Story so far: Hanuman is now at Satya Loka — the Exosphere, which is beyond 700 km above Earth. To help him survive in this airless space, his father Vaayu pulls out every single air molecule from Earth and diverts them into Hanuman. He is now bigger than the sun!
As he opens his mouth to swallow the sun, he hears a booming voice: “Stop!” Brahma, creator of the universe, appears along with Vaayu, Agni (god of fire), Varuna (god of water), Vishwakarma, the architect of the gods, Yama, the son of the Sun God, and Indra. All of them are as horrified as the people on Earth.
Brahma: Stop, Hanuman! It’s obvious you are one of the strongest kids ever born in this universe. But, before I say anything more, let me feed you with the world’s tastiest fruits to satisfy your hunger.
Hanuman’s tummy is now full.
Brahma (addressing the gods): The air molecules were only following the order given to them, and Vaayu acted as a father to protect his son. The mistake was Indra’s. As the king of heaven, you could have handled the situation better, instead of attacking a child.
Indra: I am sorry, Hanuman. I should not have used my Vajra (lightning bolt) on you. To make up for this, I will give you a boon: You will be stronger than Vajra, my strongest weapon.
Brahma: I will give you a boon too: No weapon can hurt you; and you can travel at the speed of light (2.99x10^8 m/sec).
Varuna: I grant you protection from water. You can travel anywhere in the ocean, even to the Mariana Trench, which is more than 11km deep.
Agni: I bless him with immunity to fire. You can withstand high temperatures like an alloy (a combination of two or more metals).
Surya: I bless you with the ability to change your body size at will.
Yama: I bless you with immortality.
Vishwakarma: I offer you protection from all objects of my creation.
Vaayu: Hanuman, with all these boons, you have become one of the most powerful beings on Earth. It all happened because you tried to reach the sky and beyond. You did not stop even when you faced obstacles. This is the reward for your perseverance. May you attain greatness.
***
The news of Hanuman’s adventure reaches Lanka where Ravana is in conversation with Mayasura.
Ravana: Did you hear? A boy named Hanuman escaped Indra’s Vajra and even hit him back!
Mayasura: Ha ha! Serves Indra right! Clearly, age doesn’t matter; it’s all about one’s courage and knowledge.
Meghnath: You are right, grandpa! So please teach me how to fly the Pushpaka vimaan and how to use Astras (reusuable weapons) and Sastras (Non-reusuable weapons). Then I can also beat Indra!
Ravana: Ha ha ha! That’s my boy! Earlier you learnt about the different parts of a plane. Today, I will teach you about the ways in which an aircraft moves and how to control it.
Ravana explains the six different movements of an aircraft (see pic) :
Pitch motion: is the up or down movement of the aircraft’s nose. To pitch up or pitch down , we use a control surface elevator .
Yaw motion: is the side to side movement of the aircraft’s nose. To move left yaw or right yaw , we use the rudder .
Roll: A rolling motion is an up and down movement of the aircraft’s wing tips. This is controlled using the ailerons .
The author is the founder and CEO of Vaayusastra Aerospace, an IIT-Madras incubated ed-tech start-up that offers Air Science workshops for children between five and 14 years.
