A refurbished Dakota DC-3 transport aircraft of World War Two vintage will be re-inducted into the IAF on Friday. A large fleet of Dakota DC-3 served in the IAF till 1988 and was one of the most versatile transport aircraft of its time. As a mark of honour to honour the first Dakota which transported troops of the 1st Sikh Regiment to Srinagar on Oct 26, 1947 when Pakistan Army and tribal raiders attacked Kashmir, the IAF has allocated the aircraft with a registration number.
The aircraft was obtained from scrap in 2011 and was restored to flying condition in UK by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar for gifting it to the IAF. His father, a former IAF officer, used to fly Dakotas. The IAF signed a contract with Reflight Airworks ltd london for upgrading the navigational systems of the aircraft.
After successfully completing all test flights following its restoration, the aircraft commenced its journey from the UK on April 17 this year. It was flown to India by a joint team crew of the IAF and Reflight Airworks ltd. The ferry to India by making en-route halts at France, Italy, Greece, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman was completed on April 25 at Jamanagar.
The restored plane will be formally inducted into the Vintage Flight Squadron of the IAF on Friday at Hindon airbase, Ghaziabad. The ceremony will include the representatives from the original manufacturer, dignitaries from the High Commission of the UK and the proud veterans of the IAF who have operated this flying machine.
An aircraft of this vintage being flown to India from across the world after its restoration, was an unprecedented event in the history of the IAF and joins its vintage flight which was raised in Palam in 1988. The present day heritage aircraft in Vintage Flight are Howard and Tiger moth with plans afoot to add a wider variety of military aircraft which forms a part of the IAF rich ancestry, officials said here on Thursday.