Punjab to get trainer aircraft

Chandigarh: Aeroclub of India, a Union government undertaking, will give two ultramodern trainer aircraft to Punjab.
Sources says the Patiala Flying Club will get the planes, each costing Rs 1.5 crore, within a week. Each four-seater plane is a Cessna 172, the single-engine aircraft with latest technology of a jet.
At present, only Hyderabad club has trainer planes, 11 of which were purchased from the USA and are parked in Mumbai.
“The state civil aviation officials had recently visited Mumbai to finalise the paper work to get the planes,” an official says. A two-member pilot team will come from the US to train about 20 senior pilots from various flying clubs from April 25 to 30. A team of the DGCA will also come from Delhi to supervise the training.

At present, the Punjab government has seven trainer planes, three Cessna 152 and four 1960 model Pushpaks, which have become obsolete. Last time Punjab got three trainer aircraft was in 1986— one for Ludhiana and two for Patiala. Since then, pilots are being trained on these planes, which are now old.
Sources say every year, about 20 to 25 pilots were trained here, and now with new planes, the number will rise to 40.
Now, the state government has also pitched in and sanctioned Rs 2 crore for night landing and navigation facility at the Patiala flying club and as much amount for buying another plane, say sources. They say the state government also needs a multi-engine aircraft. As per the new guidelines of DGCA, to be a pilot, one must be given 25-hour training on a multi-engine plane.
16/04/08 Harpreet Bajwa/Chandigarh Newsline