Bangalore: The Armed Forces Technical College (AFTC) here has sent a proposal to Air Headquarters seeking approval for setting up an IAF engineering college in Bangalore. This will be to meet the growing need for aviation engineers in the Air Force.

"The proposal for establishing the engineering college on a 310-acre campus has already been submitted.

Once the approval comes through, we will mother the projects towards completion," Chief Instructor, Group Captain M.S. Chandru, told presspersons here.

Initial investment

The initial investment will be Rs. 50 crores and the college is to be set up in nine months. The AFTC has approached the IIT, Madras, to be involved and also declare the college a satellite of the IIT. "IIT, Madras, has already a satellite college at BHEL, Tiruchi, and the Air Force engineering college can be given a similar status," he said.

According to Air Marshal B.N. Gokhale, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, IAF Training Command, the Indian Air Force's Advanced Light Helicopter, Dhruv, manufactured here by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., which was grounded late last year after developing a technical snag in its tail rotor, will start flying soon.

Rectification

A rectification process is on in the three services of the armed forces and the Coast Guard. "Dhruv will be back in business in two to three months from now," he said.

Wing Commander Sasanka Misra, Commanding Officer of the Sarang Team of the IAF, said, "We are going through a rectification process, and limited flying is now going on to evaluate the tail rotor, at Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

The vibration problem has been resolved and we expect to have the new tail rotors installed in our helicopters soon."

Clearance

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. has given clearance after carrying out extensive tests and checks on all available tail rotors. The vibration problem was first noticed in November 2004 and all the helicopters in use were grounded.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail