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The 1965 Beechcraft incident : A daughter's search for closure

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Category: The India-Pakistan War 1965
Last Updated: Sunday, 17 October 2021 02:38
Written by Precy D'Costa
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 Precy D'Costa was ten months old when the tragedy struck her family. Her father, an Aviation Radio Officer, A M Da'Costa, happened to be on the ill-fated flight of the Beech 18  carrying the then Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Balwant Rai Mehta on 19th September 1965. The aircraft on a flight in remote Bhuj was intercepted by a PAF F-86 Sabre and was shot down with the loss of all lives. For many years she was not aware of the circumstances. She narrates her journey to find closure, and her visit to the crash site, 56 years later. 

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The Tiger Moth of the Vintage Aircraft Flight

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Category: The Last Quarter: 1972-99
Last Updated: Wednesday, 13 October 2021 03:14
Written by Gp Capt Ajit K Agtey
Hits: 512

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.

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A few anxious moments - a Gooney Bird story

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Category: The Last Quarter: 1972-99
Last Updated: Monday, 11 January 2021 05:36
Written by Air Cmde Arun Karandikar VM,VSM
Hits: 7028

 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. 

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The Kilo Flight - a personal account of Op Cactus Lily

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Category: The Bangladesh War 1971
Last Updated: Tuesday, 22 December 2020 16:58
Written by Air Cmde Arun Karandikar VM,VSM
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A rookie Flying Officer with four years of service, flying transports gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fly war-time missions as part of a clandestine force.  Air Commodore Arun Karandikar 10865 F(P), narrates his chance posting to the Kilo Flight on the eve of the 1971 War, to fly support missions in aid of the Mukti-Bahini rebels and their Indian Air Force instructors.  This account was written on the request of 43 Squadron, during their effort to fill in gaps in their historical records

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The curious case of the missing "Tiger One"

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Category: The Royal Indian Air Force in the Second World War
Last Updated: Sunday, 20 December 2020 19:12
Written by Anchit Gupta
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There are milestones in an officer's career that are etched in stone. The day you got commissioned, the day you commanded your first unit as "CO" , the day you fly into operations, the day you command a force.  For one officer, his milestone of commanding a unit has been forgotten or not recorded by the IAF.   Anchit Gupta writes about righting a wrong in the Commanding Officer leader board of the IAF's senior-most Squadron - No.1 Squadron IAF.  The name of one of the commanding officers has been missing for nearly 73 years (At the time of writing) .  Building the evidence to support this assessment took years of effort - with the conclusive evidence coming from the Govt of India's Archives  

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MSN 521 : Air Battle over Chhamb - 10 December 1971

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Category: The Bangladesh War 1971
Last Updated: Sunday, 13 December 2020 15:54
Written by Wg Cdr B C Karumbaya VrC
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This contribution by Wg Cdr B C Karambaya, 10604 F(P)  was originally written as an appendix to Gp Capt H K Bajaj's Battle of Chhamb 71 : Through the 6/5 Lenses of an FAC . Then Plt Offr Bajaj operating as an FAC Was controlling the formation, Mission 521 - for a strike against Pakistani Army targets in Chhamb Sector.   Wg Cdr Karumbaya, then a Flying Officer, had flown two Counter Air Sorties earlier in the war and was credited with destroying a heavy transport aircraft at Chaklala. He was awarded the Vir Chakra for his contributions.  

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The first ferry of French fighters to Ambala

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Category: Jets and Growth 1948-64
Last Updated: Monday, 03 August 2020 17:01
Written by Jagan Pillarisetti
Hits: 5821

No, not THOSE French-made jet fighters that you are thinking of right now, but the very first French type operated by the Indian Air Force. The Avions Marcel Dassault  MD450 Ouragan, known as the Toofani in Indian Air Force Service. 

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