22right From United States, joined Apr 2004, 417 posts, RR: 2 Posted (4 years 11 months 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 402 times:
The article below appeared in the Times of India. I think this is a great idea! I wonder if any of our Indian A.netters are going to pool their resources and get one of these babies.
************************************ Scramble! Vintage IAF jets for free
SRINIVAS LAXMAN
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2004 11:47:46 PM ]
MUMBAI: This is one fighter mission that has the whole country aboard. For the first time ever, the Indian Air Force is offering its vintage fighters free of charge to anyone who can preserve and display them at prominent places in their city.
Confirming this to TOI, an Air Force spokesperson in New Delhi said the idea was to make the people of this country "air minded," especially the younger generation. Although he could not specify the exact number of old planes currently in IAF's inventory, he said that these included Hunters, Canberras, Gnats and Vampires which saw glory during the wars with China and Pakistan.
The spokesperson said that those interested in taking charge of these old aircraft should apply to local Air Force officials, who would evaluate the request and in turn make a recommendation to Air Headquarters in New Delhi. He said: "Those who are given an aircraft after completing various formalities would have to provide an undertaking that they would preserve it and not allow it to decay."
Other IAF officials said that usually old planes were sold as scrap. "But these jets have historical value and we are sentimental about them. So we took a decision to give them away free to anyone who can guarantee that they would be maintained properly," said an official.
Emphasising how sentimental the Air Force is about its planes, he recalled that on many occasions priests of all religions have offered prayers to an aircraft "for their well-being".
"I never apologize! I am sorry, but that's the way it is!" - Homer Simpson
Stealthpilot From India, joined May 2004, 508 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (4 years 11 months 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 305 times:
i think that's a damn good idea.... let someone else keep them, look after them but at the same time require it to be displayed to the public.... smart smart.
hope it works out.
N1120a From United States, joined Dec 2003, 23399 posts, RR: 87 Reply 3, posted (4 years 11 months 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 247 times:
Personally, I would love to grab a Russian fighter from one of the ex-CIS air forces. These are amazing planes that can fly with anything and are available for (relatively) dirt cheap. Several people in the US already own them and fly them with experimental reg's
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
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