[SmartCat]

Of the lot, English Electric Canberra and Hawker Siddeley HS748 was in the Indian Air Force Fleet. The former was used for reconnaissance missions during Kargil War and latter was actually produced in India by HAL!

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Of the lot, English Electric Canberra and Hawker Siddeley HS748 was in the Indian Air Force Fleet.

The Canberras operated by the RAAF and the IAF were vastly different, eventhough English Electric supplied Canberras to both air arms.

The RAAF operated Canberra B.Mk.20 was basically a customized version of the RAF Canberra B
.Mk.2 for the RAAF. Bombs were carried in the internal bomb bay. No bombs or rocket pods could be mounted on the wings. It had a circular shaped canopy.

The IAF operated Bomber/Interdictor Canberras variants of two marks:
1. Canberra B(I).Mk.58 - IAF Version of the RAF Canberra B(I)8. It had a teardrop shaped, fighter style canopy on the left side , where only the pilot sat in the cockpit. The Bombardier/ Navigator station was below the pilot's seat.
2.Canbera B(I).Mk.66 - IAF version of the RAF Canberra B(I)6. Looked very similar to the Canberra B.2(and hence the RAAF version).

Both IAF Canberra marks above could carry bombs/rocket pods on the wing weapon station(one on each wing). In the internal bomb bay, bombs could be carried. As these two IAF Canberra Marks were interdictor variants, a 4×20mm cannon pod could be carried on the centerline station(no bombs could be loaded in the internal bomb bay in this configuration).

Apart from these two Mark's, there were other Canberra PR variants(PR. 57/67), and various trainer Mark's. Ex-RNZAF B(I)12s were acquired in 1970 by the IAF.

[Sutripta]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Of the lot, English Electric Canberra and Hawker Siddeley HS748 was in the Indian Air Force Fleet. The former was used for reconnaissance missions during Kargil War and latter was actually produced in India by HAL!

The infamous Avro HS748. Ask Indian Airlines pilots about it.

One of the RAAF planes had more powerful engines than what the rest of the world used. Fuselage had to be modified for that. Forgetting which model. Am sure the people here can help.

Regards
Sutripta

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Sutripta

One of the RAAF planes had more powerful engines than what the rest of the world used. Fuselage had to be modified for that. Forgetting which model. Am sure the people here can help.

Regards
Sutripta

It was the Australian, license built version of the F-86F Sabre. In RAAF service, it was known as the CA-27 Sabre and was built by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation(CAC).

The standard F-86F was powered by the J47 engine. RAAF requirements were for a higher powered Sabre. CAC redesigned the fuselage and increased the size of the Sabre's characteristic air intake to accommodate a Rolls Royce Avon engine(which was lighter and shorter than the J47, but had a larger diameter).

Another major revision was the replacement the F-86F's six machine guns with two 30mm ADEN cannon on the CA-27. Some changes were also made to the cockpit and to increase fuel capacity.

Canadair built and Orenda engine powered Sabre Mk.6s, which the PAF also flew in the 71 war, also had a higher powered engine than the F-86F, but the CAC built Sabre were more powerful.

[Sutripta]

^^^
Thanks. Knew I could rely on this forum for esoteric knowledge.

Regards
Sutripta

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Of the lot, English Electric Canberra and Hawker Siddeley HS748 was in the Indian Air Force Fleet. The former was used for reconnaissance missions during Kargil War and latter was actually produced in India.

To continue on the same vein there are three more that served with the IAF that are displayed here - the de Havilland Vampire, the ubiquitous Harvard basic trainer and the DHC-4 Caribou. The Harvard is the yellow single prop shown in post number 6. The IAF was a large user of all three.

The Vampire introduced jet fighter flying to all Commonwealth countries including India. India introduced the Vampire in 1948 thus becoming the first Asian Air arm to go jet. The Harvard was the basic trainer of choice across most of the world other than the communist bloc in the 1940 to 1965 period. And the Caribou was undoubtedly that world's most versatile STOL transport before helicopters brcame big and capable.

[BlackBeard]

Thanks for the photographs and trip report.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

With no disrespect to the IAF I can't understand why their museum at Palam can't be done like this (funds?) And why all those aircraft have to be caked with dust.

I guess its the attitude and interest that matters. Cant credit most govt. bureaucrats for any original thought or out of the box thinking.

Originally Posted by locusjag

Same thoughts here sir. Besides visiting the Smithsonian aviation museum in the US many times, I once visited the New England Air Museum (Connecticut, US) on Veteran's day in 2017 and got to sit in the cockpits of F-104 and a Super Sabre. What's more, the actual airmen who had flown those jets were seated nearby to weave tales of their exploits with those machines. I paid a neat sum of money for that experience!
I often find myself thinking why the IAF cannot do the same...

Well said, I had a similar experience in the Canada Aviation & Space museum, Ottawa. They even had paid rides on bi-planes!

Originally Posted by Foxbat

I visited the IAF Museum at Palam a few years back, one of the people at the reception was an ex-Mig-27 pilot. Unfortunately he was not the kindest person there but I recognised his occupation by his flight suit and the Mig symbol on it. I was able to get some information about his about career in the IAF and the bases he served at.

Very unfortunate behaviour, perhaps he was being forced to do the job? Dealing with Indian crowds can also be a challenge..

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Agreed. Its purely because the babus & the political class simply do not value the sacrifices the fighting men make daily.To a great extent, ignorance in military matters and lack of will to maintain them also is responsible for such a sorry state of our military museums. They do not realise the value of preserving our military heritage and the historical significance these machines hold.

It is kind of sad that we do not have any fully restored examples of the first supersonic jet that served with the IAF - the Type 74 MiG-21F-13.

While, we, as a country that has such a rich military heritage, have left jets to rot in museums, parks and roundabouts with other than a few exceptions, absolutely no maintenance at all!!!!

I hope some day the thought changes.

Rightly said, even the Naval museum in Goa is in a sorry state.
I wonder if the attitude will ever change. Perhaps a private partnership might improve things?