Author: searazali
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Sky High with Nana
Cover: Early 1980s, Nana in a Cessna 182, with the right passenger door removed. Bundled up and buckled by a safety strap for his photography. Location: Air Sailing Gliderport, Reno, NV. The photograph he cherished most was not of his family, but of a Nimbus III. A slender, white glider hangs suspended against the Sierras, its…
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Testing iFly
A few months ago, for the sake of conversation, I mixed up Newton’s 3rd Law with the Impulse-Momentum Theorem. I thought that if I ever went skydiving, which I plan to do when I’m eighteen, the rushing air would “hit” me with an impact, and that impact would push back with an equal force, keeping…
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Jet Engine Part 2
Picking up where I left off from Part 1, after finishing building the engine, it was ready for testing. I placed an aluminum sheet underneath where the engine would be seated for heat shielding against the wooden table. I strapped the engine to the table using heavy-duty zip ties to ensure the engine would not…
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Driving..I mean, Drawing through Summer
This summer, I had to find a way to relax and enjoy myself beyond what has been a very hectic, yet productive summer. I have retaken a Biology course online to bring my grade up to an A, SAT preparation for next month, swim practice, driving tests, and many enjoyable flying lessons towards a Private…
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Jet Engine Part 1
It’s always fascinated me with the idea of propelling objects with a force that isn’t completely visible, yet so powerful. After months of studying and researching propulsion, I started experimenting with home-made turbo-fan engines. I chose to begin building turbofan engines because they are rather simple and teach the basics of gas turbines. In the summer of 2024, I built my prototype turbofan…
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Varsity Swim
Upon completing 3 seasons of fortunately swimming with Gainesville high school, I can finally say with much perseverance I made progress around every corner. Whether it’s been through sprint events or distance, I am proud of my recent achievements as a varsity swimmer. The best events I have excelled in the most are my 50…
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My Robotics Journey
A highlight of my junior year has been how I am able to express my passion for engineering through after-school clubs such as engineering club and my favorite, most exciting – robotics club. I enjoy robotics club because of its positive environment and work ethic. Unfortunately, I was unable to try-out for the school robotics team my sophomore…
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Little Crystalline Creations
As a car enthusiast who also loves aerospace, or just anything and everything that speaks the shared principles of fluid dynamics to aerodynamics, I found a new fun to work with carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is a lightweight intricate weaved cloth constructed of many polymers into a stunning pattern. This material is used as an…
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My SpaceX
This one-week rocketry flew by so quickly that I wanted to do it again. Every year, NOVA’s (Northern Virginia Community College) SySTEMic program holds a one week rocketry summer camp for middle school and high school students. I had been looking forward to this camp all summer and it did not disappoint. Even so, we…
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Rowing Away the Summer
Have you ever wondered how demanding Ivy League sports such as rowing could be? Well, I did. My brother and I signed up for one of many rowing summer camps the Potomac has to offer. We chose the two week TBC Racing rowing camp. Although this was a tough camp, the final result from our finale…
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My 3 speed gearbox powered by my 6000+ RPM Lego turbine vacuum engine
I’d like to introduce to you my 6000+ RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) turbine engine. I first constructed 4 airtight walls around the base with 2 openings opposite to each other. One of the openings would be for an exhaust with a valve and the other opening for the vacuum’s entry. Next I made a 4×4…
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LUMS Summer Camp 2023
My experience staying at one of the finest universities in all of Pakistan was outstanding compared to any other boarding hostels I had been to, and I’ve been to several. While making a crazy amount of friends in every class, I learned what a college experience would be like. I had a wide selection of…
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Whale Watching at Stellwagen Sanctuary
Back in Boston, I visited numerous locations where I went for my birthday. One of the most exciting activities was the whale watching arranged by the New England Aquarium. During breakfast my mom asked if I wanted to go to both the aquarium and whale-watching because there was a price combo. The only slot available…
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Harry Potter Tour of Warner Bros. Studio London
The past few days we have been meeting my mother’s friends and exploring London. On Sunday we had to take more than one train to reach Watford Junction. When we exited the station there were signs everywhere telling us where to go for the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Outside the station there was a double…
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Fishing
Yesterday I went Fishing with my friend thinking it would be a normal day of me fishing and catching small bluegills and one or two bass, but that was not the case today. The week before I bought 2 new lures and a pack of small hooks. I bought a white spinnerbait and a Rooster…
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Parasailing over Virginia Beach
The extraordinary day my family and I had at Busch Gardens yesterday was amazing and was really nice of my parents, but they also came up with going parasailing 100 feet up over Virginia Beach. I was the first to wake up in the morning because of the news and schedule my parents told me…
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Discovering Philadelphia and Legoland
On the way to Philadelphia, we crossed through Maryland and Delaware. We first visited the visitor center and made our way to the line for the Liberty Bell. The line was extremely long. It took us about 35 minutes or more to get inside. Finally, when we got inside, they made us go through the…
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Sailing
The second day of the camp everyone was called to learn the de-docking of the catamaran. Everyone got to their position assignments. There were three ropes attached to the dock and our boat. One of the lines was the Spring line which was attached to the center side of the boat. Then there were two…
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Fall off or Fly?
When I was at Sailing camp one of the watersports I did was Tubing. The first time we went tubing was while I was snorkeling with my friends. A large inflatable dingy stopped right in front of us, and the driver said if we wanted to go tubing, we could hop on the tube, but…
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Swimming to Scuba Diving in the Caribbean
One of our favorite activities was snorkeling. The best equipment to use is a mask, with the nose cover and a snorkel attached, and fins. This type of equipment are the best because when you want to go below the surface to check under rocks or explore, they will help you. The nose cover prevents…
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Day 1 of Sail Carribean
Hi, I am back from my Sea camp, and here to tell you everything that happened. It was extremely dark when we arrived at the dock after the highspeed ferry ride in which salt water splashed all over my face, in my eyes, and clothes. I did enjoy the ride though. When we arrived,…
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My Year at Fishburne Military school
Last school year I was attending Fishburne military school because it was face-to-face learning and not online. When the school I went to turned to online schooling, my grades started dropping. I did not like the new learning method, so I wanted to be switched to an in-person learning school. Therefore Fishburne, I was not…
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The High Seas
This is my summary on the Netflix “Our Planet” The largest mammal that roams this planet is the blue whale. Yet there are less than a few thousand left when there used to be 300,000 Blue whales in the wild. People were hunting blue whales till 1966 to the point to where they disappeared. The…
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Introduction
Hi, my name is Raza, and I have been blogging since I was 12. This is my favorite picture from my first adventure camp from 2021, sailing, snorkeling and scuba diving in the Caribbean – details in my earlier posts below. My passion for nature is what helped me come up with the blog name…
Discovering with Raza 