HOME >WHATS NEW AT THE IAF SITE

WHAT'S NEW @ THE IAF


01 December 2004

VM.jpg (14638 bytes)IAF Gallantry and Service Awards Database goes live!.  All Gallantry awards including over 800 VMs listed can be queried thru special pages.
-Flying the Spitfire Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava on his training days on the Supermarine Spitfire.
LCA-Flight01.jpg (17644 bytes) LCA's First Flight is recounted by Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar. See the First Flight  Videos released by ADA!
Hurri-Assam_Small.jpg (25575 bytes)Anatomy of a Tac Recce Sortie - Get the feel of flying a sortie in this account of a  Hurricane mission flown by Air Cmde   Shitoley 
Nanu.jpg (7049 bytes)Air Commodore NK Shitoley DFC Mukund Murty writes in detail about  another Veteran with a DFC from No.1 Squadron in WW2.
-Jumbo Majumdar's Typhoon FR IB by Polly Singh. The Tiffie at D-Day, based on research by Colin Ford.
-Patch Gallery Images of Twelve  new patches - 22 Sqn, 37 Sqn, 47 Sqn, 118 HU, 153 HU, 2201 Sqn, MiG23 BN, Jaguar, MOFTU, Air Devils

SDThyagarajan_Small.jpg (31870 bytes)Updated  Pages: 
»
Indians in RAF
» Presentation Aircraft 
» 4 Squadron 
» 47 Squadron
» Micky Blake 48
» Aloysius Barrette 48
» Crests
» Fleet
» Air Force Stations
» Training Establishments
» Officers

05 November 2004

JS184_small.jpg (8936 bytes)25 Years of the Jaguar Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava writes in AirForces Monthly on the Jaguar's quarter century.

-Documents and Photographs of Sqn Ldr Keki Burjorji Commissariat, One of the first IAFVR entrants.
FlyingReview.jpg (2951 bytes)Download : Flying Review - A 1.2MB PDF article that appeared in 1945 issue of 'Flying Review'
Bombay01_Small.jpg (12128 bytes)Bombay Air Show - Various contributors showcase their photos of the Static Display and Flypast.
Surya-Kirans-GC-Patch_Small.jpg (22456 bytes)Patch Gallery Images of Six new patches - 23 Sqn, 32 Sqn, Suryakirans, SAIII , a Missile Squadron from Kapil Chandni.
-Other Updated Pages:
» Squadrons
» Fleet
» Officers
» IL Roy's SE 5A

08 October 2004 [AIR FORCE DAY UPDATES]

Malse01.jpg (11766 bytes)Delayed Concluding part of Air Marshal YV Malse's Trilogy -  " A Tale of three wars" chronicles experiences in the 1962,65 and 71 wars

Hurri-NB-F_Small.jpg (27667 bytes)Exclusive Second World War Photographs of No.1 Squadron at Trichy from a  former airchief's collection
-Sekhon's Gnat - Polly Singh narrates some tidbits on what happened that fateful day, rounded up by a build of Sekhon's Gnat in 1/72 Scale.
-The Memoirs of Wg Cdr Locksley Fegredo - one of the first officers from the Signals Stream in the Technical Branch.
Simon04_Small.jpg (9653 bytes)Exercise Garuda Revisted - Nine new photos by Simon Watson of the aircraft at Gwalior.
Museums-WAC.jpg (13225 bytes)Museums of WAC - A 12MB PDF e-book that details the Unit and Base Museums under Western Air command.
-Modeling Update: Rupesh Santoshi's makes a debut with his MiG-21Bis of the Flying Lances.
AFM-Plans.jpg (12573 bytes)A Proposal for the Air Force Museum - Dream or a Possibility? Two presentations on a futuristic Museum
Other Updated Pages:
2Sqn Patch | 65 VM | 71 VM | Other VMs | 65 AVSM | Wings | Squadrons | Missile Sqn | Signal Units | Fleet | Officers | General Salute

12th September 2004

-The Siachen Pioneers The complete History of 114 HU - The longest serving unit in the Siachen Glacier area.
-Visit to the 114 HU Visiting the Heliunit at Leh - Exclusive photographs of the Squadron, and its Homebase
-Frozen, Mid-Flight A tribute to late Flt Cdt MJS Bains, the only U/T cadet to be awarded the Shaurya Chakra.
-Philately Section Three new FDCs on AirHQ Sqn, Colors to 27 Sqn and 114HU and on 31 MCU
-World War Two Photo Galleries Updated and Rearranged. Eight New Photographs previously unseen.
RK3452d_small.jpg (9239 bytes)9 New photos of  Il-76 , Il-78 and Jaguars on way to Cope Thunder by Jorge Manuel Antao Ruivo

15th August 2004

Sadatullah01_Small.jpg (18194 bytes)Air Marshal YV Malse's Post WW2 story continues in Part 2 of our trilogy in "Dakotas of the North East"

-Micky Blake writes about his 1947-48 War Experiences with No.8 Squadron as a Flight Cdr.
-Wg Cdr Charlie Fernandez and his command of the Black Archers - No.47 Squadron at Baghdogra in the North East
-Cope India Report The extracted pictures and text from the  27MB MS-Word document from the Official IAF site
-The Raid on Peshawar - Looking at a famous tail chase from the opposite sides of the fence.
Saluting01_Small.jpg (27541 bytes)The Tradition of Saluting - Polly Singh writes about the Origins and details of   Saluting Customs of the IAF and how they evolved over time.
-Modeling MANIA with a Capital M.  The   section has five new models. Choose from Erik Kidd, Shekar K Rao, Murli Rajan and Raja Bose
-New photos of  Il-76 , Il-78 and Jaguars on way to Cope Thunder by Richard Barsby at Edmonton.
Other Updates:
»
New FDC in the Philately Section
» New WW2 Photos in Malse and Blake
» New An-12 image in Classic Transports

1st July 2004

-I was there First Person accounts by Wg Cdr AK Sinha and Flt Lt K Nachiketa - Revamped Kargil section
 Mi-17s at Mohanbari. 42 Wing at Mohanbari is visited by noted journalists Phil Camp and Simon Watson.
-Aviation Accidents G/C AG Bewoor writes on the many myths prevalent about IAF  accidents

V
E
T
E
R
A
N
S

P
R
O
J
E
C
T

Malse01.jpg (11766 bytes)Malse's Story Air Marshal YV Malse's WW2 experiences retold in in "Another Tiger Pilot remembers" - the first in a three part profile.

Doe02_Small.jpg (47215 bytes)Odds and Ends - All those tiny WW2  pages that we didn't know where to keep, now collected at this link.
-Air Cmde PM Wilsons Cadet Days Photo Album and the Congo Album  - Exclusive and Rare   Photos.
-Modeling mania Mukul Krishnas Spitfire VIII, features nose art, based on a pic from BR.
-Thunderbolt. This is not just another modelling article, if you want to know more on the Thunderbolts, look no further,
Z4104_small.jpg (9466 bytes)-» Mil 8 » TACDE page
» MBE Awards »TACDE Patches

1st June 2004

-  LCA / Tejas   and the Second IJT pics
-Photo Albums of Sqn Ldr PC Chopra VrCPhotos spanning two decades of service in the IAF. 69FP, 4, 1, 8, 101 Sqns

 Hurricane Tales Gp Capt MPO Blake in a short story recalls the day he belly landed a Hurricane in no-mans land, and other memories from that period.

-Flt Lt AW Barrett VrC - A profile of the only Pilot who was posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra in the 1947-48 Operations.
--MiG  Mania - Four MiG-21s (Polly Singh) and MiG-27 (MurliRajan)   in our modelling the IAF section
-Other Updates:
»
LCA Painting
» WW2 Photos Updated
» 1948 VrC Awards Updated

1st May 2004

 Visit to 11 BRD   Vayu Aerospace Review covers the activities of 11 Base Repair Depot at Ojhar AFB
-Indian Gift Squadrons A number of RAF Squadrons and aircraft in WW2 were raised on the money collected in India.
-MiG-25 Foxbat   The 'Garuda' is now added to the Virtual Museum of IAF Models in our 'Modeling the IAF' Section.
PJI-Wings.jpg (17285 bytes)-Uniform Insignia  RIAF , PJI, Para, Gunner wings  Patch Update 3, 23 , 221and 321 Sqn.
-Image Galleries  Classic (Canberras, Transports) and Current Galleries (Su-30, Mi8) updated
Other Updates:
»
Air Cmde Ratnagar's Part 1 and II
»
Top Officers List updated
» RIAF Officers List enhanced

1st April 2004

-War Memorials A new section on the War memorials of the Indian Air Force at various AF establishments.
-Air Shows 2004  GR Reddy's Coverage of the Sarang Display at Singapore 
 Image Galleries Mirages , MiG-27 , Sukhoi, Do228 in Current An-12 in Classic updated

VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT

-Battle Damage! Flg Offr Don Michael's Experiences in the 1947-48 Operations - and ten exclusive pictures from those days.

-Exercise Shiksha by Wg Cdr Michael tells the story of the Indo US Exercises forty years ago in 1963

-Wg Cdr KS Suresh - a photo Album - Tribute and Photos by Dr Shiv Shankar Sastry and WgCoSuresh' family

-3-View Drawings . Shekar Rao of Bangalore showcases his excellent three view drawings of IAF aircraft. We start with the MiG-29 this month.
-1965 Air War Page -More Pictures from the 65 War that were not previously published on the net. Including a couple of rare color images.
052_Small.jpg (29324 bytes)IAF Crests Squadrons 42-78 Added in the heraldry section with details on raising dates, mottos and translations. All crests , translations by Arun Vishwakarma

1st March 2004

-Cope India 2004  A detailed look into the Indo US Exercise - Great Digitial Photographs from both USAF and the IAF!
-The Sarangs - Three exclusive pictures of the first Indian helicopter display team which debuted in Singapore.
-Tezgaon Surrender A Selection of photographs from Tezgaon airfield, from the day after the surrender.

- Panther Boss - Continuing the profile of Wg Cdr CHL Digby - Part IV deals with his command of No.23 Squadron - with some classic pictures

 Panther Portraits - An impressive display of photographs of  the young men who made the Panthers, No.23 Squadron , IAF in 1958.

 Senior Officer - Concluding Part of Wg Cdr Digby's Story, tracing his last years in the Air Force to his retirement in 1967.

-Tribute to Wg Cdr KS Suresh This tribute is to Late Wg Cdr Kukke Suresh, decorated war veteran from the 71 Ops
-1965 Air War Page -updated with Nine rare mages that have not been published on the Internet before. Photos of No.31 Sqn, PS Pingale, DP Chinoy etc
-Hurricane II Koel LE-146 modeled by Polly Singh in his own 'Air Force Museum'

1st February 2004

-The Red Arrows at Hindon. 13 Oct 03 at Hindon, the Red Arrows  and the Surya kirans teamed up together.
-Back to India- Ratnagar's story continues after independence, from CO 2 Wing to the AOC of the College of Air Warfare.
-India's Reclaimed Bombers - The Story of the B-24 Liberator by Gp Capt Kapil Bhargava

-Final Flights: Arun S Vishwakarma pays tribute to former cchief of air staff Air Chief Marshal Surinder Kumar "Polly" Mehra , who died in December 2003.

 Four FDCs on IPKF, 60th Anniv, PTS , PVC added in the Philately Section and new stamps added.

 Model Update: Westland Lysander -and Wapiti IIa by Polly Singh , both  in No.1 Tiger Squadron Markings and in 1/72 Scale.

 New WW2 Photos of IAF disp flt, DH86, Tigermoths and trg. New 1930s Pics incl Wapiti Photos
 Classic Image Galleries C-47, Connie, Il-14 and B-24 Pics. Current Galleries with pictures of Mi-17 1Vs
Other Updates:
»
New Photo of Ivelaw-Chapman
»
New Mirage Painting by Polly Singh
»
Two new photos in Westland Wapiti Page

1st January 2004

VETERANS HISTORY PROJECT 

- The Photo Albums of Air Marshal AR Pandit PVSM AVSM DFC - Courtesy of Amit Javadekar.  The first are his  WW2 Photos 
-Independence and After Albums traces AM Pandits career after the Second World War till the late 1960s.
-Air Marshal and VCAS Albums traces AM Pandits career at Air HQ , first as a Senior Officer and then as the Vice Chief of Air Staff.
-Sqn Ldr Ian S Loughran's Paintings! Another new Aviation Artist's portfolio is presented on Bharat Rakshak Gallery. 
SPECIAL UPDATES
 Lysanders to Hurris- The story of Air Cmde Ratnagar who was one of the pioneer  Lysander pilots and his WW2 experiences.
-Tales of  Vengeance Mukund Murty writes about his interactions with Veterans who flew the Vengeance Dive Bomber in Burma.
 Hakimpet and the 58 Pilots Course A set of wonderful pictures from Hakimpet and Begumpet in the early 50s.
-Sqn Service & Instructional  dutiesK S Nair continues the story of Wg Cdr CHL Digby's  story as an Instructor.

CURRENT STUFF

WAC_Small.jpg (31952 bytes)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
- UAV Operations in the IAF An Exclusive gallery of Indian Air Force Searcher II UAVs and details of their operations
-Image Galleries updated. New Mirage, Chetak, Mi-26, C-47 Dakota and Il-78 Air to Air refuelling pix in the galleries.
Other Updates:
»
Photos of Atlantique Shootdown
»
Photos of Ivelaw-Chapman
»
Updated Fleet Page
» Updated Top Brass Page
» Updated Specs Page (Mi-26 & Mi-17)
OK enough updates - Come back on 1st Feb

 

2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999

Copyright © BHARAT RAKSHAK. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of BHARAT RAKSHAK is prohibited.