Women On Top—A FlyingTypers Original Continues in 2011.

Anita Khurana

Rachel Humphrey

Lucy Ntuba

Suzan Tarabishi

India Celebrates
100 Years Of Aviation

     Although the weather is uncharacteristically cold this week in New Delhi, plans are heating up to celebrate a century of aviation, as Indian Civil Aviation will complete its first 100 years on February 18, 2011.
     The year 2011-12 has now been declared as the India Civil Aviation Centenary Year.
     The story of February 18, 1911 is one of high adventure and aviation pioneering that set a global record, an air cargo first.
     Despite some claims to the contrary, the first airplane (heavier than air) in the world to carry a payload other than a passenger (express cargo) moved above India, not Ohio, USA.
     As the story goes, a Wright-built airplane piloted by Philip O. Parmelee carried a bolt of silk cloth from Dayton to Columbus, Ohio on November 7, 1911.
     The fact is that Henri Pequet, a 23-year old French pilot (he lived until 1974), carried more than 6,000 letters between Allahabad.
     The point here is that we need to get this history correct, because in 2011 all kinds of claims will come forward as companies and nations ramp up stories of their first flights and the role they played during this important Centennial Year in global aviation.
     In early December 1910, the SS Persia arrived in Bombay with big cases containing plane parts.
     Accompanying the cargo were Commander Sir Walter George Windham and two pilots—Henri Pequet, (left) a Frenchman, and Keith Davies, an Englishman.
     Two mechanics went along with them: Haffkin (English) and Billon (French).
     This was the team sent by Humber Motor Company in Coventry, England to exhibit the planes at the Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition, held at Allahabad UP (United Provinces).
     In 1910 the Humber Motor Company started manufacturing monoplanes, called Humber Bleriot, under license Bleriot XI.
     Toward the end of the year, they manufactured two Roger Sommer biplanes, one of which was sent to India with the team.

      The Roger Sommer biplane was basically a modified Henri Farman biplane with a 50 HP, seven cylinder air-cooled Gnome rotary engine.
     The party arrived in Allahabad, where two planes were assembled.
     Sir Windham was approached by the clergyman in charge of Holy Trinity Church, Allahabad, to see if he could raise some funds for a hostel planned by the church.
     Windham thought that if he could fly some mail across the river Ganges (Ganga) to Naini and put a special postmark, he could raise the money for the hostel.
     The Postmaster General of United Provinces and the Director General of Post Office in India approved the idea and a special postmark was authorized. The cancellation read “First Aerial Post.” A clergyman was appointed as the Postmaster at the parade ground at Naini.
     A surcharge of 6 annas (37 paise today) was made and letters poured in from all over India.
     One letter had stamps worth 25 rupees. On February 17th, the day before the event, the Oxford and Cambridge Hostel at Allahabad was turned into a small GPO.
     The sorting of letters and postcards (approximately 6,000) started at 9.00 hours in the morning and lasted till midnight.
     Henri Pequet signed some 400 postcards himself!
     It was a fine morning at Allahabad on the 18th of February 1911.
     Henri Pequet took off with a wristwatch on his right hand and an altimeter fixed to his left knee.
     The biplane flew to Naini at 40 mph at an altitude of 130 feet.
     He landed at Naini, 8 km from Allahabad, to be greeted by the lone postmaster.
     Pequet flew back alone.
     The whole journey lasted 27 minutes.
     The occasion coincided with Purna Kumbha, the Hindu festival held once every 12 years.
     Pequet had a bird’s eye view of a million Indians washing away their sins in the Ganges below.
     Thus the event was watched by over a million Indians that day!
     One of the recipients of the first airmail was King George V of England.
     His secretary wrote to Windham:
     "The King desires me to send you his thanks for the letter he received from India, bearing the inscription ‘First Aerial Post,’ which will be an interesting addition to His Majesty's stamp collection."
     By the way, the mail was offloaded on a train and taken to Calcutta.
     Commercial operations, connecting the national capital in New Delhi to Karachi via Jodhpur and beyond, began on December 20, 1929 and were operated by Imperial Airways.
     Fast forward to 2011. For the next year running up to 2012, there will be special events and celebrations to mark the Centenary Year to be organized by a high level committee constituted by the India’s Civil Aviation Ministry.
     “The committee will deliberate upon the period of celebrations, formulate an action plan for the entire year and decide events which may be undertaken during the centenary years,” CAM said in a statement.
     During the year, activities like air shows, establishment of an air and space theme park/museum and an aviation university have been planned.
     The committee includes the current (Praful Patel), former Civil Aviation Ministers and eminent Indians who have contributed to the country’s civil aviation sector.

     Among them are the first Indian Cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma; industrialist (and balloonist) Vijaypath Singhania; Air Marshal Arjan Singh; Saudamini Deshmukh; the first lady pilot in the commander’s seat in India, Satish Sharma; Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Aero Club of India, Capt. G. R. Gopinath; Secretaries of the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Defense and Tourism and Chairpersons of all Indian airlines and airports, along with other stakeholders.
     For the record, since 1911 aviation in India has taken giant strides and today is the ninth largest civil aviation market in the world.
     Some civil aviation pundits believe that the country will emerge as one of the three largest markets in the world by 2020.
TG/Geoffrey
Special Thanks to the Dakshina Kannada Philatelic Association.

China Cargo Airlines Aims
For Global Player Status

     Shanghai-based China Cargo Airlines is on its way to becoming a major global player. The road for reaching new heights was paved by a changed ownership structure that enabled the carrier to swallow the local competitors, Great Wall Airlines and Shanghai Cargo Airlines, thus consolidating the market and upping its influence substantially.
     The new partners that bought into the carrier financed the costly double acquisition with €236 million euros. Singapore Air and Concord Pacific, both affiliates of Taiwanese EVA Air, each acquired 16 percent of China Cargo Airlines.
      Now the new shareholder structure reads as follows: China Eastern Airlines, 51 percent; China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), 17 percent; Singapore Air, 16 percent; and Concord Pacific, 16 percent. Formerly, parent China Eastern Airlines held 70 percent with COSCO owning the remaining 30 percent.
     Following the investment agreement now signed in Shanghai, the stakeholders seek approval by the authorities for China Cargo Airlines to be reorganized into a limited liability Chinese-foreign equity joint venture firm.
     Currently, China Cargo Airlines possesses a mixed fleet of 13 freighters comprised of five MD-11Fs, three B777Fs, three A300Fs, and two B747-400Fs. The air freight carrier is serving 26 different destinations in Asia, Europe, North America, and domestic China.
     According to aviation analysts China Cargo Airlines is on the brink of becoming a major national rival of the newly formed Air China Cargo. The Air China (51 percent) and Cathay Pacific (49 percent) joint venture has announced it will commence service at the beginning of January 2011.
Heiner Siegmund/Flossie

No Love In Blume Profiling

     Blume is the word for flowers in the German language.
     But on a recent Wednesday there were no bouquets; instead, cascades of bricks and stones were virtually thrown at Christoph Blume, the designated “head of the Association of German Airports (ADV).”
     What outraged media, leading politicians and many intellectuals was his recommendation to classify air travelers in different categories in order to enable the security staff at German airports to more easily detect potential terrorists.
     Blume referred to Israel, where the profiling of passenger groups is common practice and widely accepted by the nationals.
His advance is in line with a similar recommendation made in mid-December by IATA’s helm, Giovanni Bisignani, who suggested splitting passengers in “known,” “normal” and “potentially risky” groups.      Depending upon which category they were officially assigned, they would have to pass three different control zones within the airports before being admitted to enter the facilities and board an aircraft.
     If made a standard practice in Germany, mainly frequent travelers would benefit, argues Blume, because they could pass the security gates without rigid controls and thus save time.
     “If the security officials improve their technical means, Al-Qaeda and other terrorists will do the same,” Blume says. An endless and costly security loop will be the result.
     Leading German media, however, rejected his suggestions very harshly in their commentaries.
     So did a number of influential politicians from both the Berlin government and the opposing parties.
     They jointly reproached Blume’s attempt for being “undemocratic,” “uncivilized,” and against the constitution, which demands equal treatment of all citizens and individuals, despite their religion or ethnicity.      The media also emphasized that Israel’s situation can not be compared with Germany mainly because Germany is not surrounded by enemies who proclaim a wish to erase the country from the map.
     Support for implementing profiling elements at major German airports to enhance the security regime came from The Board of Airlines Representatives in Germany e.V. (BARIG). The influential organization represents and supports the interests of more than 100 airlines doing business in Germany, including national and international carriers as well as cargo airlines.
     “Danger is never caused by items or materials, but by potential terrorists,” stated the BARIG’s Secretary General, Martin Gaebges. Thus “profiling aims at those who eventually could threaten passengers and crews.”
     Says the manager: “It’s of much better use for improving security in aviation if a skilled specialist looks into the eyes of passengers, watches their behavior and asks them some concise questions instead of technically controlling after-shave lotions or nail clippers.”
     In contrast, more technical controls, slower passenger checks, and exploding costs are the result of today’s official security philosophy, criticizes Gaebges. He is one of the rare individuals who doesn’t throw stones, but flowers at Blume.
Heiner Siegmund/Flossie

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