Showing posts with label Wg Cdr C.D. Upadhyay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wg Cdr C.D. Upadhyay. Show all posts
Monday, December 17, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
HATSOFF CEO Upadhyay quits; HAL says all is well
By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service
Bangalore: Veteran Test pilot and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bangalore-based HATSOFF Helicopter Training Private Ltd Wg Cdr (Retd) C D Upadhyay has quit . Sources confirmed to Express on Thursday that Upadhyay put in his papers on January 5 and will be out of HATSOFF (Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying) by the end of this month. HATSOFF is a JV of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and CAE Canada.
Sources say that Upadhyay emailed his resignation to the Board members expressing his desire to be off all activities of HATSOFF. “The CAE, while acknowledging the email thanked him for getting a world-class, leading-edge chopper training facility in Bangalore. He is now keen to share his expertise to promote helicopter industry and safe helicopter operations in India ,” sources said. He was appointed as the first CEO of HATSOFF in 2009.
HAL chairman's office told Express that Upadhyay was turning 65 years this month and hence it was a matter of days before he would have signed off from the post. An email sent to CAE's media department evoked no response. “He was informed that he could continue till March, which he rejected. There were some skirmishes over one armed forces' wing not agreeing to sent Dhruv pilots to train at HATSOFF despite repeated representations to them. He didn't budge a bit from the rulebook,” sources said.
For Upadhyay this will be the end of a hat-trick service spanning over 65 years. He commanded the Mi-8 Squadron while being with the Indian Air Force and later was the Chief Test Pilot (CTP) of HAL's rotary wing operations. “He was very much part of the design and development of Dhruv from its inception and has over 1000 hours of prototype testing experience on this helicopter. He has flown over 33 different types of aircraft and helicopters and has over 9000 hours of operational, prototype testing and instructional flying experience,” sources at HAL's Human Resources department said.
Upadhyay was not available for any comment.
Copyright@The New Indian Express
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Celebrating the Wright way: Young Aviators say HATSOFF to Wright Brothers
Schoolchildren along with HATSOFF officials pose with their paper planes in front of the Dhruv civil simulator at the HATSOFF facility on December 17. (Below) Schoolchildren along with officials test-fly their paper planes to pay tributes to Wright Brothers. Photos: Yugesh
By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service
Bangalore: Rishab, Pooja, Vinodini, Krithika, Sai and Janani flew over
the oil rigs of Mumbai. The weather wasn't friendly and still they managed a
safe landing on their Dauphin chopper. Prathika, Anusha, Rahul, Aathira,
Aditya and Vaishnav took the Bell chopper and hovered over the Siachen Glacier.
Awe-struck by the sight beneath, they manoeuvred confidently enjoying every
moment.
Later, during the 'de-brief' session in the company of some of India's finest
Test pilots, these schoolchildren probably had one of their best moments
in their lives so far. They had a reason to 'fly' and they had a reason to cheer,
as they joined thousands of plane people world over in celebrating the 108th
anniversary of the historic first flight of Wright Bothers. The man who gave
wings to their desire was Wg Cdr (Retd) C.D. Upadhyay, CEO, Helicopter Academy
to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF) -- a joint venture of Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and CAE-Canada.
Students between classes two and nine from various schools, including the
Sacred Hearts, Sishugruha, HAL, Cambridge and St. Thomas, were taken in groups
to fly on simulators along with instructors at HATSOFF. "The contribution
of Wright Brothers cannot be forgotten. Their 12-seconds first flight at
Kitty Hawk is something what we all will remember for ever," Upadhyay,
former chief test pilot of HAL, said.
While the rest of the much-hyped Aviation Capital of India didn't bother to
celebrate the Wright way (barring the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological
Museum which had an invited talk), HATSOFF rolled out a red-carpet welcome to
these children. "It is important that we inspire these kids,"
Upadhyay, one of the popular faces of the rotor clan in India, told Express.
The motion flight simulator gave a near-perfect feel of flying and the graphics
on offer took the imagination to unbelievable limits. Capt N.S. Krishna, Chief
of Training, HATSOFF, explained the plane fundas in plain language to the young
aviators. The children fired questions at will, like: "Uncle, Does the
simulators have any side effects?
Have you gone on any secret missions?" Capt Krishna gave a brief account
of his chopper crash in 2005 and how he walked out without a scratch
along with the crew.
The photo-op of the day finally came when the children flew their paper planes
to mark the significance of the Wright Day. As the planes landed one by
one, after performing their brief mission, it was time for a short film.
"Uncle..., have you fired a real missile?," the questions continued.
(Copyright@The New Indian Express)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
DGCA to inspect,qualify conventional Dhruv simulator cockpit soon
India’s Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will be evaluating the Dhruv helicopter simulator cockpit during the last week of April. Currently being integrated at the Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (Hatsoff) facility in Bengaluru, the Dhruv simulator was designed and built at CAE’s facility in Montreal.
Wing Cdr. (ret.) C.D. Upadhyay, Hatsoff CEO, tells Aviation Week that the DGCA team will be qualifying the Dhruv simulator to the Level-D category. Pawan Hans pilots currently fly the civil variant of the Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter, owned by India’s Oil and Natural Gas Commission and Border Security Force, which were among the first few customers of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.’s Dhruv civil variant.
(Full report in AW)
For previous reports on HATSOFF, check the links below
Feb 14, 2011
Feb 02, 2011
Sep 14, 2010
Sep 04, 2010
Jun 30, 2010
Jun 19, 2010
Jun 16, 2010
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