| Vintage Otter and Hunter at
Ambala It appears
that No.41 Repair and Salvage Unit from Ambala has been on a restoration Spree. The
following News articles appeared in the papers about the wreckage of a DHC-3 Otter that
has been restored by the Unit. Another report from the Tribune indicated that a New
Hunter was installed at the Ambala Air Force Station.
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| Thumbnail sized
images of the Otter as displayed at the Army location (left ) and after its restoration
(right) |
Shaping A History
During the Indo-Pak war in 1965, Indian Air
Force was called upon to undertake reconnaissance and rescue missions in the inhospitable
terrains of Jammu and Kashmir. Otter was the natural choice for this task. This single
engine transport aircraft was manufactured by De Haviland, Canada in 1954 and was inducted
into IAF in 1956.
On receiving an SOS from Army on September
22, an Otter aircraft, named Hawk, was launched from Sarsawa airbase for a rescue mission.
While undertaking the assigned mission, the aircraft came under heavy ground fire from
Pakistani artillery and the pilot had no option but to ground the aircraft on a
mountainous terrain peak near Poonch. The 93 Infantry Brigade, stationed at Poonch,
reached the crash site and retrieved the badly damaged aircraft from the hilltop. The
brigade was proudly displaying this bullet-ridden war machine as a war relic since then.
The nose portion of the fuselage and one undercarriage of the aircraft were missing whilst
wings and tail portions were practically non-existent due to heavy damage.
In November last year, 93 Infantry Brigade
approached HQ, Western Air Command with a request to restore this aircraft to its original
shape. On receiving the permission, Structural Engineering Specialist Unit, 41 R&SU,
stationed at Ambala, carried out an on-site survey of the aircraft. Later, the aircraft
was shifted to Ambala. The restoration team of the unit managed to collect photographs of
the original Otter from IAF archive cell and other technical details from various
aviation magazines to develop a graphical design. The structural designs with aerofoil
shapes of all major and minor structures were calculated before commencement of
restoration work.
Reconstruction of missing structures was a
chase in time for the air warriors. The unmatched spirit of the team, however, succeeded
in rebuilding the front fuselage, cockpit, wings, rudder undercarriage and propeller.
After putting in hard work for nearly four months, history took shape and the Hawk
was back on its wheels in its original shape and glory. The bullet holes, however, have
been left untouched so as to retain this part of the history in its accurate dimensions.
Air warriors led by Wg Cdr PK Shrivastava completed this daunting task. Air Cmde LK
Malhotra, AOC, Air Force station, Ambala ceremoniously handed over the aircraft to the
Army unit on May 9 last.
Vintage IAF Otter lives again after 40
years
RAHUL SINGH
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2005 02:29:21 AM ]
CHANDIGARH/AMBALA: A vintage Otter aircraft of the Indian Air Force lost to Pakistani fire
in Jammu and Kashmir during the 1965 war has been resurrected at the Ambala air force base
after 40 years. The wreckage of the De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter, inducted in the IAF
in 1956, was brought to Ambala from J&K in December 2004.
The technicians of the 41 Repair and Salvage unit at the air base worked overtime to
rebuild the rugged light transport aircraft to its original configuration. The last of the
40-odd single engine Otters was phased out from the air force in 1991.
A senior IAF officer said reassembling the aircraft into a semblance of its original form
was quite complex because it came to the base as a jangled and crushed mess of metal
“which appeared non-salvageable.” The most striking element of the aircraft
wreckage was bullet holes in the tail section.
After getting the aircraft back on its ‘legs,’ the technicians repainted it
silver and smeared the bullet holes with red as a reminder of its war history. The first
squadron to be raised on the Otters took on their name and was known as No.41
‘Otters’ Squadron.
Otter
aircraft configuration handed over to Army
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050510/haryana.htm
Our Correspondent
Ambala , May 9
At a ceremony organised at the Air Force station in Ambala Cantonment this morning, the
Air Officer Commanding , handed over the configuration of an Otter aircraft to Lieut-Col
Sanjeev Kumar of an Army unit based in Poonch, which would be later placed there as a war
memorial.
The Air Officer commanding while talking to mediapersons said that during the 1965
Indo- Pak war, the Otter aircraft was launched for a rescue operation in the J&K
sector The aircraft came under heavy fire from Pakistan and crashlanded in an extremely
difficult mountainous terrain near Poonch in September 1965. An army unit in close
vicinity retrieved the broken pieces of the aircraft after the war and displayed it as a
war memorial . The nose portion and undercarriage of aircraft were totally missing . The
wings and tail portion was also damaged .
In November 2004, the Army unit of Poonch approached the IAF to restore this vintage
aircraft to its formal shape. The pieces of the aircraft were brought to the Ambala Air
Force station. The restoration team collected the photograph of the original Otter
aircraft from various aviation magazines and archives. After a hard work of four months,
the aircraft was back on its wheel in its original shape and glory. The bullet holes,
however were left in “as is where is” condition so as to retain this part of
history in its accurate dimensions.
This undaunting task was achieved by a team of 30 persons led by Wg Cdr P. K.
Shrivastava. According to information, this aircraft was manufactured by De Havilland
Aircraft Co Canada in August 1954 and was inducted into the IAF in 1956. Earlier too, the
team of this Air Force station had reconstructed a Spitfire aircraft of the British period
in its original shape which had been recovered from under the bed of a river in Mulana
close to Ambala around two years ago.
Longewala battle
‘hero’ on display
Tribune News Service
Ambala, May 16
The Indian Air Force’s war horse ‘Hunter’ aircraft, synonymous with the
battle of Longewala, has been put on static display outside the Ambala Air Force Station.
The aircraft has been placed on the main road leading to the
airbase. The aircraft has been displayed as a remembrance of Ambala being home to four
Hunter squadrons in the past.
The Hunter aircraft, which has been put on display, was last flown in the IAF service
as a tow aircraft in 2001. The aircraft static display was carried out under the guidance
of Air Officer Commanding, Ambala Air Force Station, Air Cdr L.K. Malhotra.
For over three decades, Hunter aircraft had been the backbone of the IAF. It was a
versatile ground attack aircraft. It had made significant contribution during the 1965 and
1971 Indo-Pak wars. The aircraft played a major role in the battle of Longewala as well as
the attack on the Karachi harbour/refinery alongwith other achievements.
Air Cdr L.K. Malhotra lauded the effort of 41 Repair & Salvage Unit, administrative
and Military Engineering Services for installing the Hunter aircraft at the Air Force
Station.
The task of installing the aircraft was a challenging one. It required accurate and
sensitive calculations for the soil as well as the base-frame to take on the heavy
aircraft. It also needed strengthening of the structure of the aircraft to remain the
desired angle which was necessary for good display.
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