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Tag Archives: CFI

CFI Feature: Group Captain (retd) Ashwani Bhakoo (NFTI / CAE-Gondia)

10 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by theflyingengineer in General Aviation Interest

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Ashwani, Bhakoo, CAE, CFI, Flying, Gondia, Instructor, NFTI, Training

CFI Ashwani-GondiaThis is the last of the “CFI Feature”, which features the Chief Flying Instructors of four flight schools in India: IGRUA (click), NFTI, Chimes Aviation Academy (click), and GMR-APFT (click) (in no particular order). The first two institutes are managed by CAE, to a larger extent at NFTI due to CAE’s 49% ownership. The last two are academies that are more flexible, offering an exclusive PPL as well. All schools, save Chimes, have some foreign component in them, and all are dominantly Diamond Aircraft (DA-40 and DA-42) operators, except Chimes which operates Cessna 172s and a Piper Seneca IV. GMR-APFT has diesel engine Diamond DA-40s, and IGRUA will soon be a full-fledged, first of its kind aviation university. NFTI is known for its IndiGo Cadet Pilot Program.

This week, we focus on NFTI’s CFI, who retired from the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a Group Captain. He served the Air Force for 28 years, and opted to retire prematurely from the service, in 2007.

His first exposure to aviation was while in school in Chandigarh where his family had a business interest at Chandigarh Air Force base. Many of his father’s friends were Antonov AN-12 pilots, flying the then workhorse of the Indian Air Force’s transport fleet. Some motivated him to join the Indian Air Force.

Group Captain (retd) Ashwani Bhakoo was an instructor, first a Pilot Attack Instructor on Jaguar aircraft from TACDE (Tactics & Air Combat Development Establishment) which is supposedly akin to the Top Gun school. This was one of the first courses run in India in 1986 to develop and train Instructors who could then train the Jaguar Pilots for Combat and Weapon delivery. Later, in 1988, he proceeded for the Qualified Flying training course, after which he  trained pilots on Kiran Mk1& Mk2, HPT 32 and Jaguar aircraft. With more than 6000 flying hours to his credit on the Jaguars, Mig 21s, Kiran, Iskra, HT2, HPT 32, Falcon 900EX (Corporate Jet), Cessna 172 & 152 and the Zen Microlight, Ashwani Bhakoo recently joined NFTI as the Chief Flying Instructor.

1. What, according to you, are the traits that must be exhibited by a flight instructor?

Ashwani: An instructor must exhibit high skill levels, be knowledgeable, accept students with sincerity, be a mentor and a guide, be firm and fair, committed to the improvement and progress of his student, give credit where due and criticize constructively, be consistent in his teaching methods, be open to improving his own skill, knowledge and exposure to new information levels and admit to any errors. An instructor has to be a role model and therefore his demeanour, dress, speech and behaviour must be beyond reproach. He must have good communication skills and should evolve new approaches to teaching taking each student to be unique and therefore requiring an as required approach/technique. An instructor must be very patient and high on emotional intelligence with a willingness to work long hours. Being an instructor is more of a passion to teach and mould individuals who may be raw into glittering diamonds. In my opinion this is not just a job.

2. Are there “natural”, born instructors (those who have a natural flair for teaching), or is it something that can be picked up by anybody?

Ashwani: While there are individuals who have inherent qualities of a teacher but formal training is a must for becoming an instructor. The people to be chosen to enter this field must be committed and must not do so as a stop gap arrangement. This must be a career in itself and not a stepping stone to for flight hour building. Once the selection is made based on the requirements of the job the selected individual can be trained and moulded into becoming a good instructor.  The selection process is very important and only those with the required skill set must be in this field as they are the ones who mould a new and raw person to become a professional in a profession which demands excellence.

3. What is your take on General Aviation in India?

Ashwani: Having flown in the Corporate sector for more than 6 years, I feel there is a tremendous scope for this sector. Presently, there are very few corporates who have their own aircraft though the number is increasing daily and the business world is realising the potential of being rapidly mobile and fast travel. General aviation in India is at a very nascent stage and presently is limited due to the high taxes at airports, high fuel prices and maintenance costs. The limitation is also due the airfields available and to a certain extent due to the procedural issues in getting permissions. All this is changing and one would hope for this change to be faster.

4. Your opinion on fixed wing flying training in the country?

Ashwani: Flying training in India is in about 40 odd academies, a large number of them operation with just 2-3 aircraft. The infrastructure at these academies leaves much to be desired. As these are commercial ventures there is always a struggle between quality training and financial viability thereby at times leading to safety issues. The instructors at most of these academies are those pilots who are there as a stop gap arrangement and who have very little flying experience or very little exposure to flying other than at similar academies. There are very few instructors, if any, who have had exposure in airlines, corporate aviation or who have international experience. To many the concept of CRM as in a multi crew environment is very alien. It is only the larger academies who can afford to follow the flying training in the true spirit of the syllabus laid down. Flying training in India is at present still adhoc and only focussed on completing the licence requirements and very few, if any, academy address holistic training.

5. If there is something you’d like to change in Indian aviation, what would it be?

Ashwani: I would very much like to follow on Capt Gopinath’s  (Deccan Aviation) dream of making every Indian fly. He focussed on commercial flying but I would like to see many more Indians taking to the skies as pilots in their own aircraft landing in their own backyards. Indian aviation must become less expensive and the procedures need simplification to get sanctions.

Note: All views of the CFI are personal, and do not necessarily reflect those of the flight school / institute / academy.

CFI Feature: Wing Commander (retd) Srikrishna (GMR-APFT)

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by theflyingengineer in General Aviation Interest

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

CFI, Feature, Flight, GMR-APFT, Interview, School

SrikrishnaThe “CFI Feature” features the Chief Flying Instructors of four flight schools in India: IGRUA (click), NFTI, Chimes Aviation Academy (click), and GMR-APFT (in no particular order). The first two institutes are managed by CAE, to a larger extent at NFTI due to CAE’s 49% ownership. The last two are academies that are more flexible, offering an exclusive PPL as well. All schools, save Chimes, have some foreign component in them, and all are dominantly Diamond Aircraft (DA-40 and DA-42) operators, except Chimes which operates Cessna 172s and a Piper Seneca IV. GMR-APFT has diesel engine Diamond DA-40s, and IGRUA will soon be a full-fledged, first of its kind aviation university. NFTI is known for its IndiGo Cadet Pilot Program.

This week, we focus on GMR-APFT’s CFI, who retired from the Indian Air Force (IAF) as a Wing Commander. He served the Air Force for over 24 years.

Wing Commander (retd) Srikrishna’s father was at HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) and used to bring home magazines like `Flight’ , and `Interavia’. As a kid he was fascinated by these glossy magazines and pictures of aircraft they contained. Reaching 10+2, he joined the Air Wing of NCC. During is stint at NCC, he was lucky to get about 40 launches in a glider and powered flying on Pushpak/Aeronca. After senior secondary schooling, he joined the NDA and followed the route into the Indian Air Force.

Srikrishna was a Qualified Flying Instructor while in the IAF and instructed on Kiran Jet trainers Mk I, Mk IA and Mk II. With more than 3900 instructional hours (6,000 total time) to his credit, Srikrishna is now the Chief Flying Instructor at GMR-APFT, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

GMR-APFT commenced operations as recently as June 2013.

1. What, according to you, are the traits that must be exhibited by a flight instructor?

Srikrishna: Amongst others, Patience, Punctuality, Professionalism, Integrity, & Empathy.

Additionally, a flying instructor needs to be mature and understanding. He must have a calm temperament and a lot of patience. His own flying skills must be of such high level that he can demonstrate manoeuvres to the required degree of accuracy.

2. Are there “natural”, born instructors (those who have a natural flair for teaching), or is it something that can be picked up by anybody?

Srikrishna: In my opinion neither are there born instructors nor is it something that can be picked up by anybody. At best some pilots may have a flair for teaching and could become good instructors, if put through the paces of training as flight instructors. However, it is also true that good pilots may not necessarily mean they can become good instructors unless they have the requisite aptitude.

A flying instructor’s job can be taught. A natural flair would be of great help and make the task of teaching more likable and pleasant.

3. What is your take on General Aviation in India?

Srikrishna: Aviation Industry has been known to exhibit a cyclic behaviour. The demand rises, levels out and then falls only to rise again. In my opinion General Aviation in India is poised for a take off. Amongst the middle class in India, there is a fair amount of spare cash, and air travel, despite its higher cost as compared to countries in SE Asia is affordable and finds an increasing demand. Many Corporates are acquiring business travel aircraft. People are also interested in learning flying for pleasure. The outlook from now on is definitely bright.

4. Your opinion on fixed wing flying training in the country?

Srikrishna: Fixed wing training in India requires considerable overhaul.  Many institutes undertaking training for CPL have only rudimentary infrastructure and marginal facilities.

5. If there is something you’d like to change in Indian aviation, what would it be?

Srikrishna: The training in India needs to be of world standards. DGCA must have more pilots in the Flying Training Directorate. In the Airworthiness Directorates there must be people who have actually worked on aircraft.

Note: All views of the CFI are personal, and do not necessarily reflect those of the flight school / institute / academy.

CFI Feature: Air Commodore (retd) TK Chatterjee (IGRUA)

18 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by theflyingengineer in General Aviation Interest

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

CFI, Chief, Flying, IGRUA, Instructor, Pilot, Training

CFI_IGRUA_ChatterjeeThe “CFI Feature” will feature the Chief Flying Instructors of four flight schools in India: IGRUA, NFTI, Chimes Aviation Academy, and GMR-APFT (in no particular order). The first two institutes are managed by CAE, to a larger extent at NFTI due to CAE’s 49% ownership. The last two are academies that are more flexible, offering an exclusive PPL as well. All schools, save Chimes, have some foreign component in them, and all are dominantly Diamond Aircraft (DA-40 and DA-42) operators, except Chimes which operates Cessna 172s and a Piper Seneca IV: the only flying Seneca in the country, as of today. GMR-APFT has diesel engine Diamond DA-40s, and IGRUA will soon be a full-fledged, first of its kind aviation university. NFTI is known for its IndiGo Cadet Pilot Program.

This week, we focus on IGRUA’s CFI, who retired from the Indian Air Force (IAF) as an Air Commodore. He served the Air Force for 34 years, leaving the service on the 31st of March, 2010.

He has the distinction of undergoing the Flying Instructors Course as well as the Experimental Test Pilots Course, after which he instructed at the IAF Test Pilots School on all types of fixed wing aircraft from trainers to fighters to medium tactical transport aircraft. With more than 5000 flying hours to his credit, TK Chatterjee is now the Chief Flying Instructor at IGRUA.

As the head of flying training at IGRUA, we get to better understand the CFI.

1. What, according to you, are the traits that must be exhibited by a flight instructor?

TK Chatterjee: All round knowledge about aviation, very good basic flying skills, command over language, eye for detail and the ability to analyse the student’s mistakes and suggest effective corrective measures.

2. Are there “natural”, born instructors (those who have a natural flair for teaching), or is it something that can be picked up by anybody?

TK Chatterjee: Being “natural” always helps. However, it is not difficult to learn to teach provided such learning is done in an organised manner from specialists.

In the IAF a pilot is nominated for the QFI course based on his flying abilities, when he has around 700-800 hours on fast jets. The course itself is tough and performance in the course has effects on the future career of the pilots. Further, performance as instructor is also assessed periodically and such assessments have implications on the officer’s career. So the whole game is lot more serious.

In civil aviation, a person with 300 hours on simplest of aeroplanes can qualify to become an Asst Flying Instructor.

3. What is your take on General Aviation in India?

TK Chatterjee: Industry prediction is that this sector is supposed to grow at 10% rate annually. Hence the potential is enormous provided the economy continues to grow. The scope is not just for aircrew but for all associated segments too like airport staff, maintenance staff, MRO services etc.

The metros are already well connected, so the more we connect the hinterland of the country with the mainstream; more will be the growth in GA. Hence satellite airports in metros and airports in second and third tier cities need to be developed first for this segment to grow.

Secondly, the regulatory framework is primarily aimed at scheduled operations which are not always applicable to GA. The two should be looked at differently.

Thirdly, regulatory apparatus has to evolve an effective monitoring methodology for about 150 and growing number of GA operators.

4. Your opinion on fixed wing flying training in the country?

TK Chatterjee: Fixed wing flying training is imparted by about 40 institutions in the country. Since aviation is cash intensive business, most of them have very limited assets. Hence, quite naturally, there is a clash between commercial interests and quality of training. Small enterprises are not very clear whether to treat trainees as “students” or “clients”. Failures are not heard of in this industry! Bigger enterprises are in a better position to deliver quality due to volume of business. A centralised testing authority for issue of license will also help in standardisation of training.

Most students (not all though) who take on civil aviation as a career, see it as a quick way to big money. Academics are not their forte and aviation not their first love. Hence when faced with subjects leaning heavily on technology, they falter. Also, since the best and the worst are rewarded with the same license at the end of training, there is no great incentive to do better. Once the civil aviation sector revives itself and demand for aircrew grows, there will be more competition and this aspect will improve.

Staffing is another issue. Like the problem with teaching profession in every field, the best opt for avenues with better remuneration, which definitely is not teaching. Some use this industry to build up experience and move on. Ex IAF pilots who retire early and take this line as second career are the best bet, but most leave IAF without civil license or civil flying instructor rating and hence are not eligible.

Airline industry is aware of loopholes in the system; hence their selection process for aircrew is designed to plug them.

5. If there is something you’d like to change in Indian aviation, what would it be?

TK Chatterjee: The regulatory body wants to control every small thing in the aviation industry, but they have neither the human resources nor the technology to work at a pace that the industry demands nor are they willing to delegate authority. Hence everything slows down. A serious re-look is required in the working methodology of the regulatory apparatus of Indian civil aviation.

Note: All views of the CFI are personal, and do not necessarily reflect those of the flight school / institute / academy.

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