Head in the skies

Rajeev Pratap Rudy, Rajya Sabha MP and BJP national spokesperson is aware that politics does not have space for anything else. Which is why he is extremely guarded about his passion for flying — lest it scuttle his political prospects.
But the glint of pride is evident when he reveals his commercial pilot license number, 5682, issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation two years ago.
“I know it is bizarre that I should try to become a commercial pilot at this age,” laughs the 47-year-old former union civil aviation minister. “But this is what I have always wanted to do.”
So far, Rudy has flown 10 sectors with the Indigo Airlines. He has to do 30 sectors more to complete his training. And he is willing to go the extra mile to join the league of netas comfortable in the cockpit — Rajiv Gandhi, Rajesh Pilot, Madhavrao Scindia and Capt Satish Sharma. “I go through the entire routine of the induction programme when I report for duty. My medicals are done, I go through the breath analyser test and carry my own bag,” he says.
Rudy’s next step in flying is to graduate to a co-pilot. His goal however is one day to able to command a flight — preferably an Airbus 320 which has a seating capacity of 160/180 passengers.
Rudy has undergone the entire grind that it takes to learn to fly. He joined private airline Indigo — as its First Officer Under Training — to train on its Airbus 320. This was a follow-up to the month-long training in the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved SimCenter, Miami, Florida. Of course, he had his bosses’ permission when he went there last November.
“The Miami training was part of the procedure to get type rating once you get commercial pilot’s license. It is only after you get type rated that you can work with an airline. I decided I must get rated for A-320 by the FAA,” he explains.
Only commercial pilots are entertained for the accelerated courses and Rudy qualified since he had acquired a commercial pilot’s license. Interestingly, the US recession worked for him. “What would have otherwise cost Rs 30 lakh cost only Rs 12 lakhs” he chuckles.
13/02/10 Lakshmi Iyer/Bangalore Mirror