Heyy! Here’s a whole post dedicated solely, and ONLY to the NCC AIR camp 2007!!!
Day 1:
Just like our normal training, first, we fall in at the mini-amphi, then we had the nicely prepared THEORY lessons. XD First, we had the principles of flight, basic stuff, roll, yaw, pitch, ailerons…etc. I think the problem came in when Julie, Trina, and Celeste tried to teach, what’s that, the, wait, erm, ahh, yes, the Bernoulli's principle of pressure (thanks Julie), I think everyone kind of, stone, could not really get it at first, but I think, hopefully, everyone managed to get, at least some parts of it. Then the second thing that got kind of screwed up, it’s the working of ailerons, whether if the right aileron is out, would it turn left or right, something like that (my memory is failing)(julie says its the rudder, not ailerons). I think there was something about the angle of attack, yeah, and canards, lots of stuff squeezed into the heads of the Part As, who were busy taking notes, while the Part Bs, erm, squeezed at the back? A bit, just a bit, noisy, but still can la…in my opinion. =D We had Anatomy of Aircraft next. Ahhh, I think I made a mistake, the ailerons part was in Anatomy of Aircraft, not Principles of Flight, well anyway, the second theory lesson was, okay , about airbrakes, and flaps, don’t forget the ejection seat! So cool, like poof, and off you go, but of course, nobody hopes to need to use the ejection seat cos it only means that there is something wrong with the plane, very wrong. So that’s two theories done. Then there was a short break, nothing much after that, just some basic drills and evening jog before we are dismissed. Oh, Munirah and I went to borrow basketballs from the PE dept for the basketball game the next day. Let’s move on to DAY 2!
Day 2:
Had to arrive early in the morning at the mini-amphi. Well, I think some of us a bit too early, so we started comparing bags, a lot of people say I look like I’m going on holiday cos my bag very big. I still dun get how they fit everything into such a tiny bag. Then I think a Part A spilt water. Well, anw, had brief admin stuff, followed by a check of who did not have breakfast before moving on to the first item of the day---IFC. I don’t think I was there when the others did IFC, a few of us were preparing for the obstacle course. But basically, the IFC i/cs conducted the lesson and on the track near the canteen. The obstacle course i/cs then went off to get the needed equipment, chairs, tables, net, pails of water. Spent some time figuring out the corners of the net, then Hui Yi and I tried to find the greenman so we can borrow pails from him, couldn’t find him at first, searched all over for him, then we went to “explore” the small little hut thingy outside the canteen that belongs to the greenman, it stank. After we managed to borrow the pails, we went to get lots and lots of water. Someone, can’t remember who, spilt the water all over her lower half of the body. Ha, looked like she pee in her pants. XD Can’t remember was it after this or before this, the NCC Land CO, kind of scolded us for not greeting him, so we greeted, then we tried greeting the land seniors, scary…They looked surprised, wonder if that’s a good sign. Well anw, we soon had a short break while we continued with the set up of the obstacle course. Some people had to leave for SMO :(. Finally, OBSTACLE COURSE, Part As made to change into their PT kit while the Part B changed into half-no. 4. We wanted to wet the ground under the net to make it all gooey for the Part As to crawl but, well, we weren’t allowed to, so we sprayed them from the top instead. I was at the Red Sea station, so dint really noe what went on at the high wall and monkey bar. I guess it must have been pretty tough cos it took forever just for one Part A to come, got kinda bored. Sad, some of them couldn’t do monkey bar, IT’S FUN, but oh well, it can be tough for beginners, I have to admit, hope they had fun though. I think it’s quite cool to crawl under the net, but I guess it got a bit unfair when some people got sprayed with more water while others, lesser. Red Sea, Part As were very cautious, they didn’t dare to take the risk, were we that scary? Cos many of them, erm, I dunno, dint dare to pass? But I guess it was fun, once someone makes a run for it and passes through, it raises the others morale then they tried to make a dash for it too. As the no. of people who successfully pass got more, it got a bit noisy as they cheered for their friends. Occassionally, the Red Sea people got distracted by the “successful” Part As, then let the other Part A just pass through like that. Argh! (Erm, do you get it, what I am trying to say earlier, about the distraction part, well even if you don’t, just try la.) Then the last two people to pass the red sea were supposed to get “punished” by getting water poured all over them. Ha, then they stood right in front of all the other Part As and their group i/cs, and WHOOSH, the unlucky ones got really wet, XD. After the obstacle course, the Part As got all wet and dirty so they were given time to change while the Part Bs put back on their no. 4. Then ma’am Debbie wanted us to pose for pictures with the hat and the riftle, eeyer, I think I looked horrible. Well anywaes, after that, continued with more IFC, this time more on practical I think, I dint really noe what went on since Mr Chia got Jaslyn and me to make sure the birds don’t eat our lunch---CHICKEN RICE!!! I don’t think the birds like chicken rice very much, not many came at least, then Jaslyn and I got really hungry just by smelling the food, can smell cannot eat. Seemed like hours before IFC ended, followed by LUNCH, yay!!! Had to admit the lunch was so much better than last year. Due to some absentees, there were leftover rice, so some of the Part Bs, (e.g. Munirah), stuffed themselves with the leftovers before going of for the third theory of the camp: Aircraft recognition. Basically, the same stuff la, Part Bs squashed at the back, Part As busy copying to prepare themselves for the test. TEST!!! Oops, ok, anw, after aircraft recognition was Aerospace cluster. Nothing much, except info, info and more info. Okay, I’m kinda mix up here, don’t really remember if bunk inspection was after lunch or after all the theories. But anyway, just to sum up bunk inspection---it was not as bad as I thought it would be, luckily or unluckily. But we, as in the Part Bs kinda got freaked out after last year’s bunk inspection so we went on a frenzy to wipe the floor with rags and baby wipes with Ee Wen climbing on tables to clean the fans. Then the Part As in and out, in and out, so we can standardise our bunks. Kinda cute, they way they stick their heads in and count the no. of tables or chairs. Then disaster struck, someone spilt water, so I had to go find a mop, only found one at the second level. I don’t know abt the Part As, hopefully they had fun cleaning their bunks like we had, rolling around and crawling all over for fear we would dirty the nice floor we just cleaned. Sorry if I sound ego, but the floor was SO NICE, okay, I think you get the idea. Not too bad, got erm, 35 push ups I think, or 40, can’t really rmb already, basically, had to hide the broom and arrange our bags. Part As got a bit more than us, but that’s usual, I think our bunks were worser last year, but trust me, Part As, your bunk inspection was so easy-going, ours last year was hell. But I think your bunks quite good la. =)Now, let’s move on to DRILLS. Part As split up into grps, their grp i/cs in charge of teaching them drills. Then the “leftover” Part Bs, like me, who were not grp i/cs, had to do basic drills with the rifle. So a few among us went to retrieve the rifles from the bunks, leaving me and Munirah behind. So we had to do simple commanding. According to the ma’ams, must drag, don’t like staccato the commands. Am I making sense? I hope I am. Then Munirah and I both did not want to command first, so we ended up doing scissors paper stone to decide who go first. Well anw, I thought marching with the rifles would be easy but apparently, its NOT. Cos we can’t move the hand holding the rifle, we dint really got use to it so our arms and hands got screwed up. Left hand with left leg, eeyer, so malu-ating. Messed it all up. But drills without the rifle was okay la. Well, I think the Part As learn quite fast, but must be more confident in yourselves! Then can do better! Basketball got taken out because wanted to spend more time on drills instead. A few of us, again, left earlier to prepare for dinner, OUTDOOR COOKING. Lots of can food, maggie noodles and veggies---cucumber. Eh, a failed experiment in cutting the cucumbers, a bit thick and off shaped, but for people like us, I think very good already la… XP The cookers were nice, we put two solid fuel each into each cooker. Ma’am Debbie tried to cook first, only to find out TWO solid fuel is too much! One is enough, the fire was so HUGE. A lot of us had problems lighting the solid fuel and needed help with the matchsticks, but I think overall, everything was quite enjoyable and fun except the forcing of eating of cucumbers, sigh, it wasn’t exactly popular. But otherwise, I think it went rather smoothly. (except the miscommunication whereby some people threw away the otherwise re-usable tomi cookers). After a short break, NIGHT WALK follows! It was suppose to be scary, but erm, dint turn out to be that scary, more like, funny, I think. I was trying to scare the Part As, then I ended up scaring myself, eeyer. But during debrief, I think quite a no. of them like nightwalk, luckily, even though it wasn’t that scary, maybe that’s why they like it..hmmm. After that, we had a nice and refreshing shower, followed by debrief, light supper, and then went to sleep, it’s been a long day…
Day 3:
We were rather kia-su I think, all wake up so early one…dun want to be late. After we washed-up and went down, the land people were already falling in, gosh! They must have woken up super early, it was so dark, we couldn’t see each other’s faces at the netball courts. Morning PT was fine, except for the constant dragging of shoes and the very soft timing. HAVE TO BE LOUDER, and the dragging of shoes were quite bad…Have to keep it mind. The morning run was still okay, but I think many of us were half –dying already… Again, I left early to prepare breakfast so, dint really know what happened to the last part of the PT. Breakfast was bread with all sorts of spread with hot milo. Hot milo, that was what took forever before breakfast could start. Cos hot water supply was all the way at the staffroom kitchen, every group had to send two reps to collect hot water for the milo. So while waiting, we came up with a cheer, which was so hilarious, but fun!!! NICE CHEER!!! After breakfast, we had a short break after which we had to clean up our bunks, canteens and the toilet, those went quite smoothly, many of the Part As were freaking out over the test which was right after the clean up. They were given some time to revise before the test starts, all of them burst into a frenzy of last minute studying…the nervous atmosphere. When the test started, some of the Part Bs slept, others went out to talk, I went to check with Mr Chia if lunch was ready, after which, chatted with a few other outside the exam room, saw the ma’ams sleeping in their nicely air-conditioned bunk…so envious..haha. After the test, we had a WONDERFUL LUNCH of PIZZA!!! It was so nice and yummy and delicious. After lunch, we set out for the Air Force Museum. This time, we had a guide and watched a short clip before the tour. The clip was quite interesting. As for the tour, some of us got distracted and no longer pay attention to the guide. I personally thought it was more fun to roam around on our own, free and easy. Felt really bad, cos the guide is like talking to a bunch of not-very-interested-girls, but, it wasn’t exactly captivating. After that, we went to have a look at this really cool place where people go to have lessons on aircrafts, I think, can’t really rmb that well now. But there were many nice art pieces and models of aeroplanes that caught our attention. The air-con there was FREEZING. After enjoying a long time admiring the works of the pupils, we left the Air Force Museum. We collected our bags and checked our bunks one last time, there was a case of a missing key, wonder if it has been found…But anw, after settling some admin and money issues, we were dismissed. Mixture of sadness and happiness, sad because the camp is over, but also, happy because the camp is over, ok, I dun think I m making sense here, but basically, the camp was FUN and so much enjoyable, ya, I think that’s the right word, ENJOYABLE for all of us, at least I found it very enjoyable! ( I m repeating myself, I know, its to emphasize the degree of "enjoyable-ness".)
Whoa, I think I typed a lot, hope you have enjoyed reading! Bye!
P.S Pardon me for typo errors, very blur nowadays...XP
<3 Cheryl
