Sea Hawk IN-252, Madras Institute of Technology

I was quite sure sometime back that the IIT Chennai had two Sea Hawks and one of them bore the serial IN-252. When Vijay Reddy sent us the photographs of IN-235, I remember goading him to find out the second missing Sea Hawk at the IIT. I was quite sure about the existance of this second aircraft as I personally remember reading and noting down a report on the Sea Hawks which had a picture of IN-252 being used for instructional purposes. Not soon after I stumbled on the old notebook in which i had made the note and found that the news report mentioned delivery to the Madras Institute of Technology and not the Indian Institute of Technology!. The MIT's is now famous for being the alma-mater of the current President of the republic of India, Shri APJ Abul Kalam.

	Sea Hawk [IN-252]  stored in the open in the Madras Insitute of Technology at Chromepet , Chennai. Notice the missing wingtip . Pic Courtesy : B Harry
Closeup of the Nose section and the display conditions of Sea Hawk [IN-252] . The students in the background are too busy dancing to the tune of 'O Podu' a local hit song to notice our photographer.. Pic Courtesy : B Harry

The photographs on this page have been sent to us by B Harry of Chennai. The photos reveal that the aircraft is now stored outside , as I clearly remember that it was earlier displayed inside a building for the instructional purposes. The aircraft's condition looks quite okay, with no excessive corrossion or damage. The only visible damage was the missing port wingtip, which left the ribs exposed.

	Sea Hawk [IN-252]  stored in the open in the Madras Insitute of Technology at Chromepet , Chennai. Pic Courtesy : B Harry
An inside peek into the cockpit of IN-252 reveals a mangle of wires and the Joystick. Note some of the instruments are still there as is the gunsight on the top. Pic Courtesy : B Harry

A look inside the cockpit shows that much of the instrumentation is still there as is the gunsight and the 'stick'. The MIT also has a Gnat airframe. This is recorded in a seperate page.