The Hindu News Update Service It was in 1942 when the Vampires and Toofanis flew from Tezpur air base which was constructed by the Royal British Indian Air Force for operations during World War-II. On Monday when four Sukhoi-30MKI aircraft will be formally deployed in the Tezpur air base, it will witness revival of the military operations that were stopped in September, 2007. The airfield was developed into a full-fledged Air Force base in 1959, with its location bearing immense significance as it lay strategically between Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. The air base has seen deployment of a number of squadrons of Hunter, MIG-21, Mi-4 helicopters besides Cheetah and Chetak helicopters. Ever since its inception, the air base had been the most active air base in the Northeast with a variety of fixed and rotary wing aircraft operating from here, an IAF spokesman said. He said in fact in the last 25 years, it was home to the MIG-21 fleet which was used extensively to train rookie pilots for the Indian Air Force. Located less than 350 km from the McMohan Line that divides India and China, the air base was made a MIG-operational flying unit for training young officers before they were commissioned as full-fledged pilots as tension between India and China eased after 1970.
It was in 1942 when the Vampires and Toofanis flew from Tezpur !!! Really? Am I missing something here?
Hi David, 1st sign of going crazy, Talking to yourself:bangin: Do you think they meant 1952?:lalala::humble: Cheers GW
The Toofani was the French-built Dassault Ouragan, an early jet, so must be a typo! Toofani is apparently Hurricane in Hindi. Perhaps that's where the confusion came in? But it could just be a typo! :lol:
India got its first Vampires in 1948, and first Toofanis in 1953. And Royal British Indian Air Force? I don't think so - it was the Indian Air Force until the end of the war when the Royal as permitted (back dated to the war period)
