Warbirds of India

Mil Mi-4 Z331 "Airawat" at the Kendriya Vidhyalaya (Central School) of Jorhat.

Jorhat was and is one of the oldest Airstrips in North Eastern Assam and has been a major transport base for many years since the late 50s. It is the northern most airfield in Assam in the Brahmaputra Valley and is a fairly large airbase. Over the years transport aircraft like An-12s, Dakotas, C-119s, Caribous and An-32s have operated from here. There is an unconfirmed report of a Caribou wreckage and a derelict C-119 lying around in Jorhat.

The entire area has been the scene of much aerial relief operations and appropriately , several helicopters and aircraft are said to be preserved in various locations in the North East. When Sanjay Simha, a regular contributor to this site, visited Jorhat, he discovered an Mi-4 Z-331 preserved at the local Kendriya Vidhyalaya. In Green/yellow mottled color scheme, the aircraft sports the title "Airawat", after the mythical white elephant mount of the Hindu god Indra. The Mi-4 is a rare bird in IAF's warbird inventory, and this one is no exception.

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Another rare bird in Jorhat is the two seater version of the Hawker Hunter fighter. A Hunter T66 is preserved in the local park just opposite the Jorhat Circuit House. The aircraft is painted the color scheme of the No.2 Target Tow Flight, "The Banners".

Unidentified Hunter T66 is preserved at the Park near Jorhat's Circuit House.

The yellow and orange stripes on the rear fuselage of the Hunter T66 indicates its lineage from 'Banners'.

 

All photos courtesy of Sanjay Simha