A blast from the past - the Indian Air Force's 'new' old aircraft

Bangalore: Its painted yellow, flies at 100 kilometres per hour on a good day, is made of wood and fabric, but could still end up being the star attraction of Aero India 2013, Asia's premier airshow.

The Indian Air Force's Tiger Moth trainer is 77 years old but if you were to look at her, she doesn't look a day old.  That's because, more than two decades since she was all but abandoned in a corner of the Air Force museum at Palam in Delhi, the Tiger Moth is purring again after being meticulously restored in the UK.  

Now back home, the Tiger Moth is thrilling crowds at Aero India, a stark contrast to the high-adrenaline supersonic jet displays over the skies of Yelahanka.

Speaking to NDTV at the IAF's Yelahanka Airbase, Wing Commander H Kulshrestha, one of the pilots of the twin seat biplane says, "the journey that we did from Delhi to Bangalore took us 16 refuelling halts, and we covered the distance in a period of 6 days and it was an amazing journey.  It was a lot of hard work but we had a lot of fun."  Contrast that with the usual 3 hour flight time for an airliner between Delhi and Bangalore !

The Tiger Moth is part of the Indian Air Force's Vintage Flight, an effort to fly old forgotten aircraft of the IAF which have done sterling service over the decades but which have now been relegated to the dust-bin of history.  Next on the cards - bringing to life the Harvard trainer which flew in the fifties and sixties.  

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