Shorts Sealand

Sealand [IN 105]

The Shorts Sealand has a special place in the heart of Indian Naval Aviation. The type was the first aircraft to be inducted after the establishment of the Directorate of Naval Aviation and training of Indian Naval Aviators. An order for ten of these amphibians was placed in 1952 in a contract that was worth £ 320,000.

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De Havilland Vampire FB-52 & T-55

de Havilland Vampire

The era of Jets came to the Indian Navy with the procurement of three Vampire FB52s and one T55 two seater in September 1957. They were procured to enable the Naval airment to gain experience on Jets in view of the impending induction of the Sea Hawks. The Naval Jet Flight (NJF), later designated as INAS 550 "A" Flight, was formed at Sulur, near Coimbatore, as the runway at Cochin was limited.

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HAL HT-2

INS112 

After the procurement of the Sealands and the Firefly aircraft, a need was felt by the navy to start its own ab-initio Pilot Training, which till that point of time was being done by the IAF. Towards this goal, the Navy procured three HT-2 primary trainers from HAL, these (IN 121-123) being ferried to the FRU at Cochin on 7th October 1956 by Lt Cdr D D Law and Lt R A J Anderson. 

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