This chopper will turn 53 tomorrow

Mumbai: The oldest helicopter that is still flying high in the Indian skies turns 53 tomorrow. The Bell 47 was originally bought by the Indian Air Force in 1957, and was used as an air ambulance and for supplying ration.
In the 60s, the Shapoorji Pallonji group purchased it, and it was sold to an Indo-American aviation company in the 80s. Finally, H S Rao, managing director, Pushpaka Aviation, bought the chopper in 2000.
Rao told MiD DAY, "I bought the chopper in 2000 from Inda Amer Aviation which would have grounded the chopper, but I knew the power of Bell 47s from personal experience."
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation declared the chopper airworthy and it was fit to fly again.
Captain A Ranganathan, an aviation expert, said, "I cannot comment upon the average age of a chopper, but I have seen that airlines ordinarily do not use an aircraft for more than 15-20 years. Singapore Airlines replaces its aircraft every five years, so probably a chopper's age is much lesser.
20/01/10 MiD DAY

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jan 2010