A whirlwind tour to AF Station Kanpur where MiG-21s were stored

It was a whirlwind tour to AF Station Kanpur where MiG-21 aircrafts used to be stored and, coming back to Kanpur was a sort of homecoming for me – I had worked here for two years.
The reason for my coming was because the Commanding Officer was facing difficulties. He had approached Air Headquarters in New Delhi and, from there, a phone call had come to our General Manger. He was a Punjabi and a bit overweight – but, still, he managed to climb the steep flight of stairs to the upper floor office in the hangar to meet my Boss.
My boss was the Wing Commander who wore a wig. He had just reached his office when the General Manager walked in. He told my boss to send someone immediately to Kanpur because a high-level Air Force delegation was supposed to come down to Nashik and the problems of MiG-21 storage aircraft in Kanpur would be in their agenda for discussion.
The General Manager wanted his rep to be in Kanpur before the team landed up in Nashik and my boss decided that the rep would be yours truly.

This was the first time that I had to move out on short notice. I managed to wrangle a reservation in the Punjab Mail through a travel agent. I was supposed to be in Kanpur for three days and, on arriving at Kanpur I booked a return journey ticket in First Class. I was No 1 in the Waiting List. Then I took a cycle rickshaw and went to the Air Force Mess.
It was a much changed Kanpur – I had left it in 1966 and had returned to it after 20-years. Obviously many of the landmarks of Chakeri and Lal Bungalow were missing.
In between my interactions with the Commanding Officer of the storage depot, I managed to contact a couple of my old friends and met them to revive a few memories.
When I came to the railway station for my journey back to Nashik, I was in for a surprise – my Wait List number was still No 1!! Therefore, I had to plead with the TTE to allow me to remain in the First Class compartment. I assured him that I would sit on my suitcase in a corner of the corridor and would not be a hindrance to other passengers.
He had pity on me and agreed. When I landed back in Nashik, I was suffering from loss of voice. The words were just not forming. I had an infection in my throat. Therefore, after reaching home I had to run to the hospital and the duty doctor prescribed a course of SP or Strepto-Penicillin. (to be continued ..)


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Computerization is fun - to get any data anywhere

My first adventure into the world of computers encouraged me to venture further. As expected, my boss was happy with the computerized outputs of the monthly statements to Corporate Office, Bangalore. It may be noted that Mig-21 fighter aircraft were the lifeline of the IAF and there were hundreds of them operating in various bases. Some of these bases were near the sea, others near deserts and, others in mountainous terrains where the temperatures plummeted to below zero degrees Celsius.

Obviously, the wear and tear on each of the aircraft was different.
Therefore, whenever information was received about any accident or incident to any MiG-aircraft, the General Manager would want to know the history of the aircraft. Such information gets transmitted very fast to senior formations of both the IAF as well as HAL who are the manufacturers or who have carried out the overhaul and the GM wants to be ready with all possible answers.
Until the aircraft data had been computerized, this information would have to be retrieved by going through the respective aircraft file and then the data would be typewritten on a sheet of paper and sent to the office of the GM.
With the computerization of the data, it was possible for the General Manager to see the data of the aircraft on his own computer screen. But, then, new questions arose. If an accident had taken place, was it a first-off or were there previous similar accidents? Has any improvement has been thought of? Does it involve any special kits? Has IAF placed orders for these kits? Has HAL supplied any kits?
The questions were many and, there was a need to extend computerization to other related areas and make the data more comprehensive. (to be continued …)


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Getting to know the computer programmers

Since I had already had preliminary discussions with the computer people, the letter from my boss made it easy for me to proceed further. But, the boss of computers had a question. His people would get the data inserted in the computer files as a one time basis. Subsequently, I would have to arrange to keep the file updated. Then only can necessary reports be generated. I had two reports in mind.
The first report was ‘Input Output of aircraft in the month’. This was, as its name implied, details of aircraft that had been either delivered to IAF after manufacture or overhaul or received from IAF for overhaul.

The second report was about the various accidents and incidents pertaining to the MiG-21 fighter aircraft and reported to HAL Nashik.
Both reports had to be sent to our Corporate Office in Bangalore in the first week of every month. Before I came on the scene, these reports used to be prepared manually, typed and then dispatched. I wanted to create the reports through the mainframe computer.
Once we came to the same frequency, I handed over to them an initial set of data pertaining to aircraft as well as accidents and incidents along with a set of alpha-numeric codes. And – the programmer assigned to do the work agreed to write the necessary programs.
She was the daughter of one of my earlier bosses and a willing learner. I had to explain the logic to her and she would write and rewrite the programs so that the outputs were satisfactory. Moreover, she had to write programs for entry of data into the computer files – this would have to be done by the clerks in my section who are assigned to do such work manually.
She had to, also, write a program to decode the alpha-numeric codes for the sake of the reports. I had to, therefore, design necessary data entry formats for aircraft receipt, aircraft dispatch, alpha-numeric codes of accidents and incidents, specific accident to aircraft, specific incidents to aircraft etcetera. (to be continued ...)


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How to shed the image of a misfit and become a most wanted

When I landed up in the Customer Services department, I felt was a misfit because it was known generally as a department for those on the verge of retirement. The officers were aged persons and their presence was basically to take advantage of their long years of experience. They had worked in different departments and had brought with them varied experiences.
One of them was a Sardarji – he held the responsibility of maintaining record of innumerable reports of accidents and incidents that were reported by the Indian Air Force, our customer. The fleet of MiG-21 fighter aircraft ran into several hundreds and new aircraft would be getting added on a regular basis. It was his responsibility to keep track and advise our Boss whenever he wanted information.

For each and every aircraft, there used to be a separate file – and, whenever any new report came, it would be filed in that.
The system was fine so long as the concerned clerks came and the letters were put in the file but, there were instances when some officer would remove a file and forget to put it back in the location.
I decided to change the system but had to proceed with caution because I did not want to annoy the old man. He would have felt offended and would think I was too big for my boots. There was a generation gap between us and I had to bridge that gap step by step.
Therefore, I embarked on a mission of my own. I wanted to computerize the complete history of each and every aircraft from the day it went into service till it was written off. Accordingly, I began to come to the section early before others came and left after the others – and, I would take up a few aircraft files every day and go through the hundreds of paper in them to decide just how I should proceed. (to be continued …)


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Interaction with Russian interpreters

There were Russian specialists in practically all the departments and, whilst there was one specifically meant to advise the General Manager, there were others in the design department, in the workshops, even in the planning departments. The gentleman in the planning department would come every morning with his worksheet to check and record how much work had been completed till then and submit the report to his higher ups.
Along with the Russian specialists were their interpreters – some of them were Russians and some of them were Indians. Moreover, before the actual work began on manufacturing the MiG fighter aircraft, groups of employees who had a diploma in engineering had been given training in Russian language. Most of them were attached to the design department and the planning department where documents would be coming regularly from Russia about updates. These would require to be translated on priority and passed on to the user departments for implementation.
Obviously, there was a fad to learn the language.
Here I must make a mention of one Russian interpreter. She was from one of the earliest batches of Russians who had come to Nashik and, as luck would have it, she fell in love with an Indian boy. It became a scandal of sorts. Then there was another interpreter – she was a Punjabi and had many admirers.
To cater to the Russians, there was a shop in the township dedicated to products that Russians loved – and, there was a Russian Mess where the cooks were trained to cook meals for Russians, the way they love them in their own country. In the initial stages, Russians were not permitted to have their families with them and they relied on the Russian Mess for their meals. Later, the restriction was removed but the mess remained because many of the Russians were bachelors while many of them preferred to live without their families.
For marketing, there would be buses on Sundays and the Russians would go to Deolali. They would roam the streets peering into the shops, do their marketing and return back in the evening. (to be continued …)

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I finally join the MiG factory in HAL Nashik

Wanting a change, I decide to leave Kanpur

I has joined AMD Kanpur as a trainee Supervisor – it was a one-year training after which I did another one year service by which time I lost interest in the work. It was a routine monotonous work and there was practically no scope of innovation. In fact, it was boring stuff.
It was at that time that a deal was signed between India and Russia to undertake manufacture of MiG-21 fighter aircrafts. The time was just after the Chinese aggression and India wanted to arm itself with sophisticated fighter aircrafts.
I wanted a transfer to this newly formed setup but my application was turned down by my boss. He was an officer of the IAF and we had an exchange of hot words. I was young, my blood was hot and, in my opinion, it was the only decision at the time. The result was that I came out of his office and penned my resignation.
Of course, I was not the only one to resign because a couple of others who had joined the training course also opted out – the initial charm had worn off.
Anyway, my course mates arranged a farewell party for me and, I returned back to Kolkata with my eyes set on joining the MiG complex.
I had sent a letter to my father after submitting my resignation and he did not say no, neither did he approve. To him, it was my personal decision and he did not want to influence my decisions – I had to live my life and, in case I made any mistake, I would have to suffer.
Anyway – I could not sit at home and twiddle my thumbs till I got a job in the MiG complex. Therefore, I went to ATTI and requested the Principal to accommodate me till such time my dream was fulfilled. He had a soft corner for me because of my involvement on bringing out souvenirs when I was a student there.
And so, I joined there as a Trainee Instructor – I taught the students different subjects and kept waiting for the opportunity to move out. The MiG complex had three units – one in Nashik to manufacture the complete aircraft, another unit in Hyderabad to manufacture and supply the electronic equipment to Nashik and a third one at Koraput to manufacture and supply the engine.
My target was Nashik. (to be continued …)