How I acquired practical experience on Tiger Moth and Piper L-5 aircraft

The theoretical classes in ATTI were held in Clive House from 9am to around 11.30am and the afternoon slot from 2pm to 5pm was reserved for practical classes in the hangars of Moitra & Co located in Kolkata Airport.
Accordingly, I with my friends would board the private bus No 91 that would go to Lauhati and get down at the airport gate near a place called Koikhali. There we would have lunch at a tiny hotel – lunch comprised of a plate of mutton curry and three chapatis with a few slices of onion thrown in as salad along with a tiny piece of lemon.
After lunch we would walk down to the hangars of Moitra & Co located nearly one mile inside the premises of the airport. There was no road as such and we would walk through fields of shoulder-high grass crossing the hangar of Airways India Ltd on the way.
Airways India Ltd was a firm that handled light aircraft and we would watch lovingly at the Cessna aircraft of private companies that would be parked on the tarmac. The aircraft would come there for servicing and maintenance. My interest in AIL was that it was one of the companies where I could acquire practical experience if my luck was good.
Once inside our hangar, I would stare at the de-Havilland Tiger Moth and Piper L-5 aircraft on which I had to study to get acquainted with various terms used in aircraft maintenance. These vintage aircraft were my stepping stones to more sophisticated aircraft like the Dakota DC-3 or Fokker Friendship F-27 or the Boeing-707.
Since our hangars were adjacent to the engine test beds of Indian Airlines, the practical classes would suffer when an engine would be mounted on the rig for endurance test. The noise of the running engine would drown all other sounds. (to be continued …)

I take my first steps into the Aviation industry

I have always been impressed by aviation – in 1957, the Russians launched their satellite Sputnik into Space followed by Laika, the Russian dog that was launched into outer space on November 3, 1957 in Sputnik-2.
After completing my I.Sc. (Intermediate Science) exams, I had to go in for some sort of higher studies and, since I had not scored too many marks in my I.Sc. exams, it was a cause of worry to my father. He tried to get me admitted to an engineering stream in Jadavpur University but it was too far away. I lived in North and Jadavpur was way down South. Commuting would be a major problem. It was at that time I saw an ad in the papers about Air Technical Training Institute (ATTI) – it taught aeronautical engineering. I prevailed upon my father to allow me to join this. The Institute was nearer home and the topic would be one close to my heart.
Well – my father agreed and one day we both went to ATTI, met and discussed with the Principal S C Moitra. He was an impressive personality – he stood over six feet tall, had a heavy body and was dressed in saffron. He was one of the few ground engineers who held all possible licenses in categories A, B, C, D and X in civil aviation and was authorized to sign the airworthiness certificate of any aircraft.
His offices were in Mall Road and theory classes were held in Clive House while practical classes were held in the ATTI setup in Calcutta airport. The classes pertained to piston engines and light aircraft like the de-Havilland Tiger Moth and the L-5 Sentinel. (to be continued…)