Veteran Flying Instructor turns nostalgic

Thiruvananthapuram: The man who has been instrumental in realising the flying dreams of thousands of youngsters in the last five decades, captain TKR Nair, was a little bit disappointed when the pilot training at the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology was inaugurated on Thursday.
Even though the re-launch of the academy was one of the happiest moments in the life of the 74-year-old flying instructor, the disappointment was owing to his inability to fly the plane once again at the academy. Flying licence cannot be issued for those who have completed 62 years.
Nair, hailing from Chettikulangara, is the technical committee member of the Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology. He is the first pilot trainee from Kerala who secured the Kerala Government’s first Free Flying Scholarship on 1956. And the veteran was felicitated at the inauguration of the pilot training on Thursday.
After completing his training from Madras Flying Club, Nair had worked as charter pilot in the club itself.
“I joined as the Chief Flying Instructor at the Kerala Aviation Training Centre in 1969. After that, I went to Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), at Rae Bareli, following a personal intimation from the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi,” said Nair, who is also a freelance aviation consultant for various companies in the country.
When asked about the prospects of the relaunched aviation academy at Thiruvananthapuram, Nair said that good ground inspectors, class rooms, hanger units, fuel storage depots and a good library are essential for making the academy a national institute.
The newly- launched academy is presently working in a rented building near Enchakkal.
“Indian government is not fully satisfied with the pilot training conducted in foreign nations. Airline companies too are dissatisfied with the poor performance of the new-comers who have completed, as they claim, their pilot training course abroad,” Nair said.
13/06/08 Athul Lal A.G/Newindpress