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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 1531.PDF
746 FLIGHT THE INDIAN AIR FORCE . . . Extreme navigational accuracy and very precise flying are re-quired for each photographic sortie. Working from a known pinpoint, navigation to the start of each run is made by deadreckoning and by the Canberra's self-contained navigation aid, and then timed turns are made during each 4 n.m.-wide photo-graphic swathe. Making some seven to ten runs on each trip, while flying at 45,OOOft in outside temperatures of down to —90deg C becomes a cold and protracted business and much thought • has been given to improving efficiency under these conditions;even the mildest men develop short tempers towards the end of each exercise. Nor can there be any let-up in flying precision ifgood results are to be obtained; speed must be maintained con- stant to within ± 5 kt and height to ± 100ft; angle of bank mustnever exceed ± one degree. I was interested to learn that, over the Himalayan peaks,ground turbulence effect extends up to the photographic height of 45,000ft. This, and the still-air turbulence that is occasionallyencountered, make the crew's task an exacting one. But there is obviously an exhilaration to this mountain flying that breeds ahigh degree of enthusiasm among the Canberra crews—a spirit that is supplemented by great confidence in their equipment.The Himalayan range is perhaps the world's most unfriendly terrain over which to experience mechanical trouble; but the onlyincident to occur in many hours of flying—a flame-out on one engine over Mt. Everest on Christmas Day 1957—ended quitehappily with the Canberra arriving over base still very nearly at its sortie height. Mapping desolate areas tends to be a business of extremes.Apart from their Himalayan work, this unit previously under- took a survey of 50,000 sq miles of India's Rajasthan Desertfor the National Development Council, who were investigating the incidence of oil in this waterless area. Once again, existingmaps were inaccurate and navigation had to be by dead reckoning. Before I left the Canberras G/C. Bhat showed me the extensiveparachute training school (trainees from foreign air forces, includ- ing senior officers, are regularly accepted) and we also visited thecourier squadron which operates C-119 Packets. These aircraft are kept fully occupied for crew training (using U.S-A.F.familiarization techniques but R.A.F. categorization) and as trans- ports. Regular courier flights are made to the United Kingdom tofetch urgently needed spares, and as transport (albeit not of the most luxurious kind—though mess talk has it that night stops inLondon and Paris bring some compensation for I.A.F. personnel). After this, a trim I.A.F. Devon flew us to a fighter stationadjacent to a pleasant little town. Hunter 56s are in service and this type forms the standard high-altitude fighter of the I.A.F. Thepilots I spoke to said they had enjoyed their time converting to Hunters in England, but slightly preferred to visit R.AJF. unitsfor their flying rather than the essentially civilian (though very comfortable) atmosphere of Dunsfold; swapping common experi-ences with the R.A.F. was an opportunity to be treasured. Some of the officers who are now responsible for supervising conversionshad, while in England, attended the day fighter leader course. After some initial heat and humidity difficulties had beenovercome, the Hunters have settled down very well to life in India (the R.A.F. and I.A.F. exchange reports on operations undertropical conditions). The cockpit air conditioning system is par- ticularly popular, and a stand-by system is also available—quitean important consideration in sun temperatures of 116 deg F. The process of Hunter conversion occupies many hours' flyingand an extensive syllabus must be completed before a squadron can be considered operational. Exercises covered in this periodinclude handling, instruments, navigation, tactical formations, weapons training (both theoretical and with live ammunition), "Flight" photograph interceptions and offensive sweeps, and strikes. Once operational,the squadron has a continuation training syllabus of its own to follow. Highlights of this are ground-controlled interceptionsand a three-month visit, under canvas, to an armament training wing. On this excursion the squadron moves in toto, the aircraftbeing serviced in field conditions under canvas. The course itself has no exact equivalent in the R.AJ?.; it is somewherebetween the pilot attack instructor's course and "mere shooting practice", but it gives valuable training in mobility and has pre-sented some pressing problems in keeping the aircraft service- able. Normally second-line servicing is done on the station,but when the squadron moves it is found impracticable to take more than the absolute minimum of ground servicing and arma-ment equipment if mobility is not to be impaired. In India con- siderable maintenance is done on the squadron and the amountof tools, spares and other equipment considered right for the R.A.F. has had to be adjusted to local requirements. Category Brepairs are undertaken by a local R.S.U. but another unit under- takes more extensive repairs. An informal air-to-air study of W/C. Zafor Shah, the author's liaison officer dur- ing his tour of I.A.F. units "Flight" photograph G/C. S. A. Hussain, the station commander, was proud of therapidity with which the squadrons had mastered their Hunters; flying began in early January of last year, but by January 26 theyhad taken pan in a fly-past, a formation team gave a demonstra- tion on February 1, and in April two formations of five took partin the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations on Air Force Day. With only two months of experience a fire-power demonstrationwas given. There is no official aerobatic team of the Indian Air Force,but there is a great deal of enthusiasm for formation aerobatics (a formation of nine has been flown) and plenty of support forthe idea that a team should be formed. Many pilots have followed the development of S/L. Topp's 111 Squadron manoeuvres veryclosely and I was anxiously pressed for my reactions to the forma- tion of 22 aircraft at Farnborough. A typical day on an Indian Hunter squadron begins at 0700hr, with an intensive pre-flight briefing by the flight and squadron commanders on the day's first exercise, which begins by 0800.Element leaders are briefed first, and they then brief the indi- vidual sections. Typical exercises might be concerned with in-strument rating practice (S/L. Macneil, a squadron commander, holds a master green and is naturally keen on proficiency in thisrespect); or QGHs (controlled descents in snake) on the AD.200 which all the aircraft carry. Flying normally continues until the early afternoon, the lastaircraft landing at about 1500 hr, which in summer is the full heat of the day—and very, very hot. In answer to my question as tohow operational efficiency could be maintained in action, I was told that the problem was tackled by conducting a fifteen-daysummer exercise, deliberately designed to investigate—and to tax —squadron efficiency. In temperatures of over 100 deg F, reachedin summer by mid-morning, it is difficult even for natives of the country (I was radier naively surprised to learn) to concentrateon any problem for very long, and the extended summer exercise is a deliberate, exhaustive and exhausting test of the Service'sability to triumph over environment. Another matter of particular interest was that everybody findsthat the workaday round sometimes palls—and squadron pilots are certainly no better than anyone else in this respect. Butthe I.AJF. is determined that each man shall know his aircraft intimately, so theoretical training (range and endurance flying,meteorology, instruments, tactics) is supplemented by equal amounts of practical "dirty-hands work" in the hangar. Through their flight commanders, who are responsible for thedaily servicing section of each Flight, pilots are made respon- The Bhakra dam, seen from the right-hand seat of a Vampire trainer. This is one of many civil engineering projects currently being undertaken
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