Important assignments

1.Aircraft Technical Management & Flight Testing

 Hands-on experience of handling aircraft snags related to engine, fuel system, air conditioning, oxygen system, armament system, flight controls and structures. 

 Planned, supervised and also scheduled the aircraft phase-wise for ensuring completion of planned maintenance tasks (production from major servicing), repair of components from bays/ labs in stipulated timeframe. 

 In Flight Hangar, coordinated the flight testing requirements of LSP variants and concerns raised on design of the LSP variants was coordinated with designers for improvements or modifications. 

 Prepared rotables repair/overhaul (ROH) task sheets and followed up with HAL for on time delivery of components/spares to enhance availability with operating units. Liaised with various divisions of HAL for on time repair/overhaul and delivery of mission critical components to operating units. 

2. Aero engine Critical Projects 

 Evaluated proposals of M/s Rolls Royce and M/s Honeywell and participated in technical discussions with each vendor for Engine upgrade/ re-engining program. 

 Factors attributing to low thrust were analyzed and based on findings a revised compressor wash technique was evolved with OEM i.e M/s Rolls Royce. Participated in user trials, TEC and was solely responsible to introduced the equipment in service equipment scales. 

 The Extended Afterburner operation required for meeting operational requirements were studied after dis-assembling 10 Adour aero engines at HAL Engine Division to study the effects of A/B operation. Clearance and policy for recalculating the life of the engine was issued after this major study. 

 Overhauling of Adour engines with tighter tolerances (closer than the overhaul standards) was practically performed on two engines obtaining excellent results of lowering the passing out TET of overhauled engines in order to sustain better performance at field level and operations. 

3. Infrastructure Projects 

 Project in-charge for Adour Engine Test Bed & Module Change Workshop. Coordinated with Rolls Royce & HAL Engine Division in executing the project for setting up the Adour Engine Test Bed (ETB) and Module Change Workshop (MCW). Provided adequate technical (theoretical/practical) training and guided personnel in operating ETW & MCW. 

 Project in-charge for installation and commissioning of GE engine test bed facility for testing the F 404 (F2J3 and IN 20) aero engines. 

 Established the ‘O’ & ‘I’ level facilities for formation & resurrection of Jaguar Squadron. 

 Designed the various quadrant buildings and executed the work services resulting in improvement in infrastructure of Air-to-Air range. Formulated the plan for upgrade of communication equipment for Air-to-Air range efficiently. 

 Finalized the scope and processed the case of Modernization of air bases with Ministry of Defence as per the Capital budget expenditure plan 

4. Aircraft Documentation Development Organization 

 Conducted Reliability & Maintainability analysis on components, modifications, upgrades and premature failures of aircraft components. Prepared special maintenance task cards to address premature component failures based on component utilization, handling and maintenance issues. 

 Maintenance evaluation of new installations/ upgrades of existing systems. 

 Prepared 1st& 2nd line aircraft servicing documents for Jaguar and prepared task cards for special and unscheduled activities for Jaguar ac. 

5. Aircraft System Upgrades & Modifications 

 Modifications proposed by HAL for improvement of the component reliability (for addressing pre-mature failures) were studied prior to accepting the proposal. Participated in finalization of modification on undercarriage electro-hydraulic uplock units, undercarriage selector valves, replacement of main filter of the engine fuel system and fuel pipelines for pressure refueling for LCA. 

 Participated in PDR, CDR and technical evaluation committees for mission equipments and specialist ground/ test equipments on Jaguar and LCA. Team member to finalize the mechanical / structure interface for guided weapons and 450 lts supersonic drop tank and vendor development for carbon-carbon brake discs. Evaluated technical modifications for mechanical/ structural interface including component installation drawings for ease of accessibility, maintainability & operations 

 Core team member for Integration of Air to Air refueling probe. Assisted in preparation of System Requirement Document (SRD) and Interface Control Document (ICD). 

6. Maintenance Concept and Philosophy 

 Core member in finalization of maintenance philosophy document, Lifing catalogue, Component Pre-installation check manual for LCA. Assisted designers to prepare tech specs for design and development of indigenous testers & ground equipments in compliance with the MIL Standard guidelines. 

 Prepared job cards for each module at unit level to carry out the Module Change in MCW. This improved the quality of work and supervison. 

 Provide user inputs & guidelines to design houses – Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and HAL (AR &DC) – on operational & maintainability parameters for the design & development. Verified the designs/ tech specs suggested by designers for further progress of the proposal and thereafter participated in TEC of ADA/ HAL for finalization of vendor. 

6. Defect Investigation 

 As a DI committee member have carried out design reviews and investigated the main cause for snag/ failure of component on prototype (LSP) versions of aircraft during flight testing. 

 Post analysis of the main attributes for the cause of failure; changes in product design or process improvements reports are finalized. Test procedures being made by the designers are reviewed & plan for implementation such as specialist tools, mandatory spares and the process to restoration to flight condition were finalized. 

7. Indigenization 

 Made key contributions in indigenization of TTGE and establishment of 2nd line facilities during the formation & resurrection of the Jaguar squadron delivering substantial financial savings. 

 As member of the indigenization team, have carried out critical reviews of the capabilities of each vendor to ascertain ability to sustain the quality of production based on the vendor supplied documents for 91 ECS, General System and Avionics components. 

8. Instructional Tenures 

As a Qualified Instructor had successful and effective tenures in Training establishments as 

 Chief Instructor, Jaguar TETTRA (Technical Type Training) School have conducted extensive theory classes along with hands-on practical sessions on mechanical subjects of Jaguar aircraft systems for engineers, aircrew and technicians. Prepared lesson plans and comprehensive question bank for Jaguar aircraft systems. Prepared computer based training packages for Jaguar aircraft sub systems for maintenance simulator (ASMS). 

 Directing Staff, Air Force Technical College, have conducted specialist classes on advanced aerodynamics & propulsion systems to Trainee Officers, Computer literacy programs and management courses for senior officers. Was responsible for installing the multimedia facility and thereafter guided term projects for preparing multimedia learning packages (CBT). Prepared and updated training syllabus, Lesson plans, Weekly Training Program and other documents related to training. 

 Training in-charge LCA: Being done the first time, I was Single handedly responsible for Formulation of training package on LCA including syllabus, BTP, WTP, lesson plans, instructor slides, exam papers. The complete training was done efficiently and same format is being carried out till date.