History of Indian Air Force

Tamil

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Squadron pilots pose in front of 29 Squadron Toofani in 1959

 

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A line of Toofani fighter bombers, from the No.29 Squadron, at Tezpur AFS, lined up for a parade.

 

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Mystere IVa

In 1956 the British government refused to provide the IAF with Hunter F MK-6 as was desired, and only allowed the export of the F Mk-4. The IAF thus selected the Mystere IVA and finally a total of 110 were delivered with the last aircraft being received on 01 Dec 58 (IA 1334), No 1 Sqn being the first to equip with the type. Ultimately, with the rapid expansion of the IAF after the war with China in 1962, a total of six Sqns, including an Armament training Wing were converted to the type. The Mystere IVA performed exemplarily in both the Sep 65 and Dec 71 wars against Pakistan. The aircraft will particularly be remembered for immobilizing Pak armour during the battle of Chawinda in 65 and the routing of the Pak Ist Armoured Corps’ 67th Infantry Brigade at Fazilka in 71. Most importantly it will be remembered for the courage of Sqn Ldr AB “Tubby” Devaya attached to 1 Sqn who on 7th Sep 65, flying a 32 Sqn Mystere IVA and after having been hit and left as ‘destroyed’, turned on his attacker, an F-104 flown by Flt Lt Amjad Hussein of the PAF’s 9 Sqn and shot it down before perishing with his aircraft. With its characteristic chivalry, the PAF hid this fact, and decorated the Starfighter pilot. Only in 1978 after the appearance of John Fricker’s almost fairy tale like version of the 1965 air war- ‘Battle for Pakistan’ did the event come to light. Devayya was posthumously awarded the country’s second highest honour for courage in the face of the enemy 23 years after the event in 1988. This model is the old match box two colour kit which I bought for $1:00 without decals from a friend in Pretoria RSA. I had decals for No 8 Sqn “the Eighth Pursuit” from an old MiG 21 FL kit and so decided to do the kit in those markings. Pretty much OOB, little putty, three days and here you have it. The cheat line and tail checks are hand done and the serials are from Hobbycraft’s Otter while the wing walk lines are from a Kfir kit. The IAF markings are from Bright Spark (bless You)!! I hope some one does the 1 Sqns leaping Tiger marking for the 1/48 kit soon!!
 

Tamil

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INDIAN AIR FORCE Mystere IVa


This striking 'Leaping Tiger' scheme employed by 1
Squadron during its days at Kalaikunda are yet to be
discovered by any decal manufacturer

 

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Hobbycraft DHC-3 Otter

The first batch of Otters for the Indian Air force was received from Canada in Sep 1956 to supplant earlier received Devons in the light utility role. No 41 squadron was the first sqn to convert. The Otter’s main role was supplanting porters and mules carrying supplies and evacuating wounded from the unreachable airstrips in the hills of Assam in India ’s Far East in the tri junction of Tibet , India and Burma . The aircraft was constantly in action in 1960s while ousting the Portuguese from the enclave of Goa in Dec 61, supporting mountain troops operating against the Chinese invasion in Oct 62 and in support of action against Pakistani forces along the western front in Sep 65 and Dec 71. Its greatest moment of glory was when airlifting reinforcements in the shape of the 4/11 Dogras and heavy mortars into the Chinese besieged Walong airstrip. The Otters flew their last mission into Walong on 16 Nov 62 to evacuate wounded as Chinese shells continuously bracketed the strip, One Otter being lost on the ground. The Otter continued in service till 1995 being finally replaced by the Dornier 228. All the otters were stored at kanpur/Chakeri until sold back to Canadian bush airlines. Initial otters were received in the then standard silver scheme and some were camouflaged grey/green, brown/green for the 62 and 65 ops. All otters later became overall olive like their Caribou counterparts. Some otters were also in light blue/green and some were modified for VIP carriage with the standard dark blue/sky scheme of the VIP sqn. The ac provided yeoman service in its 40 yrs in the IAF, its niche STOL capabilities prevented it from being fully replaced by any other type even today. I bought this model (with skis) a long time ago but was daunted by the surgery required to convert it to the wheeled version. So here it is with completely scratch built undercarriage and wheels. I’ve chosen the rare green/grey scheme, basically RAF WW II temperate colours. I’ve still to finish it with the white serial (impossible to print on my printer).
 

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US Army U1A Otter Running up for Takeoff at the Hue Citadel Airfield, Republic of Vietnam July, 1967.

 

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The De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter IM-1057 seen outside the Diamond Jubilee Museum in Kalaikunda Air Force Station.


 

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The aircraft is in a bad state. This view shows the missing cowling panel on the nose as well as the starboard aileron which is broken and hanging. The tail wheel of the aircraft is actually pivoted forward.

 

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A close up of the front fuselage shows the unimaginative painting that was carried out on the aircraft. The front cockpit door window pane is missing and the fuselage door is ajar.

 

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The aircraft is still quite intact and it is believed that it can be restored with minimal effort. Apparently even the windshield panes have been painted without proper masking, as can be seen in these two pictures.



 

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