Warbirds of India

This Hawker Hunter F.56a in the striking scheme of the Thunderbolts Aerobatic Team is on display at the Chabua Air Force Station. Pic Courtesy: Sanjay Simha

Hawker Hunters dot the airfields around the Northeast. Nos 17 and 37 Squadrons flying the Hunter operated in the Assam region througout the 1960s. Their presences was continued later by No.7 Squadron and the HOFTU which were based at Kalaikunda. Hunters have been reported as gate guardians at Gauhati, Chabua and Jorhat.

Mil Mi-4 Z331 "Airawat" at the Kendriya Vidhyalaya (Central School) of Jorhat.

Jorhat was and is one of the oldest Airstrips in North Eastern Assam and has been a major transport base for many years since the late 50s. It is the northern most airfield in Assam in the Brahmaputra Valley and is a fairly large airbase. Over the years transport aircraft like An-12s, Dakotas, C-119s, Caribous and An-32s have operated from here. There is an unconfirmed report of a Caribou wreckage and a derelict C-119 lying around in Jorhat.

Garishly painted in Camo colors that covers even the perspex canopy is this Sukhoi-7U two seater type trainer U-1356 . This counts as a rare example as there are not too many two seater versions of the Su-7 on view in the country.

Tezpur has been the home of MiG-21s for over three decades. Currently it is base for the MIG Operational Flying Training Unit (MOFTU) which flies the MiG-21FL. Tezpur's history goes back more than four decades when it was activated as an airfield to help sustain the North eastern region. The airfield has seen Ouragans, Hunters , MiG-21s and MiG-27s operate from here besides different types of Transport aircraft. The parent formation here is 11 Wing, which comprised not only the two Squadrons of MOFTU, but also No.30 Squadron and a helicopter unit.