Behind the brightly painted but unremarkable façade of the
83-year-old Delhi Flying Club lies the Capital’s rich aviation
history. The club, established as training ground for young
aviators, has gone beyond its mandate and played a pioneering
role in promoting aviation. It not only operated airmails
between Delhi and other cities but also issued pilot licences
and trained air force and naval pilots during the Second World
War. “Ours was the most prestigious flying club in India and we
trained some of the first pilots in the country. We also
initiated the first airmail service in the country,” says AK
Gupta, the club’s secretary. When the flying club opened in
1928, it had two de Havilland moth aircraft named ‘Delhi’ and
‘Roshanara’. In the 1920s and 30s, aviation didn’t mean flying
an aircraft on autopilot. Flying was a real challenge. “There
was no navigation and between the take-off point and the
destination, the pilots had no contact with ground,” said
aviation historian Anuradha Reddy. “They had to depen