Flight Over Chowpatty | Shivkar Bapuji Talpade

The below article appeared in "The Bombay Chronicle Weekly", dated October 12, 1952. This has some interesting points and the tone is not skeptical at all.

The original materials and news items are most probably hidden or not public. 

If this was all the information that was there on the science of aircraft in ancient India, it would not be worthwhile to pursue the subject. But in the meanwhile a local Indian language periodical came out with the story of the flight of an Indian-built aeroplane at Bombay over the Chowpatty sands in the 1890s. One Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, a teacher in the Bombay School of Art and an ardent scholar of the Vedas, was the man who not only constructed an aeroplane but actually flew the craft, constructed on the principles laid down by Maharshi Bharadwaja's Vymanika Shastra.

Mr. Talpade first constructed a model and exhibited it in an exhibition arranged by the Bombay Arts Society in the 1890s. Following up his studies, he constructed a bigger plane with the aid of his wife, who was also a Sanskrit scholar. He was assisted by Shri Mitkar, an architect of the Bombay P.W.D. Mr. Talpade had based the construction of his plane on the descriptions of 'Marutsakha' and 'Pushpak' types described by Bharadwaj. 

Mr. Talpade showed the plane he had built to Justice M. G. Ranade who is reported to have advised Talpade to seek help of European experts. But Talpade did not do so. 'Marutsakha,' Mr. Talpade's plane, made the first and probably its last flight in 1895 over Chowpatty. The flight was witnessed by Sir Sayajirao Gaekwad of Baroda and Shri Lalji Narayan, a prominent citizen of Bombay. The plane went up to a height of 1,500 feet before it came down. It was equipped with automatic devices for lowering down when it reached a certain height.

According to the report, Mr. Talpade lost his wife and he lost all interest in the aircraft line. He expired on 17th September, 1917, at the age of 53. Later his relatives sold the models and other things connected with the experiments to Ralli Brothers.

Incidentally the first successful balloon flight was made in Bombay in 1867 by one Prof. Wells on Chowpatty.

Screenshot of the article for reference -