{"id":195,"date":"2019-08-31T12:38:31","date_gmt":"2019-08-31T12:38:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/utkalaage.in\/?p=195"},"modified":"2019-08-31T12:38:33","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T12:38:33","slug":"biju-patnaiks-iconic-dakota-to-be-sold-as-scrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/?p=195","title":{"rendered":"Biju Patnaik\u2019s Iconic Dakota to be Sold as Scrap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Legendary Biju Patnaik\u2019s iconic Dakota DC-3, in which he rescued Indonesia\u2019s freedom fighters in a heroic act in 1947, will in all probability sold as scrap soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"http:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.37-PM-1024x680.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-197\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.37-PM-1024x680.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.37-PM-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.37-PM-768x510.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.37-PM.jpeg 1084w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt will be\nmost unfortunate if Biju Babu\u2019s legacy is sold at Rs 30 a kg,\u201d eminent\nresearcher Anil Dhir said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"http:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1024x680.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1024x680.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-768x510.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM.jpeg 1084w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The plane is\npresently parked in the isolation bay of the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose\nInternational Airport at Kolkata along with six other aircrafts. Mr Dhir said\nthe Airport Authority of India (AAI) had contacted the Metal Scrap Trading\nCorporation for selling off the Dakota as scrap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Dakota\nis the last complete surviving aircraft in the country. It took me a full year\nto trace, identify and crosscheck the plane\u2019s manufacturing number with the\nAmerican archives. I had to go to Kolkata half a dozen times before I was able\nto examine the hulk,\u201d Dhir said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"http:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1-1024x680.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1-1024x680.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1-768x510.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.38-PM-1.jpeg 1084w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The aircraft\nwas part of the fleet of 18 Dakota aeroplanes of the erstwhile Kalinga Airlines\nused in the Kashmir operation in 1947-48 when Biju ferried troops to Srinagar\nalong with medical assistance and other supplies, Dhir said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the\naircraft was lying neglected as a piece of scrap in an abandoned corner of\nKolkata airport,&nbsp; the Odisha government\nhad decided to bring back the aircraft to the state and place it in the\npremises of \u2018Anand Bhawan\u2019, Biju\u2019s ancestral home in Cuttack as a mark of\ntribute to the expert pilot and his machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"680\" src=\"http:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.39-PM-1024x680.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.39-PM-1024x680.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.39-PM-300x199.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.39-PM-768x510.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2019-08-31-at-4.20.39-PM.jpeg 1084w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However,\nDhir had written a letter to the Odisha chief minister and Biju Patnaik\u2019s son\nNaveen Patnaik urging him place the Dakota&nbsp;\nin Bhubaneswar instead of Cuttack. If the aircraft was kept at a\nsuitable place outside the Biju Patnaik International Airport, thousands of\nvisitors would get to see this great relic of bygone days every day and realize\nBiju Babu\u2019s contribution for the nation\u2019s aviation history.\n\nBut unfortunately, the whole project appears to\nhave collapsed as the aircraft is set to be disposed off as scrap. The\ngovernment appears to have forgotten its decision to bring it back to Odisha,\nhe said.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Legendary Biju Patnaik\u2019s iconic Dakota DC-3, in which he rescued Indonesia\u2019s freedom fighters in a heroic act in 1947, will in all probability sold as scrap soon. \u201cIt will be most unfortunate if Biju Babu\u2019s legacy is sold at Rs 30 a kg,\u201d eminent researcher Anil Dhir said. The plane is presently parked in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions\/201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}