DGCA Issues Training Syllabus for Gyroplane Pilot Licence

The correct answer is the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the regulator for civil aviation in India, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation. It has issued the Civil Aviation Requirement prescribing the ground and flying training syllabus that a candidate must complete before a pilot licence in the gyroplane category is granted. Option A, the Airports Authority of India, manages airports and air navigation services rather than pilot licensing, so it is not the issuing body. Option C, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, lays down aviation security standards and has no role in prescribing a flying training syllabus. Option D names a maintenance and engineering organisation, which is again unrelated to licensing. Candidates should remember that the licensing of pilots and the framing of civil aviation requirements are functions of the DGCA alone.

The correct answer is through a freely rotating rotor system. This is the defining characteristic of the gyroplane: the rotor above the aircraft is not driven by the engine but turns freely in the airflow, and that rotation produces the lift, while the forward thrust is supplied separately by a propeller. Option A describes a conventional fixed wing aeroplane, in which lift comes from the wings as the aircraft moves forward, which is a different arrangement. Option B describes a helicopter, whose rotor is powered by the engine, and it is precisely this distinction that separates the helicopter from the gyroplane. Option D describes an airship or a balloon, which stays aloft because the gas inside it is lighter than the surrounding air and which has no rotor at all. So option C is the only accurate description.

The correct answer is long-haul international passenger service. Gyroplanes are small aircraft whose operational capabilities suit short flights and specialised tasks, and carrying passengers over intercontinental distances is well outside what they are described as being fit for. Option A, agricultural spraying, is among the aerial work activities named for the type, since a slow flying aircraft is well suited to treating fields. Option B, banner towing, is also listed, being a form of aerial advertising for which a light and slow aircraft is appropriate. Option C, surveillance and survey operations, is likewise named, and these tasks benefit from an aircraft that can fly low and slowly over the ground being observed. Joyrides and air experience flights complete the list of uses for which the type is considered suitable.