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Beware of the Weather Gods – By Capt Elmo Jayawardena The one thing that a pilot wishes for, when he lines up for take-off is a blue sky. He rolls his aeroplane down the runway with engines screaming at take-off power, and at rotational speed, he eases the aeroplane into the sky. Then he retracts the gear and the flaps, which is commonly called cleaning the aircraft and then sets the course in the direction of his destination. Whether it is an intercontinental fifteen-hour flight or a local one hour’s run from Ratmalana to Jaffna, the pilot has one ultra-important wish. That is to have a domed blue sky throughout his journey. From the pencil thin line of a cirrus cloud in the upper sky to a bulging rain laden towering cumulus  the sky gods await the unfortunate pilot who is a permissionless intruder stubbornly trespassing their domain. The Gods ...