Protocol friends

These are my new made friends, all carrying out 'protocol officer' duties. I know the Indian fellow SJ next to me the most, having spent quite some time chatting with him. SJ has a career that most of us dream about. He was a fighter pilot during his national service days and now he is a pilot with our national carrier. I spent many happy minutes grilling him on the details of flying the iconic A4 Skyhawk and now the equally iconic Boeing 747. I learnt a great deal.

For example, the difference in American and European thought is manifested in the air craft they manufacture, i.e. Boeing and Airbus. Airbus is a complete fly-by-wire plane whereas Boeing retains some mechanical flight control features. Therefore a Boeing pilot retains some amount of feedback via the 'joystick'.

I also learnt that as the aircraft accelerates down the runway, once it reaches a certain speed call 'V1' (depending on many factors such as dead weight, payload), aviation rules requires the aircraft to take off, regardless of whatever situations may occur.