DGCA go-ahead to Nagpur flying club

Nagpur: In what could be termed as a shot in the arm for British-era Nagpur Flying Club (NFC), the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi, finally gave its green signal for reopening of the club on Tuesday that was lying defunct for well over 14 years.
According to a senior NFC official from Mumbai, the DGCA granted the permission to the club as a ‘flying institute’ which would enable NFC officials to induct trainees for Private Pilot Licence (PPL) and train them on its three aircraft.

“The entire process including admissions, screening and induction would take three to four weeks after which we can formally inaugurate the club. But, the club would start operations from Wednesday without formal inauguration,” the official said.
The decision has come as a major success to advocate Shriniwas Deshpande and club members campaigning for the NFC’s reopening for over 15 years. The British-period NFC secured a ‘Certificate of air-worthiness’ from DGCA for its Cessna-152 VT-ENC aircraft on Nov 14 last year.
09/04/08 Vaibhav Ganjapure/Times of India