Flight Plan (FLIGHT series #01)

Flight 48 - Knots

Knots

Knots (kts) is how the speed of aircraft (and of boats) is measured that is based on the nautical mile. Although the unit knot is not an SI base unit (the meter is the SI base unit for length) its use in nautical navigation and aviation is important because the length of a nautical mile is closely related to the longitude/latitude geographic coordinate system.
In navigation, one minute of latitude is equal to one nautical mile, while degrees of latitude are 60 nautical miles apart. The distance between degrees of longitude is about 60 nautical miles at the equator, which is less further north or south as the longitude lines converge towards the poles. Hence the usage of knots for airspeed.
1 knot is equivalent to 1 nautical mile per hour or 1.15 miles per hour or 1.852 kph.
Did you know a Cessna C172's:
(1) rotate or takeoff speed: 60 knots (111.12 kph)
(2) climb speed: 80 knots (148.16 kph)
(3) normal approach for landing speed (with flaps 2): 70 knots (129.64 kph)
(4) maneuvering speed (speed at which an airplane will stall before exceeding its maximum load limit): 105 knots (194.46 kph)
(5) best glide speed: 68 knots (125.94 kph)
*NOTE: All speeds are expressed in Knots Indicated Airspeed (KIAS) which is the speed shown on an aircraft's pitot-static airspeed indicator. To find out more about the different types of speeds, check AUTHOR'S NOTE: ONE AIRSPEED, TOO MANY NAMES.
And, did you know, that speeds for airliners (such as the A320), differs every time in proportion to weight? 👀

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Nag-overflow na naman ang notifications ko sa Viber group chat ng batch namin. Naka-mention na naman ako at si Xav na may kasamang notice kung bakit. May IG stories daw sila Capt. Corpuz at Capt. Manalang, and connecting the dots, pagkatapos nila makita rin ang schedule on that day, nagawa nila maiugnay na magkasama kami ni Xav and the two FIs sa Vigan for an hour or two na lay-off sa flights namin.

Noong tinignan ko 'yong IG stories ng dalawa naming FI, totoo nga. Binulgar nila na nasa Vigan kami. Madami-dami rin 'yong IG stories nila. A mixture of videos and images featuring Vigan, maging 'yong empanada and ice cream na kinain namin. Maging 'yong isang group photo naming apat, and ang pinaka-highlight among all ay 'yong selfie nila Capt. Corpuz at Capt. Manalang na may kasamang caption na: "Third wheeling @Vigan".

Again, tikom pa rin ang bibig namin ni Xav about it. Wala sa amin ang nagsalita if 'yong comment no'ng dalawa naming FI na "third-wheeling" is dahil kami na nga or another trick ng mga FI sa pag-papair nila sa amin. In the end, our silence is a mixture of opinions mula sa kanila. And hindi na rin nila pinush pa 'yong issue dahil 'yong iba sa amin na may mga boyfriends and girlfriends din ay may posts din ng kanilang mga date sa kanilang mga IG stories na mas lalong inintriga compared sa re-share lamang namin ni Nikolai ng group photos namin kasama sila Capt. Corpuz and Capt. Manalang kung saan kami naka-tag.

Right after that flight ay nabigyan ako kaagad ng clearance for solo cross-country flights. However, madalas sa mga cross-country flights na pinayagan ako ay stopover lamang sa La Union or sa Iba ang posible. Pwede akong pumunta as far as Vigan, pero madalas ay hindi kaya ng schedule na naka-allot sa akin na ang nagagawa ko lamang ay either overhead lang ng Vigan or 'di kaya mag-touch-and-go bago bumalik ulit ng Subic. Minsan naman, hanggang Elyu lamang after mag-airworks mag-isa sa mga training areas; binabalikan ang mga PPL and CPL maneuvers bilang additional training din.

Another thing, thankfully, na-approve naman 'yong leave ko for the twenty-fourth until the twenty-sixth dahil birthday ni Papa. And just like last time, nag-leave rin si Xav, and magkaiba na naman kami ng rason, though it appears almost so coincidentally. Rason ko is 'yong birthday ni Papa, and siya naman is something that goes along the line of needing to accomplish something para sa mga requirements na needed niya sa pag-aaral niya abroad. Well, hindi naman nagtataka ang WAA sa mga leave niya, since kilala naman nila ang pamilya niya and everything.