Soaring the skies from the land that once served as gateway of south

Soaring the skies from the land that once served as gateway of south

That glimpse of Marina Beach, the aerial view of the densely packed city, could perhaps be one of the most charming sights when an air passenger flies out from the airport or lands here. But did you know how the city looked almost a century back? J.W. Madley, after whom a subway has been named in T. Nagar, assembled an aircraft in 1914 and took it to inspect some work in the Red Hills area. “Madley, who flew the aircraft, went on to describe Madras as ‘a city of distances with huge houses and gardens,” historian K.R.A. Narasiah said.

Madras had set foot on the aviation map just a few years before. In February 1911, when an aeroplane took off from the city, many thronged to take a good glance at it, in what looked like wizardry to them back then. The Hindu on February 18, 1911, reported: “….a huge and enthusiastic crowd collected in the early hours of the morning... Every place of vantage from which a view of the flight could be obtained was crowded with spectators, long before the hour for the flight arrived.”

Tracing the roots all the way from when the first flight departed from the city to witnessing some of the major developments, Mr. Narasiah, while delivering a talk for Madras Day, said several people still didn’t know about the many firsts that Madras has.

The first private airline in the south, Deccan Airways, had its first flight from Madras to Delhi through Hyderabad on July 1, 1946, with a 21-seater Dakota. Madras came into airmail service with Tata’s plane coming to Madras, he said.

“The flight took off at 8.30 a.m. from St. Thomas Mount aerodrome and landed at Hakimpet airport at 10.45 a.m. A distance of 320 miles was covered in two and a half hours. The fare structure for Madras to Hyderabad was ₹65,” he added.

The Flying Club in Madras was formed in March 1930, and there were as many as 71 founding members, including 14 Indians. The first year of the club saw seven pilots get ‘A’ licences.

Mr. Narasiah, said that The Hindu’s role in it was indeed unmissable. It had distributed newspapers to other cities via flights, and for better distribution, they thought it would be better to own planes and send out the newspapers, he added.