Flying in Bengaluru

I just returned from a trip to India. This was my first trip back home since I got my PP and was very keen on flying there. I knew of Bangalore Aerosports when I lived in India. They offer flight training in the X-Air microlight which is made in Bengaluru. They had recently moved to Mysuru. Since the renovation of the Mandakalli airport (VOMY) was in full swing, they had temporarily moved back to Bengaluru's Jakkur airfield (VOJK). I emailed them and set up some time to fly with one of their instructors.

I showed up at Jakkur just after 8am on Tuesday Oct.3oth. I used to be a frequent visitor to the airfield when I flew RC. However, I was struck by the absence of traffic, conditioned as I was to Salinas (KSNS) and other airports near here (like Watsonville and Hollister). There is one paved runway and an associated taxiway. The rest of the airfield is really just a field with no paved ramp. The hangars are lined up to the west of the field and airplanes taxi around on the dirt which is well compacted. It had just rained continuously for the last few days, but the field was pretty well drained.

I drove past a Cessna Caravan owned by Jindal Steel and which is normally based at Toranagal near Bellary as I entered the field.

I went up to the Jupiter Aviation hangar which is where the X-Air was temporarily hangared. I could see a Beechcraft King Air and a Partenavia P68C inside.
The most intriguing aircraft however was in the back of the hangar. It was a very sleek looking red experimental which I could not identify. I asked one of the guys working on the King Air about it and he said it was built right there in Bengaluru.
It was apparently a good flier and was currently grounded because of some problem with the landing gear after a hard landing. I went over to take a closer look and the engine surprised me. The cowling said "Turbo Diesel" so I asked the same maintenance guy what it was. It was a Tata Sumo engine! Talk about extreme car engine conversions! From what I could gather, it was a one-off conversion. The airplane also had an opening near the tail (seen in the pic) through which I could see a hydraulic pump and pipes emanating from it. I couldn't quite figure out what it was for.

In front of the hangar was a Bell helicopter that belonged to VSL Industries owned by the Lad brothers of Bellary. They are also MLAs and all the big politicians of the state are frequently seen in that helicopter. As I was waiting for my ride, some big-shot and his family came up in a Mercedes Benz, hopped into the chopper and the pilot took off. One of the lineguys asked me not to take pictures of the chopper or the people in it.

At about this time, Vineeta who was going to be my instructor taxied up to the hangar after a flight. I had seen the X-Air before but this was the first time I had a close look at it. All fabric surfaces on a tube frame. The "fuselage" has a fiberglass nose and plexiglass windows. It is powered by a Jabiru (I was told 100HP) engine.
Vineeta gave me a brief overview of the systems and we got in. I sat in the right seat because the only toe-brakes were on the left. The instrument panel had a standard six-pack but not in the standard place because of the shape and available area on the panel. A center stick took care of the aileron and elevator controls.

Start up was straightforward. We taxied to runway 27. The airplane is very sensitive to rudder inputs on the ground because the nose wheel and the main wheels are so close together. I had a hard time keeping it straight for the first minute or so.

The throttle was set up so that even small movements in the stick (between the seats) resulted in large RPM changes which I didn't like. It was difficult to make smooth power inputs. Full power and a couple hundred feet later, we were airborne. I was impressed by this especially since the airfield elevation is a little over 3000'.

Jakkur has the Yelahanka Air Force Station just to its north and the HAL Airport (Bengaluru International) to the south so its airspace is rather restricted to 1000' AGL. Climbing beyond it required clearance from either the approach for VOBG or the Yelahanka tower so we stuck to 1000' AGL. As an aside, the new Bengaluru International Airport coming up in Devanahalli is further north of Yelahanka so that would make four airports in the city from north to south. Five including the one inside the IISc campus.

We flew around for some time while I tried some turns. Compared to the LSA that I usually fly, control response is very sluggish, in fact more sluggish than the Cessna 172. The aircraft trims well, but it never gave the feeling of positive control by the seat of my pants. Maybe it takes more experience in the type. It takes barely any rudder input for coordinated turns and maintaining altitude is a breeze.

It was a hazy day with an overcast layer at about 1500' AGL.
I turned back to fly over the airfield once before entering a right pattern.
Apparently pattern entries normally are done on the upwind leg which I thought was weird. But then there is hardly any traffic here. Jakkur does have a tower (more like a "permanent" temporary tower) but it opened at 9am, just when we were landing.

Approach speed is about 90 Kmph but I was too high on the first attempt. We went around. I let Vineeta take charge on the second attempt but forgot about that just as we were about to roundout. Vineeta had to yell for me to let go of the stick. Slightly embarassing! The landing was smooth and uneventful and the roll out very short. We taxied to the Government Flying Training School (GFTS) and shut down.

I was thrilled that I finally got to fly in my hometown. Apart from the actual flying, I saw quite a few interesting aircraft including a few Zodiacs in the NCC hangar. I then walked over to the GFTS which is a whole another story in itself.