The IAF History Thread

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/IndianDefenceRA/sta ... 50405?s=20 ---> An old Russian poster of the Indian Air Force's Mil Mi-25.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Today the unit operates the MiG-29UPG from Jamnagar AFS if I am not mistaken. Used to be based at Lohegaon till the mid to late 90s, till the arrival of the Rambha which now resides there. Truly legends in this picture and a number of Air Chiefs as well.

https://twitter.com/Leopard212/status/1 ... 30531?s=20 ---> Every air legend who commanded the First Supersonics. Some of the finest Fighter Pilots Indian Air Force has ever produced. Salute to the memory and the living tigers of the First Supersonics - The first MiG-21 Squadron of the Indian Air Force on its 58th Raising Day.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by wig »

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/featu ... bar-231635

Remembering the CO of 16 Squadron, Wing Commander Padmanabha Gautam, MVC & Bar
excerpts
Gautam took over command of 16 Squadron, also known as the Black Cobras, in November 1969. He had just returned from Iraq after a welcome instructional assignment that had followed a hectic six years of flying and achievement. He was also part of the IAF Canberra contingent in Congo in the early 1960s. As the CO of the Joint Bomber Conversion Unit (JBCU), a Canberra squadron in 1965, he was awarded his first Maha Vir Chakra for the several risky missions that he flew as a pathfinder to hit targets at the extremities of the Canberra’s radius of action such as Peshawar. Not satisfied with that, he executed a near dead-stick landing in Iraq on a MiG-17, for which he was commended by both the Iraqi government and the IAF. Air Marshal Vir Narain, one of the pioneer navigators from the Canberra fleet and several years senior to Gautam, remembers him as a confident, cocky and very competent young pilot.
and
Reflecting the systematic approach to training and preparing for war that had permeated through several squadrons of the IAF in the build-up to December 1971, Gautam created pilot-navigator teams that commenced training as early as March 1971. Choosing abandoned WW-II airfields in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal as simulated targets, the squadron perfected the art of low-level ingress at night into hostile territory at 500 feet, popping up to 7,000 feet for weapon delivery, which comprised 8X1000 lb bombs, and then diving down to 300-500 feet for the perilous return leg home. Being the senior-most among the commanding officers of the three Canberra squadrons, Gautam was often called to Allahabad, the HQ of Central Air Command, where all mission planning was done.

Remembering his former CO as a fun-loving family man with a great sense of humour and a love for music who wore his accomplishments lightly on his shoulders and drove around in his Mercedes Benz, Ranganathan recollects that from early November 1971 onwards, Gautam made it a point to engage with all his aircrew on issues such as courage, bravery and fear. Everyone in the Black Cobras knew who would be the one to fly the riskiest missions and that leadership under fire would never be an issue.

Dutta recollects that Gautam and he were an inseparable pilot-navigator pair as they initially undertook night bombing missions in the western sector over Mianwali airfield and the Raiwind railway marshalling yard near Lahore. Three-four aircraft would get airborne from Gorakhpur, land at Ambala to refuel and arm before striking targets and returning to Gorakhpur in the wee hours of the morning. All the missions faced a hostile reception over the target area as the sky would be invariably lit up with ack-ack fire, and it was a combination of skill and luck that the squadron suffered no losses in the western sector. Shifting focus to the east once the IAF had achieved air superiority, 16 Squadron commenced its attacks on targets in Chittagong, Khulna and the military cantonment on the outskirts of Dacca. The squadron got hit on the last day of the war when they lost the effervescent Flight Lieutenant Brian Wilson and his navigator Flight Lieutenant Mehta over Dacca in a day raid over Kurmitola.

Gautam and Dutta flew together on six long-distance and long-duration missions as the squadron clocked almost 70 operational missions during the war. Dutta particularly remembers a night mission to Mianwali where they dropped jelly-filled spike bombs that were innovative runway denial weapons. It was later confirmed by one of the Bengali pilots of the PAF based at Mianwali, who escaped to India via Afghanistan, that a PAF F-86 Sabre was destroyed while trying to scramble without realising that there was jelly and spikes on the runway. Dutta was awarded a Vir Chakra for being an ideal foil to Gautam, who himself was awarded a Bar to the Maha Vir Chakra for his inspirational leadership of the squadron and personal exploits of sustained courage and flying skill in war.
very tragic that we should have lost such a great son of India
Unfortunately, he perished in a MiG-21 crash on November 25, 1972, after his aircraft flamed out after take-off. A school located close to the Air Force station still commemorates that day with a silent prayer in remembrance of Gautam, as he is believed to have steered the stricken MiG-21 away from the school where it was directly headed for impact. In the process, he lost critical seconds that would have facilitated an ejection.
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by chetonzz »

1971 War trophy F-86 Sabre is being made ready for showcase at Palam Indian air force-museum

as per "one report"...

"will be restored to its original paint scheme of the PAF by the staff of the Museum that is overlooking the restoration work"

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Wing Commander Swaroop Krishna ‘Suppi’ Kaul, MVC: Leading Black Panthers into battle
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/featu ... tle-234395
04 April 2021
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/AnchitGupta9/status ... 86912?s=20 ---> Glimpses of Piloo Kacker (4605) who died in a tragic Marut crash in 1970, as CO 10 Sqn (Commanded 220 Sqn and 221 Sqn earlier). He was a much loved and revered man in IAF. His Moushy was a rage too :-)

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by chetonzz »

chetonzz wrote:1971 War trophy F-86 Sabre is being made ready for showcase at Palam Indian air force-museum

as per "one report"...

"will be restored to its original paint scheme of the PAF by the staff of the Museum that is overlooking the restoration work"

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HD pics of the war trophy being made ready
https://twitter.com/dipalay/status/1378 ... 08776?s=20

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Aditya_V
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Aditya_V »

How did the Pak Sabre become a war trophy, was it captured at Dhaka? I think in the Indian Subcontinent there is only 1 incident of an enemy aircraft landing and getting captured, this was in 1965 war when a Gnat got disoriented and accidently landed in Pakistani Punjab and both Pilot and aircraft were captured.
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by sajaym »

Aditya_V wrote:How did the Pak Sabre become a war trophy, was it captured at Dhaka? I think in the Indian Subcontinent there is only 1 incident of an enemy aircraft landing and getting captured, this was in 1965 war when a Gnat got disoriented and accidently landed in Pakistani Punjab and both Pilot and aircraft were captured.
https://theprint.in/diplomacy/iaf-gifts ... ft/612958/
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Aditya_V »

Thank you
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by chetonzz »

Aditya_V wrote:How did the Pak Sabre become a war trophy, was it captured at Dhaka? I think in the Indian Subcontinent there is only 1 incident of an enemy aircraft landing and getting captured, this was in 1965 war when a Gnat got disoriented and accidently landed in Pakistani Punjab and both Pilot and aircraft were captured.
sir, if we captured Dhaka and forced AAK Niazi to surrender along with 93000 POWs...then entire PA/PAF/PN assets in BD can be considered as war trophies, right?

its just that we let the new nation use/keep those hardware for a longer period than usual :wink:
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by chetonzz »

chetonzz wrote:
chetonzz wrote:1971 War trophy F-86 Sabre is being made ready for showcase at Palam Indian air force-museum
new images of PAF/BAF sabre in Palam Museum

http://www.warbirds.in/delhi/iafm/441-sabre1606.html

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by rajkumar »

I'm listening to The Blue Skies Podcast on @Castbox_fm. Check it out! #podcasts #audiobooks https://castbox.fm/va/3857467
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by MeshaVishwas »

rajkumar wrote:I'm listening to The Blue Skies Podcast on @Castbox_fm. Check it out! #podcasts #audiobooks https://castbox.fm/va/3857467
Yes saar lovely. I'm following the channel on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/1mYGMrrGy ... 41JrtfF78A
Can't wait for "Fulcrum-1" part-2.
I would love to listen to AM Rajkumar's stories on Project Tejas.
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by MeshaVishwas »

Swarnim Vijay Varsh special from Rhino Historian

Bombs away from 44 Squadron: An IAF officer’s wartime lessons in innovation, courage and leadership
https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/featu ... ssion=true


The Mighty Jets terrorising Terroristan!
8)
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by wig »

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/featu ... mvc-250238

Brilliant, unconventional, fearless, Group Captain Chandan Singh, seniormost IAF officer to be awarded MVC
excerpted , but worth reading the complete article
As 57 Mountain Division, 23 Division and 8 Mountain Division under Major Generals Ben Gonsalves, RD Hira and KV Krishna Rao found themselves on the east banks of the rivers Meghna and Surma, respectively, their Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Sagat Singh, was searching for innovative solutions to seriously threaten Dacca by the end of the first week of operations in his IV Corps zone. Turning to his IAF Task Force Commander, Group Captain Chandan Singh (later Air Vice Marshal), he remarked, “Chandan, do what you have to but get me into Sylhet and across the Meghna river to put pressure on the Dacca Garrison. If there is a window of opportunity, I want to be the first into Dacca.” If there was anyone in the IAF who could match up to Sagat’s energy and his ability to convert operational ideas into outcomes, it was his fellow Rajput, Chandan Singh.
and
Responding to the first call into action, Chandan Singh himself flew a mission to Sylhet on the morning of December 7 to investigate reports from Indian Army intelligence that the Pakistan army wanted to surrender. Met with a fusillade of machine gun fire and receiving several hits on his Mi-4 helicopter, Chandan reported back to Sagat that it was a trap. Reacting coolly, Sagat asked Chandan whether he could cross the Surma river and land a battalion under fire and seize the initiative by surprising two Pakistani brigades which would be anticipating a larger conventional assault by several brigades. The rest is history as 110 HU heli-landed 4/5 GR commanded by Lt Col Harolikar under fire at the gates of Sylhet in a display of spectacular jointmanship. Supported by airstrikes by IAF fighters and Kilo Flight under FAC control and receiving continuous waves of Mi-4s, the Gorkhas fought valiantly for over a week, preventing the brigade from reinforcing Dacca and coercing it sufficiently to surrender on December 16.

Emboldened by the success of the Sylhet operation, Sagat urged Chandan to push his weary helicopter crew, who had flown non-stop for over 48 hours, to heli-land several brigades of 57 and 23 Division at multiple points across the wide and mighty Meghna river by December 13. Relocating to Agartala, 110 HU was reinforced with more helicopters and crew from two more units to cope with the volume of lifting an entire brigade with its complement of engineers and light artillery to chosen landing zones at Raipura, Narsingdi and Narayanganj from the divisional forward HQ of Brahmanbaria. 4 Guards was the second unit after 4/5 GR to participate in the operation and came out with flying colours despite hardly any preparatory time for the operation. Here again, leading from the front emerged as a key force multiplier as Sagat and Chandan Singh insisted on carrying out the first recce of the proposed landing ground at Raipura in a Chetak helicopter. Flying into heavy ground fire, the co-pilot was shot through the leg and over 30 bullet hits were counted after the sortie. Executing a series of crossings, the helicopter task force landed over two brigades on the west bank of the Meghna in an operation that is termed as ‘vertical envelopment’. By doing so, they cut off any possible reinforcement routes to Dacca from the other garrisons and facilitated a multi-pronged advance that forced the surrender of Dacca.
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by wig »

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/featu ... war-257147

Lightning strikes by IAF's 20 Squadron, one of most highly-decorated units in 1971 War


excerpted, but do read the complete article linked above
For some time previously, in the full expectation that war was imminent, IAF squadrons at forward locations intermittently withdrew their aircraft to rear bases. On the evening of the Pakistani strike, 20 Squadron’s aircraft and personnel were scattered between Ambala and Hindon, their previous base.

They would start flying into Pathankot early next morning. But the squadron’s orders for the next day’s counter-strikes arrived overnight. And the first one had a Time Over Target of sunrise Pakistan time. Which meant the mission would have to take off well before dawn in India. Their own aircraft would not be back in time.

Undaunted, the squadron launched its first two missions before dawn, using aircraft borrowed from the co-located 27 Squadron. Wg Cdr Parker, “exercising his prerogative”, as the squadron diary noted, led the squadron’s first foray into enemy territory, with then Flight Lieutenant Charan Singh “Chhani” Dhillon as his No. 2.That first mission, target Peshawar, was one of the longest-range strikes undertaken by single-engine, single-seater aircraft during India-Pakistan wars. During the 1965 war, the Pakistan Air Force had treated Peshawar as their safe harbour, and withdrawn their most valued assets there during the night.

That 1971 morning, at high speed and low level, Parker and Dhillon hooked around Peshawar, so as to approach unexpectedly from the West rather than the East. They executed two passes, hitting a Sabre being refuelled from a bowser, and a fuel installation, before exiting. They were pursued by three or four Pakistani Sabres, who over a long chase were able to gradually catch up. Because of fuel and aircraft configuration, the Hunters could not engage in combat, and had to simply jettison auxiliary tanks and fly hell for leather. The Sabres were able to close in and fire, and managed several hits on the Hunters. Wg Cdr Parker called for a tactical break, timed so his No. 2 would be breaking in the direction of India. One Sabre, unable to stay with Parker’s tight turn (his g-counter showed he had pulled 10g), overshot. Wg Cdr Parker emptied his remaining ammunition on that Sabre, catching it squarely in his sights as confirmed by his gun-camera films. Unfortunately, he did not have enough shells left to bring the Sabre down, having nearly emptied his cannons over Peshawar itself. By then, he was almost at the border, and the Pakistanis gave up the chase.


Parker and Dhillon approached Pathankot, eking out the last few miles literally on fumes. Wg Cdr Parker was cleared for a straight-in approach, and his engine flamed-out immediately on landing. Flt Lt Dhillon’s engine actually flamed-out while still in the air, but skilled airmanship brought him and his Hunter safely down to a dead-stick landing. Both aircraft were back from the squadron’s first mission with tanks completely dry, and peppered with bullet holes.

The squadron settled, if that can be said of wartime, to a stern but matter-of-factly executed routine of about 20 sorties a day. Most of its pilots flew at least one sortie into enemy territory each day. They endured two losses, one on that first day itself, the young and always smiling Flying Officer KP Muralidharan. The other was the following day, their trusted Flight Commander, Squadron Leader Jal Mistry, lost to missile-armed PAF Mirages, while (successfully) attacking the ferociously-defended PAF Operations Centre at Sakesar.


The squadron continued its assigned counter-air role over the next few days, striking enemy airfields. One of their targets was Chaklala, the airfield for Rawalpindi, where they destroyed a few light transport aircraft — one of which, as it turned out, was the personal aircraft of Brigadier-General Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the USAF Second World War ace and jet-era test pilot, who was at this time a military adviser to the US Ambassador to Pakistan. Yeager’s reaction was said to be of fury, but has been rendered into laugh-out-loud funny accounts by both a US diplomat serving alongside him in Pakistan, and by the Lightning pilot responsible for that demonstration of accurate gunnery under fire.

Another memorable counter-air strike, led by Sqn Ldr Bharadwaj, was on Murid, a new airbase in Pakistani Punjab, where five enemy aircraft were destroyed in a single strike. Bharadwaj and his formation actually only claimed two destroyed; the full toll they had exacted was confirmed in Pakistani accounts later.


Yet another spectacular strike was on an economic target: the Attock oil refinery, one of only two in Pakistan at the time. The squadron diary describes, and numerous photos confirm, “towering sheets of orange flames, and billows of oily black smoke”.

After five days of non-stop raids mainly on enemy airfields, the Lightnings turned to a different task: close air support (CAS) for the Army at Chhamb. As is well known, the Chhamb sector, where geography favours Pakistan and where the Pakistan army concentrated skilfully in twice our strength, was where the Indian Army was hardest pressed during the war. CAS was needed, and the Lightnings, based close by, flew nearly a dozen sorties each day, in support of troops on the ground, for the next few days.

One morning during that period, Sqn Ldr Bharadwaj was leading a CAS pair orbiting over Munnawar Tawi, hampered by the early morning mist common in the North Indian winter, when his wingman, Flying Officer BC “Lofty” Karambaya, spotted two Pakistani Sabres firing at him. Air Marshal (as he later became) Bharadwaj is no longer with us, but Fg Off Karambaya has shared a detailed account. He describes using the Hunter’s flaps to turn tighter than his pursuer, while calmly remaining in continuous R/T contact with his leader even as a few shells hit his Hunter. When Bharadwaj confirmed visual contact, and not before, Karambaya broke East. The Sabre tried to follow, but Sqn Ldr Bharadwaj had caught up, and opened fire. The Sabre exploded in an orange fireball, giving Sqn Ldr Bharadwaj an air-to-air kill, still an iconic token of air superiority.
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by chetonzz »

i have something very interesting...from an old youtube video

https://youtu.be/6EEI07q2JYY?list=FL8Vp ... gvoQ&t=148

the IAF MiG-21 Bison upgrade which was based on Russian MiG-21-93...is showcased here with IRST sensor also...basically this upgrade was supposed to be borrowing a lot of stuff from MiG-29s into MiG-21 (bubble cockpit, KOPYO radar, HMS etc.)

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by jamwal »

https://theprint.in/opinion/the-story-o ... ce/723889/

The story of Jaswant Singh, the only Indian to have ever commanded a foreign Air Force

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From becoming the only Indian to have ever commanded a foreign Air Force to being called 'the father of sports' in the IAF, Jaswant Singh always packed a punch.
Air Vice Marshal Kanwar Jaswant Singh was among the most flamboyant officers in the Indian Air Force. When he died in harness, as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command on New Year’s Eve of 1963, India lost one of its most promising officers. He left a tale that needs to be told.

Promising beginnings
A scion of the Kapurthala Royal family, Jaswant Singh was born to Jasbir and Mabel Singh on 19 September 1915 in Budaun (United Provinces) and was nicknamed “Jumper” because of his inability to pronounce his own name. After initially being tutored by governesses, in January 1927, the 4’4” lad was sent to study at the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (RIMC) in Dehradun.

Four months later, the Commandant of RIMC remarked on the young cadet’s dossier: A very promising little boy indeed. Full of life. He has made an excellent start.” Deemed a “clever” and “plucky” boxer at school, the young Jumper soon developed a reputation for derring-do after chasing and reining in a runaway horse, hunting an eight-foot leopard, wrestling with strongmen of the area, and displaying a praiseworthy prowess on the polo field.

Having graduated from RIMC in February 1936, Jumper made the cut to the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun, his home for the next two and a half years. Jumper’s younger brother, the famous conservationist “Billy” Arjan Singh speaks fondly of this time in his book, The Legend of the Maneater (1993): “Jumper became one of the outstanding cadets at the Academy…winning four blues in games and was a colour sergeant at the passing out parade. He was a talented actor and mimic, had a good singing voice, generally was a most attractive and well-liked personality, and very popular with the opposite sex.”
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/hvtiaf/status/14326 ... 90467?s=20 ---> RATO (Rocket Assisted Take-Off) on HAL HF-24. Indian Aerospace History.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by g.sarkar »

https://theprint.in/opinion/aizad-baksh ... ts/746548/
Aizad Baksh Awan, the first IAF pilot to train Afghan Air Force cadets
When the second IAF squadron was being sanctioned in Feb 1941, AB Awan was picked to raise and command it. But he felt slighted when he was overlooked for promotions.
Anchit Gupta, 10 October, 2021

In the summer of 1935, the Indian Air Force, short of its third anniversary, faced an existential crisis. Of its first five pilots, two had met with fatal accidents and a third had been dismissed. The remaining two, Flying Officers Subroto Mukerjee and Aizad Baksh Awan, were still finding their own feet while mentoring the seven additional pilots who had joined the IAF by then. Apart from their depleting numbers, the new organisation also faced headwinds from certain lobbies in the British establishment that didn’t see the need for a colony to have its own Air Force.
Part of their scheme to derail the fledgling IAF included offering juicy civil portfolios to Mukerjee and Awan – Assistant Commissioners in Burdwan and Peshawar, respectively. But these men were made of a different mettle. As Awan would later recall in his memoirs, he told Mukerjee to, “…inform Flight Lieutenant Bouchier that we set out with the task of making the Indian Air Force when we were at school. Many of our beloved comrades have perished in the struggle. We shall give up this struggle only when our dead body is extricated from the debris of a crashed aircraft. (The) Indian Air Force will be formed, and we shall continue with this struggle [sic]”. As history was to bear witness, their persistence paid off – of course with ample help from Cecil Arthur Bouchier, their Commanding Officer.
Awan hailed from a prominent family of Dera Ismail Khan city in the North-West Frontier Province. Born on 9 July 1910 at Mianwali, Awan developed an early fascination for flying when he saw an Airco DH.6 flying over his school. His dream to fly an aircraft, however, had to wait till the Skeen Committee sanctioned the birth of the IAF in 1927. Soon, the strapping six-footer Awan found himself on his way to England to train at Royal Air Force (RAF) Cranwell. Just over 20 years of age, Awan would have wondered what the future held for him and his five course-mates – Mukerjee, Harish Chandra Sircar, Amarjeet Singh, Bhupendra Singh and Jagat Narain Tandon.
Their training at Cranwell included flying on aircraft like the Avro Lynx, Armstrong Whitworth Atlas and the AW Siskin. Between the flying and classroom training, Awan, nicknamed Zaidi, found enough time to excel in sports – captaining the tennis and hockey teams of RAF Cranwell and later the IAF till 1944. Awan and four other Indians were commissioned as Pilot Officers on 15 August 1932.
Landing at Drigh Road, Karachi in March 1933, they were received by Flight Lieutenant “Boy” Bouchier, who was to be their Commanding Officer, guide, mentor and friend in the years to come. At this time, the IAF consisted solely of the “A” Flight of No. 1 Squadron IAF, comprising four Wapiti aircraft. Allocated the Army cooperation role, their initial time in the flight was spent carrying out extensive practice in close formations, reconnaissance, puff shoots, front camera gun attacks, plucking messages hung on a wire, bombing runs over targets and aerial mosaic photography, etc.
.....
Gautam
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/Chopsyturvey/status ... 63106?s=20 ---> Group Captain GS Bakshi (3228) turns a hundred. The IAF celebrates with him.

https://twitter.com/deba060/status/1450 ... 17831?s=20 ---> Wow !!! This person actually witnessed India's independence during his lifetime. Would have been interesting to hear how we have changed over the past 70 years.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/blueskiespod1/statu ... 70912?s=20 ---> New episode alert! Listen to Air Marshal Sumit Mukherji talk about force landing a Kiran with a seized engine, flying the MiG-25 Foxbat, and commanding a MiG-29 Fulcrum squadron.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/ReviewVayu/status/1 ... 02114?s=20 --->

Another teaser from our upcoming issue.

Air Marshal Ajit Bhavnani (Retd) & Former VCAS of the IAF.

An attack by IAF MiG-21s on ‘Spooky Runway’ and foiling escape of East Pakistan leadership in the 1971 Indo-Pak War.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/_devildog_rv_/statu ... 43395?s=20 ---> RARE SNAP ALERT!

The legacy Indian Air Force had some of the most beautiful camo patterns to some of the most weird looking ones.

Here is a MiG-21Bis "Vikram" featuring a two tone Blue camouflage pattern, resembling the standard Mirage 2000 scheme.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by ramana »

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

1971 India: ‘My heart tells me he is out there somewhere’
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/ ... -out-there
16 Dec 2021
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

The author of the tweet is Squadron Leader Anshuman Mainkar, a retired MiG-27 pilot in the Indian Air Force. He was part of a two-ship Bahadur formation, which killed Wing Commander Oswald De Francis Manuel Abreu, during take off on 16 Feb 2010 at Hasimara AFS. They were part of No 222 Tigersharks Squadron. The unit - at that time - flew the MiG-27 Bahadur and now flies the Su-30MKI. Squadron Leader Mainkar is in the third picture below.

https://twitter.com/anshumig/status/147 ... 72933?s=20 ---> Happy Golden Jubilee to the Tigersharks and ⁦the IAF. Kudos to the team, ably led and backed to the hilt. Your enthusiasm for lessons of history + your love of our prized brethren who achieved so much with so little, is gold! To the next 50! Up, onward, farther!

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Rakesh wrote:1971 India: ‘My heart tells me he is out there somewhere’
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/ ... -out-there
16 Dec 2021
https://twitter.com/ReviewVayu/status/1 ... 81249?s=20 ---> Sameer...do have a read! It's extremely informative.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Rakesh wrote:1971 India: ‘My heart tells me he is out there somewhere’
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/ ... -out-there
16 Dec 2021
https://twitter.com/ReviewVayu/status/1 ... 81249?s=20 ---> Sameer...do have a read! It's extremely informative.

Image
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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/ReviewVayu/status/1 ... 22371?s=20 ---> Wonderful book! Enjoy!

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https://twitter.com/Sandeep_Mave/status ... 48386?s=20 ---> Today's Read - The First Supersonics by Pushpindar Singh Sir.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Quite possibly the first MiG-21 pilots in the Indian Air Force. Picture is likely from the early 60s.

https://twitter.com/mohitjayal/status/1 ... 85185?s=20 --->

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/_devildog_rv_/statu ... 51776?s=20 ---> The "Shark Tooth" - Lineup of Indian Air Force MiG-21FL "Trishul" Type 77s, featuring cool shark tooth decals while serving for No.52 "Sharks" squadron sometime around mid 90s. Photo by Group Captain Deb Gohain (Retd) Sir. Shared by Vikramaditya Chaudhury Sir via IAH.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Grounding of MiG-21M fleet leaves India's defences critically vulnerable
https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/defe ... 1986-06-15
15 June 1986
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Re: The IAF History Thread

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https://twitter.com/_devildog_rv_/statu ... 27489?s=20 ---> Indian Air Force Folland Gnat (IE-1076) after Fg Offr V P Vader attempted a belly landing on Pathankot airbase. The touchdown was smooth but the airframe swung to the right, went beyond the runway boundary and stopped on the grass. Date, time and credits already mentioned.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

https://twitter.com/RAFIndia_/status/14 ... 71746?s=20 ---> Did you know who was the first Indian pilot to go supersonic?

It was Air Chief Marshal (then Air Commodore) Pratap Chandra Lal, on 18 Oct 1954, when he went supersonic onboard a Dassault Mystere IVA, which broke the sound barrier during a dive.

https://twitter.com/RAFIndia_/status/14 ... 28672?s=20 ---> It was during his tour to Europe, while was leading an IAF team that was tasked to evaluate next jet fighters for IAF. British jets like Supermarine Swift and Folland Gnat were also evaluated. IAF later procured the French "supersonic in a dive" (Myster IVA) aircraft in 1957.

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

Legendary Fighter Pilot Shares Stories & Secrets

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Re: The IAF History Thread

Post by Rakesh »

The buildings in the first two photos below look oddly familiar. Perhaps that is where the Tejas assembly lines are now.

https://twitter.com/ReviewVayu/status/1 ... 80098?s=20 ---> Found some old photos from our archives taken decades ago of the HAL Ajeet (Gnat) and Canberra which served with the Indian Air Force. Photos are not too sharp or the right colour - but who cares!!!

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