Gilbert,
Your mails do make interesting reading, and with your naval background etc its nice to learn a few things now and then. Refering to your response to Gabriel, I had in the past gathered from the various posts on Dabolim, that the airport in question was somehow usurped off the people of Goa. And now in your post you make mention that "The facility (Juhu) doesnt even belong to the Ministry of Defence" The question here is, does Dabolim 'belong' to the Navy?
In order for Dabolim airport to 'belong' to the Navy, it has to be bought from, won over or gifted off by its rightful owners. By any chance, has that ever happened, and at what price? And if it has, where does the question of the Navy leaving Dabolim arise from?
Just curious!
Salus
Message: 9 Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:34:50 +0530 From: gilbert menezes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Subject: [Goanet]Re: airfields Reply-To: [email protected]
Gabriel , since you ask, the Juhu strip is longer than the deck of a carrier. But that was not the point. The suggestion from your friend Phillip was for Juhu to serve as substitute for the Navy which is operating an air station at Goa. You therefore need to look at the huge Navy infrastructure built up at Goa as well as the types of aircraft >being operated here, most of them being non aircraft carrier types. Heres some of the types. 1.Kiran jet trainer 2.Tu-142-long range maritime patrol 3.IL-38- Long Range anti sub warfare 4. Aiforce Jaguar -Maritime strike(periodically) 5. Sea Harrier V/STOL All these types need extended runaway lengths, including the Harrier >Trainer.. Besides, the Navy also operates a variety of helicopters such as the Seaking ASW, Kamov-28 ASW, Kamov-31 Air Early Warning helos, Allouettes. If you knew the basics of VTOL training, you would know that a pilot needs to be comfortable on a full length runaway, before he transitions to the very difficult VSTOL mode, used for carrier launch/recovery.. The Navy possess infrastructure to maintain , service and repair >these aircraft at Goa. The Navy obviously , also has weapons for these aircraft at Goa. Then, out of the blue, comes this nonsensical suggestion about >Juhu-- which has nothing on it. When I last saw it, it was being used as a staging point for ONGC helicopters used for servicing the oil >offshore installations of Bombay High. The facility doesnt even belong to >the Ministry Of Defence. I hope I havent gone into technicalities. btw,What *technical* function did you perform for the Brazilian >Navy? How many times did you step on the deck of the carrier *Minas >Gerais*? regards, Gilbert.
