Flights of fancy

Mumbai: It hasn't been a smooth ride for the aeromodelling enthusiasts who get together at the Mahalaxmi Race Course on Sunday mornings to fly model airplanes.
For one, it can only be accessed after 9.30am when the horses leave the grounds, and of course it becomes completely off limits during the races. Add to that increasing helicopter traffic with the Singhanias, Poonawalas and the Ambanis using it as their helipad, which means forced beer breaks each time a helicopter prepares to land. That leaves little flying time for the aero-modellers, who only have permission to stay on until noon. Besides, the uneven ground and tall grass make it difficult for the planes to taxi and take off.
So, five years ago, a few diehard aeromodelling fans of the Wings India club built a 40 x1000ft tarmac at Marve, with their own money, just so they could come out here and fly their model airplanes without any impediments. Now every Sunday morning you can see a bunch of aeromodellers driving down to the Marve runway, which they call the Phat Phish field on account of its proximity to the numerous fish found here. They come in their SUVs and MPVs with dismantled model airplanes in the trunk which they assemble and fly for several hours.
So how does one embark on an aeromodelling trip? Well, it is really easy if you're a studentat Bombay Scottish; aeromodelling is a subject offered there which Puneet Manaktala, an enthusiast, has been teaching on an honourary basis for the past nine years. "There has never been a dearth of enthusiastic students," says Manaktala. "Three students have gone on to become commercial pilots from here," he adds proudly.
Manaktala teaches his students the physics of aviation as well as building and flying planes: woodcutting, sandpapering, assembling, painting and finally fitting the engine and controls.
However, for those who aren't students of Bombay Scottish, there's another instructor: the Real Flight Simulator.
01/11/09 Rachna Tyagi/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Nov 2009