History

Earlier published as an Accident Digest, the first issue of the Naval Aviation Journal (NAJ) was published by the Directorate of Naval Air Staff in March 1977, with Commander (later Rear Admiral) PD Sharma as the editor. In its nascent stages, the journal was a summary of aircraft accidents and technical reports along with flying experiences narrated by aircrew and stories/anecdotes pertaining to Flight Safety. Early issues comprised a modest bunch of 20-odd cyclostyled sheets placed in a folder.

The 'NAJ' was later christened the 'Meatball' by Commander (later Vice Admiral) Vinod Pasricha after the colloquial term used for the Deck Landing System onboard carriers. The 'Meatball' was a reflection of source lights seen in a gyro-mounted mirror. It formed a red blob (hence the name) that need to be kept in line with green datum lights mounted on either side of the mirror to keep the landing aircraft on the correct glide path - essentially, a mobile version of the VASI.

Since its conception 30 years ago, the Meatball has come a long way and undergone several changes in layout, contents and appearance. What remains unchanged however is the aim and endeavour of the 'Meatball' to provide continuous guidance to naval aviators and keep them firmly aligned on the path of Flight Safety.

Aim

The aim of the Meatball is to provide a forum for aviators to share their experiences that could be useful to further the cause of flight safety in the Indian Navy. In addition, various columns are also published by FONA, AIRCATS, DNAS/AOT and by the FS Cell. Articles providing information on topics of a broad nature (such as health, nutrition, noise, human factors etc.) that have safety implications are also published. While the Meatball has frequently published 'adapted' articles, contributors are encouraged to provide original materials for publication.

The Meatball Online

Starting with the June 2006 issue, it is intended to publish select articles of all issues online. The aim here is two-fold; the first, to expand the reach to those who find hard copies difficult to come by (including retired aviators or serving aviators in non-aviation billets), and the second to serve as a repository for past articles. All articles will eventually be searchable by title, author's name, issue or subject.

Contributions

Articles are accepted from all serving members of the Indian Armed Forces; the bias of course would be towards articles that are more navy-specific. Articles can be sent for consideration directly through email to dnas-navy@nic.in . However, all articles intended for publication online will require an author's certificate and HOD's NOC and would therefore have to be sent as hard-copy. A copy of the certificates to be submitted can be downloaded here.