Oldest operational military aircraft lands in Jammu

Jammu: India's oldest operational military aircraft 'Pushpak', which was extensively used in the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pakistan Wars, on Tuesday landed at the airbase here enroute its cross-country air expedition. "It is now one of the only Pushpak aircraft which is still flying in the country and h
ave landed up here as part of cross-country air-expedition," chief of expedition team, Brig A S Saidhu told reporters here at the IAF station here.
"Pushpak was actively flown by the pilots in 1965 and 1971 wars while manning the Air Observation Posts (AOPs) along the Indo-Pak border," Brig Saidhu, also the senior most test pilot of Army Aviation, said.
As part of the silver jubilee celebrations of Army Aviation, a Pushpak expedition was flagged-off during the ongoing Aero India 2011 show in Bangalore.
"It is one of the rare spectacle to see this aircraft landing and taking off from here. It is a lifetime opportunity to see this aircraft flying even today," officiating defence spokesman (Jammu), S N Acharya said.
"I have seen this in my book. But I am very happy to see the aircraft flying. I was not even born then when it used to fly during the wars," Sangeeta, a school student who watched the plane land, said.
22/02/11 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

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Categories: Airports Feb 2011, Indian Aviation- In General Feb 2011