Naval Institute of Aviation Technology,
Cochin
To, fulfilling the role of being a center
for technical training in Aviation for the Navy, a A Naval Air Technical Services Center
was set up in Kochi at around 1958. This was later renamed to the Naval Institute of
Aeronautical Technology in the eighties. The NIAT is to the Naval Aviation, what AFTC
Jallahali is to the airforce. Over the years, the Indian Navy's technical officers and men
graduated out of its portals.
The NIAT has several aircraft in its
collection used for instructional purposes. Sandeep Unnithan recently made a visit to
Cochin and sent us back most of the photographs from this page.
The NIAT as it is known houses a Breguet
Alize with its skin removed, to represent a Cutaway aircraft. A picture of it first
appeared in the Ministry of Defence's news magazine for the Indian Armed Forces, Sainik
Samachar. Though its actual identity was a mystery to us.
| The NIAT's 'X-Ray' aircraft, an
Alize from the "Cobras" Squadron. Since only about a dozen of these aircraft
were acquired , this is one of the five Alizes that have survived. Pic Courtesy: Sainik Samachar |
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Sandeep's photographs give us the identity
of the Alize as IN-206, sporting as usual the Cobra's marking of No.310
INAS. This aircrafts skin panels have been removed aft of the turbo prop engine. As the
visitors to the site would observe, five out of the original 12 Alizes that have been
procured by the navy survive today. [202, 204, 206, 209, 212]. Since our
attrition section reveals atleast three losses, only four Alizes now remain unaccounted
for.
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| Two views of the
Alize showed the 'de-skinned' portions of the front fuselage and the undercarraige pod
fairing. The identity of the Alize is revealed by the '06' number on the port side of the
nose, leaving no doubt that this aircraft is IN-206. Pic Courtesy: Sandeep Unnithan |
While getting to know about the real id of
the Alize was certainly a find for us, the bigger scoop is the revelation about the
existence of a Hughes Hu-263 two seater chopper at the NIAT. Prior to this it was
believed only the example in the Naval Museum in Goa was the sole survivor. The emergence
of IN-086 is a pleasant surprise.
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Hughes Hu-263a IN-086
is the secnod such type in preservation by the navy. Pic by: Sandeep
Unnithan |
| This view from the rear
of IN-086 shows the slim tail boom of this little two seater. Pic
by: Sandeep Unnithan |
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IN-086 must have been used
for ab-initio helicopter training in the 60s before it was pensioned off along with the
other chopper. However it is not the only helicopter here. The tail-less fuselage of
Chetak IN-406 is the other. This Chetak is consists only of the main
fuselage cabin. The whole tailboom and tail rotor assembly is missing. The main rotors too
have been cut down to four foot stumps to accomodate the chopper in the Hangar. No history
is known of this aircraft.
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The Chetak IN-406
as seen at NIAT. The aircraft tail boom and rotor assembly is not present. Pic by: Sandeep Unnithan |
| The Kamov Co-Axial rotor shaft
and gear box demonstration set up. Pic by: Sandeep Unnithan |
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Several other aircraft components are
present through out the NIAT for instructional purposes. One such component is the gearbox
and rotor shaft from a Kamov helicopter. The gear bos was cut away at key areas to show
the innards. Though it is speculated that this came off a crashed Kamov, we do not have
any confirmation on that.
| Aircraft Type |
Serial No |
Remarks |
| Breguet Alize |
IN-206 |
Cutaway aircraft |
| Hughes Hu-269 |
IN-086 |
No.2 Survivor |
| Chetak |
IN-406 |
Fuselage - No tail section or
full rotors |
[Photos by Sandeep
Unnithan ]
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