My crew and I were flying from near Chennai to near Coimbatore to end a long sortie over the Bay of Bengal. These sorties, in spite of being long, were refreshing and a great learning experience for everyone involved. This particular blog brings out the bonhomie and camaraderie between flight crew as also the pride of aviators.
I had an experienced Navigator and a relatively inexperienced Copilot who was on the left seat getting hours to appear for a D ‘White’ Cat/ Instrument Rating (IR) he was not categorised and fairly inexperienced. After getting airborne and climbing to Flight Level or FL 180 we set course under Chennai Radar control. We were constantly asking for deviations right of the track due to Cumulonimbus (CB) clouds extending up to 27000-30000 feet on the track, typical pre-monsoon weather. We were often in clouds and rocking in moderate turbulence. Once or twice icing caution also had come. In short, it was ‘fun and games’ we were all kept on our toes by Mother Nature. As we approached the turning point called Xilas (pronounced Zilas) a Position south, south-west of Chennai, we realised there was a line squall on track from short of Xilas till beyond Coimbatore. We turned short of that point and maintained well north of the route (Right of the track) on our left, my crew and I could see extensive clouding, with embedded towering CB cells. We kept scouting for a break in clouds, either visually or in the radar to turn and reach our destination, but nothing could be seen.
All eyes were peeled and at times we even doubted if the weather radar was playing truant. The turbulence was moderate and incessant, we kept confirming load at the back was secure. Sharp long bolts of lightning could be seen forking down from the clouds at short but regular intervals as if it wasn’t enough that the weather Gods were mocking us poor humans, but also taking pictures of us trying to finding a way back home.
The crew was coping up fairly ok, except the pilot under-screen for whom so far, bad weather had been restricted to books. As if the constant turbulence, the icing wasn’t enough, we now faced with the real possibility of entering these dense, dark clouds, it seemed for him a difficult prospect. He was for his experience dealing with the stress well, nevertheless, he held the control column stiffly, he was slightly wide-eyed & I could see some sweat on his face.
We had been flying in and out of clouds for roughly 30 minutes by this time, with a moderate chop. I took over controls and retrimmed the aircraft, allowing the young pilot to calm down a little. We were approaching North of our destination and would soon be north of Coimbatore. We would have very little option but to turn. Diversion to Bangalore was out of the question since it was approaching sunset and Bangalore was notorious for huge fruit bats in and around the airfield.
Then I saw this (the image below), I told the crew ‘turn left make heading 180, radar is green, expect more turbulence’.
The pilot looked at me all goggle-eyed and said ‘are you sure Sir’. I put my hand on his shoulder, smiled reassuringly & said ‘absolutely sure’. He very hesitantly looked again at the clouds while I took a picture and looked at me. I said ‘turn with me’ and turned towards our destination. Then I said ‘you’ve got her’, which he acknowledged. I looked back at the Navigator, he was looking at the radar. Realising that I was looking back, he looked at me and gave me a thumbs up. The Nav displaying good situational awareness gave a Red On at the back and informed the ground crew on headset about the impending turbulence. We Were READY to face anything.
We went through, some knocks, some bumps and at the end, went over what seemed like a large speed breaker, suddenly in front of us lay clear faded blue skies. The sky was gradually changing colour with the setting sun. The weather through which we flew must’ve lasted longer, however, because of the intense concentration on everyone’s part, it appeared to have lasted barely three to four minutes. On the left and right were two tall dark CB cells like two escorts for our tiny aeroplane, they escorted us out of this line squall.
What was apparent immediately on our coming out on the other side of the line squall, was the stress flowing out of the pilot and in all probability all of us. His shoulders which were stiff, had relaxed, his face was visibly relaxed and not frowning any more. He was holding the control column more gently now.
We carried out an uneventful landing and switch off. Like, true professionals, we discussed the issues with the aircraft, which were really few, they were documented nonetheless. In the normal course of events I would have been the first to disembark, but today I stood unobtrusively and out of sight at the back and watched my crew. There was happy unhindered banter in progress, backslapping and good-humoured abuse, especially when the weather was discussed. The young pilot had a spring in his step. He had encountered weather for the first time, with adequate fuel & no serious constraints. He had flown through the weather without anyone following him on controls or taking over controls. He had tasted blood. He would over a period of time with more experience learn to discern weather, learn and understand what is negotiable and what isn’t.
As I mentioned, he had tasted blood and yes, he LIKED IT. I had in all probability witnessed an inflexion point in his career, I felt privileged to have been a part of it.
For most of us aviators, bad weather, difficult airfield, a tough drop, valley flying low flying etc, give us a high like nothing else on earth. No alcohol and/or smoking compares with it. We all after such sorties exit the planes with damp sweat-soaked overalls, wide-eyed, and thumping hearts but a deep desire to do it again and again and again. The joys of being an aviator. This why the brotherhood of aviators is so strong.
Post Courtesy: https://scepticnow.wordpress.com
