Indian Air Force :: New 2003

1st December 2003

Official Unit Crests! - A New section on the Official Unit Crests of various units of the Indian Air Force. This section is under construction and currently - the Crests of the Commands and Squadrons 1-25 can be seen

The Highest Landing First person account of AVM CKS Raje of the highest ever landing carried out in the IAF in a Jet Pack C-119

Collecting Stamps? See what we have - and contribute whats missing from this gallery.

Encounters with Veterans - Cecil Digby - K S Nair writes in detail about an RIAF Veteran he had met up in England. Wg Cdr Digby provides us insights into life in uniform during WW2

In the Land of the Mikado - Digger Digby's story continued in Part II - Never before seen exclusive pictures of 4 Squadron in Japan.

Independence to the China War . Hoshang Patel recollects in Part 3 about his posting to 4 Div and his ring side view of the 1962 War.

Classic Images havebeen updated with pictures of a Vampire, Gnat and Canberra.

New Images : Current Images have the Hack avro in flight and a Gajraj. (Sorry No tankers this time).

Other Updates:
» Photo of DFC Awardee F/O BR Rao
» New Feedback Form
» Enhanced Service Numbers Page
» Photo of Iype Kovoor

5th November 2003

IMAGE GALLERY UPDATES
Canberras Galore! More than ten new pictures added in our Canberra Gallery of BMk66s and B(I) 58s. Ajeet Gallery updated with two pics

and Current Images as well! - Rare pictures in the MiG-21 Bis Gallery and Chetak Photos added.

Miracles Do Happen - A MiG-21 flies straight into the ground and explodes - But the pilot survives - How did it happen?

Spitfire Photos -We have added four new pictures added in the World War Two Photo Galleries.

Air Chief Marshal S K Kaul- Once known as 'Pandit' , ACM Kaul had a distinguished career including service in the two major wars. Dr BN Sharga's profile forms the basis for this writeup.

Wop Update The article has been updated with new details and more rare pictures - and more Serials data!

8th October 2003 (Air Force Day Updates!)

The Tankers are here! Exclusive pictures of the Illyushin 78 'Battlecries' on excercises with the 'lightnings' and the 'dragons'.

Aviation Artists features a new 'artist' - Colonel Joseph Arul Raj is an expert at portraits and it shows in his airbattle paintings

Flight of the Eagles - The Westland Wapiti - Polly Singh takes an indepth look into the first ever aircraft of the Indian Air Force

Encounters with Veterans - Murkot Ramunny - A second world war pilot who later became a high ranking civil services officer recalls his days flying Hurri operations over Burma to KS Nair

Dakota Dispatches - Wg Cdr Kondath gives the first account of ops for our new 1962 Op section.

some more rare Hurricane IIc Pictures in our world war two pages. See related Attrition Info

Chennai Show Report A photo report on the Static Display and air display held at Chennai on 31st August 2003. Picx by Harry and Shravan

The Naked Apes- Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava's experiences as a New recruit in the Indian Air Force.

More exclusive photographs of Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in the air in our Current Images Gallery

5th September 2003

My fair lady: Air Chief Marshal AY Tipnis on the MiG-21 and why it is premature to write off this wonderful aircraft. This article first appeared in Asian Age.

A New section on Heraldry: Fancy patches apart, the IAF also has a varied ranges of Official Crests, Roundels. Pilot Wings etc.

Saving the IAF Chetaks: The Chetaks of HAL had a very peculiar problem that was costing precious lives. How was it solved?

Veterans History - Ground Tenures : Wg Cdr V Kondath writes on the his first posting as a ground duties officer to Ambala, the most 'happening' place in 1953

You never knew that a former Air Chief was an Aviation Artist. Didn't you? A new addition to our growing list of Aviation Art in India .

New Images (Cheetah, Mi-8, Jaguar) in our Current Galleries . Two new World War Two Pictures and One Wapiti Picture

15th August 2003 (Independence Day Updates!)

The Mirage 2000 in Kargil by Philip Camp. For the first time, the Mirage 2000 operations in Kargil are revealed in their entirety.
Descent into Danger: The complete story of the Spl Heli Borne Operation that bought out the best of the IAF's Helicopter pilots.....
The IAF in Sri Lanka - Finally, a section devoted to the Indian Air Force contingent with the IPKF in Sri Lanka..

New Pictures in WW2 No.1 Sqn page: More pictures from Air Marshal AR Pandit's collection + New captions on the older pictures. Two new photos in Portraits page

WW2 Citations Updated: DSO Citations of Mehar Singh, GS Sharp and RFT Doe updted with pictures. Indra Lal Roy's DFC Citation updated.

Air Chiefs section totally revamped. Profile of Air Chief Marshal H Moolgavkar online. New Picture in AM GE Gibbs Page

Patches Galore 15 New patches added! 15, 18, 45, 52,222 Sqn, Ex Garuda, HQ SWAC Comm Flt, Aircats, MiG-29, Sukhoi-30 and others. Command Insignia Updated

Tempest II 1/72 Scale: Ralph Koziarski models an early Tempest II in the Ashoka Chakra markings

Other Updates
1. KS Raman's demise
2. Current Galleries Updated with more pix
3. Exercises Down Under. updated
4. Special Gallery NBC Readiness in IAF

01st July 2003

The Supermarine Spitfire : Polly Singh's piece on the Spitfire's service in the IAF. incl pictures of the Survivors

Operations at Diu - Based on the recollections of Gp Capt MPO Blake and Air Marshal MSD Wollen, this article by Gp Capt Bhargava chronicles the lesser known side show at Diu.

IAF Patches, Stickers and badges, More new 'Patches' (4,17,30 Sqns, PAI, DS, FSL, Bis 3000 Hrs etc) - Courtesy of Kapil Chandni.

1st June 2003

Visit to MOFTU , OCU, 52 Sqn and 30 Sqn by Philip Camp and Simon Watson. Exclusive pictures on the 'sports car' version of the 21
Hyderabad Show Report A photo report on the Static Display and dramatic air display held at Hyderabad on the 7, 8 and 10 May 2003.
	Exercises Down Under - Photographs of IAF air exercises from Southern India, a feature by S Vijay Kumar.
A look at the Ballistic Missile Defences in India by Dr Sanjay Badri Maharaj.

Gp Capt 'Sandy' Sundaresan VrC VM: The Photo Album of a war hero from the 1971 War illustrates a unique come back story .
Profile of a Transport Pilot: Wg Cdr PS Bhachu, a Transport veteran from the 60s is profiled by Anandeep Pannu. Never before seen pics now online!
Flying the DHC-4 Caribou: Part 2 of the Photo Albums of Wg Cdr PS Bhachu dealing with the Caribou Operations in the North East , which is now a forgotten aircraft.
No.6 Squadron - The First Five Years: K S Nair writes in detail of the dragon's World War Two record.

Patches Galore More new patches.No.6 Sqn, No. 300, No 551A and No.551B in Sqn Patches. Plus Mirage 2000, Mi-35, Sagarkirans, Harrier 500 Hr and 1000 hr Pathces

More Images (An-32, Mi-8) in our Current Galleries.

More Updated Pages

Hierarchy in the IAF
New Aircraft Fleet Page
Updated Senior Officers List,

Darius Aibara completes the Aeroclub 1/48 scale HAL Gnat.

1st May 2003

Aero India 2003 feature updated with three more pics in the Flypast gallery. New Lancer Walkaround feature
	Exercise Garuda - A report on the Indo French Air Exercises at Gwalior last month - by Philip Camp and Simon Watson
HAL IJT First Flight - An indepth piece on HAL's sterling effort by Wg Cdr KS Suresh

IAF Veterans History Project: Polly Singh writes 'Of Sabres and Sukhois' on Flt Lt Pat Singh's fantastic experience of tangling with Sabres on way to Sargodha

Technical Training College Photo Album: The Early years of the TTC, which was the cradle of the IAF's Tech Trg of Officers.

When the wind blows: The development of the HF-24 Marut.

Modelling the IAF!


Revell 1/72 Vultee Vengeance	Alliance Models 1/72 HF-24 Marut 1

	More Images (Gnat, Kiran, Mi-8, Jaguar) in our Current and Classic Galleries by Adrian Balch and S Vijay Kumar
Updated Senior Officers List, Bibliography

1st April 2003

Bison_Walkaround02_Small.jpg (29243 bytes)

The MiG-21 Bison unveiled - An up close and 'in the face' look at the Upgraded MiG-21 Project. Exclusive Pictures from Bharat Rakshak

A Critical look at the 1965 War in our 1965 War Section. A Book announcement on the India Pakistan Air War of 1965. HAL HJT-36 Sitara's first flight BR Monitor

IAF in World War Two: Many of the photo pages of WW2 section updated.

Check No.1 Sqn in Arakan for rare photos from Arjan Singh's collection and a new "Indians in RAF" Section.

WW2 Reminiscences by AVM SN Goyal

New Paintings! More paintings from Polly Singh's Collection. These include the Operation Poolmalai (1987) , Operation Cactus (Maldives 1988) and Aircombat over Halwara (1965

Updated Vintage Fighter Serials.

New Images in the Current Aircraft

01st March 2003

1971 War: The Boyra Battle Redux!

The Veterans History Project: A two part narration of the experiences of a World War Two Pilot.

Wg Cdr Hoshang Patel relives his days of being an Airman in Burma and then flying missions with No.6 Squadron in the Second World War

IAF Patches, Stickers and badges, The launch of our 'Patches and Stickers' section. Browse through our collection and see if you can contribute any!

Image Galleries updated. New photos in Classic Gallery and Current Aircraft Gallery

01st February 2003

The Tuskers 1948-2002, A history of No.5 Squadron Indian Air Force by K S Nair. Currently flying Jaguars, this was the only unit 'missing' in the pre 1947 Squadron units

The Oorials 1942-2002, History of No.4 Squadron Indian Air Force by Jagan Mohan. the only unit to spend nearly two years in Japan after World War II, the Oorials completed 60 years of existance.

Project Vetrivale: How the Defence Research and Development Agency had honed the Electronics and Avionics for the IAF's Fleet.

The Veterans History Project: In this update, we present two articles on various personalities in the IAF

First, S Nanda Kumar of Deccan Herald recounts the Story of a World War Two Pilot - Capt Neville Gill, a pilot who flew Hurricanes and Spitfires with No.4 Squadron , AF.

Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava chronicles the role of Anglo Indian Community in the Indian Air Force, starting from WW2 to the present day .

New Paintings!

Etched in Time in by Dr. Raman		Polly Singh's Tiger Hill Attack

Updated IAF Top Officers List. New Images in the Current and the Vintage Galleries

Trumpeter 1/48 Sukhoi-30 Model by Jan Mikes. The first ever feature on the IAF's Su-30

01st January 2003

Two New paintings by Dr Raman in the Hobby Section. The Battleaxes, No.7 Squadron, Air Force will celebrate 60 years of service to the nation on 2nd December 2002. All Ex-Battleaxes are requested to contact them. More details here.

New Special Galleries: We start a new section on 'Special Galleries' - The first of which features The Hunters of Kalaikunda - by Simon Watson.

The Veterans History Project: In this update, we bring forth three delightful accounts.

First, Sqn Ldr Dinky Augier describes The Antonov 12 as a Bomber in the 1965 War., This is followed by comments by Wg Cdr Reggie Rufus .

Narrating the Liberator Tales is Wing Commander Kondath, who served with No.6 Squadron .

New IAF Units: This update we bring you a list of Signal Units and Training Establishments. Keeping in mind the requests for Squadron Histories on BR, We present the Cobras which we forgot to mention in our previous update

alt The Service Numbers Database: A New section which features a database of most of IAF officers with service numbers between 1 and10000.

New 2003

Previous Updates