Where's The Baby?

Christmas is round the corner..I hope to take this opportunity tell forth the true meaning of Christmas..Below is an article I came across..Merry Christmas..

Two women, dressed in their finest, were having lunch together in an exclusive restaurant. A friend saw them and came over to their table to greet them. "What's the special occasion?" she asked. one of the women said, " We're having a birthday party for the baby in our family. He's 2 years old today." "But, where is the baby?" the friend asked. The child's mother answered, "Oh, I dropped him off at my mother's house. She's taking care of him until the party's over. It wouldn't have been any fun with him along."

How ridiculous - a birthday celebration for a child who wasn't welcome at his own party! Yet, when you stop to think about it, that's no more foolish than going through the Christmas season, with all of its festivities, without remembering the One whose birth we are supposed to be honoring.

And that's the way many people celebrate Christmas. In all the busyness - the party-going, gift-shopping, and family gatherings - the One whose birthday they are commemorating is almost completely forgotten.

During this holiday season, in all of your good times with family and friends, make sure you don't leave out the Lord Jesus. Give Him the honour He deserves. - Richard De Haan

As part of your family Christmas activities, plan a

birthday party for Jesus. Bake a cake, sing

"Happy Birthday," and encourage family

members to give a special gift to the saviour.

Beware of keeping Christmas but losing Christ.

Is it safe to fly? - 3

All, if not most big mordern jets have at least two engines(normally hanged below the airplane wings). Therefore, if so unfortunately one of the engine is down during the flight, there is still another to keep the plane running. In fact, with only one engine, the airplane is still able to accomplish it's mission given a suitable running distant. Safe landing is definately achievable with one running engine. Having two engines or more actually means less stress for the engines as the load is evenly distributed among them. Also, it means less chances for the plane to fly with no engine running.

What if both or all the engines are down? This is a big question. Fortunately, chances of occurance is slim. Nevertheless, if this really happens, then it is a big headache to pilots. In the case when there is no longer any thrust produce from the engine/s in a flight, it is not as fatal that most would think it will be. Although there isn't any more thrust to push the plane, pilots are still able to glide the plane to land safely. Depending on the altitude and the exact location of the plane and given enough time to react, pilots can execute emergency landing at the nearest airport. On the other hand, if the plane is flying above a huge water body, pilots can choose to land on the waters then seek aid immediately.

Travelling in jets is very much safer nowadays. In fact, almost everything in a modern jet comes in pairs to increase the safety aspect in flying. The controls in the cockpit(shown on the left) and the engines etc. comes in pairs. Even pilots comes in pairs for long haul flights too. In other words, there are two main pliots and two co-pilots to cater for long flying distant. There are also several emergency signals such as air turbulence warning signal to inform pilots of what is ahead or what has happened in order for them to react to the situation accordingly. In my next post about flying, we will talk of some interesting facts about pilots.

Is it safe to fly? - 2

Most of us have probably seen or felt wind blowing flags or kites around. But you may ask, how is it possible that heavy airplanes (some weighing almost half a million pounds, or more than 200,000 kilograms) are able to be supported by air high above the ground?
The answer may sound strange at first, but it's actually the air that is pushing the airplane's wings and the rest of it up. The air under the wings pushes up more than the air on top of the wings pushes down. This "pushing" by the air is called air pressure. We can think of air pressure as air "press"-ing down or up against something else. On a windy day, you can actually feel the air pressure pushing against your body. The wings of an airplane "feel" a similar force, but there happens to be a bigger pressure under the wings and a smaller pressure on the top.
What's really amazing is why this happens. The unique shape of an airplane's wing makes the air moving around it behave in a certain way. If we look at an airplane's wing from the side, we can see that the wing has a shape of an airfoil(shown in the picture below).
An airfoil is curved on the top and flat on the bottom, causing some of the air to go over the top and the rest of the air to go along the bottom. This shape looks simple, but it is the main reason airplanes can fly at all. Because of the airfoil's curved shape, the air moving under the airfoil moves at a slower speed than the air going over the top. In fact, birds and airplanes have the same flight principles besides the difference in the ways they create lift(upward pushing force). Birds flap their wings to produce lift and thrust whereas airplanes uses stationary wings and engines/propellers to produce the two forces respectively. Ultimately, both birds and airplanes pushes air down to produce lift and pushes air back to produce thrust. So much on how birds and airplanes fly.

Well, the next few lines may scare you off a bit but stay with me. Do you know? In fact, air accidents can also be caused by birds, commonly known as bird strike. A bird strike in aviation, is a collision between an airborne animal(often a bird) and a man made vehicle, especially airplanes. It is a common threat to airplane safety and has caused a number of air accidents. It is believed that most potential collision are avoided because the bird is able to change it's course in time. However, the faster the airplane is moving, means reaction time given for the bird is shorter or even zero, putting the airplane at higher risk. Most bird strikes happen close to the ground where majority of the birds are found(in bird airspace). Therefore, bird strikes happen most aften during takeoffs and landings or during low altitude flights. With jet engine aircraft, the animals is frequently sucked into the engine, causing damages to the fan, the housing or the airflow ducts. Depending on the force of impact, a bird strike may damage or even destroy components of the airplanes, or even injure people in the plane.

Yes, bird strikes are scary. However, it is no longer as scary flying in a mordern airplane today. Firstly, most mordern commercial jet engines include design features that ensures they can safely shut down after an impact of a bird weighing up to 1.8kg. The jet is still able to land safely after a 1.8kg strike even if one of the two engines is down. Secondly, to reduce bird strike on takeoff and landing, airport introduce bird management and control. It includes changes to terrain to reduce the attractiveness as an habitat to birds and introducting devices that produces sound and light to scare them away. There are many other ways to keep birds away from the airport. One example from an airport in New Zealand is that it uses electrified mats to reduce the number of worms that attracted large numbers of sea gulls. Finally, pilots are trained to gain awareness of birds habits and avoid migratory routes, wildlife reserve and estuaries where birds may congregate. In addition, with today's technology, birds activities can also be traced using radar. Hence, be rest assured chances of bird strike these days are very slim or appaoximately zero. In my next post about flying, I will talk about airplanes..

Is it safe to fly? - 1

Have You ever had this experience? As you were walking down the jetway(aka the boarding bridge)which leads to an opening where the cabin crews welcome you with their smiles, showing you the way to your seat on the airplane, you begin to wonder...
Is it going to be a smooth flight?
Am I going to reach my destination safely?
These questions about safety seem only to come from a pessimist, they are, nevertheless the concerns of the majority. In order to address to these concerns, I will try to give you a peace of mind on board.
Safety is a very curcial and important factor to an airline company and the aviation industry. It tells how much the yearly revenue and how high, in terms of reputation, both the company and the country's aviation industry can achieve. Therefore, every single living being on board is their responsibility.
There are thorough checks to ensure the serviceability of the aircraft and it must pass them before the passengers are allow to board. The essential controls in the cockpit are also double checked by the pilots while making their way to the runway. Only then, the airplane is approved to take off. In my next post about flying, we will look at some facts on the relationship of birds and airplanes..