Spectacle of a different kind at air race

INS HANSA (Dabolim), NOV 20 (From Cyril D'Cunha) Positioned at the tarmac, the first 
Zen Air micro light aircraft was ready for take off, waiting for the start to be given 
by the Urban Development Minister Digamber Kamat, to the race in the western sector at 
Dabolim, and watched by the Indian Navy’s top brass, including Rear Admiral S K Damle, 
Flag Officer Commanding Goa Area.

There were anxious moments, when the Vary pistol flare fired by Kamat, glowed in the 
bright sunlight as it arched and fell in the dried grass skirting the tarmac and 
immediately starting a fire. 

Silently and almost unnoticed, the fire tender was there to douse it off, which for 
the many watching the spectacle, came as something of a comic relief.

The Admiral, however, explained that the knee-high grass is otherwise trimmed, so as 
not to expose the seeds to the birds who feed on them, and who could be a hazard to 
the flying aircraft. 

This is a precaution taken at most of the airfields faced with the bird problem, he 
said. In this case, the terrain being hilly and stone-hard, and usually dry during 
this time of the year when the sun beats hard, the grass gets dry and this was why it 
caught fire. A rare sight, certainly.

Referring to the air race in his capacity as Chairman of the Organising Committee, 
Damle  said that there was a request from the southern sector participants for  
landing facility in Goa, which was declined.

This was so, as being the peak tourist  season and with many charter and internal 
flights landing, it would not be  possible to control air traffic due to the 
uncertainty of arrival times by  the competing aircraft.

When asked to comment on the security aspect of the visiting naval ships  from other 
countries to Goa and their respective crew spending some  time on shore leave, 
especially in the wake of the 9/11 incident, Damle  stated that the Indian Navy on its 
part could ensure safety to the ships  docked in Goan waters. 

However, the navy was not there to take any  responsibility of the crew once they went 
into the town.

Flying, a passion: Even as the three Kiran aircraft broke through the blue skies in an 
aerobatic display, trailing plumes of multi-coloured smoke — on the occasion  of 
centenary of the first manned flight by the Wright Brothers at Kitty  Hawk, North 
Carolina, USA, in 1903, looking skywards with her camera aimed  at the diving beauties 
— was someone to whom flying had and still is a  passion.

Meet Mohini Shroff, who many will know as a former PRO of both the Western  Railway in 
Mumbai and the Konkan Railway Corporation.

But hardly a few knew her as a  lady who took to the skies in 1959 and tried to break 
into the Indian  Airforce as a pilot the following year, but was rejected for the 
simple reason  that women had yet to be accepted in this fighting force.

Incidentally, this writer and the lady both studied in  the K C College, Mumbai, where 
we first met. The bonding was hockey as  we both also represented the college.

Sporting large NASA stickers on her  flying uniform, raised my curiosity. A beaming 
Mohini said it was  only in July 2003, that she paid a visit to NASA for a brief stint 
of adding  to her flying knowledge. 

Incidentally, Mohini got her commercial flying  licence in the USA in 1973, gained an 
endorsement on 152A Cessna plane from  flying the Cessna 172 prior to this and 
recently the L-5 Sentinel. 

In 1965, she was the vice-governor of ‘99s Club’ of fliers, an  international 
organisation and later became the Treasurer and Joint  Secretary of the Indian Women 
Pilots Association, Mumbai.

She has taken part  in the AVIA-India air show in 1991 at Bangalore for the Viper 
Super Cup,  though it is for the first time that she takes part in something of the  
magnitude of the Air Race India 2003, which was flagged off in Goa, in the  company of 
Capt Bhagwati, Neetu Gupta and Capt Prakash in their Cessna  172.

While her zest for flying seems to increase with time, Mohini could well  script for 
herself the distinction of being the oldest woman active pilot in  the country.