagi kita agar peristiwa ambruknya rumah bisa dicegah.

Dan saya turut berduka cita atas korban gempa di Tasikmalaya, Jawa Barat.

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Courtesy: Kompas (klik pada gambar untuk memperbesar)

Superconducting gravimeter is a tool to measure change in weight or Earth gravity with high sensitivity, in nano Gal. It can catch signal that change Earth’s core activity to periphery activity.

SG monitors signals changing gravity wave that was caused by Earth’s core activity and its effect on surface’s gravity, until visuals of Earth’s dynamics are projected.

It can measure both small and big tremors. SG installed at”Kantor Bakosurtanal Cibinong” since September 2008 could monitor the quake that jolted Gorontalo on December 2008 as well as the Tasikmalaya quake.

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Courtesy: Kompas

Tidak banyak informasi yang saya dapat dari artikel berita dan juga pada grafik yang diberikan. Jadi kalau anda lebih paham, jangan ragu untuk berbagi.

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Courtesy: Kompas

Gambar pilihan hari ini adalah foto “Digitalisasi Naskah Kuno” pada harian Kompas (04/09/2009).

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Courtesy: Kontan

The new oil fields found in Brazil could turn the country as world's main exporter of oil.

In 2007, Brazil found crude oil in the deep sea, about 7000 metres from the ocean's surface. Brazil is now explorating one oil field block that extends to about 800 km in subsalt area.

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Courtesy: Kontan

US Air Force senior official said that US is preparing designs of fighter jet F-16 to meet the demands of Iraqi Air Force.

France, Russia, China and some other countries agreed to fund billions of dollars to Iraq to protect its airspace after US plan to leave the country in 2011.

Courtesy: Kontan

Masih seputar militer, Malaysia akhirnya memiliki kapal selam pertamanya yang dibuat di Perancis. Kapal selam tersebut dinamakan “Tunku Abdul Rahman” untuk menghormati Perdana Menteri pertama negeri jiran tersebut. Indonesia, sudah saatnya kita upgrade alutsista kapal selam kita. Banyak kapal selam kita sudah pensiun dan yang tersisa pun dikabarkan rusak.

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Courtesy: Kompas

Strip komik Jakartaria edisi Jumat, 4 September 2009 mengangkat topik petasan. Pedagang petasan tersebut mengklaim bahwa salah satu barang dagangannya memiliki daya ledak sekuat bom ciptaan Noordin M Top. Sayangnya, seorang pria garang mengancam akan melaporkan pedagang petasan itu kepada polisi terkait petasan tersebut. Pedagang tesebut terpaksa menjual rugi barang dagangannya kepada pria tersebut sebagai biaya tutup mulut. Pelajaran apa yang kita petik dari kartun ini?

Strip komik Jakartaria kali ini dibuat oleh Thomdean.