Dehradun’s Warbirds

The hill city of Dehradun, now the capital of the newly formed Uttaranchal State houses two of the most premier training establishments for the Indian Armed Forces. The Indian Military Academy (IMA) and the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC). In addition to the above, Dehradun is also the HQ for the Survey of India (SoI), a civilian organisation with a high degree of participation of Indian Army Officers deputed to the service.

Its natural many of the establishments and schools in the area have been bestowed with retired aircraft from the IAF. Prominent among them is the Doon Public School. This school previously had a Harvard on display which was reportedly fitted with the wings of a Hurricane. However this aircraft is not there for quite a number of days. A Ajeet aircraft [IE-1241] is however on display at Doon school

St Josephs School, located in Dehradun has a Hunter two seater on display.  The Hunter’s identity is reported as S580, a former Dutch Air Force example imported in 1967. 

Hunter T66 S580 seen on display at St Joseph’s Academy in Dehradun. Image via Anubhav Chauhan

Another institution in the area, St George’s College in neighbouring town of Mussoorie, was recently gifted with a TS-11 Iskra by the IAF in October 2005. The Iskra W-1778 was pole mounted on a special platform where the IAF ensign flutters high along with the school’s flag.

	TS-11 Iskra [W-1778] pole mounted on a special platform at St George’s College in Mussoorie.
Iskra [W-1778] was last seen at Hakimpet during the retirement ceremony in late 2004.

The RIMC has on display a Hawker Hunter [BA 357] on its premises, Presented by the then Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal N C Suri, The aircraft is in Blue Green Camou with inlet covers and other equipment in place.

	The Hawker Hunter [BA 357] as seen at the Rashtriya Indian Military College , Dehradun. The Serial Number is barely visible on the Nose Leg Cover. Pic Courtesy : Sqn Ldr Deepak Chopra via Wg Cdr (Retd) V G Kumar .

It is known that the IMA too had some aircraft displayed on its premises for some time. A Supermarine Spitfire XIV (SM 832) was infact recovered from the IMA grounds and taken to England by Doug Arnold in 1977. After changing many hands for nearly two decades, this Spitfire was fully restored by Stephen Grey’s Fighter Collection and is currently operated by them.

Two additional aircraft have since been added. The first is a HAL Chetak helicopter mounted on a platform on display at an unknown location in the Cantonment.  The helicopter was photographed in good condition in 2006. 

	HAL Chetak on display at an unknown location in Dehradun. Photo by Richard McMullen / Flickr
Iskra W-1777 at Jolly Grant Airport – on the campus of IIAE Training Institute.

A second Iskra can be seen at an Aviation Training Institute, the “Indian Institute for Aviation Engineering” located at Jolly Grant Airport. The Iskra W-1777 is displayed in front of the main campus building.

Related Links:
1. Video of Iskra W1778 at Musoorie on Google