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Friday, February 20, 2015

HAL Museum

In Bangalore there is a huge aerospace manufacturing complex owned by the government of India called Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and known to the world as HAL.  Dr. Jeyakar Vendamanickam, Director (i.e., Rector) of XIME, worked there for some forty years.  Jeyakar is a brilliant engineer and manager, as well as a business teacher, guitarist, and fan of American folk music, including the songs of Joan Baez and James Taylor. (The latter being personal facts learned in a jam session, followed by a wonderful dinner at his home. We were also privileged to meet his charming wife, herself a pre-K through 12th grade private school principal.)

Prior to that dinner this past Wednesday, my fellow visiting professor Gerald Groshak and I were taken by Jeyakar to see the HAL Heritage Museum here in Bangalore. Though I was still a bit gimpy, walking and climbing stairs with some difficulty, I enjoyed the museum thoroughly.

In the museum, in the section dealing with HAL's WWII role of helping to maintain and repair myriad Allied aircraft employed in the China-Burma-India Theatre (CBI), I spotted a mislabeled photograph, which Jeyakar later reported to the curator. Here is my e-mail, sent today in an attempt to be helpful to HAL!
__________________________
Dear Jeyakar:

This was the P40: P40 Tomahawk - Google Search
 Here is its noble record as a second-tier fighter, and low altitude workhorse in all theaters of the war:
Pictured in the HAL Museum (and mislabeled as a P40) is a plane of this family:

There were several different aircraft that looked similar, all Lockheed designs.  A great many were used by Coastal Command of the RAF, and probably also in the CBI theatre.  For example:

A major transport model in the same family was the Lodestar:
I am sure that the curator at the museum will be interested in this e-mail.  His challenge will be to sort out exactly which Lockheed model is depicted!  

Thank you for all you have done for me as a visitor to XIME.  I am proud to have you as a friend.

Sincerely.

Duncan

Duncan C. McDougall, Visiting Professor Xavier Institute of Management & Entrepreneurship (XIME) 
Electronics City,
Bangalore, INDIA

Home school:
Plymouth State University 
College of Business Administration
17 High Street, MSC #27
Plymouth, New Hampshire, USA 03264 
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-Duncan

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