Wings of Fire 4-8

UNIT 2 CHAPTERS 5-8

Abdul Kalam started his career at technical center, civil aviation of DTD&P in 1958. He carried out a design assignment with the help of his officer-in-charge. Later he was sent to Aircraft and armament testing unit (A&ATU) Kanpur, to gain actual experience and practice in aircraft maintenance. On his return to Delhi, he was informed about their new project in which he was also a member in the design team. He carried out the design and development of a vertical take-off and landing platform.
After three years, he was posted at Aeronautical Development establishment (ADE), which was established in Bangalore. There a project team was formed with four persons to design and develop an indigenous hovercraft prototype called ground equipment machine (GEM). Slowly they started designing part-by-part, subsystem-by-subsystem and stage-by-stage to develop a wingless, light, swift machine. The hovercraft was christened 'NANDI', after the white bull, which acts as Lord Shiva's vehicle.
The then Defence minister, V K Krishna Menon on his visit to ADE took a ride in Nandi along with Kalam overruling all statements of concern for his safety. He praised Kalam for his efforts in the design and development of Nandi. He advised them to develop more powerful hovercraft. Later the project was mired in controversies and the new government did not extend its cooperation to continue the project.
One day, Dr. Mediratta called Kalam and asked him to organise a demonstration of Nandi for an important visitor. The next day, a tall, handsome, bearded man visited their workshop and asked him several questions about the machine. He was Prof. MGK Menon, director of the TIFR. After a week, Kalam received a call from the Indian Committee for Space Research (INCOSPAR), to attend an interview for the post of rocket engineer.
A panel of three members, Prof. Sarabhai, Prof. Menon and Mr. Saraf, interviewed him. During interview he sensed their warmth and friendliness. There was none of the arrogance or the patronizing attitude; the interviewers usually exhibit while talking to a young candidate. The questions did not probe his knowledge or skills but explored the possibilities he saw in himself. Then he was absorbed as a rocket engineer at INCOSPAR.
In 1962, INCOSPAR set up its Equatorial Rocket launching station at Thumba in Kerala and there he was placed. After that he got an opportunity to attend a six-month training programme on sounding rocket launching techniques at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) work centres in USA. He joined work at NASA's RESEARCH centre in Virginia and later visited Goddard Space Flight Centre. He was impressed by the organisational structure of these institutions in the US. They were made up of people with out false pride, which is a big barrier to effective growth in Indian Organisations.
At the end of his visit, he went to the east coast of Virginia, where NASA undertook sounding rocket programme. In the reception lobby, he saw a painting, which depicted a battle scene, with a few rockets flying in the background. It was the army of Tipu Sultan fighting the British East India Company towards the end of the 18th century. From that Kalam realised that long ago, the Indian rulers in warfare used same technology.
Soon after he returned from NASA, India's first rocket 'Nike Apache' was launched on 21 Nov. 1963. The real journey of the Indian Space programme began with the Rohini sounding rocket programme. The development of Indian rockets in the twentieth century can be seen as a revival of the eighteenth century vision of Tipu Sultan.
Rocketry was reborn in India, as a result of the technological vision of the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Prof. Vikram Sarabhai. It was decided to make our own SLV's and our own satellites simultaneously. Kalam quotes Khalil Gibran's words "Bread baked with out love is a bitter bread that feeds but half a man's hunger". One should work wholeheartedly if not the result will be hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness within. Later two Indian rockets named Rohini and Menaka were made at Thumba .
Prof. Sarabhai, in an informal meeting with Kalam and IAF Group Captain V S Narayanan, unfolded his plan of developing a rocket assisted take-off system RATO) for military aircraft. The Indian Air Force was in dire need of a large number of RATO motors for their S-22 and HF-24 aircraft. RATO motors were mounted on aircraft to provide the additional thrust required during take-off for aircraft flying under adverse operating conditions - like partially bombed runways, high altitude airfields, a heavier than prescribed load, or very high temperatures. Two significant developments occurred during that period. The first was the release of a ten-year profile for space research in the country and the formation of a Missile Panel in the Ministry of Defence in which Narayanan and Kalam were inducted as members. In those days our Defence R&D was dependent on imported equipment. The suggestions made by Jay Chandra Babu, an employee of the organisation, enabled them to develop the technology indigenously.