ByGp Capt Sundeep Mehta
There would not be a helicopter pilot in the Indian armed forces who has not flown a Chetak helicopter. The Alouette III of the French origin which was licensed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in India, remains the mainstay basic helicopter trainer for the Indian armed forces, including the Coast Guard.
It is unmatched for its simplicity and ruggedness – the two most desirable features for any basic trainer aircraft. It has been used, abused and flogged like would be the case with any mainstay machine of this category.
While I could not attend it’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations at Helicopter Training School in Hyderabad on 2nd and 3rd April due to my personal reasons, the occasion gave me an opportunity to reflect upon my own affair with CHETAK. in a way it’s also a reflection of the generations of CHETAK pilots – many of them converged at HTS to celebrate the momentous occasion and relive their precious memories with the still serving – legendary CHETAK.
All Helicopters are difficult to master as they are aerodynamically unstable machines. To put it simply; a fixed wing aeroplane would want to remain flying in the air even without any pilot input on the control-stick, whereas; a helicopter would try and fall out of the sky at the instant the pilot stops giving any control inputs.
Once having mastered to control the machine it behaves true to its name; the famous horse of Maharana Pratap: the ‘CHETAK’.
Looking back I can’t believe myself that with less than 500 hour on its saddle (I was a Flying officer with less than 3 years of service), ably assisted by a rookie copilot (Pilot Officer Sanjay Vaze), I could pull off a near impossible rescue of a villager Mr Shaikh, marooned on a rock – in middle of a flooded river, in Kheda district of Gujarat. It was 5th October 1988. We had Mr Gilbert Nazareth then SDM of Kheda on the third seat for his first ever helicopter ride in life – to witness a hapless- bare – villager being pulled into the CHETAK by his hand, by the ground crew seated in the rear seat of the CHETAK. How I wish there were mobile cameras then to capture those moments. The faithful CHETAK made it happen so effectively – so what if it had only one engine and no autopilot!
At the heart of the CHETAK is its Artouste 3B engine with an operating RPM of 33500. I wonder if any other engine operates at that RPM in the air!
It was indeed my limited exposure to sea flying that helped me pull off an otherwise challenging rescue. Yes, we operated a CHETAK with floatation gear that allowed it to land over water like a boat, this experience helped me remain steady over the flooded river during this rescue mission; there being no fixed reference of ground that is always required for a steady hover. The floats equipped CHETAK in IAF is meant for sea rescue roles.
Earlier, in April that year, we tested our skills over sea in an innovative recovery of ‘CHAKOR’ from sea. The PTA (pilotless target aircraft) ditched into the sea with help of a Parachute on completion of its mission. For its reuse, it was mandatory to wash the PTA engine with distilled water, within a couple of hours of its ditching into the sea. A boat with a naval diver was positioned in advance in the general area of expected ditching. The Float helicopter would first locate the PTA in sea from air and then guide the recovery boat to it. The Naval diver would then hook the PTA to the cargo underslung cable. This was tricky as the rising sea waves would bring diver dangerously close to the CHETAKs tail rotor (see pic). Once hooked up – the PTA was flown underslung as external load to a nearby designated helipad for its servicing and next mission.
Even the CHETAK engines require frequent washing with distilled water to avoid its corrosion in saline environments. Well, all thorough-breds need special care – CHETAK indeed being one!
Moving on in service, I operated CHETAK in an Anti-Tank role. It was an operational role that required proficiency in tactical formation flights, accurate Low-level navigation, NoE (Nape of the Earth) flight and launching ATGM (Anti-tank guided missiles), etc.
Humble CHETAK with no onboard computers or sophisticated target acquisition system relied on the jockey’s skills. It gave unmatched satisfaction to the pilots, albeit of WW-II kind. But it also laid a firm foundation for pilots to feel at home in sophisticated machines they moved onto later in their careers.
Yet, the most satisfying role of CHETAK that I fell in love with was the ab-intio helicopter training to a rookie helicopter pilot.
It was a give-back time. Passing on the skills I acquired to the next generation. It’s like how any relationship is consummated. A new breed of pilots are trained to take on the – new cycle of operational flying. It’s called ‘Circle of Life’ in the aviation family. The humble CHETAK has delivered several generations of pilots and continues to do so even today.
We all know that with passage of time a new kind of machine will appear on the horizon and eventually replace the CHETAK, but it can never replace the bonds of timeless affairs that CHETAK has generated in its time in history. The unique imprint of the stamp it has left in the hearts of those who rode on its saddle.
‘Blue skies my love -CHETAK’
(The author is an Indian Air Force Veteran. Email: sundeepskm@gmail.com Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of Financial Express Online. Reproducing this content without permission is prohibited).