Those must have been the days…

Water parting to floats in sheets of spray, the drone of engines overhead snatching in gulps of air, lifting off over a wrinkled sheet of blue.

Sounds romantic, doesn’t it?

And it’s not just romantic…it’s sensible.

I keep hearing how modern science, allied to capitalism, is efficient and pragmatic. I don’t think.

Just look at the kind of aircraft called the flying boat, for example.

The other day I was reading an article about how it’s so difficult to expand the area of the airport in Mumbai because of lack of land, and I was thinking…

If you look at it logically, why on earth would any city on the coast or built on a river of any size want to lock up large areas of land in airports that are good for nothing else except allowing large metal birds to get down, load up, and take off again? It would make infinitely more sense to use those stretches of easily available open water, wouldn’t it? Your plane could come down right in the middle of the city; no need for long trips to airports situated so far away you spend longer getting there sometimes than you do on the plane. You can build your hangers and facilities right out on the river, and use ordinary multi-purpose launches (with slight modifications) to embark and disembark luggage and passengers/crew. When the planes aren’t landing or taking off, you can use the river or sea for whatever else you want, or just let it be.

And – of course – today’s technology can easily make flying boats amphibious (the few flying today are virtually all amphibious anyway) so they wouldn’t even be necessarily dependent on water to land and take off.

So why is it that – apart from Russia and Japan – the world seems to have turned its back on this type of aircraft? Your guess is as good as mine. I can just think of three reasons:

First, fashion. Flying boats are nowhere near as sexy looking as Airbus A380 Superjumbos or Boeing 747s, even if – given unlimited space over water – they can be much larger if the designer so chooses.

Second, money. Capitalism being all about the profit motive, airports can make more money for more people than landing aeroplanes on nice free rivers and seas. This is also among the self-defeating features of capitalism, because the land freed from airports could be used for better purpose.

Third, speed. Those ungainly flying boats were “slow”. Er, I’d say this is the least convincing reason. Commercial aeroplanes have about reached their optimum speed; they aren’t getting any faster, and the Concorde’s gone out of service. I don’t think flying boats built with modern technology could be significantly slower.

So, again, thinking about science and capitalism and efficiency, I still wonder why they don’t build them no more.

There is a hoary old tradition in Indian government circles. Except in those cases where recruitment is on the basis of national level or state level competitive examinations, there is almost every time a little comedy played out. Advertisements are posted in the papers, applicants short-listed, called for interview, and all the time everyone in the swing knows who’s going to be selected ultimately. The entire interview process is, basically, eyewash. And the “victorious” candidate is never the best. Well, of course he isn’t. If he was, there would have been no need to rig the interview in the first place.

Nowadays that tradition is about to step out of government appointments and into the military sphere.

It’s been years since the Indian Air Force (IAF) – for whom I used to work till eleven months ago – expressed the need for a multi-purpose fighter (Multi Role Combat Aircraft, MRCA, as they call it). Whether they actually need such a fighter is a different issue; right now, though, they are basically dependent on variants of the 1960s vintage MiG 21, which is in the process of being upgraded so it can hang on for a few more years. The MiG 21 was supposed to be replaced a long time ago by the Indian indigenous fighter, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas. But the LCA is so far behind schedule that it’s yet to even begin production, and it’s so far from Indian that even its engine has to be imported. The Indian Kaveri engine that was supposed to power it shows no signs of ever being made. Most damning of all, the IAF itself has obviously lost all interest in the LCA; it had been arm-twisted by the government into placing a farcical order for twenty aircraft, none of which is anywhere near being made yet, but in the meantime needed a real replacement. Meanwhile its real strength has dropped to some 29 squadrons, allegedly insufficient for it to perform its duties. That is, if you agree that it needs any new planes at all – which is a point I shall get back to in a moment.

So the Indian government short-listed six aircraft manufacturers for the contract to supply 126 combat aircraft: Dassault Aviation of France for the Rafale, RAC MiG Corporation of Russia for the MiG 35, Eurofighter GmbH for the Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab of Sweden for the JAS39C Gripen, and …very significantly … Lockheed Martin and Boeing for the F 16 Block 60 and F/A 18 Hornet respectively (both US). The cost of this contract is – hold your breath – ten billion dollars.

I wonder how many schools and hospitals that could create, how much damage to the environment could be reversed?     

I might as well say right now that in my opinion at least three of these six – Dassault, Saab, and the Eurofighter consortium – have been included just to make up numbers. No one’s even talking seriously about any of them. So we come down basically to the MiG 35 and the two American aircraft. And things get interesting at this point.

Remember this – the buying of a fighter doesn’t mean just the buying of the aircraft itself. It means the need to set up an entire infrastructure and support system, for repair, servicing, even for refuelling and so on. In order to economise, you know, nations try and make their aircraft (and other equipment) as far as possible compatible with the same set of tools and equipment. Just as you’d probably prefer to buy a car your local garage could service rather than something exotic nobody in your town had ever seen before. Get my point?

OK. So, since virtually our entire air force inventory is of Russian and French origin, all systems are configured for servicing Russian and French aircraft. Now you’d think that common sense would dictate that you stick to those manufacturers whose equipment you’re already using, whose aircraft are equipping your squadrons, whose tools you’ve stockpiled, right?

Right. If you have sense, that is.

Unfortunately, that’s precisely the sort of thing you can’t depend on in India.

And that’s why the two American aircraft are included in the list. Hell – you’d even have to get a new set of spanners to service the damned things.

And now let me make my prediction: the Indian government has already decided to select the Lockheed Martin F 16. All the rigmarole over trials and selection procedures are a gigantic farce.

Would you like to know how I arrived at that conclusion?

First. Our air force doesn’t really need any more planes of this type. We already have two highly capable multi-role combat aircraft, Sukhoi’s Su 30 MKI and Dassault’s Mirage 2000. We don’t need any more planes of this type to replace retiring aircraft simply because there is never going to be a big war again where they can be used. Wars – even bush-league wars - are incredibly draining on resources, as the US is discovering in Afghanistan and Iraq. The capitalist class that rules India these days isn’t involved in defence production enough to make any serious money out of it. So that class has no interest in going to war. Even a direct attack on India, if it ever came, isn’t going to provoke an all out war. All there might be is a lot of posturing and sabre-rattling, but, depend on it, no fighting (for example, Operation Parakram of 2001-02).

If there is a war at all, it’ll be a minor affair of strictly limited geographical area, where the Sukhois and Mirages might not even have to be used. If they are used, they would be more than good enough to do the job required.

So, since there is no risk of ever going to war again, there is no risk in buying equipment that can’t be digested and absorbed easily, that will require a separate system for maintenance, that might turn out to be unusable junk in the long term. You get what I’m talking about. The capabilities of the aircraft selected don’t matter at all, since it is never, ever, going to be used anyway.

Second. If at all we need aircraft, what we need are dedicated counterinsurgency (COIN) planes – slow flying, heavily armed and armoured aircraft of an entirely different type from the MRCA our air force is determined to procure (examples are the A10 Warthog or the Sukhoi Su 25). However, COIN planes are relatively cheap and where there is less money being thrown around there’s less chance that some of it might find its way into someone’s pocket. So, although back in 1999 (during the Kargil "war" against Pakistani troops) everyone was groaning about the dearth of COIN planes in the IAF’s inventory, nobody has mentioned them again afterwards.

Third. This government is, as I said, ruled by the capitalist class. No Indian government these days is its own master, hasn’t been for a decade and a half. Earlier it used to be the Ambani family that used to run India – and these days it’s Ratan Tata. Tata is openly pro-American and a strong supporter of the Nuclear Deal. And the Americans know very well how much influence he wields. So, when there was an air show in India earlier this year, Aero India 2007, they made sure that he got joyrides in both planes – and came down babbling about how he enjoyed the rides.

Fourth. The higher reaches of the military are absolutely rotten through with corruption and are completely susceptible to government pressure (in any case it’s only politically “reliable” officers who get to the top positions). So whatever is right for the Air Force isn’t necessarily what it will say is right for it. There’s no point saying that “this is what the IAF says is right.” I recall watching (in 2004) an American air force delegation given a free hand to tour parts of the Indian Air Force regional command headquarters here. They were allowed to photograph whatever they wanted and go wherever they wanted – even to areas out of bounds to Indian airmen without special clearance.

Fifth. If our current government has a foreign policy at all, it can be summed up in one sentence: suck up to the Americans at all costs. This is more than obvious at every stage. The government no longer even makes any serious attempt to deny it. To make the Americans happy, of course, any and all means are OK. Not so Russia or France – they are only our friends, not the Masters of the Universe (and France under Sarkozy is showing signs of backsliding, too).

Sixth. The Indian middle class couldn’t care less about what happens to its tax money (insofar as it pays any) so long as it can buy its LCD televisions and snazzed up cars. The Indian Middle Class is a topic in itself. I could go on and on…

So, the imperatives of the situation are: no big war; a lot of money going around; capitalist backing; government support; and personal pro-Americanism.

There is no reason the American planes would even be on the short-list unless they were to be chosen, for the reasons I outlined above. So, the IAF is going to select either the F 16 or the F 18.

Now, I believe we can narrow it down further. It’s going to be the F 16.

Why?

Firstly, unlike the F 18, production of the F 16 is winding down (it is no longer in production for the USAF) and jobs might be lost without the Indian order. Just as India, to please Britain, bought Westland helicopters in the late seventies so that that company got a new lease of life. The Westlands were such junk they never even got into proper service and were all scrapped. But who cared so long as India made Maggie Thatcher happy. Making Bush happy is all this government cares about.

Then, Boeing can be “compensated” by major orders for commercial aircraft, so even if it doesn’t get the F 18 order, everyone stays happy.

Naturally, there is one more “advantage” to buying American aircraft. If the Americans – as they have many times before – impose sanctions to twist India’s arm, there will be an excellent argument in favour of giving in to American demands – “or else our equipment would be useless.”

India’s defence minister, AK Anthony (a very short man who had a police officer dismissed for referring to him as “shorty” during a conversation on police radio) said the deal will be completely transparent. Right. Everyone knows how transparent it will be, with the papers and the television channels paid to support one point of view and misinformation carefully fostered. Already the right wing media refers to the MiG 21 as “flying coffins” and deliberately confuses it with all MiGs. I can assure you that you’ll find a lot of anti-MiG articles in the newspapers in coming days.

You understand that sucking up to America is all these people care about. Even if American bombs were to be raining down on Delhi, they would still be trying to suck up to Washington.

This is why any and all invaders were able to rule this country as and when they wished.

 

 

 

 

  

        

What - if you work for an airline as a public relations officer - do you call two of your aircraft making emergency landings on the same day, in the same airport, for the same reason? Which is mechanical failure of the undercarriage? Even if no one is killed or hurt?

If it were I, I'd call it a disaster.

Wonder what Air India calls what happened yesterday in New Delhi, though. I'm sure they'll spin it as a disply of their superb disaster management skills.

Some time back I'd said that the policy of making pilots double up as aeronautical engineers was bound to come a cropper. I didn't think I'd be proved right so soon.

Incidentally, in view of the shortage of pilots, the Indian Air Force is going to depute pilots to fly passenger jets for Air India. I can just imagine them carrying out strafing runs in Airbus A320s.

Not that the Air Force is exactly suffering from a surplus of pilots, either.

Detailed video of one of the most elegant aeroplanes ever made. From the Russian website Smotr. The commentary is in Russian, but that ought not to detract from the enjoyment of aeroplane buffs.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – the Indian equivalent of the US’ Federal Aviation Authority – has finally done it. It’s given in to the pressure from private airlines to permit pilots themselves to carry out aeroplane checks on transit stops for commercial aircraft below 200 seats in capacity – which means virtually all the domestic sector medium and short haul airliners.

So far this had been the preserve of aeroplane maintenance engineers (AMEs), but the airlines would have to either carry AMEs on board or station them at the airports where the planes would stop over to carry out external checks and minor repairs. External checks are not a small or inconsequent affair, not to talk of repair jobs, and the pilots of the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Association are explicit in stating their own inability to do this.

Also, is there by any means a shortage of AMEs in the country? No. While there are just seven thousand qualified AMEs in India, as many as a thousand of them are currently unemployed. And even if there were none, it is always possible to import them from outside – the airlines can afford it, just as they can afford to import pilots.

Both the Indian AMEs and the Indian pilots are on the same wavelength on this matter.

That doesn’t cut too much ice with the private airlines – they can (since they are united on this) just threaten to dismiss the pilots and replace them with foreigners like those in the photo. Of course it does not make sense – to you and me – to add the burden of additional duties on pilots who cope with fog bound airports, inadequate training, and airspace congestion. Of course it does not make sense to risk accidents because badly trained, fatigued pilots make errors. But sense is at a premium where these people are concerned. Cost cutting, in order to enhance profits, rules the roost. If a crash happens – who’s to say it’s the airline which is to blame? It’s the pilot’s error, stupid! He should have seen that loose screw, that smear of oil! And it’s covered by insurance, anyway!

As for the consequent profits, will these be passed on to the [passengers by way of reduced fares?

Yeah, and pigs will most definitely fly.

It's always nice to have one's prejudices confirmed. This time it's the private airlines of India.

As just about everyone who has ever been to North India in winter knows, fog - often very heavy fog - is an inescapable part of the morning. It's been like that for centuries as far as I know. But do the people in power in North India know?

So, despite the fact that fog lies heavy on India's airports and curtails visiblity to near zero levels, the same people who drum beat India as a major investment destination and an emerging superpower don't seem to see the congestion of airport traffic as a problem. Planes might be delayed or diverted; so what?

Well, ultimately they did do something about it. They installed ILS (Instrumental landing Systems) in some airports (those airports which service international flights, mostly) - not, of course, the most efficient and latest systems, but one might say something is better than nothing. Only Delhi got something even approaching the state of the art - the Cat-IIIA system (the state of the art ILS is the Cat-IIIB system, which is still not operational).

Did this ease congestion?

No.

Well, if not, why not?

Well, for one thing, the private airlines that control most of India's air passenger traffic refused to send their pilots for training on ILS systems. In the first place, they argued, they could not spare pilots for the duration of training, because of the terrible shortage of pilots (I'll come to that in a moment). Also, because of the expense of training, it came cheaper to them to suffer loss of business from disgruntled customers than to train pilots who might leave for better career prospects elsewhere.

Such is the inherent efficiency, much cited, of capitalism.

OK, so why is there such an acute shortage of trained pilots? Because India has almost no facilities for pilot training (most of the institutes mentioned here are nonfunctional), and because the few facilities that do exist are so expensive (flying in India is probably the most expensive in the world, and a very large portion of the country's airspace is closed for "security reasons") it's actually cheaper for people to go abroad and train there, after which they are more likely than not to take up the first job offer they get in the country of training.

The Indian Air Force, which is making an attempt to recruit pilots by pitching a "learn to fly for free" line, is now plagued by trained pilots (especially from the multi-engine trained transport line) trying to quit and find infinitely higher paying jobs in the civilian sector. The IAF is congratulating itself on restricting the outflow of pilots by refusing to allow them to quit. Brilliant. What motivation will these pilots keep in the job they do? Where is the morale? And do they think the "learn to fly for free" line will still draw applicants? Are people living in an information vaccuum?

So, instead of taking the logical long term step of recruiting and training new pilots in return for them signing long term service bonds, what are the private airlines doing? They are bringing in foreign pilots on short term contracts, and in increasing numbers they form all the cockpit crew. Many of these pilots are South Americans or Central Asians whose English, if it exists at all, is so shaky air traffic controllers can barely communicate with them, and disaster is just waiting to happen. One recently all but landed a plane on a highway running parallel to the runway, for instance.

And what are they doing about the fog and the delays? Well, a brilliant idea has recently been mooted. They will charge the passengers an extra Rs 150/- each for the privilege of revolving above an airport for hours on end waiting for the runway to clear.

And there you have the beauty of capitalism, implicit.