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Military 101: The Dassault Rafale – History, Variants, Comparisons, and Export Success

Rafale French France Fighter Jet IAF Flight

The Dassault Rafale, a 4.5 generation, twin-engine, multirole fighter jet, was initially procured by India in a 2016 deal for 36 aircraft. These currently operate from IAF bases in Ambala (Haryana) and Hasimara (West Bengal). The Indian Air Force is also reportedly planning to acquire another 40 Rafale jets for its land-based fleet and 26 Rafale-M variants for the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers, with a potential option to increase the Navy’s order to 62 aircraft. Image source: Capt. Jason Smith / Wikimedia

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Military 101: The F/A-18 Hornet: Agile, Lethal And Multi-Role

F/A-18 Hornet Fighter Jet RMAF Aircraft

The F/A-18 Hornet’s design lineage traces back to the Northrop YF-17, a prototype developed for the U.S. Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter (LWF) program. While the YF-17 itself didn’t win the Air Force competition, its design proved highly adaptable to the U.S. Navy’s requirements for a multirole fighter. The Navy’s need for a carrier-based aircraft led to significant modifications, including a strengthened airframe, folding wings, and enhanced avionics, culminating in the F/A-18 Hornet. Image source: By US Air Force – dvidshub.net, Public Domain

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Military 101: Dedicated Light Combat Helicopter: Time For Malaysian Army To Have One?

Combat Helicopter Blue Thunder Military

When it comes to combat helicopters, one of our favourites would be the fictional attack helicopters from TV & movie, Airwolf and Blue Thunder. Between, one can rate Blue Thunder as a light combat helicopter considering that it is based on French-made Aérospatiale SA-341G Gazelles and has plenty of props bolted on for the movie. Image source: Harvard Film Archive.

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Documentary 101: PBS Frontline – Boeing’s Fatal Flaw 2021

787 Dreamliner Boeing

On 14th September 2021, PBS Frontline ran an excellent documentary on Boeing’s series of shocking mishandling & process failure in the manufacturing of the new 737-Max passenger plane. The trigger point was the introduction of the new Airbus A320neo and the delay of Boeing’s next model, the 787 Dreamliner. Image source: PRNewsfoto/Boeing

There was tremendous pressure to bring the new plane into the market in time to counter Airbus’ A320Neo plane. In the end, a software glitch caused 2 major accidents that saw 346 passengers & crew died, Boeing & airlines suffered substantial financial losses due to glitch & grounded planes and caused the chairman & CEO, Dennis Muilenburg his job.

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Gaming 101: Airline Manager 4 – Classic Way Of Managing Brand New Airline

Airline Manager 4

Airline Manager 4 or AM4 is rather a simple managerial simulation game and yet it is addictive in a strange way. Simulation games that require planning, strategic moves and an eye on income and expenses had always synced with my interest in project management. Image source: AM4 Game Site

One of them is Sim City which puts the player in the seat of the mayor of a major city and another is FA Club Manager which puts the player in the seat of an English League football manager.

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Kingdom of Cambodia 2020: Part 12 – The Tedious, Much Awaited Journey Back Home

Cambodia Airport COVID19

(The rather empty departure terminal at Phnom Penh airport in Cambodia and it is the same case, most airports around the world. Most of the duty-free shops were opened but sadly there were no customers. The lone guy at Starbucks was practically begging passengers to come in to have coffee) 

This will be the last part in this Cambodian trip series – we have completed our assignment in Phnom Penh and it was time to make the journey back home and start the next phase of the project.

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Kingdom of Cambodia 2020: Part 3 – First Mandatory COVID19 Test & Cosy Quarantine

hotel cambodia quarantine

Continuing the Cambodian adventure, our pockets were literally empty by the time we finished paying the USD3,000 at the airport and went to the immigration counter to submit our passport and all the relevant forms.

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Kingdom of Cambodia 2020: Part 2 – Overweight Luggage And Short of Cash

cambodia MAS flight phnom penh

The trip to Cambodia started off rather early in the morning with me waking up early and double triple checking everything that I suppose bring along for the long work assignment overseas. The kids were deeply asleep but just before I left the house, they were awake to say goodbye.

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Kingdom of Cambodia 2020: Part 1, Hurdling Tough And Strict Red Tapes

Royal Palace Cambodia Phnom Penh Travel

They say the show must go on and so it is when it comes to work  – this time is the work overseas assignment in Cambodia which is also known as the Kingdom of Wonders. This would be probably my 10th trip to the country. Image of The Royal Palace in Cambodia, Phnom Penh, source: All Free Photos

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MH370: Was Air Traffic Control Deliberately Misled?

mh370

Tomorrow marks the 6th anniversary of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370) that went missing flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China. Till today, there have been a wide range of theories and conspiracies thrown in the wind but the plane is yet to be found. Image source: Pinterest.

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Trip to Cape Verde 2019: Part 4 – Chaos, Impatience Passengers At Airport

cape verde lisbon chaos tap return

(Chaos, confusion, uncertainty at Lisbon airport when we suppose to be in Cape Verde, we have a problem when adding impatient passengers into the equation)

The Cape Verde flight passengers started to assemble closer and rumours & assumptions started to fly – some passengers especially those with small children became restless. Someone shouted “It’s Not Fair!!!” and a bunch of passengers joined in.

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Trip to Cape Verde 2019: Part 3 – Scary Flight And Return to Lisbon

cape verde tap air portugal lisbon flight

(Calm before the storm – this was taken just before we took off from Lisbon to Cape Verde)

This is our final leg of the journey from KL to Cape Verde and this time, we changed the airline from Emirates to TAP Air Portugal, flying on the smaller Airbus A320. And given the fact that we have been on transit in Lisbon for the last 8 hours, we were very anxious to get to our next flight and reach our final destination to Cape Verde for a hot shower, clean change of clothes and a good sleep on a soft bed.

We lined up at the boarding counter, cleared by the TAP staff after verifying the cabin luggage size and went down to catch the shuttle bus to the plane.

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