Gp Capt Ajit Keshav Agtey 12188 F(P) , a graduate of the Air Force Test Pilots School was one of the few pilots to have been associated with the Vintage Aircraft Flight of the 1980s. He writes about the flights he undertook in the Tiger Moth of the VAF, which is currently flying with the Heritage Flight.
The C-47 is a reliable work-horse that served for nearly four decades in the Indian Air Force's service. Over 200 examples served in the IAF across the length and breadth of the country. It saw its fair share of accidents and contributed to quite a few anxious moments - in this case, when an engine failed right after take off - as narrated by then Flt Lt (later Air Cmde) Arun Karandikar, serving with 43 Squadron at Jorhat.
Gp Capt Conrad Dalton 12430 GD(N) , Indian Air Force, is a decorated veteran navigator who flew on the English Electric Canberra. He was commissioned in the IAF in 1970 and had a 31 year career until his retirement in 2001. In this series of short clips, he talks about the life of a Navigator in the IAF - in both transport and bomber squadrons, as well as life out of the IAF with the Canberra Bomber Association.
Back in the year 1989, a leading newspaper published a sensational story about a Hangar Collapse in Gwalior and how that resulted in half a dozen Mirage 2000 fighters being badly damaged or written off. The story created a furor and the Ministry of Defence was forced to issue a rejoinder discreditng the news report. Gp Capt Noel A Moitra 12931 F(P) VM was at Gwalior at that time. For the first time in thirty years, he writes about the 'incident' in detail.
Landing a jet fighter on its belly is not a task for the faint hearted. This is the story of one young pilot who walked away from one - and the story of an aircraft that refused to go to the scrapyard.
In the olden days - there was no internet through which you can email a Powerpoint presentation - but there were some magnificient Canberra bombers to act as a courier to deliver that most important presentation....as one pilot found out...
Wg Cdr P K Raveendran was a young under-trainee flight engineer on a VIP flight to Jorhat in November 1977 when tragedy struck. The miraculous survival story of the Prime Minister of India, Shri Morarji Desai was tempered by the tragic loss of the Flight Crew. The author recollects the events surrounding the flight, the crash and subsequent rescue effort - and as a post script - his journey to the crash site forty years later!.
A young Canberra jock in a much decorated and revered squadron is faced with an emergency that could take his life and that of his navigator. This is the story of a rare Canberra 'belly landing' that helped save a much valuable aircraft
Gp Capt Bewoor commanded No.44 Squadron from Sep 87 to Oct 89. The airlifting of tanks into Sri Lanka and Leh, was successfully accomplished under his command.
Gp Capt Bewoor commanded No.44 Squadron from Sep 87 to Oct 89. This article provides the details of the historic sortie to Soviet Armenia in 1988, where a devastating earth quake had rendered hundreds killed and thousands homeless.
Following the resounding victory in the Bangladesh liberation war in Dec 71, India was increasingly seen by Western powers as a client state of the Soviet Union. Due to the parlous state of its finances India did not have the option of paying for Western arms in hard currency. Whenever an Air Staff Requirements (ASR) was put out by Air Hq the Government invariably asked the IAF to look at what was available with the Soviets. It was under these circumstances that I had the occasion to go to the Soviet Union in 1973, 1975 and 1979 as a member of IAF evaluation teams.
Gp Capt Bewoor was on deputation to Iraq during 1980-82. He recollects some of the memorable incidents, including the day the Israelis bombed Osirak.
