Plane talk

I remember the time the first Herculese was to come into India. We were advised that it was coming from our western border and may stop for refueling at Agra and we should be ready to do the job. We were to report at Agra asap.

No manuals were available; so we had to carry all under wing couplings for pressure fuelling as well as over the wing gravity nozzles. I was deputed along with a couple of experienced crewmen and a huge fuel tanker. I sat there, in the Agra airport control tower, along with the air force guys, without a break for 24 hrs, eating from their canteen and sleeping on the chair. A call to the territory manager about my sorry state only elicited a rebuke. “Get a new set of clothes and a hotel room and don’t come back before filling up the damned thing.”

It was only after 60 hrs that we got the news about the airplane having flown directly to Delhi. Then followed the morning scenes at Palam. We heard heartwrenching accounts from widows, mothers and sisters of war heroes. Despite their personal tragedies they were stoically volunteering in the relief operation. They would come early in the chilly morning and bring tea and sandwiches for the youngsters doing airlift sorties. They would smilingly boost their morale. I think they played a crucial role in the success of the operation. Airlift over, the entire squadron of 14 Herculese was offered as a gift to Indian airforce but it was ‘‘politely refused’’ only to feel sorry 40 years later when our neighbour got the same ‘‘gift’’.