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WINGS
Department of Aerospace Engineering
IIT Kharagpur
WINGS Department of Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Kharagpur-721302, INDIA
WINGS Editors
Raghuveer Devullapalli [email protected]
Nishan Jain [email protected] WINGS is published annually by Aerospace Engineering Society (AES) [email protected] Department of Aerospace Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Kharagpur – 721302, India WINGS Issue 2, 2006 – 2007 Annual All rights reserved
Prof. P.K. Datta, Head of the Department
Aerospace engineering society of IIT Kharagpur is bringing out their annual magazine, WINGS on the eve of the farewell function of the outgoing students. I find this is a great endeavor by our young students to chanalise their literary talents through such a publication which has become an annual activity of this society. I whole heartedly appreciate and support such efforts by students and I expect that students along with the faculty members will enrich this magazine with thought provoking articles in years to come.
To the passing out graduates, they can keep up their future connections with their alma-maters, by sending interesting news items, articles for the magazine to keep us abreast their activities. I am sure that an illustrious alumnus can maintain their communication with us through our annual magazine. I wish the office bearer of the society for their wonderful efforts on their venture Finally, I wish our graduate students all the very best for a very successful future.
Message
EDITOR’S NOTE
After years of tenacious work and dedication, on December 17, 1903, the Wright Brothers accomplished the historic feat of being the first to fly. These two young men from Dayton, Ohio combined knowledge gained from years of practical mechanical invention with creative inspiration to master the precise combination of scientific principles with man made components. From the unrivaled spirit of innovation was born a machine that could both defy gravity and control mankind's propulsion through the air. From that day onwards the unparalleled spirit continues. At present the Aerospace Engineering has gained major importance. It has encompassed one barrier after another and is still on an expanding path. To show our obligation to this Great Spirit, we feel privileged to present the second issue of WINGS. This magazine symbolizes the contribution of Aerospace Engineering department of IIT Kharagpur in the field of air transportation, defense systems and space exploration. Through this magazine we convey our best wishes to our passing out batch. They have been like friends and guides – always advising, helping, and appreciating us. Their dedication to the Department is just incomparable. We just hope we can live up to their expectations. We take this opportunity to thank Prof. P.K. Datta for his motivation and zeal which he has imparted within us from the time of conception of this magazine to its materialization .We are grateful to him for his magnificent article on the War of 1965. We are also indebted to Prof. M.K. Laha for his unique truth revealing article on Indian s. We also would thank everyone (including Eisha, Mahak, Abhilash and Yashwanth) who contributed ideas, insights and encouragement and thus played a constructive part in making this issue of WINGS a reality.
At the end we would like to dedicate this magazine to those two Self-taught engineers
working in a bicycle shop, who made this world a forever smaller place…… Editor Nishan Raghuveer
Departments 01 Quotable Quotes 34 It’s a Fact 23 Life’s like that
Inspiration 11 Follow your Dreams "I was not born for one corner; the whole world is my native land." – Kalpana Chawla
31 Life’s Lesson Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots.29 Conversation with God A chat that changed my life
WINGS - SPECIAL FEATURE
- Page 16
More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace
mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost,
if you can conceive of such a combination.-Wilbur Wright
05 Aviation Management 08 Workshop on ornithopters
Nathan Chronister traveled to IIT KGP in February, helping students learn how to design and build their own flying bird models
02 Traveling through time What is time? The question is as hard to answer as whether or not time travel will ever be possible. 32 A Metempsychotic Fantasy In P major Check out which grade have you got? 14 A Crash to Remember Prof. P.K.Datta narrates a real like experience when he was a student here in IIT Kgp. 26 Food for thought 28 Love of an Aerospace Engineer
QUOTES
“QUOTABLE QUOTES” More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination. Wilbur Wright
Aeronautics was neither an industry nor a science. It was a miracle. Igor Sikorsky
The natural function of the wing is to soar upwards and carry that which is heavy up to the place where dwells the race of gods. More than any other thing that pertains to the body it partakes of the nature of the divine. -- Plato
Airspeed, altitude or brains: Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.
If the wings are flying faster than the fuselage: its either a helicopter or unsafe.
Helicopters don’t fly… they just beat the air into submission.
The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply that they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.-- Sir James Matthew Barrie
A single lifetime, even though entirely devoted to the sky, would not be enough for the study of so vast a subject. A time will come when our descendants will be amazed that we did not know things that are so plain to them. — Seneca, Book 7, first century AD
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Who said it?
The exhilaration of flying is too keen, the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport.
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
Traveling through time
When a journalist asked Einstein what he would say if the observations would not match with his theory of relativity, he answered:
"I would pity the Lord, 'cause the theory is right anyhow.”
B
PHYSICS FOR FUN
efore 1905 there wasn't much to say about time. In the 17th century Newton defined time as something that continues, no matter what, without any link with reality and according to its own nature. Everybody believed that time had
its influence on the environment, but if you believed that the environment had its influence on time, you really had to be mad! That changed in 1905 with Einstein's special relativity theory, in which he showed that time can be influenced. But this doesn't mean time can be changed in such a way that you can travel to the future or the
past. Is it under which circumstances? Special theory of relativity tells us that the speed of light is constant, independent of the reference system of the observer. It is a limit that can't be exceeded by any kind of matter. Each measurement of that speed will have the same value, no matter how fast you move. Whether you stand still or move at 50% of light speed, the ray of light will always move at an amazing 299,792,458 km/sec with respect to you. That sounds strange. We would think when you move at 50% of light speed along the ray of light, the measurement of that speed would be halved. But
no, light speed is a universal constant, as is shown in many experiments. That means that time passes slower when you move than when you stand still. If you move at a low speed, that difference is extremely small. But if you move at light speed itself, time stands still. If you move faster than light speed, you could go back in time. That means you could travel to the future or the past. When a journalist asked Einstein what he would say if the observations would not match with his theory of relativity, he answered: "I would pity the Lord, 'cause the theory is right anyhow.’" Now come to the most interesting thing. Einstein
showed that space is not only 3 dimensional. Time is also a dimension. You may laugh or ask the question “Then why we can not see the 4 dimensions?” The simple answer is because we are 3 dimensional. It can be explained by using a simple example. Imagine the world of a 2-dimensional sort of worms. They live at the surface of a huge apple they call the 'apple world'. Because they have 2 dimensions themselves, they assume their world to be 2-dimensional too. They can only move on the surface of the apple. They can't imagine 3 dimensions. Now there's one weird worm Oswald that's got very weird ideas
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
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For a wormhole with diameter 1 m we need a magnetic field of 1018 tesla, and now we can only make magnetic field of 10 tesla.
PHYSICS FOR FUN All the others laugh at Oswald as he pretends that their world is bended into another 3rd dimension that no one can feel. Oswald wants to prove he's right and begins his journey. After a long time, he arrives at the same place he started from. This proves the existing of the bended 3rd dimension. But Oswald doesn't stop by this idea; he says there's a shorter way than following the 2-dimensonal tour over the apple-surface. He makes a hole through the apple and reaches from one point of the surface to another by a shorter path. These routes are the so called 'wormholes'. We can be compared to those worms. We have 3 space-dimensions and a 4th time dimension. Now we already see that if we want to travel to the past then we have to move at a speed greater than the light. But that is not acceptable by relativity. So we have to travel through the 4th dimension using a shorter way, i.e. we have to make a worm hole. Mathematics shows that worm holes can be present at the middle of a black hole. But there are many technical problems to travel through such worm holes. But don’t be hopeless as there are several other ways to make worm holes. One way is by space-time fluctuation. But by that only very small (10-35 m or 1020 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom) and short-living worm holes can be created. Another way uses magnetism. But for a wormhole with diameter 1 m we need a magnetic field of 1018 tesla, and now we can only make magnetic field of 10 tesla.
Two professors, not related to each other, claim that they have sent a wave with a speed faster than sslight. According to Raymond Chiao from the University of Berkeley, who claims to have reached a speed of 1.7c, it's impossible to send some information with the signal. Gunter Nimtz of the University of Köln (Germany) says his wave traveled at 4.7c. Many scientists challenged them but till now, none have disproved them. But whatever may be the situation, traveling backward through time seriously makes some problem. What about these paradoxes…
Neve travels back in time, at least 1 year before the birth of her parents. There she kills her biological grandma. No grandma means that she was never born and she could never return to kill her biological grandma. This is a paradox because the present is determined by the past. Changing the
past means you change the present. But what if a time travel doesn't change the
past, but perfects it. For example: Kevin travels back to the past, at least 1 year before his birth. He meets his mother, young and very attractive, falls in love, marries her and they get children. Years after that his son disappears, travels back in time to meet his mother. Here the past perfects the present. At the birth of Kevin's son, we've got 2 identical persons, genetically and identical in mind. They only differ in age. And now last but not least: a huge paradox. In 1966 Jennifer, a girl of 16 meets a vagabond, Roger, along the road .
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WINGS, 2006 - 2007
PHYSICS FOR FUN talking, and after a while Jennifer seems to be pregnant Roger disappears without her knowing his name. Nine months later, due to complications with the birth, Jennifer needs to change sex. Her child is also robbed from the hospital. Twenty years later Jennifer, now known as Roger, is poor and survives as vagabond. In 1986 in a bar, after a couple of drinks, Roger does his story to Major. This one has got an interesting proposition: he gives him the opportunity to travel back in time and take revenge on the vagabond that made him/her pregnant. Therefore he has to join the secret organization of time travelers. Roger accepts, but when he arrives in 1966, he meets a girl, Jennifer. He makes her pregnant, doesn't find the vagabond and begins a bar. He joins the secret organization of time travelers and talks to the vagabond in 1986. Major disappears and travels to
9 months after 1966 to steal Jennifer's child, a girl, out of the hospital so Jennifer doesn't have to raise it on her own. He brings her 16 years back in time, to 1950, where he leaves her in an orphanage. Phew…. a lovely paradox, because Jennifer is her own mother, father, grandma, grandpa, son, daughter, grandson and granddaughter… If we ask: Where does Jennifer come from, we see that this paradox is an excellent example of how time traveling doesn't change the past, but completes it. It's interesting to notice that even time traveling can't prevent you from dying and getting born. Jennifer gets born, and she dies as Roger, but she's captured in a vicious circle. So at the end of all let's remember what Stephen Hawking once said: "If time traveling will be possible, why haven't we seen a lot of tourists from the future yet?"
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By- Santanu Das [email protected]
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
AVIATION
The aviation industry is one of the biggest in
the world and is expanding rapidly. There are increasing numbers of jobs on both the ground-side and air-side of the industry. The scenario of aerospace industry is not just confined to R&D part; it is extending in various aspects. One among such aspects is aviation management. Earlier in airline industry, business management people used to deal with all sorts of business deals, related to airlines, air transport management, and
aerospace organization. but now there is a wide scope for people who are acquainted with aerospace field as well as business administration. Master of Business Administration in Aviation (MBA/A) degree program aims to produce graduates with a strong, traditional business foundation who are well-equipped to meet the challenges in the growing airline, airport, and aerospace industries -- or any general business situation. MBA in Aviation, students have the choice of receiving a broad overview of the aviation-related industries or of specializing in a particular area of study in the aviation industry The Courses in aviation management focus on leading-edge solutions to real-world problems and
on the opportunities found in airline, airport, and aerospace-related industries and organizations Qualifications :- The aviation management degree meets the needs of the continually changing environment of education and business. MBA in aviation is intended to provide the person who already holds an undergraduate degree (in a technical area like engineering, for example ) with the tools necessary to become a credible professional manager in aviation, aerospace, or related industries. The special intricacies of the air transport system
are woven into a strong, traditional business foundation and are examined in greater detail through a wide variety of specialized electives. Courses are structured to provide a world-class business and management education in an aviation/aerospace context. The course structure sets the standard in education and experience, giving students the background and knowledge needed to focus on real-world problems and opportunities found in aviation,aerospace, transportation, and various other related industries and organizations. Course structure:- The curriculum is designed to provide knowledge and skills essential to enter into the workplace and society. Emphasis is placed on communication and quantitative skills; global awareness;
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AVIATION MANGEMENT
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
AVIATION social responsibility and ethics; information technology; critical thinking and teamwork; business functional skills; aviation/aerospace industry familiarity and experience; as well as development of an attitude of continual and lifelong learning. Versatility and analytical resourcefulness are two of the key aims of the MBA/A. For students wishing to study a wide range of aviation subject matter, the MBA in Aviation (MBA/A) allows the most flexibility in elective choices. For those wishing to specialize in a unique area of aviation or aerospace, part of the program can be individually molded to satisfy personal interests. Specializations within the program are the MBA in Airport Management, the MBA in Airline Management, the MBA in Aviation Human Resources, the MBA in Aviation System Management and the MBA in Aviation Policy and Planning. Colleges offering MBA in aviation are: Most of the colleges offering aviation management are from USA. There are around 63 colleges and universities which are offering this course at present. One among such colleges are Embry riddle aeronautical university, Daytona USA. Other countries like Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, England.
Career prospectus: The demand for professional aviation and aerospace managers continues to grow in response to the increasing need to:
improve the efficient and effective use of scarce resources,
operate in an atmosphere of heightened national and international competition,
accommodate the expansion of emerging nations, and
respond to the call to preserve our fragile environment. Training in aviation management may qualify you to supervise an air traffic control operation, an airport, or an aircraft carrier. Graduates may work for major or regional airlines, large corporate aviation programs, or military aviation operations. A degree in this field will orient you to the latest technology and safety requirements for flight operations, personnel relations, and other management skills. Apart from this giant companies like Boeing, airbus always needs ppl from MBA/A (Contd..)
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WINGS, 2006 - 2007
AVIATION List of companies which recruits MBA/A are: Accenture Federal Express Lockheed Martin Lufthansa Technik Airmotive Mesa Airlines Regional Airline Academy. TBI Airport Management UAL Services United Air Lines United Space Alliance US Airways U.S. Armed Forces U.S. Department of Transportation World Airways Aerospace Products International Airports Council International (North America) AirTran Airways
American Management Systems Inc. American West AMTI ARC Engineering Inc. Archer Construction Atlas Air Avmark Inc. (USA) Bombardier CAE Inc. Cendant Corp. Computer Sciences Corp. Continental Airlines DaimlerChrysler Delta Air Lines And may others.. So from the career point of view MBA in aviation is going to be really a challenging profession with high end skills in management in aviation sector.
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By, Shiv Ram Jadav [email protected]
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
EVENTS
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur has
been organizing Kshitij, the techno-management festival, for past few years. Every one of us in the
campus understands the tremendous growth it has achieved in such a short time. The events organized, in the past years, had little to do with our department. But this year Kshitij has brought out several events related to the department. The guest lectures by Wing Cmdr. (retd.) Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian and 138th man to visit space, and Dr. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, space scientist who headed ISRO for 9 years until 2003, attracted students who came from various parts of our nation to participate in Kshitj. Here I would like to recollect my experience as a participant in the workshop on Ornithopters. I have come to know about the concept of Ornithopters, an aircraft that flies by wing-flapping -just like a real bird or an insect, for the first time, when I watched them in a documentary on Discovery channel. The idea was intriguing. The last year’s issue of the department’s magazine has a detailed article on Ornithopters. With this background, when I realized that a workshop on Ornithopters was going to be held, I was very much interested to take part in it. I had little idea that many people had the same interest. The workshop was conducted by Mr. Nathan Chronister, an expert in the field. The program was
scheduled over three days with some demonstration sessions, a presentation, a test to select the participants for the workshop and finally the workshop. On the first day i.e. on 2nd Feb. at 1:00 PM there was an open air ornithopter flying demonstration. The venue was Techquilla stage and by the time I reached the stage the demonstration
has been started and many students were attracted by the bird like aircraft.
This session involved only rubber powered models some of which also resembled insects. Next demonstration was at 3:00 PM on the same day and
the venue was Gyan Ghosh stadium. The stadium was chosen as the Ornithopter to be demonstrated was a battery powered one and needed space to operate. This time I was surprised to see a huge crowd which also contained several students from our department It was great fun to watch the ornithopter fly. The Ornithopter was very much like a bird in its appearance. It even deceived lot of crows, about fifty of them, which tried to attack it. It was amazing to see the skill of Mr. Chronister in controlling the ornithopter and avoiding the crows The day ended with a great applause from the
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Fly Like a Bird! - ORNITHOPTERS
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
EVENTS viewers and I was eagerly waiting for the presentation. On the second day i.e. on 3rd Feb. many of the students of our department attended the guest lecture by Wing Cmdr. Rakesh Sharma. His lecture provided good knowledge regarding his experience in space and his advice regarding environmental protection and global warming has attracted everyone. During his lecture he expressed his happiness that he was able to see an ornithopter fly for the first time in his life. About 500 students attended the presentation by Mr. Chronister. The presentation mainly consisted of some details regarding the aerodynamics involved in Ornithopter designing. A short test of 10 minutes duration was conducted to select 50 participants for the workshop. The test comprised of questions on the topics covered in the workshop. The workshop was to be conducted in two batches. First batch mainly consisted of outstation participants and the second batch consisted of campus students. From 4th year batch of our department Abishek Halder and I were short listed to participate in the workshop. We attended the workshop which was scheduled to start at 9:00 AM on 4th Feb. and the venue was Gargi seminar hall.
We were provided with kits which consisted of all the essential materials needed to build a rubber powered Ornithopter. Tissue paper was used to make the wings and the tail. Balsa wood was used to fabricate the body. Mr. Chronister explained us the method of assembling the various parts. We could easily assemble the parts and finish the process in a short time which amazed Mr. Chronister and his wife. The assembled model was not yet ready to fly. The glue used to attach various parts had to dry before we could test it. According to Mr. Chronister’s advice we carefully took our models back to our rooms. I tested my model the next day and it hardly flew for 4 seconds for the first time. After some minor adjustments it could fly for about 10 to 15 seconds. This workshop has exposed the hidden interest among students of our campus towards flight vehicles. It could be observed that many students who took the test and participated in the workshop were from other departments. This shows that in future some of the activities of our department such as aero modeling may be organized in grand scale in collaboration with students from other departments. We may also expect that in coming years Kshitij might include many more events related to our department and help us bring forward many interesting concepts and activities related to Aerospace Engineering.
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WINGS, 2006 - 2007
EVENTS
Abhishek Halder, Abhilash Mulakala, and Kalyana Chakravarthi were among the students who attended this workshop. (seen with Mr. Nathan Chronister) A completed Model can be seen here.
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
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By, G. Kalyana Chakravarthi [email protected]
INSPIRATION
FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
To reach for the
stars is the dream of millions but there are very few who are able to realize it. Kalpana Chawla, India's first woman astronaut, made the improbable dream come true. According to her, the path from dreams to reality does exist. Have the vision to find it, the courage to get onto it and the perseverance to follow it. Her cometary rise from an obscure little town to enter the space program is a heroic achievement for any Indian woman.
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Columbia launches on its final mission
INSPIRATION Kalpana Chawla was born on March 17, 1962, in Karnal, Haryana. She did her schooling from Tagore Baal Niketan and pursued her Pre-University from DAV College. She loved quiet environment and reading books. During those days, her favorite writers were Ayn Rand, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Salman Rushdie, Richard Bach and Oriana Fallaci. After successfully completing Pre-University, she secured admission in the Punjab Engineering College. Of all the girls who joined that year, she was the only one who opted for the aeronautical engineering course. She faced opposition from her father and even some of her teachers, but persevered and became an aerospace
engineer. She always kept herself informed of developments in the world of aviation. She collected books and magazines on the subject and read them from cover to cover. She was particularly fond of Kelly Johnson’s book on designing high-tech aeroplanes. After graduation she had got job offers from some organization, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore. But she opted for a teaching assignment at the Punjab Engineering College. Soon, Kalpana was offered admission in the Department of Aerospace Science and
Engineering in the University of Texas at Arlington. Within a year she married Pierre Harrison, a Certificated Flight Instructor and
aviation writer. Later, she became a citizen of US. After doing her Master of Science, she joined the University of Colorado, Boulder, to do a PhD in Aerospace. After finishing her PhD, she joined the MCAT Institute, San Jose, California as a Research scientist for a project of National Aerospace and Space Administration Ames Research Center. Five years later, she joined Overset Methods Inc, Los Altos, California, as a Vice President and Research Scientist. Her dream to become an astronaut and travel in space hasn’t become true until she saw the NASA
advertisement for the selection of astronauts. Kalpana was not
selected when she applied for the first time. It was only in her second attempt that she passed the written test, was called for an interview and selected for the job. Becoming a NASA astronaut does not guarantee a journey into space. But this shortish – about five feet, termed as a ‘terrific engineer’ by NASA, went to space not once but twice. For her first space flight, she was the Mission Specialist and Prime Robotic Arm Operator of Columbia, the shuttle selected for the mission STS-87.
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WINGS, 2006 - 2007
INSPIRATION On her first mission Chawla traveled over 6.5 million miles in 252 orbits of the earth, logging more than 375 hours in space. For her second space flight, she was the Mission Specialist and Flight Engineer aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on Mission STS-107. The space shuttle exploded in the atmosphere at an altitude of 63 kilometers and about 16 minutes before its schedules landing at Kennedy Space Centre runway. Thus, Kalpana Chawla’s inspiring life ended when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into the earth’s atmosphere on February 1, 2003. It was a tragic and
heartbreaking end to a heroic career. Kalpana died where she had wished to end her life - in space. As she wanted, her ashes were scattered across the National Park at Utah and the Himalayas. None of our astronauts traveled a longer path to space than Kalpana Chawla. The greatest tribute she received was paid by Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the ex Prime Minister of India when he re-named Metsat-1 as Kalpana-1.The memory of Kalpana would now be forever associated with space and stars. That is the place she wanted to conquer, and that is where she had found her final rest.
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A 'trailblazer' in the true sense of the word, she has today become a symbol of courage and adventure.
By, C.Rachana [email protected] Crew of the final ill-fated flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, mission STS-107
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
REALITY
My young students in the Department want me to give an
article for The Aerospace Society magazine, which they usually bring out during the farewell ceremony of the outgoing graduates. It is usually expected that the articles from teachers will cover some scientific or engineering aspect of the course that the students are taught. However, I thought that I shall come out of this usual practice, as they are hearing about those all the time from different sources.
Let me share with my young friends some of my experiences here at IIT during my student days. Presently, I am possibly one of the senior most alumni in the campus who came across many interesting events during his long association with IIT. I was a resident of Room No. D 303 in Patel Hall and spent my time in a group of complete cosmopolitan environment. Undergraduate halls, particularly our own Patel Hall were the centre of attractions on every sphere of student activities and we used to enjoy a vibrant student life, of course, academics were always of prime importance. I will narrate here one very interesting incident which most of the older generation of IIT alumni cherish till today. All of us know that India fought few wars with Pakistan over the issue of Kashmir. The 1965 war was one of the most important wars. I was a student of 3rd year at that time. Our morning classes used to start at
7 AM. It was a clear day in the month of September and we were usually very active before we proceed for the classes on our bicycles. Suddenly, we heard huge explosions and sounds of gun shots all around us. Firstly, we couldn’t realize what was happening, probably the usual firing practice in Salua. We all came out to the balconies and watched with our amazement, scores of fighter planes over the sky. It was the dog fight over our head, as we observed the real life firings from the fighter planes. Few students immediately tuned to the BBC News and there we got the news that Pakistan attacked the Kalaikunda Air Base, the eastern air command of Indian Air Force. We could see that seven Pakistani Sabre jets (a Lethal NATO fighter of those days) were shot down by Indian Genat and Hunter fighter jets. Two of the jets crashed just in the periphery of our campus, one in the far away bushes, behind the RP Hall and the other on the waste lands behind Azad Hall.
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A Nostalgic Experience
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
REALITY In those days, the population around the periphery of the campus was very thin and there used to be the marshy bushes stretched to the far away distances. The aircrafts crashed in the marshy lands. Here starts my second phase of this interesting story. All the students simply forgot about classes and started moving over the fences and moving towards the crash sites, some on foot and others on bicycles and in no time reached the crash sites. Then everybody wanted to get a part of the airplane as the most prized souvenirs’ of their life. We observed the students carrying part of instrument panels, broken bodies and even the helmet of killed pilot. It was a scene to be observed as the students started bringing the parts in their hands, in the carrier of their bicycles. In the D block top floor of Patel Hall, a student proudly displayed a part having PAF emblem. This is not the end of my story. So far, the students had the field day. Now they started facing the music. Firstly, it’s an offense under the Indian Penal Code to touch and bring those
components from crash site. Students probably did it just for fun and adventure. So, suddenly the inspectors from the Intelligence Branch and the Police throng the halls, with search warrant to all the rooms. They first politely conveyed that all the materials brought by the students from the crash site should be returned back to the concerned authorities. Our students are usually nice and law abiding. So those parts were returned back. However, few students pleaded to keep some small parts as a memory of their stay at IIT Kharagpur. This was granted. During the last summer (July ’06), I had the opportunity to visit a senior of mine Dr. Surender Gupta, presently at Boeing, Los-Angels. As we were talking about our sweet memories of IIT hostel life, this nostalgic incident immediately came up to our discussions. I could observe the glee in his face. In fact, whenever I get an opportunity to meet our old alumni, some of these unforgettable incidents come up to cherish our memorable past. Hope my young friends will like this nostalgic experience of great IIT student life.
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By – Professor PK Datta pkdatta @ aero.iitkgp.ernet.in
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
WINGS FEATURE
Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright are the
U.S. inventors who built and flew the first powered, sustained, and controlled heavier than air flight in human history. The historic flight was the fruit of their unending devotion to the pursuit of their goals. Although this was his most notable accomplishment, Wilbur led a life full of many achievements and triumphs over adversity. On April 16, 1867 Wilbur Wright was born in Millville, Indiana to a family of three. Orville was born 4 years later in Aug 19, 1871 along with his sister Katherine, at Dayton, Ohio to Milton Wright , a much admired bishop in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Wilbur and Orville were the third and sixth born of seven children. They were educated in local
schools in Ohio, Iowa, and Indiana, and neither attended college. Their father was a self-assured man with a will of iron who regarded his home as a refuge against the evils that beset honest men and women in the world beyond the family doorstep. The result was an insulated, tightly knit, and loving family in which the five children were taught to think for themselves and place absolute reliance on one another. In commenting on the importance of his family background in later years, Orville Wright remarked, "We were lucky enough to grow up in a home environment where there was always much encouragement to children to pursue intellectual
interests, to investigate whatever aroused curiosity. In a different kind of environment, our
curiosity might have been nipped long before it could have borne fruit."
Early Career And Research : Both brothers received high school educations, but did not receive diplomas. As youngsters, Wilbur and Orville looked to their mother for mechanical expertise and their father for intellectual challenge. Milton brought the boys various souvenirs and trinkets he found during his travels for the church. One such trinket, a toy helicopter-like top, sparked the boys' interest in flying. In school, Wilbur excelled, and would have graduated from high school if his family had not moved during his senior year. He met with a serious skating accident. In 1885, he took several college preparatory classes at Central High School in Dayton, Ohio with ambitions of going to Yale University, but he never attended college. Instead, he stayed home and nursed his sick mother until she died in 1889.
Orville was a good student during his elementary school years, but his grades suffered as he grew older and developed other outside interests. He was the more mischievous of the two brothers, had a healthy childhood, and wasn't inclined to excessive study. He was also a champion bicyclist and so the brothers went into the bicycle business, which gave full vent to their mechanical aptitude. He loved carving and printing from woodcuts, and he apprenticed himself to a printer during the summer months after his family moved to Dayton. Orville dropped out after his junior year to start a printing business in 1889, having designed and built his own printing press the Wright Printing Company with Wilbur's help.
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The WRIGHT BROTHERS
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
Wilbur and Orville Wright
WINGS FEATURE
In their early years the two boys helped their father, who edited an evangelical journal called the Religious Telescope. Later, they began a paper of their own, West Side News . The brothers launched their first joint venture, a print shop, in 1889. In addition to job printing, they edited and published two short-lived neighborhood newspapers . The brothers were engineers and tinkerers who founded the Wright Cycle Comany in Dayton, Ohio in 1892 . By 1896 they were manufacturing bicycles for sale on a small scale. Never more than moderately successful as small businessmen,
the Wrights nevertheless enjoyed a modest prosperity during the years 1890-1905.
They were inspired by Otto Lilienthal
, and paid close attention to his success and eventual fatal error as early as 1891 but it was not until the death of this famous aeronautical engineer in 1896 that the two became interested in gliding experiments. They then resolved to educate themselves systematically in the theory and state of the art of flying. His innovation inspired them, as their innovation now inspires us. The spark of interest spread into a genuine desire to fly. The bicycle manufacturing financed their early experiments in airplane design. In May 1899 Wilbur wrote a letter to the Smithsonian Institution requesting information and publications about aeronautics. Drawing on the work of Sir George Cayley, Chanute, Lilienthal, Leonardo da Vinci, and Langley, they began their mechanical aeronautical experimentation that year.
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
The Wright Cycle Company, Dayton, Ohio
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WINGS FEATURE The Wrights took up the problem of flight at an auspicious time, for some of the fundamental theories of aerodynamics were already known; a body of experimental data existed; and most importantly, the recent development of the internal combustion engine made available a sufficient source of power for manned flight. They began by accumulating and mastering all the pertinent information on the subject, designed and tested their own models and gliders, built their own engine, and, when the experimental data they had inherited appeared to be inadequate or erroneous, they conducted new and more thorough experiments.Both excellent mechanics, the Wrights used the facilities of the bicycle repair shop and factory which they operated (1892–1904) at Dayton for the construction of their early aircraft. By experimenting with movable portions of the wing assembly, rather than shifts in bodily weight, as a means of correcting the aircraft's position in flight they made an important improvement in aircraft design. During this period they drew up valuable tables of wind pressure and drift.. Armed with this information, the Wright brothers proceeded to fly double-winged kites and gliders in order to gain experience and to test data. After consulting the U.S. Weather Bureau, they chose an area of sand dunes near the small town of Kitty Hawk, N.C., as the site of their experiments. They went down there for Sand and Wind. In September 1900 they set up camp there and began the work that culminated three years later in success. To test flight control, essential to successful powered flight, they built and flew three biplane gliders (1900 – 02). Their first device failed to fly as a kite because it was unable to develop sufficient lift. Instead, they flew it as a free glider and learned a great deal from their experience, partly because of the careful records they kept of their failures as well as of their
successes. Their own data showed conclusively that previous tables of information were greatly inaccurate. Returning to Dayton in 1901, the Wright brothers built a wind tunnel, the first in the United States, and here they tested over 200 models of wing surfaces in order to measure lift and drag factors and to discover the most suitable design. They also discovered that although screw propellers had been used on ships for more than half a century, there was no reliable body of data on the subject and no theory that would allow them to design the proper propellers for their airship. They had to work the problem out for themselves, mathematically.
Propeller and engine innovations led to their first powered airplane. Their first successful flight took place at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on 17 December 1903. The plane covered 120 feet in about 12 seconds; a short flight, but enough to make history. 2nd and 3rd flights were approximately 175, and 200 ft, respectively and in the day's fourth flight , Wilbur Wright flew 279 meters (852 ft) in 59 seconds at Kill Devil Hills, N.C. (near the village of Kitty Hawk), on Dec. 17, 1903 . They returned to Dayton and continued their experiments in the relative secrecy of a local cow pasture for two more years. By the close of the 1905 flying season, they had transformed the marginally successful machine of 1903 into the world's first practical fixed wing airplane. Between 1899 and 1905, to sum up Wilbur and Orville constructed seven aircraft: one kite (1899), three gliders (1900, 1901, 1902), and three powered airplanes (1903, 1904, 1905). The disappointing performance of the first two gliders led them to undertake a series of key experiments with a wind tunnel of their own design during the fall of 1901.
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WINGS FEATURE The Wrights were the first to fully and accurately describe all the requirements for controlled, powered flight and put them into use in an aircraft that took off from a rail with the help of a headwind to gain sufficient airspeed to fly. Their flyer of 1905 could turn, bank, circle, and remain airborne for over 35 minutes. The Wright brothers made no flights at all in 1906 and 1907. They won world fame with their first public demonstration flights in Europe and America in the summer and fall of 1908. Wilbur gave over 100 exhibition flights in France, setting a duration record of 2 hours and 20 minutes. The wind tunnel tests, coupled with
two years of gliding experience, opened the road to success. In 1909 the U.S. government accepted the Wright machine for army use . The brothers founded the Wright Company to build and sell aircraft in the United States and licensed various manufacturers to produce their machines in Europe .
Wilbur's trip to France proved to be a success also, and in 1909 the Wright brothers formed the American Wright Company, with Wilbur taking the lead in setting up and directing the business.
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Image Title: First flight, 120 feet in 12 seconds, 10:35 a.m.; Kitty Hawk, North Carolina Summary: Orville Wright at the controls of the machine, lying prone on the lower wing with hips in the cradle which operated the wing-warping mechanism. Wilbur Wright running alongside to balance the machine, has just released his hold on the forward upright of the right wing. The starting rail, the wing-rest, a coil box, and other items needed for flight preparation are visible behind the machine.
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
WINGS FEATURE
Their perseverance would again be put to the test, even after making history with the first ever heavier than air, manned, powered flight in 1903. Their achievement was doubted and undermined. "Government bureaucrats thought they were crackpots; others thought that if two bicycle mechanics could build a successful airplane, they could do it themselves. Eventually, with persistence, Wilbur and Orville were able to win over both the public and the bureaucrats.
After their Kitty Hawk flights in windy conditions, the Wrights developed a weight-powered catapult in Ohio to aid initial acceleration, compensating for the several additional horsepower their homebuilt engines lacked. This method of launching has been the source of some attacks on the Wrights' claim.
Critics say that a plane incapable of taking off using its own power could not be a true aircraft.
In fact, the Flyer II took off without a catapult and made short straight flights dozens of times in the spring and summer of 1904. The location available to the Wrights was unsuitable for wheels and a long takeoff roll, so they used the rail and added the catapult. The combination allowed takeoffs in only 50 or 60 feet, giving them consistent opportunities to get into the air and learn to fly. The takeoff devices materially shortened the time they needed to master their aircraft and make true flights, including turns, circles, figure-eights and safe landings
Another source of attack is that some replicas of the Wright Flyer do not fly. The reasons usually stem from an inability to know the exact details of the Wrights' design and construction and to duplicate the conditions of the flight.
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Without a strong wind, the small 1900 glider did not have Sufficient lift to support a person, and so was frequently tested as a kite
Wilbur shocks the French with the flying machine.
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WINGS FEATURE Specific features of the Flyer that even the Wrights did not know were important in rendering it capable of flight are lost to history, such as the octane of the fuels used, and the small details of aerodynamics that can have disproportionate effect on the ability to fly.
A few manned heavier-than-air aircraft probably became airborne before the Wrights, but lacked effective control; candidate machines include those of Félix du Temple de la Croix in 1874, the first takeoff of a powered fixed-wing aircraft with a man aboard, Clément Ader, Hiram Stevens Maxim, Richard Pearse and Gustave Whitehead. The Wright Flyer, however, stands as the first practical airplane with a combination of features not used before, but included in all that came later: efficient wings, three-axis control, an effective system to generate power and turn it into thrust, and a takeoff system.
On May 25, 1910 back at Huffman Prairie, Orville piloted two unique flights. First, he took off on a six-minute flight with Wilbur as his passenger, the only time the Wright brothers ever flew together. They received permission from their father to make the flight. They had always promised Milton they would never fly together—to avoid the chance of a double tragedy and to ensure one brother would remain to continue their experiments. Next, Orville took his 82-year old father on a nearly seven-minute flight, the first and only one of Milton Wright's life. The airplane rose to about 350 feet while the elderly Wright called to his son, "Higher, Orville, higher!"
On May 30, 1912, Wilbur Wright died suddenly of typhoid fever in Dayton, Ohio. In 1965 he was selected for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans (ref).
On March 2, 1927, the Congress authorized the establishment of Kill Devil Hills Monument National Memorial to commemorate the Wrights' achievement of the first successful flight of a man-carrying, power-driven, heavier-than-air machine. The area was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, on August 10, 1933, and on December 1, 1953, the name was changed to Wright Brothers National Memorial. The memorial contains about 425 acres. It embraces the actual site of the first four flights and the sites of most of the glider experiments. After Wilbur's death , Orville sold the Wright Company to a group of investors in 1915, which later merged with the company of Glenn H. Curtiss. Widely regarded as the elder statesman of world aviation, he served as a consulting engineer on the first guided missile (the "buzz bomb") during World War I and was the co-inventor of "split flaps" used on dive bombers in World War 2. After his retirement, Orville lived quietly in Dayton, conducting experiments on mechanical problems of interest to him, none of which proved to be of major importance. Much of his energies in his later years were spent protecting and preserving the honor that he and his brother Wilbur had earned in developing the first true airplanes. In his lifetime, the speed of the airplane had been increased from 0 mph to almost 1,000 mph !!!!! His chief public activity was service on the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (which later became NASA -- the National Aeronautics and Space Administration), of which he was a member from its organization by President Woodrow Wilson in 1915 until his death in Dayton on Jan. 30, 1948.
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WINGS FEATURE
April 8, 1930: Orville Wright receives the first Daniel Guggenheim Medal. The Daniel Guggenheim Medal, awarded for "great achievements in aeronautics," was established in 1928 by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. It is now administered jointly by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the American Society of Engineers, and the United Engineering Trustees, Inc
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USPS stamp depicting the "Flight."
Ohio 50 State Quarter features the 1905 Wright Flyer III built and flown in Ohio, in another famous photo from Huffman Prairie
By, Yashwanth [email protected]
North Carolina 50 State Quarter features the famous first flight photo of the 1903 Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
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HUMOUR
LIFE’S LIKE THAT!
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" and "Oh Sh**!"
What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up,...the pilot dies.
HUMOUR
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
In a large company, several employees were assigned to the job of answering the phone. When taking calls from inside the company, knowing the caller was a fellow worker, they sometimes amused themselves by answering “Domino’s Pizza, Good day!” One day, one of the joker’s received a stinging rebuke: “Do you know who I am” “No” said the young man. “I’m your boss!” “And do you know who this is?” quickly answered the employee. “No” “Excellent!” concluded the employee before hanging up the phone.
Telegram: “Missed the Flight. Will leave tomorrow same time.” Reply: “Don’t leave same time. Will miss it again.”
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HUMOUR
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Dear Dad, $chool i$ really $well. I am making lot$ of friend$ and $tudying very hard. I have $o much $tuff, I $imply can’t think of anything I need. $o if you like, $end me a card, a$ I would love to hear from you. Love, your $on. Dear Son I kNOw astromNOmy, ecoNOmics, and oceaNOgraphy are NOt eNOugh to keep an hoNOurs students busy. Do NOt forget that pursuit of kNOwledge is a NOble task, and you can’t study eNOugh. Love, your Dad.
A desperate voice phones the police: “help! Come quickly. A cat has just entered the house!” “A cat? Don’t be afraid, it’s just a cat. There’s nothing to worry about” “Please it’s an emergency” “To whom I speaking to ?” “It’s the Parrot”
Top reasons why dogs don’t use computers: 1) Can’t stick their heads out of Windows XP. 2) Saliva coated mouse gets difficult to maneuver. 3) Sniffing is more direct than online chat rooms.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Indian Institute of Technologies are the prestigious institute of the country, rated quite high even among the academic institution of the world. There is no dearth of funding by the government of India and the student selection process ensures that only cream of the country are admitted for various courses offered by the institutes. The facilities, infrastructure are state-of-the-art. The fact that these institutes are also residential provides added advantage, flexibility in conducting courses, holding exams etc.
Theses institutes have produced top class managers, entrepreneurs over the years, but failed to make a dent in world-class basic research and technology capabilities. It is no where near being a leader in identifying emerging areas, creating new horizons, evolving new technologies. In manufacturing sector, or service sector, we are only copy cats. It is no satisfaction or excuse that many countries are not even capable of this. Needles to say that this has to change and who else but IITians can show the way? There is a need
for deep introspection by one and all, who are part of IITs and whatever is required to bring about a metamorphosis should be thought of and implemented. From a student’s
perspective, there is no encouragement for them to even enter such a research oriented field. Obvious reason being too law salaries. Compared to what an averge IITian can earn in an IT field or management etc, it is an extremely small amount. It is high time that government does something to encourage IIT’ians into such jobs.
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
FOOD FOR THOUGHT But that is not all. The kind of education system we have in IIT's can also be put to blame. The kind of environment student’s face is also one reason why students end up neglecting academics. Undergraduates are given too much freedom and free time, which going by the age and the immaturity of the students, are only misused. The faculty needs to closely monitor the students time and constantly advise/admonish the students to put them on track. Lecture Classes are kind of a joke for students, and are of least importance. Laboratory classes never make students to think on their own. It's either one student doing the experiment and rest watching or one staff doing the work and entire class watching! One can only wonder how practical knowledge can be gained. I remember very well (in fact most of you will! ) the kind of electrical department labs we had in our
first year. It was strict and students were seriously put to work. There would be a viva before every experiment, which made us learn before hand what the experiment was about. Lab records were of utmost importance. Comparatively Aerospace labs, putting it in students’ lingo, are peace! No Viva, either professor or the staff will do the experiment and all we did was watch and note down readings! And the worst part, lab records! Always done an hour before submission, by one person. Rest "peacefully" copy down. Who is to blame? Certainly there are those who are more responsible than others. But if truth be told...if you are looking for the guilty, you need only look in the mirror. This is something I feel should be given some serious thought, and done right now!
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Should I compare you with a coloured contour map of an un-separated flow? No! You are far more beautiful than that. Then, what should I make the comparison with?? Hmm, Let me think! When the wind blows; Your hairs go Like streamlines of a laminar flow. Your eyebrows, Like two Clark Y aerofoil kept face to face. Your eyes blink, Like two symmetric aerofoil with graphical user inter-face. You are so symmetric, so stable, so laminar! Then, why am I so dissipative, so unstable, so turbulent? But these characteristics are not familiar. There was a time, when, I had a steady climb! And then came you, and a small disturbance; And then the perturbations grew! The eddies, the vorticities, the shockwave and the skew! I seek the peace; I seek the solution; I seek the convergence! I know, a relaxation parameter is all that I need, And you are the right one indeed!
FROM THE HEART
Love of an Aerospace Engineer
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By Shaun Saxton
INSPIRATION
A CONVERSATION WITH GOD This was a few months ago when I was busy in computer laboratory. I was just sitting and staring at the computer monitor, when something unusual caught my eye. Someone was calling me on Google talk that I was not familiar with. With a tinge of fear, I clicked ‘Answer’ and voila!! GOD: Hello, you called me. ME: Called you?? No, who is this? GOD: This is god. I heard your prayers, so I thought I will chat with you. ME: Sure, I pray. Just makes me feel good. Actually am, busy now, in the midst of something, you know. GOD: What are you busy with? Ants are busy too. ME: Don’t know, but I can’t find free time. Life has become hectic. Assignments, seminars, exams… its rush hour all the time. GOD: Sure activity gets you busy, but productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity forces it. ME: But I still can’t figure it out. By the way, I was not expecting you to call me on gtalk. GOD: Well, I wanted to resolve your fight for time by giving you some clarity. I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with. ME: Tell me why life has become so complicated? GOD: Stop analyzing life. Analysis is what makes it complicated. ME: Why are we constantly unhappy? GOD: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because the act of worrying has become a habit. That’s why you are unhappy. ME: But how can one not worry one when there is so much uncertainty GOD: uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional. ME: But then there is so much pain due to uncertainty. GOD: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. ME: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer. GOD: IIT’ians are like diamonds. They cannot be polished without friction. Good people go through testing times, but at the end they are better not bitter. ME: You mean to say that such an experience is useful? GOD: Yes. Experience is a hard teacher though. She gives the test first and then the lesson. ME: But still, why should we go through such test? Why can’t we be free from such road blocks?
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INSPIRATION GOD: Problems are purposeful roadblocks offering beneficial lessons to enhance mental strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems. ME: Frankly, in the midst of such problems, don’t know where one is heading. GOD: if you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight. ME: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in right direction. GOD: Success is relative, qualified by others. Satisfaction is absolute, qualified by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. ME: Sometimes I ask who I am. Why am I here? I don’t know the answers. GOD: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation. ME: How can I get the best out of life? GOD: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. ME: Some of my prayers are not answered. GOD: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO. ME: Thank you for this wonderful chat. GOD: Keep the faith and drop your fear. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.
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By Pundan Kumar Singh [email protected]
Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.
Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life!
”Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity with in." - Swami Vivekananda
a
INSPIRATION
water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and
always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full 2 years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream.” I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?” I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”
Indeed as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path and this cheered it some. But at the end of tile trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on YOUR side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them. For 2 years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master's table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”
Moral Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. Some of us don't grow old gracefully, some are not so smart, some are tall, large & big, some bald, some physically challenged, but it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You’ve just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. There is a lot of good out there. There is a lot of good in you, My Friend!
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Life’s Lesson By, Yashwanth
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P GRADER’S !
I had often wondered why this beloved
Bharatvarsha of ours abounds with the means that make it really easy for one and all to cast off their accumulated sins. No other land on Earth can compare with it in at least this one respect. The natural temples of the snow capped Himalayas, the
numerous holy rivers and innumerable holy places all seem to be calling to us to come and be cleansed. I used to feel that it was patently unfair that one part of Earth should be so favoured at the cost of others when it came to gaining ready access to the means of purifying the soul. Until a sudden flash of inspiration provided me the answer, which I shall share with you in the form of a theory. All good theories explain more than just one fact and mine, as you will see, is by this count as good as any.
A theory needs some axioms as props. Mine needs but one, and its unarguably self evident, namely: "the Creator is never unfair to any of His creation". Given this, one might then argue that the facilities He provides at a given place for humanity to wash off its sins must be in proportion to the number of sinners residing thereabouts. Since our land is better endowed in this respect than any other, it follows that the number of sinners residing in it must be larger also than in any other. Now that, as you will agree, is an important finding. But
let's look further and see if we can learn more. In a given lifetime one accumulates good and bad deeds--one's karma. And on the day of Judgment gets
one's just reward. Now if this karma were rated on a scale of `A' to `F', then it may be said that she with a grade of `A' goes to Swarga right away while he with an `F' suffers in Naraka for a while (a long while, from all accounts) and then is reborn as some lowly creature. (A cockroach, perhaps? That would explain why these vermin seem to be just everywhere!) All this is, of course, well known.
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A Metempsychotic Fantasy in P major
-M. K. Laha
WINGS, 2006 - 2007
P GRADER’S ! It is upon the fate of the mediocre performers that my theory attempts to throw some light. According to it, those with a grade of `B' are reborn in the affluent West. The remainder are reborn in the poor countries, of whom the `P' graders are all reborn in Bharatvarsha (Now I know why I am a Bharatvasi!) This being the Kaliyuga, there are many temptations all around everywhere in the world and it is easy to succumb to them. This naturally increases humanity's burden of sins which, in turn, leads to many poor grades on Judgment Day. That is why the `B' graders are not many in number and this is apparent from the relatively small and stable populations of the affluent countries. On the other hand the `P' graders are numerous and ever increasing in number, thereby swelling the population of Bharatvarsha. (The `F' graders are even more numerous and, as has already been conjectured above, presumably increase the population of vermin.)
This is also the reason why our Bharat has countless places and almost unlimited means whereby one can easily be rid of one's accumulated sins. By sending us here, the Creator is giving us a chance, and ample facilities, to purify ourselves. A few among us manage to wash away all of their past sins (in the Ganga, perhaps?). Since this is the Kaliyuga, they cannot go to Swarga with the mortal self intact. But they go to the next best place--they go west, there to savor and enjoy the best that Mother Earth has to offer. So, when the folks next door pack their bags and go off to settle down in Sunny California or Balmy Florida I know that they have gained absolution. So, there. A clear, watertight and versatile theory, don't you think? If only Jayasree, my better half, would agree! She wouldn't, then, berate me so for not being able to follow in my neighbours' footsteps.
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IT’S A FACT
IT’S A FACT!! Q: What is the Highest Jump WITHOUT a Parachute? A: Flight Sergeant Nicholas Steven Alkemade was on a bombing mission over Germany on 23 March 1944 when his Lancaster bomber flying at 18,000 feet was blazed apart and in flames when he was forced to jump, without a parachute or be burn to death. He dove out of his destroyed aircraft hoping on a quick death. His speed accelerated to over 120 miles per hour and he impacted on a snow covered sloping forest. He was completely uninjured and later captured by the Germans who refused to believe his story. Q: What is the Lowest Parachute use? A: Submerged 10-20 feet - A British navy flyer, LT. Bruce MacFarlane had an engine failure on takeoff, leading to an immediate ditching off the carrier HMS Albion. Surprisingly, he survived the water impact and was coherent enough to clearly recall seeing the water close over the canopy, and begin to darken as the aircraft began to descend into the depths. His training instincts took over and he yanked the canopy jettison handle with his left hand, and immediately fired the seat with his right. At this point, his memory becomes understandably blurred, but he recalls tumbling free of the seat, still
underwater. He had the presence of mind to release his chute and activate his life vest. (He surfaced aft of the carrier, almost directly under the 'Angel' rescue helo, which had moved into a hover over the disturbance in the water from his aircraft splash. The helo crew reported seeing his aircraft pass in two pieces along either side of the hull of the carrier. This indicates that if the pilot had delayed his attempt to escape a few seconds later, he would likely have been killed when the bow of the ship sliced his bird in half.
Q: A plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of band conveyer). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyer moves in the opposite direction. This conveyer has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyer
to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the plane take off? A: Cars and planes don't work the same way. A car's wheels are its means of propulsion--they push the road backwards (relatively speaking), and the car moves forward. In contrast, a plane's wheels aren't motorized; their purpose is to reduce friction during takeoff (and add it, by braking, when landing).
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IT’S A FACT What gets a plane moving are its propellers or jet turbines, which shove the air backward and thereby impel the plane forward. What the wheels, conveyor belt, etc, are up to is largely irrelevant. Let me repeat: Once the pilot fires up the engines, the plane moves forward at pretty much the usual speed relative to the ground--and more importantly the air--regardless of how fast the conveyor belt is moving backward. This generates lift on the wings, and the plane takes off. All the conveyor belt does is, as you correctly conclude, make the plane's wheels spin madly
DID YOU KNOW??
One can see the stars during the day from the bottom of a well.
An eagle's wing is stronger than the wing of an airplane.
The liquid hydrogen in the Space Shuttle main engine is -423 degrees Fahrenheit (-253 degrees Centigrade), the second coldest liquid on Earth, and when burned with liquid oxygen, the temperature in the engine's combustion chamber reaches +6,000 degrees F. (+3,316 degrees C.).
The Skylab astronauts grew 1.5 - 2.25 inches (3.8 - 5.7 centimeters) due to spinal lengthening and straightening as a result of zero gravity.
The first airline passenger was the Wright brothers' mechanic. Wilbur took him for a 29 second, 2000 foot flight on May 14, 1908.
QANTAS, Australia's major international airline, is the only airline in the world never to have crashed, ever!
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.
The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
The shortest commercial airline flight in the world is said to be the Westray-Papa run in Scotland's Orkney Islands on Loganair. It takes two minutes, and there's no meal service.
Astronauts cannot belch(burp) - there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs
The largest stained-glass window in the world is at Kennedy International Airport in New York City. It can be seen on the American Airlines terminal building and measures 300 feet long by 23 feet high.
The structural weight of the Voyager Aircraft(the first-ever, non-stop, unrefueled flight around the world)was only 939 pounds. When the airplane took off full of fuel, pilots and supplies, the gross take off weight was 9,694.5.
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