[Shivaji]

Dear BHPians,

My membership was recently approved. I am 77 years young. An ex fighter pilot from the Indian Air Force. I started driving and got my driving licence after undergoing a full driving test quite young.

Got commissioned as a Pilot Officer in '63, was one of the toppers in my batch. Was sent to the US for a Gunnery Course in '64 to fly the T33A and Sabre F86F. Bought my first car there, a '58 Chevorlet for $150. While doing the Gunnery Course, won the Top Gun Trophy for standing first in the course.

1965 was the proud owner of a Royal Enfield Bullet. 1970 bought my first car in India, a second hand Ambassador. By then I had got married and had a daughter. Sold it in '73 when I was sent to Iraq on deputation for two years. In Iraq bought a new 800cc Toyota mini.

Returned to India in '75 and bought a new Ambassador for Rs. 32K. Car gave me excellent service. Sold it in '91 for Rs. 34K on moving to Singapore to be employed as a flying instructor with the Singapore Air Force.

In my 7 years in Singapore owned four new cars: a 800cc Subaru Viki, 1500cc Honda Civic, 3000cc Toyota Camry (bought in Perth, Australia when I was posted there for two years), then a 1600cc Opel Vectra. Cars in Singapore are frightfully expensive. The Civic cost me S$98K which is the equivalent of Rs. 49L. The Singapore govt. imposes high duty to discourage car ownership.

1997 moved to Australia to be employed as a flying instructor with BAE Systems. Bought several cars, all brand new, after using each for a few years. 1600cc Ford Laser, 3000cc Holden Commodore, 3500cc Toyota Tarago, 1500cc Honda Jazz for my daughter, 2000cc Mazda CX3 also for my daughter. The Honda Jazz went to my grandson, now 21.

I retired from flying in 2012 at age 70. Settled in Sydney. For the past few years, my wife and I have been toying with the idea of returning to spend more time in India. I stumbled upon Team BHP website a few years ago while looking for which car to buy in India. The website has been a great source of information.

Within the next few months, my wife and I will be returning to India to settle in our new 4 bedroom flat bought from the Army Housing Organisation. I need to buy a new car then.

Wondering which car to buy. It will have to be a medium sized, petrol automatic. I am planning to take the help of Team BHP members to make this choice. From the information I could gather from here I have shortlisted the following cars (not in that order):

Honda City VX or ZX CVT
Hyundai Verna SX(O) 1.6 VTVT AT
Creta 1.6 VTVT petrol AT
VW 1.2 TSI Vento Highline Plus
Honda Jazz VX CVT (last choice since it is a small car)

Input from members will be highly appreciated.

That's the plan. I look forward to interacting more will you all.

Cheers

Group Captain VK Vidyadhar

[condor]

Sir, welcome to Team-BHP ! Happy to see a fighter pilot in our midst. And a Salute to all that you have done for the Nation.



And that's an envious list of postings, places and cars


About selecting the car, I believe the other sub-forum on "What Car" would be more appropriate. (This section being for Introductions)


Looking forward to hearing more from you and your experiences through the years

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by Shivaji

Dear BHPians,

My membership was recently approved.

Welcome to the forum Captain

Originally Posted by Shivaji

Got commissioned as a Pilot Officer in '63, .......... The website has been a great source of information.

Your journey has been great, motivational and kind of the 'ideal' for many of us when we were kids. Hope to learn a lot from your experiences over time.

Originally Posted by Shivaji

From the information I could gather from here I have shortlisted the following cars (not in that order):

Honda City VX or ZX CVT
Hyundai Verna SX(O) 1.6 VTVT AT
Creta 1.6 VTVT petrol AT
VW 1.2 TSI Vento Highline Plus
Honda Jazz VX CVT (last choice since it is a small car)

From the given list, Honda City is the best option as a car. Very comfortable, smooth to drive and has most of the features that you will desire.

Verna is very cramped from inside when compared to other cars from the same segment. Creta will be a fuel guzzler and not that fun to drive.

Vento seems to be a good option on paper but I found the headroom to be lacking in it, just as in Verna. But then that was applicable for me and may or may not hold true for you. I am 6'2".

Honda Jazz - buy it only if you will have parking space issues. Else you can skip this.

There is the Yaris CVT also available as an option but between the Yaris and the City, I will pick the City. I haven't got any feedback from anyone who owns the Yaris. Lack of sales of the Yaris is what is keeping me away from recommending the same. T-BHP review also says that it is not that great to drive. But it is a lot more safer (technically) than the others.

-Sunil

[libranof1987]

Welcome to the forum, Sir!

That's quite some background - we'd love to know more (whatever is unclassified, of course). There are a few threads here (on Aviation/Indian Armed Forces) that will make you feel right at home.

Car history aside, we'd also like to know the machines that you've driven, strike that, flown.

[pkulkarni.2106]

Now that is some introduction!
Welcome to Team-BHP, sir!

[Shivaji]

Originally Posted by condor

Sir, welcome to Team-BHP ! Happy to see a fighter pilot in our midst. And a Salute to all that you have done for the Nation.

And that's an envious list of postings, places and cars

About selecting the car, I believe the other sub-forum on "What Car" would be more appropriate. (This section being for Introductions)

Looking forward to hearing more from you and your experiences through the years

Thank you, Condor. Pleasure to meet you.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Shivaji

That's the plan. I look forward to interacting more will you all.

Vidhyadhar, your opinion on recent events (26th and 27th Feb) will be appreciated by all of us. Check this thread:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/comme...-force-36.html (Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force)

And welcome to Team-BHP

[Shivaji]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Welcome to the forum, Sir!

That's quite some background - we'd love to know more (whatever is unclassified, of course). There are a few threads here (on Aviation/Indian Armed Forces) that will make you feel right at home.

Car history aside, we'd also like to know the machines that you've driven, strike that, flown.

Dear Libranof1987,

In astrological terms, I guess you are a Libran . I am also a Libran. In fact, one of my interests is vedic astrology.

Regarding the aircraft I have flown, they are quite a few. I will list them type-wise.

Jets: Vampire, Marchettie S211, Gnat, Kiran, MIG15, Hunter, Iskra, Ajeet, L29, T33A, Mystere IVA, Sabre F86F.

Pistons: CT4B, CAP10, Marchetti SF260, Harvard, HT2, Piper PA34, Krishak, Tobago10, Pushpak.

Turboprop: Avro HS748

I was in active flying for 50 years from age 20 to 70. I have more than 14,000 hours of flying experience of which almost 10,000 are instructional on 12 types of trainer aircraft. This will be a record of some sort.

Best regards,

Vidyadhar

Originally Posted by pkulkarni.2106

Now that is some introduction!
Welcome to Team-BHP, sir!

Dear Kulkarni,

Thanks for your welcome. Much appreciated.

Best regards,

Vidyadhar

[ruzbehxyz]

Welcome to Team-BHP.
Your profile is so vast and adventurous. It's nice to have you here.

There are quite a few threads where your valuable input would count.

Regarding the car you want to purchase, my simple suggestion for you is to test drive each one and then weigh the pros and cons. This forum will also give you an unbiased review of all the cars, so you can then narrow down your choices and have a final decision.

[Shivaji]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Vidhyadhar, your opinion on recent events (26th and 27th Feb) will be appreciated by all of us. Check this thread:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/comme...-force-36.html (Combat Aircraft of the Indian Air Force)

And welcome to Team-BHP

Dear SmartCat,

Thanks for the link on the combat aircraft of the IAF. I'll check it out.

Regarding the recent events of 26th and 27th Feb, I've been closely following the media reports from here in Australia. The air force did a very good job though the opposition parties have been trying to downplay it.

Best regards,

Vidyadhar

[promit]

Hi, Welcome to Team-BHP!

I wonder if you would know my grandfather - Air Commodore Chakladar. He too started flying in 1963-64 I think. Similarly, was posted for two years in Baghdad. Not sure about the year though.

Best,
Promit

[NPV]

Sir - Welcome to Team BHP, we are privileged to have people like yourself on this forum

With your vast experiences on the road driving various cars in different countries as well as flying planes and jets in the skies, we look forward to reading your first hand accounts of them

[V.Narayan]

Shivaji, welcome to the forum. Delighted to have a distinguished ex-IAF officer in the family. That is quite a widespread range of aircraft you have flown. I assume from the number of pistons you were an instructor on them in your days at SG and AU? Curious about the L29 and S211? L29 in Iraq and S211 in SG? And the MiG-15 / Sabre combination demands your views on both and which is better. Where on earth did you fly the MiG-15! We look forward to your contributions on our aviation threads.

[Iyencar]

Welcome to the forum sir! This is probably the only introduction on the forum that gave me goosebumps as I read it. What an amazing career you've had! Do share more of your life experiences on the forum and good luck with your move back.

[skchettry]

Welcome to the Team, Sir. I haven't ever read an introduction like yours - 50 years of active flying!
I wish you all the best and would like to hear more from you.
Regards
Sravan