雙語閱讀｜印度航空夢想家陷入官僚推諉漩渦之中

ALL great aviation ventures start with mavericks willing to defy both the laws of physics and the scepticism of their peers。 William Boeing， Oleg Antonov and Howard Hughes are some of the best-known examples。 Next， perhaps， is Amol Yadav， who for much of the past decade has been building aeroplanes on the roof of the Mumbai flat he shares with 18 family members， and battling the Indian authorities to let him fly them。

所有偉大的航空公司的起家都要有不羈的意志，挑戰物理定律，無視同齡人懷疑。威廉•波音、奧列格•安東諾夫和霍華德•休斯就是其中最著名的例子。在他們之後，也許就是阿莫爾•亞達夫。在過去十年裡的大部分時間，他一直在與18位家庭成員共住的孟買公寓的屋頂上建造飛機，同時與印度當局交涉，能讓他駕駛自己造的飛機。

Admittedly， only experts would be able to distinguish the six-seater propeller plane （pictured） Mr Yadav has designed from scratch from a run-of-the-mill Cessna。 But his plane is the only one in decades with wholly Indian credentials， he says。 Much larger outfits have tried but struggled to get an indigenous craft certified for production， including National Aerospace Laboratories， one of several state-owned aviation mastodons。

誠然，只有專業人士才能夠分辨出亞達夫是根據一架普通的塞斯納飛機來開始設計的一加六座的螺旋槳飛機（如圖）。不過，他表示，他的飛機是幾十年來唯一一架擁有齊全印度證件的飛機。一些更大規模的公司嘗試過想讓獲得生產國產飛機的許可證，卻很難實現，這其中包括國有航空研究機構國家航空航天實驗室。

Self-identified visionaries are commonplace in business。 But politicians have fallen over themselves to support Mr Yadav。 His plane was the surprise star of a “Make in India” jamboree in 2016 to promote manufacturing in the country。 The chief minister of Maharashtra， the state Mumbai is in， has promised not only government backing but land for Mr Yadav to develop and build his follow-up act， a 19-seater that is currently taking up space in his improvised domestic hangar。 He has spent about 50m rupees （$800，000） of friends’ and family’s money to pursue his goal。 Helping him is a staff of ten full-time aeroplane builders， assisted by a group of volunteers。

意圖明確的夢想家在商界很常見。不過，政治家們開始全力支援亞達夫。他的飛機是2016年“印度製造”運動的驚喜之星。這個運動旨在促進印度的製造業。孟買馬哈拉施特拉的首席部長承諾，政府不僅會支援他，還會支援他之後的製造工作，製造一架19座的飛機。這架飛機目前停在簡易的國內機場中。他花盡了朋友和家人約5000萬盧比（80萬美元）來實現他的目標。協助他的是10名全職飛機建設者以及一些志願者。

Even Narendra Modi， the prime minister， has been briefed on Mr Yadav’s rooftop activities， and directed officials to help him。 But Indian bureaucrats are unmoved。 The continued development of the 19-seater hinges on the smaller plane being certified as airworthy by the civil aviation authority。 It has been so long since its officials have had to sign off on a new plane design that they seem to have forgotten how。 Inspecting the six-seater plane had been on its to-do list since 2011。 Mr Yadav complains that repeated rule changes have been designed to block him。 Even entreaties from the prime minister’s office have failed to sway the regulator。

納倫德拉·莫迪總理在聽取亞達夫在屋頂造飛機的報告後，指派官員去幫助他。可是，印度官僚卻不為所動。這架後來建造成功的19座小型飛機獲得了民用航空管理局頒發的適航證。在官員們得批准新的飛機設時卻拖延了很長時間，他們似乎忘有這麼一回事。自2011年以來，一直都在檢收六座飛機。亞達夫抱怨，一而再再爾三的發動規則是為了打壓他。即便是印度總理辦公廳的懇求也動搖不了監管機構。

Having been hoisted off its rooftop hangar， the smaller plane is now languishing on the tarmac of Mumbai airport as if lashed to the ground by red tape。 Whether Mr Yadav’s aircraft are airworthy is unproven。 He says they are， and might know， given his day job as a captain for Jet Airways， a private airline。 Mr Yadav wants America’s Federal Aviation Administration to certify his planes—he will soon apply to it—and India’s bureaucrats to accept its verdict。

這架從屋頂機庫裡挪出來的小型飛機現在正停在孟買機場的停機坪上，彷彿被繁文縟節捆在地上。亞達夫的飛機是否有飛行價值還有待證實。他表示，他們——也有可能可能知道——把他當做一傢俬人航空公司的噴氣式飛機機長。亞達夫希望美國聯邦航空管理局對他的飛機進行認證——他很快就會申請認證——印度的官員們也會接受這個美國機構的認定。

Private backers want to invest in his budding aviation venture， Mr Yadav says， but that might alter its destiny as a future national champion。 No aircraft-maker anywhere has thrived without state backing， he notes， usually through defence contracts。 He also has blueprints for a fighter jet， development of which would cost half the $250m or so India pays to buy a single jet from Dassault， a French manufacturer—if only bureaucrats would grasp his vision， that is。

亞達夫表示，有私人投資者想要投資他嶄露頭角的航空企業，但這可能無法讓他實現的他的飛機在未來成為印度翹楚。他指出，得不到國家通常以國防合同方式的支援，任何國家的飛機制造商都難以得到蓬勃發展。他還畫一架戰鬥機的圖紙；如果印度官員能理解他的遠大目標，那麼，製造這麼一架戰鬥機的費用只有1。25億美元，只向法國製造商購買一架飛機費用的一半左右。

編譯：吳小麗

審校：肖念

編輯：翻吧君