Aviation India: Careers

Pune: While many memorials built for soldiers lie ignored and forgotten, Kavita and her husband Capt Anil Gadgil, the parents of the martyred MiG 21 fighter pilot Abhijit Gadgil decided to honour many like him and announced the Jeet Aerospace Institute near Donje village last year. The institute was meant to introduce budding flyers and aviation enthusiasts to the thrill of flying.
Now a year later, the couple has moved a step closer towards realising their dream, after developing the country’s first mobile flight training simulator, which will be used to train the students.
“While some consciously strive to fly and serve the nation, aviation for many others is fantasy. Even though everyone may not seek entry into an aviation school, they would want to learn about the intricacies of a cockpit. The simulator will offer them basic cockpit familiarisation and flight orientation, thus ensuring the same thrill experienced during a real aircraft operation,” said Kavita.
The flight simulator was developed in Bangalore by a team of experts from RealiSim Ltd and Tata Motors had donated a truck chassis for mobile platform fabricated by ARCO engineers of Pune.
“It is essentially an indigenous simulator with its own supply of water, fuel and electricity. Measuring 8 ft by 8 ft in width and height, it is 20 ft long and consumes 10 KVA electricity,” said Capt Gadgil. The simulator comprises a two-pilot cockpit with a curved screen to facilitate visuals and a full flat panel CRT displays as found in a modern jet liner.
“This simulator is generic, which means that it has not been modelled on any one particular aircraft and the cockpit has been modelled on the cockpits that the modern aircraft possess,” said Capt Gadgil. “Knobs and dials are passé!” he said.
The Gadgils reiterated the simulator is also open for those pilots who are already undergoing formal training.
Touted to be just the first phase of the institute, the simulator will be formally inaugurated by the Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel on November 2.
Essentially a ‘prototype,’ the institute will offer low-cost and low-risk flying experience, with the minimal training to all, irrespective of age and gender. Besides the simulator, the institute will have an aero-modelling workshop, interactive airport model, a reference library and guidance and counseling center. The sessions will be spread over a few months and will be taken on weekends.
26/10/07 Pune Newsline