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MAN AND MACHINE
Flying wheels from Birmingham
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Brothers Sridhar and Prabhakar own bicycles that belong to "a family of high-flyers"
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WAR GREENS Prabhakar and Sridhar with their 1941 and 1942 BSA Airborne Bicycles
Sibling rivalry can break the bank. Even where an item could be shared, parents buy two or more (depending on the number of children) of its kind. It is easy to assume brothers Sridhar and Prabhakar were gifted a bicycle each to ward off unnecessary conflicts at home.
But the two epitomise sibling cooperation and they don't possess selfsame bicycles. Although essentially interchangeable, these machines represent two models of what is called the BSA Airborne Bicycle, which was manufactured in the early 1940s for the allied forces. A 1941 make, Prabhakar's cycle has a double column under the seat; and Sridhar's came a year later and (no, thank you) does very well with a single column.
When paratroopers set out on missions, the bicycles travelled with them on planes. But these cycles received some rough treatment before they shared seats with the hardbitten soldiers. They were unceremoniously folded in half. In fact, the bicycles themselves allowed this humiliation, thanks to two bird-or-fly-wings shaped nuts, one on the upper and the other on the lower frame. While the soldiers always exited the warplanes in the safety of parachutes, these bicycles made their descent with the help of unpowered aircraft or smaller, tailor-made parachutes of their own. Before being bundled off to terra firma, the airborne was subjected to some more disgrace. With the assistance of a T-bar, the handlebars were angled to a perfect 90 degrees. Next, the pedals were rudely yanked in — for easy stuffing (when there was a need for pedalling, they were pushed out). Considering it was wartime and numerous lives hung on tenuous threads, the Airborne probably put up with this lack of courtesy.
A valise that was generally stuffed with food and water and a leather pouch containing a bare minimum of tools met the needs of soldier and war machine. The pouch was attached to the back of the saddle, and the valise was spread out and tied on the two main frames. A tyre inflator shoved into a kind of holding space behind the column was part of the emergency package.
War machine designs are minimalist, Spartan and utilitarian. But there is a bit of an artistic element on the Airborne — its sprocket bears the aesthetic cuts of the letters B-S-A, arranged in a circular form.
Interestingly, the BSA Airborne bicycle came into its own only after the WWII was over. Much in contrast to the collapsible Excelsior Welbike 98cc, the Airborne bicycle did not enthuse all the soldiers. It is said that many of them preferred riding shanks' mare to pedalling this cycle. Ironically, the vehicle is a prize catch for any collector.
PRINCE FREDERICK
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