"Good to be back in the cockpit at the age of 76!” noted a broadcast message from Air Chief Marshal Fali Major (retd) on February 16, 2023 on flying the new Light Utility Helicopter (LUH) at Aero India 2023 in Bangalore on February 15. Known to be the only chopper pilot to head the Indian Air Force, Major told a defense news website livefist.com: "The LUH handles wonderfully in all flight envelopes (region within which an aircraft can operate safely) and is a very agile machine.” The flight took place a fortnight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s (HAL) new helicopter factory near Bangalore.
Major was quoted on the website as stating, "The LUH, in my reckoning, will be a befitting replacement for the Cheetah/Chetak fleet in high altitude and rough area operations… Given the fact that the ageing Cheetah/Chetaks need to be replaced, the sooner they are replaced with the LUH, the sooner high altitude operations will become more effective and safe.”
Top and above: Air Chief Marshal Fali Major (retd) with the Light Utility Helicopter
The LUH along with its derivative Light Observation Helicopter was designed and developed by Rotary Wing Research and Design Center, one of the research and development sections of HAL for civilian and military applications.
The website noted that Major has clocked "hours on all rotorcraft in Indian Air Force inventory.” Major received a Shaurya Chakra for a dangerous rescue mission he led from a Mi-17 (chopper) during a cable car mishap in Himachal Pradesh. He resides in Bangalore and heads the Bangalore Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman.
Aero India 2023 took place from February 13-17, 2023 at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bangalore. The biennial show and aviation exhibition is organized by the Defence Exhibition Organisation, Ministry of Defence and is believed to be the largest air show in Asia. The theme of the show was "The Runway to a Billion Opportunities.”
livefist.com is journalist Shiv Aroor’s "award-winning site on Indian defence, aerospace and military affairs, currently the world’s most visited, quoted and referenced new site on the subject,” states their website. F. J.