Was Mysorean S V Setty India's first pilot and aviator?

Bangalore: Aviation historians have famously debated whether S V Setty was the country's first aviator ahead of JRD Tata, but recent evidence suggests the Mysorean could indeed have been India's first pilot and aircraft designer.
DRDO engineer Jayaprakash G N, great grandson of Setty, secured some proof after extensive research and conversations with aviators. "Setty, born in 1879, was the first Indian aircraft designer, pilot and aviator. He was the first to design and fly an aircraft in England that came to be known as Avro Duigan," he says.
The Modern Review journal published from Calcutta (then), which carries the article, The Indian Aviator, and an 1912 London interview of Setty, both recovered from Kolkata's Gothel library, reveal Setty's role in designing the Avro Duigan and Avro 504.
Setty, who was with the Avro in 1911 (8/05/1911), had an exciting experience in May that year. "There was a technical snag in an aircraft ordered by Australian aviator John Duigan. Setty, looking into the snag, took the opportunity to design a new aircraft and offered the design to Avro. Avro amazingly allowed him to do it."
"Setty built the aircraft with some help and tested it on March 12, 1912. His maiden flight was successful even with low power. John Duigan, impressed by the first trial flight, complimented Setty and even concluded a deal with Avro. This aircraft was later named Avro Duigan," says Jayaprakash.
Setty's design then became the basis for Avro 500 series built by A V Roe. Subsequently, in May 1912, Setty started designing a new aircraft and declared in The Modern Review journal (July 1912 India) that it was a new biplane, different from the Avro 500. After completing the design, he left for India on June 30, 1912, but not before receiving laurels: a gold medal by A V Roe for `General Proficiency in Aeronautics' on June 12, 1912.
Jayaprakash explains a crucial occurrence: "After Setty's departure, Avro released the 500 series aircraft -- Avro 501, 502, 503 and 504. Now, all of these, except the Avro 504 were similar to Avro 500 in basic design. The new biplane which Setty had designed turned out to be Avro 504, the popular World War I bomber. Avro 504 was the first to bomb Germany in November 1914."
09/02/09 Times of India

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2009