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HYDERABAD, March 15 -- "See the skies from the air on Fridays at 2 pm for '10." Amused? This was on a famous poster of the Deccan Airways of the circa 1950's Hyderabad. Walk into the 'History of Civil Aviation in India' stall at the India Aviation 2014 at Begumpet airport and you will possibly stumble upon such fascinating records, be it aviation stamps or airline schedules, of a glorious past of aviation in Hyderabad and the country.
Deccan Airways, as the company owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad was called in 1945, had chartered flights to as far as Quetta and Rangoon, and were also the first one's to start the Haj chartered fleet from the country in 1948.
"Hyderabad had a regular air-strip even back in 1932 at Habshiguda. PM Reddy and Babar Mirza of Aero Club of Hyderabad used to regularly fly from here. In 1934, it became Hyderabad State Aero Club and started operating from Begumpet airport, which is presently one of the oldest airports in the country," says P Anuradha Reddy, who is the author of 'Aviation of Hyderabad State'.
According to her, PM Reddy and Babar Mirza, both of Hyderabad, were among the firsts in the country to complete their flying training in England and obtain licenses.
Hyderabad was...