Vishnu Madav Ghatage

File:HAL HT-2 (1).jpg]]

Vishnu Madav Ghatage was born on 24 October 1908{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/php/pfell_all.php3?alpha=G | title=Indian Academy of Sciences | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2015 | access-date=4 May 2015}} at Hasur, a small village in the princely state of Kolhapur, now in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.{{cite web | url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Downloads/article_id_062_09_0637_0638_0.pdf | title=Current Science | publisher=Current Science | date=2015 | access-date=4 May 2015}}{{cite web | url=http://icast.org.in/news/2003/dec03/dec06tb.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225244/http://icast.org.in/news/2003/dec03/dec06tb.html | url-status=usurped | archive-date=3 March 2016 | title=ICast | publisher=ICast | date=2015 | access-date=4 May 2015}} His early schooling was at Kolhapur after which he graduated (BSc) from Sir Parshurambhau College, Pune and joined Institute of Science, Mumbai (formerly known as Royal Institute of Science) for post graduate studies. He passed MSc from there with distinction which made him eligible for scholarship for overseas studies. After completing his post graduate thesis on Formation of Vortex from Colaba Observatory, he joined Kaiser Wilhelm Society, Göttingen in 1933 for doctoral research on Model experiments for the relative motion of air columns of different temperature under the guidance of Ludwig Prandtl and secured a doctoral degree (DPhil) in 1936.{{cite web | url=http://www.insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N500260 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812223645/http://www.insaindia.org.in/deceaseddetail.php?id=N500260 | url-status=usurped | archive-date=12 August 2016 | title=INSA | publisher=INSA | date=2015 | access-date=4 May 2015}} His research was funded by the Gliding Society of Germany as his thesis was related to cumulus clouds, a subject of interest to the sport of gliding.

In 1936, Ghatage returned to India and worked as a professor at the University of Pune and at the University of Mumbai for four years. He joined Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in 1940 for a two-year stint and moved to the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISC) in 1942 as a professor{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q8QhCmE2nIAC&q=Vishnu+Madhav+Ghatge&pg=PA59 | title=General Knowledge 10 | publisher=Jeevandeep Prakashan | author=Neeraj}}{{Cite web |date=2022-10-15 |title=vm ghatage: VM Ghatage: Indian aircraft industry's 'Bhishma Pitamaha' was an avid painter, golfer - The Economic Times |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/vm-ghatage-indian-aircraft-industrys-bhishma-pitamaha-was-an-avid-painter-golfer/articleshow/66456451.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2022-10-15 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015092301/https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/vm-ghatage-indian-aircraft-industrys-bhishma-pitamaha-was-an-avid-painter-golfer/articleshow/66456451.cms?from=mdr |archive-date=15 October 2022 |url-status=dead}} to establish post graduate courses in aeronautical engineering and taught fluid dynamics,{{cite web | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/roddam-goes-down-memory-lane-in-iisc/article287210.ece | title=The Hindu | website=The Hindu | date=10 May 2009 | access-date=4 May 2015}} solid mechanics and aircraft design and organised wind tunnel experiments there till 1948. He returned to HAL that year as the chief designer and was involved with aircraft design and development till 1967 reaching the post of a deputy director. He retired from HAL as its general manager and managing director in 1970.

Post retirement, he was involved with his private venture, Designers Private Limited, a Bangalore-based engineering design firm. Known to be a golf enthusiast, he helped found the Karnataka Golf Association and was its founder vice president.{{cite web | url=http://www.kga.in/about-kga/committees/past-committees/ | title=KGA | publisher=KGA | date=2015 | access-date=5 May 2015}} Ghatage died, aged 81, in Bengaluru on 6 December 1991 succumbing to cancer.

File:HUL-26 Pushpak at HAL Museum 7858.JPG at HAL Museum]]

File:Hindustan HJT-16 Kiran II Krivchikov 2007.jpg.]]

File:HAL-HF-24-Marut.jpg.]]

File:HAL Krishak.JPG.]]

After joining HAL, Ghatage was entrusted with the responsibility of developing a glider and he developed a troop-carrying glider. This was followed by the design and development of HAL HT-2, a trainer aircraft and the first Indian designed and developed aircraft. The next project was HAL Pushpak, a piston engine twin seater aircraft which was followed by HAL Kiran, a jet trainer for the Indian Air Force. Later, he developed the prototype of the HAL Marut, a 2500 lb thrust straight jet engine aircraft. However, this project was later entrusted to Kurt Wolfgang Tank, a German aerospace engineer and Ghatage's team was moved to Germany to assist Tank. By the time the project was accomplished, Ghatage had retired from HAL.{{cite web | url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1950s/Kapil-Glider.html | title=Bharat Rakshak | publisher=Bharat Rakshak | date=2015 | access-date=5 May 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407084138/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/History/1950s/Kapil-Glider.html | archive-date=7 April 2015 | df=dmy-all }} He was also behind the development of HAL Krishak, a small aircraft used for agricultural purposes.

Ghatage, credited with modernising the Indian aircraft industry, was the founder Head of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science and was known to have inspired many young Indian aerospace engineers like Roddam Narasimha during his teaching days there. His contributions were also reported in the establishment of the National Aerospace Laboratories, the second largest aerospace laboratory facility in India.{{cite web | url=http://www.nal.res.in/pages/initiation.htm | title=NAL | publisher=NAL | date=2015 | access-date=5 May 2015}}

{{clear left}}

Ghatage was an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (1945), the Indian National Science Academy (1950), the Aeronautical Society of India, the Royal Aeronautical Society of London and the National Institute of Sciences, India. He was a member of the Institution of Engineers (India), the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, USA and the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences.

Ghatage was a recipient of the National Design Award from the Government of India. In 1965, the government followed it up with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. Four years later, he received Sir Walter Pucky Prize. HAL, Indian Institute of Science and the Aeronautical Society of India jointly honoured him on his 75th birthday by holding a seminar on Design and Development in Aeronautics.

{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}

• HAL HT-2
• HAL Pushpak
• HAL Kiran
• HAL Marut
• HAL Krishak
• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
• Indian Institute of Science
• Kaiser Wilhelm Society

{{div col end}}

{{Portal|India|Science}}

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite journal | issn=0011-3891 | title=Aircraft Industry Pioneer: an obituary of Vishnu Madhav Ghatge | author=Raj Mahindra | journal=Current Science | year=1992 | volume=62 | issue=9 | pages=637–638}}
• {{cite book | title=History of Aviation in India: Spanning the Century of Flight | publisher=Society for Aerospace Studies | author=Pushpindar Singh | year=2003 | pages=330 | isbn=9788190191500}}

• {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpEVtxbgH0g | title=HT 2 Trainer Aircraft Plane V O C Park Coimbatore | publisher=Swaminathan Natarajan | work=YouTube video | date=24 September 2010 | access-date=4 May 2015}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Science & Engineering}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghatage, Vishnu Madav}}

Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering

Category:1908 births

Category:1991 deaths

Category:People from Kolhapur district

Category:Indian aerospace engineers

Category:Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science

Category:Academic staff of Savitribai Phule Pune University

Category:University of Mumbai alumni

Category:Academic staff of the University of Mumbai

Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences

Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy

Category:20th-century Indian engineers

Category:Engineers from Maharashtra

Category:Marathi people