29 December 2010

GM's DAY IS MADE :)

( This blog was written on 07August 2010 but published today )

G M is Grand Mother for the un-initiated. This is the acronym devised by us . It is not as complicated as some which have been introduced to us by the kids . eg   OMG : Oh My God , BTW : By the Way , LOL : this was introduced today by AJ . Lots Of Laughs !
Any way all that was BTW .

Every technical innovation has always had their flip side as well . Internet has been the greatest so far as the communication revolution is concerned . All the knowledge is now literally at the finger tips of people . All they have to do is "google" it or "bing" it :-) . The flip side being easy access to pornogrophy , milacious mails hacking , on line frauds etc etc .

In our opinion one of the best boon of this revolution is internet based telephone and video calls.With nuclear families being able to talk to children , grand children all the way across the world and if it is a video call to be able to see them at that same time gives so much pleasure to the GPs that one has to feel it , go through the experience to to believe it :-) .
If one has a grand child in Singapore and another in Delhi to be able to talk to them and see them at the same time would have been unthinkable just a few years back !!!

Today being Saturday ANJ in Singapore and and AJT in Delhi were free . So today we talked to K in Singapore and L in Delhi and also saw them simultaneously. K of course just waved and generally smiled but L was really very talkative . She walked the ramp for us in showing us her new frock , put on a tiara and even sang couple of songs for us . I took skype snaps of the occasion . I am putting up couple of them here . A truly wonderful and happy happy experience , and this brings me to the title of this post :
A G M's DAY IS MADE :-)

L in Delhi

( the photos have been edited "out" for obvious reasons )



K in Singapore .


Indore trip. 29 April - 03 may 2009.

After almost one year I accompanied Priti to Indore . I have been associated with Indore for as long as I can remember as I grew up in small towns within a radius of about 60KMs from Indore and we had to visit it often to proceed to other places as Indore was a rail head and gate-way to places beyond so far as we were concerned or to visit relatives residing in Indore. Later, spent three years there when I did my Diploma in Electrical Engineering from 1960 to 1963 in GSTI . Later still , Got married to a Indore girl . That and marrying this particular girl was and still remains , the best and wisest thing I ever did in my life .
Any way this is the first time I took photographs of some of the important and must see monuments of Indore and including them in the blog .

As is natural I started with Rajwada . Some info on Rajwada is available here  and here



Rajawada.

Gurudwara on Yashwant Road , going towards Harsidhi Temple


      Harsidhi Temple,
Pandhrinath Temple.
Krishapura Chatri.





Krishapura Chatri.
                                                    
                                                                        
                                                              



Bolia Chatri,near Shri Krishna Talkies.
                                                          





            






                                                      


                                      

Romance of Train journey.


NOT COMPLETE.
STILL TO BE EDITED .




My father was teacher in Government High School at Neemuch and later at Mandleshwar. Some of my earliest memories are of those places . Neemuch is a Cantonment town located near the border of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and has meter gauge railway . Besides being cantonment, it's other claim to fame was presence of a Government Opium factory under Government control and licence due to its location in poppy growing area . Mandleshwar is on the banks of Narmada River . Generally no one knows where it is . For them it must be told that it is 5 KMs from Maheshwar , the place made famous by Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar , queen of Indore state .It had no railway.
My ajol ( Grand parents place , in this case from mother's side ) was in Sangli .When we were young , Our mother used to visit Sangli once a year during summer holidays .The journey was a major event and preparations started months in advance they consisted mainly writing letters to all the relatives en-route. Informing every one of our journey dates. Adn preparing dry eatables which wont spoil in 4 - 5 days . Even the parathas were made of atta kneaded in milk instead of water for its quality of not going bad for 4-5 days .Beddings were made of mattresses rolled in durries and tied secularly with ropes . Later they were replaced by "holdalls".For me the journey to Sangli was the most wonderful thing ever to happen .
For Sangli we had first to go to Bombay , then to Poona then to Miraj and then Change over to narrow gauge rail for sangli . From Neemuch as well as from Mandleshwar first we had to reach either Khandwa or Ratlam, major rail junctions on the broad gauge main line to catch train for Bombay.






Banagalore - Nagpur Trip . 02 to 28 January 2000.


On retiring on 31 Dec 1999 , for the second time after completion of reemployment from Bangalore ,we returned in Maruti 800 , via West Coast , Sangli, Kohlapur . Mahad , Mumbai ,Pune etc . The blog is about the road trip .

View Bangaliore Trip . in a larger map

23 December 2010

Contribution for - @off base humor in uniform.

DECIDED TO SEND A PIECE TO RD , Here are samples of various efforts & the final hopefully . 


After the 1962 Chinese aggression there was large scale induction to fill the vacancies in all the three arms of the Defence Services . Indian Air Force had also inducted large number of eligible bright young men for Pilot's training . These were called direct entry flight cadets . For the first time The IAF had people from very heterogeneous social back ground . Very strict and rigid standards during every stage of flying training ensured that only the ablest cadets progressed to further stage of flying training . After passing out from Air Force Flying College Jodhpur those of us considered good enough were posted for fighter flying training to Hakimpet for training on Vampire Aircraft.We were issued Pilots Notes for the aircraft and we had to really know the whole thing by heart as one never knew which part of the training notes would come in handy to save your life in an emergency.A written test on Pilots notes was conducted passing in which was mandatory before one could commence flying..As the number of pupils was large each instructor had about 6 to 7 cadets .


1 sep65 to 20sep.

After a brief interruption due to Indo Pak War our Pilots Course completed its flying Training at Air Force Flying College, Jodhpur..We eagerly awaited our further postings as it was after this stage that we cadets, based on performance, were allotted different aircraft streams .Fighter stream cadets were posted to Hakimpet , transport stream to Yelahanka and Helicopter stream to Begumpet .

After completing our flying training at Air Force College , Jodhpur , based on the performance, we cadets were allotted different aircraft streams .Fighter stream cadets were posted to Hakimpet , transport stream to Yelahanka and Helicopter stream to Begumpet . I was one of the 50 - 60 odd cadets posted to Hakimpet to undergo further "Advanced Flying Training" on Vampire Trainer aircraft which was fitted with an ejection seat . Prior to commencement of flying training we were issued flying clothing , Aircraft Manual and the Pilots Notes .Next 15 - 20 days were grueling hard work, as along with all the tough physical routine , we had to know the aircraft inside out and during the blindfold check , unerringly put our fingers on the switches/ controls named by the Instructor Examiner.We also had to learn the Pilots Notes , checks and procedures  and Vital Actions by heart .Finally the day dawned when we were to commence flying . Our Instructor briefed seven of us pupils on the sortie , which was an air experience and local flying area familarisation sortie.As was normal he also covered mso ajor aircraft emergencies and emergency actions to be taken . Finally he said in case the emergency is so critical that we have to abandon the aircraft , I will call out "EJECT", don't ask "what Sir" because I would have ejected and abandoned the aircraft .It was here that one of my co-upil blurted out "What Sir"  . Needless to say after a moments silence all of us burst out laughing . That cadet for many years to come was nick named "What Sir " 

The FINAL VERSION sent on 23 Dec 2010:-


After completing our flying training at Air Force College , Jodhpur , I along with 50 - 60 odd cadets was posted to Hakimpet to undergo further "Advanced Flying Training" on Vampire Trainer aircraft which was fitted with an ejection seat .After reporting next 15 - 20 days were grueling hard work, as along with all the tough physical routine , we had to know the aircraft inside out and during the blindfold check , unerringly put our fingers on the switches/ controls named by the Instructor Examiner.We also had to learn the Pilots Notes , checks and procedures  and Vital Actions by heart .Finally the day dawned when we were to commence flying . Our Instructor briefed seven of us pupils on the sortie , which was an air experience and local flying area familarisation sortie.As was normal he also covered major aircraft emergencies and emergency actions to be taken . Finally he said in case the emergency was so critical that we had to abandon the aircraft , he would call out "EJECT" and then, don't ask "what Sir" because he would have ejected and abandoned the aircraft .It was here that one of my co-upil blurted out "What Sir"  . Needless to say after a moment's silence all of us burst out laughing . That cadet for many years to come was nick named "What Sir " 

21 December 2010

5 Base Repair Depot - Under Editing during coming days

PRELUDE.

(I had written this piece on and around, 10 March 2008.  It was getting too lengthy and seemed not to end at all . I put it in the drafts and just forgot about it as I did not want to put any thing on the blog till such time I was satisfied about the written text and more importantly the contents . Yesterday I was advised by one person whose thinking I respect , to write and put up on the blog irrespective whether it was finished product or not.. Refining can take place as an on going process and editing can stop once I was satisfied . There was no reason not to write something more oftener , if not every day and put up on the blog. Also to break  up my writing  in small self contained subject matter , as a chapter in a book .The person giving this advice was my son . I have whole heartedly taken his advice and here are the results.)

PREFACE 

To start with ,  I do not know if what I want to write or contribute for Gnat 50 Years Web Site violets the official secrets act or not . How ever I understand that there is a statue of limitations where by after a laid down period, even secret documents are de-classified . What I am going to write is for the period 1974 - 1975 so as about 36 - 37 years having elapsed , I feel it is safe to assume that all the limitations would be over . Any way Gnat having been phased-out a long time back , in 1977 to be precise , it should not matter so far as National Security is concerned nor to any one else other then then those "Gnat Fans" who were .
passionately in love with the aircraft or are Interested in 5 BRD.

EARLY GNAT DAYS.


On completing 50 hours on Hunter aircraft in No 7 Squadron my name was forwarded to Air Hq for posting on to Gnat ac .As it was considered waste of precious flying hours on some one who was likely to be posted out of Hunter stream our flying in 7 Sqn came to a grinding halt and I along with some others sat on the ground twiddling thumbs and waiting for the bar to open in the evenings !!The wait for posting , without any flying was really a nerve wrecking experience .
Finally with effect from 16 July1969 I was posted to 22 Squadronon , to fly Gnat Mk I aircraft .The squadron was located at Kalikunda and later in 1973 moved to Hasimara . As was the prevailing custom in those days , with poor Hunter trainer and Gnat serviceability , if one wanted to accumulate flying hours one did not go on service leave , one lagao patti or cut some one Else's patti for a sortie on the Gnat.  One also generally volunteered for the air tests and particularly those to be done on a  Saturday or Sunday when those not too interested in flying would not venture out. 50 odd minutes of flying in weekend air tests thus logged , would all finally add up to make one experienced on the Gnat and add to flying hours. So after trying all sorts of stratagems I had managed to accumulate about 700 odd hours on the Gnat by the time I had completed 5 long years in the squadron . 140 flying hours per years seems chicken feed , but believe you me and ask any one in the Gnat squadron during late sixties and early seventies how difficult it was to average this amount of flying . Those were the days we could not even log minimum requirement of six hours of flying  required to claim flying bounty per month  and had to do these flying hours by going to one of the transport squadrons to do 72 hours of supernumerary flying meaning we sat in the cargo hold and were put down as third and forth pilot in the author book , but could log as second pilot. In fact all things considered this was a healthy flying average .

5 years was a long long time to be posted to one unit and finally my posting also came . I was posted to No 5 BRD Sulur . At this point in time I do not remember the posting signal details but there was general ignorance amongst the flyers about a BRD posting except that this unit was overhauling Gnats , I my self having ferried about five to six aircraft immediately after 1971 war knew the place but had never imagined that one day I would be posted there nor the fact that spread over two tenuers We would spend 6 to 7 years at Sulur ! One knowledgeable person opined that as I was posted to fill a flying vacancy , and considering my experience on Gnat , may be I was being posted to do air tests of overhauled Gnats . To avoid being shunted out of the main stream and flying squadrons , I was even advised to put in a personal application for cancellation of this posting . However I was very clear in mind that I was never going to ask for cancellation nor request for choice postings in my service career ! And so we proceeded to Sulur . I was then a senior Flight Lieutenant with 8 years of service and married for just about 10 months .
Arrival was uneventful and we were acommodated in one of the six rooms built inside a hanger . For the next couple of months or so that one room was our Drawing room , bed room , sitting room , kitchen , store and sit out . Bath rooms and toilets were detached and at the rear of the hanger ! Then we were allotted a temporary mqrried accomodation which was juat abvout 100 yards from the Flying Control and about 150 yards from the runway . This may have been the only plce in the whole of the Air Force where married accomodation was almost by the side of the run way and Priti used to lay out the dining table after watching me land after the sortie !.

Having dealt with prelimeneries and the introduction let me get on to the "work" portion of my life at Sulur . The main task of the unit at that time was major overhaul of Gnat aircraft and storege of any and every type of aircraft which was on the IAFinventory but not required in the squadron . So we had couple of Canberras , some HT 2s, couple of chetak and cheetas , The manning therefore was to suit these tasks . So we had about 48 % of officers of Technical branch , 48 % logistics branch and remaining of Acccounts and Admin branches . I was the only pilot on the posted strength of the unit . Before the posting I had not realised that I would be in a unique position , not because I was the only pilot , but also because of the fact that I would actually be filling in the Posts of Chief Test Pilot , Test Pilot , Chief Operations Officer , Station Flight Safety Officer and finally Adjutant to the COO . These posts being included in the Establishment page of the Unit !! Also because of the task , the only sorties which could be authorised in the "autho book" were "Air Tests" . No general handling , no navs , no low flying . no formation or any other type of flying just Air Tests & Air Tests !!

Runway at Sulur was 1700 yds . Standard length of runways at almost all the flying stations was 3000 yds , so for the pilots used to land at 3000 yds runway landing on 1700 yds runway was considered tricky . Even though I had landed earlier at Sulur without much problem , In the early days while operating on 1700 yds runway , on approach , breathing rate did go up a bit . However with passage of time things became ok and 1700 yds did not pose any problem . The secret was to make correct approach , at correct speeds and touch down as close to the begining of the runway as possible , preferably within first 20 to 25 yds ! Over a period of time I found that "Kisser"Landings and touch downs were achieved at speeds of 122 to 124 Kts . Below 120 Kts "kissers " were not possible as the ac fell out of hand ! After touch down at 122 to 124 Kts during the six month period when we had " Palghat Gap " surface winds , with tail parachute and moderate breaking , if one wanted to , the aircraft could be brought to halt in about 1050 to 1100 yds . And so 1700 yds appeared more than adequate for landings even without tail-chute !
From April on wards , for the first 2 -3 months ie up to June or so the unit had a deserted sort of look with most of the airmen and officers on leave . There was not much flying for most part of the year . Almost all of the flying was carried out from September / October onwards till 31 march , most of it within the last 3 months of the finincial year . Those were also the months when personnel , men & officers , picked up the tempo of the work in the the overhaul hanger . Initially afternoon shifts were started . The working hours were then extended to sunday & hoilday as well . It peaked in the month of March when the work was done in three shifts and the aircraft was worked upon 24 hours a day ! All this was to meet the "task " of producing a given number of aircraft which was given by Air Hq / Hq Maintenance Command for the finincial year . To complete the overhaul of one aircraft was to " produce " one aircraft . However the rider was that the aircraft was not considered "produced " unless it was "airtested " . However in case of some aircraft the snags were so many or so perststant that it took days and days to clear them for aircraft to be " Serviceable " , This meant that for most of the aircraft overhauled in March there wont be time for rectification and do the number of sorties required to "clear" the aircraft . This also meant that with a large number of aircraft , at times almost 75% of the given task , being overhauled in March would not be counted towards the " task completion " as they would not be declared " S " after the air tests .. So a case was taken up with Air Hq / Hq Maintenance Command. It was argued that unless the overhaul of the aircraft was completed in all respects and air craft had become airworthy and certified fit by all the tradesmen as serviceable it can not be offerred for airtest , therefore once the aircraft was accepted for flight by the Test Pilot and had got airborne for the sortie it should be considered as having been produceed and snags during the air test should be considered as routine rectificatin work on a "produceed "aircraft ! Much to the relief and joy of every one at BRD including self , this was agreed to by the authorities .

20 December 2010

Andaman Nicobar Trip .15 November 2007 to 25 November 2007.

We had gone to visit Ajeet  at Delhi during December 2006 . Spent Christmas there,
We had wanted to see Andaman Islands since long . Ajeet did the necessary bookings by Indigo from Delhi to Chennai to Port Blair & back to Chennai.We had also heard about a "golden Temple "in the south we were told it was close to Vellore .So our return to Nagpur was via Port Blair - Chennai -  Vellore - Golden Temple at Sripuram - -Katpadi Junction - Chennai Central Station and on to Nagpur --Sweet Home.:-)
For better viewing all Andaman Nicobar , Havelock Island , Sripuram portion of the maps MUST be viewed in Setallite mode and at as much "Zoom - in" as possible.