Inside story: Team LCH upbeat over maiden flight
Its champagne time. Work hard and party hard -- that's the fair norm even in the business of plane-making. And, Team LCH is exactly doing that. A toast after the triumph. A toast for tomorrow.
Just days after the maiden flight of their light and lethal chopper, Light Combat Helicopter, the mood at Camp LCH inside the heavily fortified Helicopter Complex in Bangalore is just what the doctor ordered. Throwing the media gag imposed by a bunch of nil-sighted babus at the top, a group of passionate members of Team LCH spoke their hearts out to tarmak007. Heres the best-cut of what they shared, in their own words, at one of the finest waterholes located close to a golf course near Bangalores old airport.
Morale high: The morale of entire team is sky-high and we had to wait for little more than what we expected to see the machine fly. There were issues and there are issues. But then, this is a prototype and there are bound to be some concerns. That much benefit of doubt should be given to any new programs. We know what it takes to make an aircraft fly for the first time or be it 500th or even the 2000th time. But, we are saddened every time something goes wrong. The ALH is a great platform, but despite our best efforts it got us some bad publicity. Our confidence was dented, not once, many times. But now LCH has again triggered our morale. Engineers, designers, technicians and pilots are not robots. They have emotions. Since you (tarmak007) know how the company functions, we got to put up with lot of 'stupid stuff on a daily basis. You dont have any choice. We know our strengths. We knew, we could. Now, we are bit relaxed.
Home-grown effort: Unlike the ALH, this program, right from word-go to till date, this project has been complete Indian. Thats a huge credit for us. It reinforces once again our capabilities in rolling out machines that can match the best in the world, using home-grown talent and technologies. Only India, China and Pakistan have terrains with such high-altitudes and here an attack helicopter plays a huge role during a conflict. Kargil was a classic case. If only we had the LCHs then, may be...! We are extremely proud and delighted that we now have a mean machine from our own hangars. This reinforces our capabilities in indigenization. As designers and engineers, we are elated that we could build something that these pilots wanted.
Services happy: We have been receiving calls from all quarters based on the initial reports of the March 29th flight. The Services are extremely happy with what ever we have achieved. They have complimented our efforts and are looking forward to see the platform goes through the future processes swiftly, meeting all parameters. At the end of the day, its their baby. They will nurture it over the years. We never had so much of positive comments coming from so many quarters at one go. The signs are good. Theres a saying among aviation fraternity -- Whats looking good, will fly good. We hope it will. It should.
One force: LCHs future will depend upon various factors within the company, much of it is known to all. Honestly, theres some apprehensions expressed all over right now. While its easy to make comments or point finger at someone, we feel there must be a complete new way of thinking to take this project to its logical end induction into Services. Program management is the key. Can we have a group now completely dedicated to LCH, working on the project day in and day out? We have to be at it all the time. We knew what went wrong in the past. Why things got delayed? Why things are getting delayed? We are confident and its possible. You got to have the will. A will and a vision. Also, the media must give us some breathing space. Let LCH enter a concrete phase and then lets evaluate it. An early call based on hear-say and just one look wont work. We need your backing.
That was it. An up-close with Team LCH. Short n sweet. Surely they deserve all the pat, including the team captain R. Srinivasan, the God-fearing and down-to-earth soul.
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Tailpiece: The LCH is scheduled to start its test flying regularly from Monday, April 5, 2010, if insiders were to be believed. It will have enough flights logged before the show of strength for mantris, defence babus and the media. As reported by tarmak007 in the previous blog a first official flight after the first original flight! The tentative dates now made available are April 22 or April 23. The date could still change, they say.
Inside story: Team LCH upbeat over maiden flight
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fellow countrymen.
