An aircraft that was assembled on the terrace of a Charkop building may soon be zipping across the skies. Amol Yadav, a 41- year-old senior commander with Jet Airways, who spent six years building the six-seater aircraft, has finally got the certificate of registration from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Further tests are scheduled over the next 10 days before he gets the permit to fly.


An ecstatic Yadav told, “I am so happy that for the first time in India, an experimental aircraft maker has received this DGCA certificate.” Currently, his six-seater aircraft is parked at the airport.

While manufacturing aircraft remains Yadav’s dream, for now he hopes this certificate will help him smoothen the bureaucratic process to acquire the 157 acres of land that the state government had in-principle approved for his aircraft manufacturing process.

The registration number of his aircraft, VT–NMD, is a nod to Prime Minister Narendra Modi (NM) and Chief Minister Devendra (D) Fadnavis, he says.


Yadav has received this certificate under the latest Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) rules,

After making waves at the Make in India event in Mumbai in February 2016, Yadav’s aircraft was exhibited at Aviation India 2016 in Hyderabad and in Transform Maharashtra event at Mumbai in May. Yadav’s plane is made of aluminium, measures 10-ft eight-inches in height, and was put together under the guidance of Air Marshal Murali Sundaram, and an advisory panel of the IIT-B professors, under the banner of Thrust Aircraft Company, a firm launched by Yadav.

Yadav’s next project: a 19-seater aircraft. “Half the work of the new aircraft has been done on the terrace but I am struggling to put the required money together. Also, the 1,200 sq ft terrace is not enough space for the new aircraft,” Yadav rued.