Article Posted on : - Feb 09, 2009

File image of Harvard aircraft. Indian Air Force

NEW DELHI (BNS): Old is gold goes the saying and viewing vintage aircraft is a dream. At the Aero India show beginning in Bangalore from February 11, along with the modern supersonics also will be on display the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) glorious past.

Aviation enthusiasts can savour the De Havilland DH82 Tigermoth and Harvard aircraft. The two trainer aircraft had been phased out to equip the Air Force with modern technology.

The two trainer aircraft will be a treat to watch alongside Lockheed Martin’s C-17 Glomemaster III transport aircraft, C-130J Hercules and KC-135 Stratotanker, to understand the advancement of technology. The Indian Air Force is also displaying its other MiG fighters and light combat aircraft Saras.

The Tigermoth was a two-seat, single bay, biplane. The primary trainer for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War, it was the basic trainer in the IAF from 1940. It was replaced by the HT-2.

The Harvard on the other hand was a single-engine advance trainer aircraft used to train fighter pilots of the RAF and other Air Forces of the Commonwealth during World War II. The Harvards were phased out in 1973 in IAF.