kolkata aeromodeling in the state has come a long way since aero sports association of bengal asab came into existence in 2012 on tuesday nearly 1500 students of the heritage school in kolkata got a feel of the sport and learnt the basics of how to model an airplane members of asab led by its president air vice marshal retd madhusudan banerjee organized a seminar for the students and four scintillating displays the students as well as teachers watched in awe as the model aircraft both fixed wing and helicopters took to the skies and performed maneuvers in the practiced hands of asab members it was a great experience we arranged for nearly 400 students to attend each display in the past during our winter and summer camps we organized aeromodeling shows for the children recently when i met avm retd banerjee he told me how 23 students from each batch had opted for a career in flying said seema sapru principal the heritage school the seminar primarily for the senior students was on careers in flying among those who briefed the students was wg cdr retd subir sen father of former miss universe and actress sushmita sen the former indian air force officers informed the students how they need no longer go abroad to learn flying a flying training school has been set up at the behala airfield where interested youngsters can obtain private pilots licences ppls after completing stipulated flying hours ppl holders can also purchase their own small aircraft the officers said since the asabs inception several camps have been organized across the state a camp has also been organized at behrampore scouts have also had some experience in aeromodeling through the organization it has been avm retd banerjees dream to promote aeromodeling in the state which had the first flying training school in the country the state has produced several pioneers in the field of flying even today there are a number of people from this state in the iaf and civil airlines i want to promote aeromodeling and turn it into a competitive sport i also want this sport to reach out to youngsters in the districts and rural areas between october and march every year the best months for this sport we plan to organize three camps each for rural and urban bengal said avm retd banerjee