Bhubaneswar: Researcher and member of INTACH Anil Dhir has written an open letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, lauding efforts to bring an old Dakota aircraft, lying at Kolkata airport, to Odisha because of its connection with legendary leader Biju Patnaik and Kalinga Airlines.
He, however, requested the CM to park the aircraft in front of Biju Patnaik International Airport here instead of Anand Bhawan Museum in Cuttack as proposed.
“The right place for an aircraft is an airport, just as the correct place for an old train engine is outside a railway station,” he said.
Dhir said through consistent effort he could piece together the history of the plane and relocate it to Kolkata.
Driving the point home, he said, “Very few Dakotas are on display in the world. Most of them are in air museums that are attached to airports nearby. Nearly 35 of them are displayed outside prominent airports all over the world, mostly in the United States of America.”
He further said that the Bhubaneswar airport currently operates 27 flights and witnesses a footfall of 20,000 a day. “If the Dakota is kept at a suitable place outside Biju Patnaik International Airport, nearly 20,000 visitors will see this great relic of bygone days each day, and realise Biju Babu’s contribution to the aviation history of India. It will also be a fitting tribute to our legendary aviator Biju Babu, having an aircraft that he had piloted outside an airport named after him,” he added.
Elaborating on the importance of DC-3 Dakota, Dhir said no other aircraft has cruised every sky known to mankind. “It has flown more miles, broken more records, carried more passengers and cargo, accumulated more flying time and performed more ‘impossible’ feats than any other plane in history,” he said.
He also informed the CM about his forthcoming book on Biju Babu and his Kalinga Airlines.
