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n May 1930, a chance encounter happened between two young Indians at a remote airfield in Egypt during the course of a longdistance air race. J.R.D. Tata, who later became the Chairman of Air India, came to the assistance of Aspy Engineer, who was stranded with engine trouble. Decades later Engineer became the Chief of the Air Staff. A humble spark plug, graciously given, sealed the relationship between India’s future civil and military aviation leaders. The Irani family of Karachi had the unique distinction of contributing four sons to the IAF. Aspy Merwan Irani, the eldest, was born in Lahore on December 15, 1912. At school, he was fascinated with mechanical things. So his friends gave him the nickname Engineer. He liked the name and officially adopted it. He also took to flying early in life. In November 1929, Aga Khan of Karachi offered a prize of £500 for the first Indian to fly solo from England to India or vice versa. According to the rules of the Royal Aero Club, it must be a solo flight completed within six weeks from the date of starting. The prize will remain open for one year from January 1930. In March 1930, Aspy Engineer flew from Karachi to England as second pilot with a friend named R.N. Chawla in a de Havilland Gipsy Moth— a single engine, light aeroplane with rudimentary instruments and no radio aids. They were the first Indians to fly from India to England. On April 25, 1930, Aspy took off from London, in an attempt to fly the Gipsy Moth back to Karachi alone and claim the Aga Khan prize. However, when he landed at Aboukir Bay in Egypt, he noticed that a spark plug was not working. He discovered to his horror that he did not have a spare one and was effectively stuck. Fortunately for him, shortly thereafter, JRD Tata landed at the same airfield. Tata, also in a Gipsy Moth, was making the prize attempt in the reverse direction—from Karachi to London. He gave Engineer his spare spark plug and they resumed their race in opposite directions. Aspy reached Karachi on May 11, beating
Hall of Fame Tata by a few hours. Though a third contestant had finished the race a day before him, Aspy was declared winner since that contestant could not complete the journey within six weeks of commencement.
ASPY ENGINEER (1912 - 2002) ‘If the IAF today is a service of which we are all proud, it is because of the high standards that you and your colleagues set from the start and have maintained ever since’
—J.R.D. Tata
Aspy was just 18 at the time and his prize-winning performance probably smoothed his way into the IAF. At RAF Cranwell he won the Groves Memorial Prize for being the best allround pilot of his term. After commissioning, he joined ‘A’ Flight of the IAF flying Wapiti aircraft in the North Western Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunwa in Pakistan). When No. 1 Squadron of the IAF was formed in July 1938, Aspy Engineer was one of the three flight commanders, along with other famous pilots
IAF SPECIAL
like Subroto Mukherjee and K.K. Jumbo Majumdar. In 1939, Engineer’s flight notched up a scorching 403 hours of operational flying, a remarkable feat given the very limited aircraft and crew available. For this, he was awarded the Mentionedin-Despatches. Three years later, he became the second Indian officer of the Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF) to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). Aspy Engineer was a Group Captain during the 1947 Kashmir operations. On being promoted to Air Commodore he took over command of No. 1 Operational Group. A decade later, he was appointed Managing Director of Hindustan Aircraft Limited (HAL) at a time when the factory was experiencing serious labour trouble. Fortunately, labour relations improved and HAL was able to embark upon several new projects. Engineer may have been settling in for the long haul, but fate intervened. The sudden demise in 1960 of Subroto Mukherjee saw Engineer appointed Chief of the Air Staff in the rank of Air Marshal. During his tenure, the IAF was involved in the Sino-Indian border conflict of 1962, flying supply and transport missions to Indian troops in forward areas. Despite the protests of Engineer and his staff, the Government did not allow the IAF to fly offensive missions against the Chinese, perhaps because of a misplaced fear that this might escalate hostilities. Engineer later supervised the IAF’s transition to a supersonic service with the induction of the first batch of Soviet MiG-21 fighters. He also improved the transport and helicopter fleet, once again with Soviet aircraft. After retirement from the IAF in 1964, Engineer served as India’s ambassador to Iran. He died on May 1, 2002. J.R.D. Tata once wrote in a letter to Aspy Engineer, “If the IAF today is a service of which we are all proud, it is because of the high standards that you and your colleagues set from the start and have maintained ever since.” SP —Group Captain (Retd) Joseph Noronha, Goa Issue 10 • 2010 SP’S AVIATION 51