Do you know who Vishwakarma is? He is the engineer god of the Hindu mythology and my joint favorite one (Saraswati being the other). I am his fan. It's not that I like him because I am an engineer, I started taking a liking for him, from when I was 3-4 years old. I don't know why, but I did.
On Vishwakarma pujo, which falls on the 17th of September every year, I put flowers on every gadget in the house. Not just the refrigerator or the TV, but the water pump, the electric meter, old phones and cars all got their fair share that day. It's not "idol worship" but thanking the mechanical/electrical/electronic things for their service throughout the year. I love them!
Recently, I visited a place which can be aptly called Vishwakarma's workshop. It's the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington.
I love aeroplanes. The marvel that helps humans (and animals and postage and cargo) to fly is truly a miracle. Who would have thought that the basic principle of maintaining equilibrium was gained from the Wright brothers' knowledge of bicycles? When the plane accelerates on the runway, preparing for take off, I love the speed it runs at....and the moment it lifts off, I can't but wonder at the human mind....that has enabled us with super powers! All these I like seeing at the Boeing Future of Flight...what humans are capable of.
At the Boeing tour, the guide takes us along the factory and shows us where actual 747s and 787s are built. You would see the huge planes standing there, some getting wings attached, some having the tail fitted...they don't have any paint on them at that time. As we live close to the Boeing field, we sometimes get to see brand new 787s on test flights. Some of them still lack paint...the flight tests their functionality and not the look and feel I guess ;-) Being a test automation person by profession, I wonder how the automation for testing air-crafts are written. How perfect they should be. If my automation doesn't work, I will still be able to test most features manually. Even if everything fails, it'll still be a software that's crappy and a phone that doesn't work. But, if the software of a plane is buggy, the lives of 350 people would be at risk! Can you imagine the responsibility of the testers?
On a big scale there is the mechanical aspect, the load balancers, the stress testers. The materials that are used - composite fibers and the like that will use less fuel, shutterless windows for 787 to decrease more weight talk about ground breaking technology. On the other hand, there is electronics. The fine wirings, the sensitive gadgets for the pilot....that's one engineering marvel I must say!
When we started making trans-continental flights, we mostly had to take two stops. My first trans-Pacific flight took almost 17 hours to fly from Hong Kong to San Francisco. A 787 would fly non-stop from Mumbai to Los Angeles. Probably in a decade a 797 would be faster, cheaper and better fuel efficient. The youngest people to ride a 797 are definitely not born yet. What a wonder we will have for them to fly in!
PS: "If it's not Boeing, then I am not going!"
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| Boeing 787 - DreamLiner |
Recently, I visited a place which can be aptly called Vishwakarma's workshop. It's the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington.
I love aeroplanes. The marvel that helps humans (and animals and postage and cargo) to fly is truly a miracle. Who would have thought that the basic principle of maintaining equilibrium was gained from the Wright brothers' knowledge of bicycles? When the plane accelerates on the runway, preparing for take off, I love the speed it runs at....and the moment it lifts off, I can't but wonder at the human mind....that has enabled us with super powers! All these I like seeing at the Boeing Future of Flight...what humans are capable of.
 |
| An Air India plane in the Boeing workshop |
At the Boeing tour, the guide takes us along the factory and shows us where actual 747s and 787s are built. You would see the huge planes standing there, some getting wings attached, some having the tail fitted...they don't have any paint on them at that time. As we live close to the Boeing field, we sometimes get to see brand new 787s on test flights. Some of them still lack paint...the flight tests their functionality and not the look and feel I guess ;-) Being a test automation person by profession, I wonder how the automation for testing air-crafts are written. How perfect they should be. If my automation doesn't work, I will still be able to test most features manually. Even if everything fails, it'll still be a software that's crappy and a phone that doesn't work. But, if the software of a plane is buggy, the lives of 350 people would be at risk! Can you imagine the responsibility of the testers?
On a big scale there is the mechanical aspect, the load balancers, the stress testers. The materials that are used - composite fibers and the like that will use less fuel, shutterless windows for 787 to decrease more weight talk about ground breaking technology. On the other hand, there is electronics. The fine wirings, the sensitive gadgets for the pilot....that's one engineering marvel I must say!
 |
| At Paine Field, Everett |
PS: "If it's not Boeing, then I am not going!"
1 comment:
Sotyi aeroplane jinish ta amake ekhono obak kore. Hoyto ekhon beshi obak kore, now that I know what goes on in the back-end. Hmm, phool diyo gadget der. Vishwakarma khushi-i hoben :)
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