The Hindu Business Line : Flying the skies ... at ground level

The chief instructor pilot, En Zulkifli, motions to me to take one of the seats in the front-end of the cockpit. "That's the co-pilot's seat," he says. And as he slips into the adjoining seat, adds, "This is for the Captain."

Stretched out in front of me is the tarmac of the sprawling Kuala Lumpur International Airport. "We will take off from Runway 32," Zulkifli tells me as he starts turning on buttons and levers on the multitude of panels surrounding us on all sides.

Curious, I ask him what the numerous switches above us are. I am baffled at the instrumentation around me, a large part of which is above us and which we cannot even see. "This aircraft has four engines and these levers control the throttle. The smaller white levers are for the reverse thrust, which is used for braking after we land. The instruments above us are the circuit-breakers, which only signal an emergency. We will not need them," he says.

As I gape at the four white levers, he added: "Don't worry, the reverse thrust levers are locked and they can be activated only after the wheels touch down."

The instructor then goes on to flip some switches and I hear the four massive engines of the Boeing come to life one by one. He checks the pressure of each engine and says they're all performing perfectly. He then asks me to fasten my seat belt and start the 400,000-kg machine rolling slowly down the tarmac.

"As the co-pilot, you are supposed to operate the nose wheel," he orders, motioning at a lever. A little left and a little right, I get a hang of steering the massive machine. It moves like a three-wheeler rickshaw, I tell myself as we align ourselves at the take-off point on Runway 32.

"The engines are warmed up, and we are ready for take-off. I will now take the controls," Zulkifli announces. I am only too relieved to let go.

The Air Traffic Control clears us for take-off and Zulkifli pulls back the throttle levers. The steady drone of the engines becomes a shrill screeching sound and he releases the brakes. Despite its massive size, the jumbo lurches forward.

By now, I can feel sweat in my palms and I look at the fast disappearing runway under us. The aircraft is shaking and moving up and down despite a relatively smooth runway. The massive engines deliver nearly 240,000 kg of thrust as the aircraft gains more speed.

I feel a sudden lightness in my stomach and realise that the Captain has lifted the nose-wheel. A moment later, the rear wheels clear the ground and we are airborne. With tingling excitement, I look at the Captain; he is calm and composed.

We continue to gain height till at about 11,000 feet, Zulkifli levels the aircraft and says I can take the controls. He encourages me to pull the joystick, and we go into a climb again, then I push it down, and the nose goes down. Finally, I get the aircraft in level. I turn the aircraft left and right, and he tells me that the onboard computer will not let it turn beyond a point.

We then put the plane on `auto-pilot' and sit back to relax. We get a round of the much-deserved cold water and fruit juice as the jumbo is flying steadily, on course.

I start wondering how in the last 100 years, mankind's greatest dream has not only been fulfilled, but the aviation industry has advanced to such levels.

And, oh, I almost forgot to tell you, my flight was in the simulator of the Boeing 747-400 at Malaysia Airlines Academy in Kuala Lumpur.

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