A Journey Beyond Runways

‘Above and Beyond (A & B): Exploring the Amazing World of Aviation’ by CISF veteran Shiv Kumar Mohanka is certainly India’s (and perhaps the world’s) most comprehensive cover-to-cover offering about anything and everything connected with aviation — from the earliest history of aerial reconnaissance by l’Entreprenant, a lighter-than-air balloon used by the French Army in their engagement with the Austrians in the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, to the remote-controlled drones of today, which hit precise targets at the time and place of choosing by their handlers.

This monumental work of five hundred-plus pages is encyclopedic in its range, covering every possible entry in the dictionary of aviation. The work is spread over eight chapters, with the first two relating to the infrastructure, design, operations, and management of airports. From the naming (and renaming) of airports to the protocol related to the transport of everything — from human beings to racehorses, from mobile phones to life-saving drugs — every possible aspect of the physical infrastructure of the airport and the aeroplane is covered.

The third chapter focuses on environmental concerns and safety considerations, as well as their interconnectedness. We learn about the environmental impact assessment of aviation and the field of aviation meteorology. Today, pilots can avoid hazardous weather conditions like turbulence, thunderstorms, and poor visibility based on critical information regarding atmospheric conditions such as temperature, wind speed, wind direction, visibility, and cloud cover.

Mohanka tells us about the bothersome phenomenon of icing, which occurs when an aircraft flies through clouds containing supercooled water droplets that freeze upon contact with the aircraft’s surface. This is one of the major causes of fatal air crashes. A & B spells out the evolution of aircraft communication systems over the last eleven decades — from the first hesitant trial round of wireless telegraphy by the Royal Flying Corps in 1912 to the VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) systems by the turn of the century. As things stand today, aircraft communication technology is marked by new digital and advanced satellite-based systems, and by the integration of AI into this chain.

Perhaps the chapter of Above and Beyond that will resonate most with readers is the one dealing with passengers and pilots — for, at the end of the day, the entire ecosystem exists for these two key stakeholders. In fact, in my view, passengers take precedence even over pilots — for if passengers did not put in their money to undertake the journeys they do, the aviation sector would face a crash of the financial kind! We become aware of the rights of air passengers as well as the charter of duties of airlines and airport authorities. We also learn that, many times, one passenger’s preference — such as travelling with a pet — could be a nightmare for co-passengers. The airlines do make an effort to ensure the right balance!

Mohanka is in his element when it comes to safety and security challenges. Having spent more than three decades in the CISF — India’s premier security agency that handles all airport security — we learn how, over the years and especially after 9/11, passengers are now more willing to cooperate with security procedures at airports. A frequent flyer like Martina Navratilova has said, “Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but is now a necessity all the time.” We learn about the history of hijackings — starting from the first incident in Peru in 1931 to the politically motivated and terror-linked cases that peaked in the 1960s and 1970s — after which three major international agreements, the Tokyo, Hague, and Montreal Conventions, were signed to address crimes on aircraft, hijacking, and (potential) sabotage respectively.

The point to note is that even among nations competing with each other on every possible parameter, there is unanimity that hijacking of aircraft cannot be tolerated under any circumstances. This is ensured by banning items like firearms, knives, and pepper sprays on passengers. In India, this is drawn up by the BCAS and enforced in letter and spirit (to the tee) by the CISF. No wonder, then, that at airports across the country, we have panels displaying the pictures of CISF personnel who have performed their duties with meticulous care and responsibility. Irksome though frisking and baggage checks may be, everyone now realises that they are for passengers’ own safety and security. However, it must be placed on record that thanks to apps like DigiYatra, the process is much smoother than it was until last year, when there were multiple queues — for airport entry, at the airline counter, and again for security check.

In Sneak Peek into History, Mohanka gives us the ‘helicopter view’ of the aviation industry, for there are many operations that a commercial airline cannot perform. While it is great to transport humans and cargo from one airport to another, for terrains that are rugged and for operations that require landing in remote places — such as oil rigs, medical evacuations, military operations, and outer space explorations — we must fall back on helicopters. The author turns poetic when he calls the helicopter “an aerial virtuoso, with the remarkable talent of vertical take-offs and landings, mid-air suspensions like a graceful ballet dancer, and fluid movements in all directions — forward, backward, and sideways.” This is why choppers can operate with minimal facilities and from almost anywhere — be it a crowded urban setting or a remote, uncharted territory in the higher reaches of the Himalayas.

It was the Italians who introduced air power to modern warfare when, in 1911, their aviators took to the skies in their war with Turkey. And from then onwards, there has been no looking back. By the end of the First World War, military aviation had rapidly evolved to embrace diverse roles — from artillery spotting to air superiority, bombing, ground attacks, and anti-submarine patrols. While the interwar period saw great technological leaps, by the time World War II began, the air forces of both Allied and Axis powers had unleashed a frenzied burst of aircraft technology improvements — the introduction of jet engines, radars, missiles, and electronic warfare. As recent U.S. operations in the Af-Pak region have shown, an air force gives a nation the logistical depth to assert itself not just in territories proximate to its borders, but anywhere in the world.

The Indian pioneers in air warfare include legends like Hardit Singh Malik, India’s first military aviator, who joined the RAF way back in 1917. The first martyr of the skies was Indra Lal (Laddie) Roy, who received the Distinguished Flying Cross (albeit posthumously). The Indian Air Force is now an integral part of our defence forces, with its motto Nabhah Sparsham Diptam (“Touch the Sky with Glory”), taken from the eleventh chapter of the Bhagavad Gita.

The penultimate chapter focuses on the future of aviation. As eco-consciousness grows, newer vistas will open up — supersonic and hypersonic aircraft made with lighter materials and improved aerodynamics are set to make travel even more inclusive and accessible, ranging from electric personal air transportation to economy-class double-decker seats. But let’s move from aircraft to drones, for, as Bill Gates says, “Drones will be more impactful than people currently recognise — in positive ways to help society.” But the reader may ask: what is a drone? Well, the Oxford Dictionary calls it “an aircraft without a pilot, controlled from the ground, used for multiple tasks — from targeted bomb delivery to aerial spraying for crop protection.”

The last chapter, titled Bonus Conant, sees Mohanka sharing useful travel tips — from carrying headphones and portable chargers, snapping photos of check-in luggage, seeking complimentary upgrades, and opting for the left-hand checkpoint, to packing wet wipes, ensuring online check-in, carrying an empty water bottle, checking the current flight status, logging into complimentary Wi-Fi, and choosing seat preferences carefully.

In fine, this is a book that gives you both the big picture to understand the world of aviation and the micro-detail to make your flight more comfortable. Congratulations to Mohanka for bringing out such a handy compendium on everything you wanted to know about air travel — and did not know where to seek the answers from!