Adrenaline junkies interested in having adventures up in the air seem to be heading to Bangalore in droves. The reason? To fly microlight aircraft.
The new rage in town is seeing people from all over the country flock to Bangalore to fly the aircraft.
Flying clubs in the city say that there has been a surge of enthusiasm among people of all age groups to try their hand at microlight flying.
Wg Cdr (Retd) Ashok Mehta of the Bangalore Aerosports Private Limited, which operates from the Jakkur Aerodrome and the Mysore Airport, said that rides offered by them are quite popular not just among Bangaloreans but people from all over the country.
Mehta’s company has four aircraft and three instructors and, apart from offering introductory courses which are of two and ten hours duration, the club also offers trial instructional flights (TRF).
Those opting to go on TRF will get a chance to take over the controls of the aircraft. These flights, carried out along with the instructor, last for 60 minutes and costs Rs7500 per ride. The two and ten hour introductory courses come at Rs7500 per hour.
Apart from those opting for the above courses, few in the city have also obtained microlight pilot licences offered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
To obtain microlight pilot licences one should be above the age of 17 years. The candidate needs to have 60 hours of flying, complete one oral and three written exams and also have to go through police verification.
To obtain this licence one needs to spend about Rs4.5 lakh. Mehta said only a handful in the city are in possession of microlight pilot license. “Obtaining microlight pilot licence is not a very easy task. One has to put in a lot of hard work, as apart from flying they will also have to clear the examinations conducted by the DGCA,” Mehta said.
Also those holding microlight pilot licence are the ones who own microlight aircraft. There are about a dozen such aircraft in the city.
Javad Hassan’s Albatross Flying Systems which manufactures micro light aircraft and para gliders in the city said that an aircraft would cost anywhere between Rs15 to 25 lakh.
