It was in October 1929 that Mr.G. Vlasto, a pilot himself, desirous of developing air –mindedness in this part of the country issued a circular calling for a meeting for the purpose of establishing a Flying Club in Madras. The meeting took place on the 19th November 1929 at the Madras Guards Institute on the poonamalle High Road, Mr Chitty presided, W/Cdr. A. Cooper, the secretary of the Aero club of India , addressed the large gathering present on the formation of a new flying club at Madras. He emphasized that the Director of Civil Aviation had decided to grant financial and other help by april 1930 if a club were to be formed here.
As a result of enthusiastic support evinced at the meeting, Mr Vlasto proceeded with the formation of the Madras Flying club and applied to the government of INDIA for the grant of a subsidy. On the 4th March 1930, the club was incorporated . The Govt of INDIA was pleased to grant the subsidy in April 1930, and we went ahead with the program for the commencement of operation as soon as the Pilot Instructor arrived in INDIA.
The first Instructional flight took place on July 21st 1930 , with F/Lt H.N Hawker as the first pilot Instructor, Mr M.W.Hulcoop was the first engineer .The formal inauguration of the club, however ,took place only on the 20th August 1930,by the first patron , Sir George Fredrick Stanley , the then Governor of Madras. Lady Beatrix Stanley christened the first two aircraft VCT –ABH and VT- ABI as “Garuda” and “pushpak” and the governor was the patron of the club.
Some of the events in the early years are worthy of mention-the part we played in the assisting TATA sons Ltd, in connection with the Airmail scheme, our worj being confined not merely to the maintenance of the aircraft, but also included carriage of mails in our planes when the circumstances made it necessary ;the starting off from madras of the Thiru .Viceroy’s cup Air race on the 14th of February 1936; the non stop flight from Colombo to madras of our Puss Moth aircraft piloted by our instructor ,F/Lt Everret ; the all India tour in club aircraft by our pilot, Capt .V. Sundaram in 1935 and shri Bhuyyan in 1937.
The after math of the War ,Particularly , after Independence , saw the setting up of several airline companies and a great demand for pilots. In the absence of the central Training centre , the flying club were the only place where facilities for flying training were available and the year 48-49 to 55-56 saw nearly 90 Pilots obtain their Commercial Pilot License from Madras flying Club. With the production of pilots outstripped the demands, unemployment arose. In the mean while the Director General Of Civil Aviation also increased the rated of flying fees from Rs 10/- to Rs 25/- per hour and also limited the maximum number of hours a trainee can fly at the subsidized rates.
The Silver jubilee of the club was celebrated in October 1955 under the distinguished Presidentship of the first Prime Minister of Free India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Soon After the Chinese Aggression on our country in 1962, five Flying clubs in the country were selected to give initial training to Air Force Cadets and the Madras Flying Flying Club was one of the Clubs so chosen. The training program was conducted from 1963 to 1966. Again during the war with Pakistan in 1971, two of the aircrafts were deployed to carry out aerial reconnaissance off the Madras and Vishakapatnam Coasts.
In 1962, the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, started the manufacture of the first indigenous trainer aircraft “pushpak” and several of these aircrafts were purchased by DGCA and allotted among the various Clubs. The Advent of the pushpak and increase in the operational cost made the good old Tiger moth aircraft costly to operate and the club exported them to Canada. The export of Tiger Moths to Canada is a story by itself. An Australian Aviator-cum-journalist who visited the flying club in 1971 wrote an article in the ‘Canadian Aviation ‘ that the Madras Flying Club has a few Tiger Moth aircrafts available for sale. This article caught the eye of the Canadian Thomas Dow. The sequel was an air dash to Madras, as agreement with the club for the purchase of not only all the 3 Tiger Moths in the fleet and the spares, but also for a new aircraft to be built with the available material. The deal was put through in record time and aircrafts were shipped from Madras early in January 1972.
Joy Rides were regular features of our activities until some years ago. Besides Madras, Joy rides were held in various places in the mofussil also . However the non-availability of the required grade of fuel, high cost of fuel and other operating costs made joy rides uneconomical and the aircraft used by us for this purpose was disposed of.
Besides the normal activities of the club, we has also been taking interest in several other allied activities-provision of facilities to the aircrafts engaged in artificial rainmaking, overhaul of Gawron aircraft belonging to a society and used for aerial spraying operations, provision of facilities for helicopters, sending our aircraft for display at exhibition during the world time conference in Madras in 1968 and during the science Exhibition organized by BHEL in 1979 at Trichy.
Civil Aviation being a central subject, the clubs including the Madras Flying Club are subsidized by the Government of India through the DGCA. In view, however, of the paramount need for Tamil Nadu state to keep pace with the rest of India in this vital sphere, the state government have been assisting the club in various ways since 1949-Grant annual fixed subsidy, grant of scholarship for PPL training from 1955 and CPL training from 1971 until 2001 when it was withdrawn. We do hope that the State Government would consider its reimplementation.
Thanks to the institution of scholarship for PPL and CPL training by the state government. Tamil nadu was reasonably represented on the Civil Aviation map of India. It is a matter of satisfaction to us that commercial pilots trained by us during the last 80 years have been able to secure employment in the Airlines Corporation around the world, Non scheduled operating companies, Civil Aviation Department, IAAI.etc.
In addition to flying training, the club also provided instruction in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering training Engineers trained by us are gainfully employed in the Aviation industry. AME training was discontinued a few years ago due to the implementation of new CAR series regulation which involved huge infrastructure including aircrafts fully serviceable but unfit for flying as its was economically not viable for the club and hence was forced to discontinue AME training. The club has a fully equipped workshop and the overhauls airframes and engines are carried out here itself. Besides the club aircrafts, we have also undertaken the overhaul of aircrafts belonging to private parties.
The Golden jubilee of the Flying club was celebrated in 1980-1981 and a souvenir was brought out for the occasion.
The platinum Jubilee was celebrated was celebrated in the year 2006 at Raj Bhavan. His Excellency the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Shi Surjit Barnala, issued 1st Day Postal Cover in the presence of the then Hon’ble Union Minister of Communication and IT, Thiru Dayanidhi Maran and the Post Master General.
It is our sincere hope that in the years to come, the club will not only continue to do the useful work of training pilots but also expand in other directions. With adequate support and encouragement, there is no reason why club cannot look forward to great days. From the initial days of flying, the Puss Moth, Tiger Moths and Chip monks and then on to Pushpaks, aircrafts have become more modern with our recent requisition of the latest Glass cockpit Cessna 172R, we have a total fleet strength of 6 aircrafts which includes, 3 Cessna152A , 2 Hansa 3 and 1 Cessna 172R. In recent times, we have also acquired an Iskara Jet Engine from Indian Airforce for the Display and educational purpose.
We are also proud to be recognized as one of the few institutes in the state of Tamil Nadu, to have the status of Top Class Education institute accorded by the central Government .As such, the Ministry of social justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has awarded a scholarship for 5 students in each category every year to the students of the club.
The State Government has also initiated the scholarship scheme for 10 students belonging to SC, ST and converted Christian categories. The 1st batch of such trainees have been selected.
A full fledge Aviation Library is constantly being updated and we also wish to thank many of our life members for their generous contribution.
The two air conditioned class rooms and conference hall with adequate Audio and Visual Equipment is being extensively used by the students.
In the recent years, we have being striving to achieve a perfect training system for the pilots. It starts with a written exam followed by interview and after selection, a thorough training is given on ground subjects by qualified and DGCA approved instructors. Once they clear the ground class and on acquiring their student pilot License, they are taken up for flying training on merit basis. We hope to achieve very high standards in the near future.
With the increase in scheduled aircraft movement in the meenambakkam aerodrome, our operations have been subject to restrictions. Thus to have uninterrupted flying training, we have been permitted by the DGCA and Airport Authority Of INDIA to Carry out operations at the Vellore aerodrome.
Our record during the last 80 Years have been made possible by the continued support of Government, both at the central and at the state level and with the complete co-operation of all concerned Management, Staff and students both flying and engineering, the club can look forward with confidence to a yet more glorious future.
