Flying and Gliding in India 10.12.1979

Since time immemorial, man has looked up with envy at the birds in free flight and aspired to soar with them high into the serene blue sky. Today man has not only learnt to fly but has crossed the frontiers of space and walked on the moon. In this saga of human endeavour, ballooning preceded gliding and flying came even later.

In India, the pioneers of Gliding were Appasaheb B. Pant and a group of young men who set up a Gliding Club in 1928 at Aundh in Maharashtra. They built their own gliders based on designs from abroad and achieved a number of successful flights. Their efforts gave birth to the Indian Gliding Association in 1929.A further boost to gliding in the country was given by Fardun H. Irani who in 1938 was the first Indian to qualify for the International Silver 'C'. From the first gliding centre near Pune in Maharashtra in 1929, gliding activities have now come to range over sixteen centres and clubs all over the country. Today advanced gliders of Indian design and material, designed and developed by the Research & Development Wing of the Indian Civil Aviation Department, are indegenously manufactured to meet the requirements of the civil gliding clubs and the Air Wing of the National Cadet Corps.  

In India, the interest in flying gathered momentum with the establishment of the Aero Club of India in 1928. Its pioneering efforts laid the foundations of civil and sports aviation in the country. Today it is the apex organisation and the national autority for promotion of general aviation and aero-sports in the country. Among the Indian pioneers, J.R.D. Tata was the first person to receive the Aviator's Certificate from the Aero Club of India and Burma in February 1929. In 1930, the Aga Khan Prize of F 500 to the first Indian who would fly solo between India and England in either direction in not more than 30 days was won by 17-year old Aspy Engineer, who thirty year later rose to command the Indian Air Force. During the past five decades, the flying clubs, which now number about 25 in the country, have rendered yeoman service, from providing primary training ground for commercial as well as Air Force pilots to carrying mail. Delhi Flying Club had the distinction of operating an exclusive airmail service between Delhi and Karachi, in the early 1930's. Today the flying clubs and gliding centres are engaged in promotion of not only flying and gliding but also the other thrilling and adventurous aerosports of ballooning, parachuting, etc.

Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department feels commemorated the flying and gliding movement in India by issuing a special postage stamp. The stamp depicts "Hindusthan Pushpak" aircraft and "Rohini-I" glider. The Cover illustration of different aircraft. They are (top to bottom) Bristol (1910), Bristol (1911), Bleriot (1911) and the De Havilland Gypsy Moth (1930).